For the second straight day inclement weather and unplayable field conditions wiped out the second round game between Walpole Post 104 and Hanover Post 149 in the American Legion State Final Eight. Heavy rains and thunderstorms have left Chicopee’s Szot Park unplayable until at least tonight and the tournament organizers scrambling to find an unsaturated diamond to get in some action.
East Longmeadow High proved to be one suitable alternative yesterday as the two elimination games were played, with Milford Post 59 posting a 13-4 win over East Longmeadow Post 293 and Newburyport Post 150 blanking host Chicopee Post 452 by an 11-0 count to eliminate the Western Massachusetts pair.
While Walpole and Hanover will get their day started at 9:30 a.m. in East Longmeadow, the other game between 1-0 teams, Weymouth Post 79 and Lowell Post 87 will be played at the same time at South Hadley High.
The waiting is truly the hardest part for the teams that are staying out there.
“They’re fine, they’re just chomping at the bit. All the guys were at the field (yesterday) at 10 o’clock watching the game,” said Walpole coach Chris Costello. “They just want to play. We went to the movies, we went out to dinner. There’s not much we can do, just sit and wait.”
Once they do finally retake a diamond, Eric Brown will start against Hanover.
Whichever teams lose its games will immediately find themselves fighting to stay alive, having to turn around and start up once again at approximately 1 p.m. at the same site. The Walpole-Hanover loser will take on Milford while Newburyport awaits the Weymouth-Lowell loser. It’s a position Post 104 knows all too well after last year’s tournament in Hudson when it went from the driver’s seat to eliminated in about eight hours with losses to Swampscott and Brockton.
Pitchers are limited to 12 innings over a three-day stretch, but since the four teams that have morning games sat for two days have had their innings reset and are available for a new 12 that would run through the end of the tournament, which needs to be completed by the end of Sunday.
Tournament organizers are hoping to get back on schedule by the end of tonight with the two winners of today’s morning contest being able to square off at some point today, with Szot Park being the preferred location for the game between the only 2-0 squads. A 20-person crew is expected to attempt to drain the field over the course of the day.
Massachusetts American Legion Athletic Committee Co-Chairman Roger Gagnon, who has been involved with the baseball program since 1995, is hopeful that the weather will hold and avoid the prospect of not being able to determine a champion on the field.
“We should be able to finish it now, if we get these games in (today),” said Gagnon. “I can play Saturday and from Saturday I’ll still have Sunday to get whatever games we don’t have, and I think we’re going to be able to get a winner an honest way.
After avoiding the rain and thunderstorms that dotted the Pioneer Valley for much of Tuesday, the host field has been under the gun since play concluded on opening day with “anywhere from 10-to-15 inches,” according to meteorologist Ed Carroll of WGGB-TV in Springfield, falling in the area.
“It’s hard to tell (exact measurements), Holyoke had eight (inches) in about three hours the other night, some places have had nothing,” said Carroll. “Two nights ago less than a mile from the station, there was five-and-half inches of rain in an hour, and it never rained here.”
Those hit-or-miss storms fired up once again yesterday and Carroll expects them to remain in the area today with relief in sight for the weekend.
DIRECTIONS TO EAST LONGMEADOW HIGH SCHOOL: I-90 (MassPike) West to Exit 6 (I-291). Turn left at toll plaza onto I-291 West and take Exit 1A (I-91 South). Follow I-91 to Exit 1 (U.S. 5 South). Follow U.S. 5 South for 0.6 miles and turn left onto Converse Street. Follow Converse Street to the end (2.4 miles) and take a right on Dwight Road and your first left onto Maple Street. East Longmeadow High School is 0.6 miles down on the right.
