1A/2A State Softball: The Wet Weekend That Was

In an event that is all about kids trying to accomplish the goal of winning a state championship, a mother stole the show at this year's IHSA small school State Softball Finals in East Peoria.

Mother Nature, that is.

Rain made this year's Finals an interesting one. With rain on the horizon, a decision was made to move Milledgeville's Class 1A semifinal game with Illini Bluffs from EastSide Centre's main diamond (Mizuno Field) to the alternate diamond (Diamond 3). The game started at 11:45 a.m., 45 minutes before the scheduled start time, and played at the same time the other 1A semifinal between Toledo Cumberland and Goreville was wrapping up.

Small droplets of rain pelted both diamonds throughout the afternoon, and a lightning delay stalled action for at least 30 minutes. Then with more rain coming, another decision was made to start St. Bede's Class 2A semifinal game with Tremont at 2 p.m. - one hour earlier than the scheduled start.

While Milledgeville was wrapping up a 10-3 semifinal win over Illini Bluffs, St. Bede was struggling with the unbeaten Turks and trailing 4-1 after three innings.

Then came another delay in the action. But it did nothing to stop Tremont from surging ahead to a 6-1 lead. In the top of the seventh, the Lady Bruins were able to put two on the board, but it wasn't enough for a 6-3 loss.

The playoff winning streak snapped, the Lady Bruins had to regroup to try to close the season out with a win the next day – or so they thought.

Rain didn't quite skew the scheduling of games at EastSide as difficultly as it did for the IHSA State Baseball Finals at Dozer Park in Peoria. The Class 2A semifinal tilt between Eureka and Pleasant Plains was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning, and resumed at 9 a.m. the following morning.

However, the rain created an unprecedented scenario for the Softball State Finals.

The Class 1A third-place game between Goreville and Illini Bluffs (a 13-6 Goreville win) was played without a trace of rain. Then when the National Anthem was about to begin for Millledgeville's title game with Cumberland, the droplets made a comeback.

Off and on the drops appeared until a barrage of them was too much for the game to be safely played.

At that time, Milledgeville led Cumberland 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning. Paige Oakley reached base on an error by Jenna Adolph at third base to put one on with no out. Due up was the one, two, three hitters for the Pirates.

However, the momentum came to a halt as IHSA personnel motioned to home plate umpire Roger Pfeister to halt the game at around 2:30 p.m.

The tarp was stretched out to cover the infield dirt and the waiting game began.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained.

And rained.

Then the sky got dry at around 3:15 and a hint of sun appeared from the sky. Both Milledgeville and Cumberland made their way back to their respective dugouts at around 3:30.

But on the other end of the sunshine was another storm cell. About a half hour after returning to the dugouts, both teams returned back to their respective tournament headquarters'.

It rained.

And rained.

And rained.

And rained.

The IHSA personnel gathered for a meeting with personnel from EastSide Centre under the picnic area near Diamond 3. There, several calls were made, several glances at radars were made, and several strings had to be pulled in order to get things back up and running again.

At around 5:15 the rain had finally let up to where a small sprinkle was the only concern. Fifteen minutes later, the outfield was being evaluated by plenty of muddy feet. During this time, the IHSA personnel paced along the tarp to ponder its decision: there was still a 1A champion to be crowned, with both 2A games yet to be played.

Existed was a chance that St. Bede and Nashville (who lost 3-2 to Kankakee Bishop MacNamara in the other semifinal) would tie for third place in 2A, similar to what Moline and Elk Grove Village went through in Class 4A in 2009.

The tarp came off of the infield at 6:10. At least two hours was needed to get the field back into playing shape.

Target time was 8:15 for the 1A title game to be resumed. Then the decision was made to push the 2A games to Sunday. St. Bede and Nashville would start at 11 a.m. and Tremont and Bishop MacNamara would battle for the 2A title at 1 p.m.

Fighting a recommended curfew time of 10 p.m., there was simply no way the field was going to be playable that night. The chances of injury were too great with a swampy outfield – especially in a case where two teams that can hit the ball one-through-nine can give outfielders a workout.

Just 45 minutes before the game was set to resume, the decision was made over the loudspeaker. The game was declared official and Milledgeville celebrated a state championship on its charter bus.

Had the game been halted at any point before the midpoint of the fourth inning, chances are the game would have been resumed at a later date. After all, according to the IHSA Terms and Conditions in section VII, sub-section J, paragraph 1: “The first priority is to crown a champion.” However, the game was already official, having been stopped in the top of the sixth inning.

Section VII, sub-section D explains postponements further. Paragraph 1 states, “If a game in any tournament must be postponed because of rain or wet grounds, or if a game is called by the umpires because of rain, darkness, or other reasons that are in accordance with the National Federation Softball

Rules, it is ruled a 'suspended game and shall be continued from the point of suspension at a later time' unless provisions of Rule 4-2-3 have been met making it a regulation game. Any game that is not an official game will be considered a suspended game.”

Paragraph 5 states, “It is recommended that no start or continuation of a suspended game will begin

later than 10:00 p.m.”

Moving the conclusion of the 1A title game to a future date would be in violation of Paragraph 1. Imagine a case where the IHSA did decide to resume the 1A title game to another date, and Cumberland came back to win. Could Milledgeville protest to the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS), the governing body of all softball rules?

All said and done, Diamond 3 – which was not tarped during the long delay – was put into use for the awards ceremony. The Milledgeville team and faithful made its way there first, followed a few minutes later by those from Cumberland. The Milledgeville fans and players applauded at the sight of Cumberland arriving to claim its second place trophy.

With the diamond lights on, a dark sky beyond the left field fence, and a lighter sky beyond the right field fence, Milledgeville hoisted the 1A championship trophy, while a visibly upset Cumberland squad held onto the second place trophy with proper care.

Thus ending a very interesting Saturday at the IHSA State Finals.

But there was one more day left.

St. Bede, who was all smiles before and even after its 6-3 loss to Tremont, kept thinking positive about the whole situation. This being the first time that the program advanced to the State Finals, the “happy to be here” vibe was certainly apparent.

The Lady Bruins came away with a trophy, alright. It was the fourth place trophy after a 1-0 loss to Nashville.

No rain involved.

(Throughout the week, NISB will be updated with bits of coverage from this year's 1A and 2A State Softball finals.)