East Regional semifinal suspended to Wednesday morning with Pennsville leading Delaware 2-0 in third inning
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WORCESTER, Mass. – These Pennsville Senior Softball All-Stars are getting pretty good at this waiting around stuff.
The Eagles’ East Regional semifinal game with Smyrna/Clayton, Del., Tuesday night was suspended by weather in the top of the third inning with them holding a 2-0 lead and still batting. It’s the third time they’ve been put in a holding pattern since they started climbing this year’s tournament ladder.
Play will resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday with a runner at third and Jess Bretz at the plate.
The umpires pulled both teams off the field due to lightning at 5:45 p.m. and about 20 minutes into the delay it started raining steadily. The forecast called for the rain to continue for the next couple hours.
The other semifinal game between Rhode Island and Maryland never got underway as their field was unplayable from the start. Keeping all four semifinalists on a similar schedule may have played a part in washing out the day.
The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. (now 2 p.m.) and everyone basically will have to play a game Wednesday to reach it, although the Pennsville winner already has two-plus innings in the book.
Pennsville manager Chris Watson admitted he’s getting good at this waiting out stuff, but he added “everyone else is extremely impatient, including my own players.”
At least the wait isn’t as long as they had in the state tournament. That championship game was supposed to be played on a Sunday and Pennsville had to wait until Tuesday night to finish off that one for a variety of reasons.
And at least this time they won’t have to go home and drive back. And, remember, their first game in the district tournament got suspended in the first inning, too.
“I feel good we got two innings in and we’re scoring runs,” Watson said. “I’d feel a lot worse if we hadn’t gotten anything in.
“We just put a lot of preparation into the day, into the game now. You put all that couple hours’ worth of effort into the game today, you want to get a little bit out of it. You want to get out on the field at least and feel like you played a little bit.”
Pennsville faced a hard-throwing left-hander like they did Monday night and didn’t take long to score. Kylie Harris laced a one-out single into left field in the first inning, advanced around the bases on a passed ball and wild pitch, then scored on Bretz’ grounder to third.
The Eagles added another run without the benefit of a hit right before a weather delay.
Avery Watson got that rally started being hit by a pitch. She went to second on a wild pitch, was sacrificed to third by Kloi Tighe and rode home on Harris’ sacrifice fly after Leadoff Lily Edwards walked.
Tighe drew the start in the circle, just as she did when the teams played Sunday afternoon. She was just as effective this time, too, striking out four over the first two innings and not allowing a hit. Delaware threatened in the first inning, getting a runner to second with two outs, but Tighe left her there.
She has pitched in every game of the regional thus far. She’ll be back in the circle when the game resumes and if Pennsville completes the win and gets to the final Watson said his choice for starter will be “a game-time decision.”
“Pretty happy with the start,” Watson said. “Kloi’s pitching well. She dealt with the top of the order very well, so I’m very comfortable.
“I know we’re going to score more than two runs, but I also know the way Kloi’s pitching today she’s really on. All her pitches are landing where they should. She just had one ball slip and got the hit by pitch, but that’s unusual, that doesn’t typically happen to Kloi.”
The Eagles were knocked out of this regional in this round last year by a team from Delaware – not the same one they played Tuesday – that came back from six outs away from being run-ruled. Pennsville has the lead this time, too – not as much, mind you – and they this time they intend to keep it.
“Of course, it’s in the back of my mind, yeah, but we’re a different team this year,” Watson said. “It’s not like any of that is going to happen again. We’re in a different place this year. That’s just memories and ghosts and we’re not really concerned about all that.”
LITTLE LEAGUE SENIOR SOFTBALL
East Regional, Worcester, Mass.
Pool A (New England): Connecticut (Bristol), Host (Mass D4/Worcester), Massachusetts (Marblehead), Rhode Island (Warwick North)
Pool B (Mid-Atlantic): Delaware (Smyrna/Clayton), Maryland (Havre de Grace), New Jersey (Pennsville), Pennsylvania (Stroudsburg)
Tuesday’s games
Semifinals
Rhode Island vs. Maryland, ppd. to Wednesday, 10 a.m.
Pennsville 2, Delaware 0, 3 inn., susp. to Wednesday, 10 a.m.
Wednesday’s game
Championship, 2 p.m.
LL SENIOR SOFTBALL WORLD SERIES
Roxana, Del.
Pool A
East: Determined Wednesday
Asia-Pacific: Negros Occidental LL, Bacolod City, Philippines
Host: Lower Sussex, Delaware
Latin America: Yankees Family Group LL, Guanica, Puerto Rico
Southwest: Determined Friday
Pool B
Canada: Determined Thursday
Central: Determined Wednesday
Europe-Africa: Czech Republic District 1, Prague
Southeast: Vine-Ingle LL, Macon, Georgia
West: Honolulu LL, Hawaii
East Schedule
July 31 – vs. Host, 6 p.m.
Aug. 1 – vs Asia-Pacific, 8 p.m.
Aug. 2 – off
Aug. 3 – vs. Southwest, 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 3 – vs. Latin America, 8 p.m.
Aug. 4 – Quarterfinals
Aug. 5 – Semifinals
Aug. 6 – Finals
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