- Jul 29, 2016
- 231
- 43
So this wasn't just a hypothetical, and this post will out me a little bit, so bear with me.
My daughter was playing in the 4A division of the state championship in Georgia this week. The format is the top eight teams go to Columbus and play in the Olympic softball facility - a neutral field. Those eight play a double-elimination tournament over three days. If you lose, you get shifted down to the loser's bracket and play until you lose again.
Daughter's team played their way through the very bottom of the loser's bracket. Most of the games were close - decided by four runs or less. We won one game in the tenth inning (GA uses runner-on-2nd ITB after the 9th inning). That game put us back in front of the team that sent us into the loser's bracket, and we destroyed them 9-1 - batted around the inning in the first. We win one more game, and that sends us to the championship. We have to play the team coming out of the "winner's" side of the bracket,and to win, we have to win two games.
Girls played beautifully. As the sixth inning ended, it was starting to rain, but we were leading 3-2, and we were the home team. Three more outs, and we start Game 2. But the rain was getting worse, and the radar showed it wasn't stopping anytime soon. The umpires were obviously on marching orders to get the games in, and they waited too long to suspend the game IMO. Pitcher couldn't grip the ball. Balls were being thrown well short of home plate. When they finally stopped the game, it was (you guessed it) Top of the 7th. Score tied. Runners on 1st and 3rd. No one out.
As you've seen elsewhere here, the GHSA decided that they would resume the games on Monday afternoon, but not at a neutral field - it wold be at the field of the team coming out of the winner's bracket. And rather than adopting the GHSA baseball rule (game over after six complete innings - and that's for a 9-inning game), they decide that all games will resume where they left off.
So my daughter's team left school early to drive two hours to the home field of the other school. I'd guess 70% of their student body was there. It was a shirt show. Passed ball - runner on first advances to 2nd (hard to type that - my daughter is the catcher). Passed ball, runner on third scores and runner on 2nd goes to third. Two missed pop-ups in foul territory (neither was easy). Then one of our middle infielders misses a routine play. By the time the inning was over, we're losing 6-3 and their crowd is going crazy. But we still get to bat, and we have our 9, 1, & 2 batters coming up.
So things start off shaky. Leadoff hits an infield fly, but reaches when the 2nd base drops it. 2nd batter (actually the #1 batter in the lineup) also reaches on an error - this one sharply hit to their second baseman who drops it and can't find it. Runners on 2nd and 3rd - no outs. No. 2 batter at plate, and No. 3 and 4 batters - both powers hitters with serious HR potential are waiting on deck and in the hole. I feel great about this situation, and honestly think we're gonna get to play the second game.
And then this happened.
I have no words.
My daughter was playing in the 4A division of the state championship in Georgia this week. The format is the top eight teams go to Columbus and play in the Olympic softball facility - a neutral field. Those eight play a double-elimination tournament over three days. If you lose, you get shifted down to the loser's bracket and play until you lose again.
Daughter's team played their way through the very bottom of the loser's bracket. Most of the games were close - decided by four runs or less. We won one game in the tenth inning (GA uses runner-on-2nd ITB after the 9th inning). That game put us back in front of the team that sent us into the loser's bracket, and we destroyed them 9-1 - batted around the inning in the first. We win one more game, and that sends us to the championship. We have to play the team coming out of the "winner's" side of the bracket,and to win, we have to win two games.
Girls played beautifully. As the sixth inning ended, it was starting to rain, but we were leading 3-2, and we were the home team. Three more outs, and we start Game 2. But the rain was getting worse, and the radar showed it wasn't stopping anytime soon. The umpires were obviously on marching orders to get the games in, and they waited too long to suspend the game IMO. Pitcher couldn't grip the ball. Balls were being thrown well short of home plate. When they finally stopped the game, it was (you guessed it) Top of the 7th. Score tied. Runners on 1st and 3rd. No one out.
As you've seen elsewhere here, the GHSA decided that they would resume the games on Monday afternoon, but not at a neutral field - it wold be at the field of the team coming out of the winner's bracket. And rather than adopting the GHSA baseball rule (game over after six complete innings - and that's for a 9-inning game), they decide that all games will resume where they left off.
So my daughter's team left school early to drive two hours to the home field of the other school. I'd guess 70% of their student body was there. It was a shirt show. Passed ball - runner on first advances to 2nd (hard to type that - my daughter is the catcher). Passed ball, runner on third scores and runner on 2nd goes to third. Two missed pop-ups in foul territory (neither was easy). Then one of our middle infielders misses a routine play. By the time the inning was over, we're losing 6-3 and their crowd is going crazy. But we still get to bat, and we have our 9, 1, & 2 batters coming up.
So things start off shaky. Leadoff hits an infield fly, but reaches when the 2nd base drops it. 2nd batter (actually the #1 batter in the lineup) also reaches on an error - this one sharply hit to their second baseman who drops it and can't find it. Runners on 2nd and 3rd - no outs. No. 2 batter at plate, and No. 3 and 4 batters - both powers hitters with serious HR potential are waiting on deck and in the hole. I feel great about this situation, and honestly think we're gonna get to play the second game.
And then this happened.
I have no words.
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