Semi-final day for Mid-Atlantic. I was assigned the plate for the second game, between Maryland and Delaware. The game was scheduled for 3:00 on ESPN, but there was a big weather front approaching. Helen drove up in the morning, and we were watching the 11:00 game between Connecticut and Vermont on TV when the announcers commented that the second game was going to be moved up to half an hour after the first one. So, instead of a leisurely lunch, we hustled over to the ball field. (Again, no call from any of the tournament staff, although Jerry was trying to call me at the hotel when we ran into one another arriving at the complex.) The crew got ready, and we got the game going about 1:40.
Unfortunately, the rain started in the top of the first. It got progressively heavier through the bottom of the first. We had been told that Doc and the staff would make the call as to when weather got too bad to play – we were to continue until told otherwise. So, we struggled through the bottom of the first. Had this been a district game, I probably would have stopped it a bit sooner due to the rain, but it wasn’t like play was continuing with the field in an unsafe condition – just a fair amount of rain. Between the first and the second, a little after 2:00, Doc and the crew suspended the game. (I have a feeling that they really wanted to get that first inning fully in – Delaware had put two on the board in the top of the inning, and if the first inning hadn’t been completed and we couldn’t resume the game that day, by rule the game would have completely restarted, costing Delaware those runs.)
It was a long delay. The rain stopped between 3:30 and 4:00, and initially we were given a 7:30 restart time. As that time approached, however, it became clear that we weren’t going to be ready by then. The infield was fine, having been covered by a tarp, but left field was very soggy. I mentioned that the field had been completely redone – this tournament was the first time they’d been rained on, and it became clear that left field had settled more than they expected, creating a low spot. Apparently water was seeping down through the sod and then collecting on the dirt beneath, since the roots of the sod hadn’t had a chance to grow into the base. At one point, we saw that the grounds crew had lifted off several large pieces of sod and were spreading drying agent underneath. If the problem area had been over near a foul line they might not have been so worried, but the worst of the “squish” was right about where the left fielder would stand.
We did finally get restarted about 8:30. The rest of the game was very wet. The grass was less saturated than I expected, but the air was heavy with moisture, and we were getting fog floating through the lights in the outfield. I was having difficulty because every time I breathed out, it tended to fog up my glasses, so I was having to time my breathing to the pitcher so I got a good look at the pitch. I ended up being soaked through, not from sweating, but more from condensation.
The game was actually very well pitched. After two runs in the top of the first, Maryland put in a different pitcher in the second. (No surprise, since the Maryland starter had given up 5 hits including a home run in just one inning.) Both pitchers bore down, threw strikes, and posted zeros in the second, third and fourth. Delaware got another run in the fifth on a solo shot that just cleared the fence, and we went into the final inning with them leading 3-0. Maryland’s starter finally ran out of pitches with two outs in the sixth and a runner on first. The new pitcher brought in threw just about as hard as I’ve seen a Little Leaguer throw, but gave up two gork singles and a wild pitch that scored three more runs before closing out the inning.
The Delaware pitcher walked the first batter in the bottom of the sixth, and then reached his own pitch count. His reliever came in and on the fourth pitch got a ground ball to the first baseman, who stepped on first and then got the runner between first and second in a rundown, resulting in a double play. The next batter he faced was the Maryland relief pitcher, who struck out swinging to end the game on a pitch well out of the strike zone. His response was, well, not very sportsmanlike, and I hope the microphones did not catch it. We hustled off the field, but Helen said that he had to be practically dragged out of the dugout to join the post-game handshake, and simply walked past the other players without acknowledging them.
I didn’t realize until we got back to the locker room that the two Delaware pitchers had combined for a no-hitter, with only three walks and 13 strikeouts. I knew that there had been very few baserunners for Maryland, but hadn’t noticed the zero on the scoreboard.
I mentioned before that the time between innings was very regimented. Delaware was dawdling out of the dugout, and both pitchers got upset a couple of times when they didn’t get much in the way of warm-ups. I suspect that whatever instructions the managers were given hadn’t sunk in or weren’t relayed. I could see Jerry, the first base umpire, explaining things to the team during the pre-game. Mike Robinson, the third base umpire, may not have done the same.
I did get dinged a couple of times during the game – one foul ball nicked my arm, another went off the catcher’s shoulder and got me in the lower thigh, and I caught a pretty good shot in the mask late in the game. There was also one pitch that came untouched and bounded back onto the field off the shinguard. I’m told that the TV commentators made a few comments about us volunteering to take beatings like this behind the plate.
We had one umpire conference during the game – a batter checked his swing, but the pitch went bounding off. My initial reaction was that the pitch had hit the knob on his bat, and so I came up with a “foul” call. Seeing the player’s reaction, however, I realized that it might have actually hit his wrists, so I called the infield umpires together. Both the third and first base umpires confirmed that it had, in fact, hit him, and that he had not swung at the pitch, so we awarded him first, and the game continued. Other than the three walks, that was the only base-runner that Delaware allowed.
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