Mt. Blue’s David McDonald is called safe after Lewiston third baseman Jared Rubin applies the tag during a Class A baseball game in Lewiston on Friday.
LEWISTON — With a soaking spring that just might rival any rain forest in South America, you can’t blame the Lewiston and Mt. Blue high school baseball teams for trying sneak in a game under threatening skies Friday.
The few drops of rain eventually turned into a steady stream, turning an already soaked field into a muddy mess. Umpires suspended the game just before the fourth inning began, leaving the two teams stranded with a 2-2 tie. The game will be resumed at a later date.
“The ump came up to me and said it’s too dangerous. I can’t let them play if someone gets hurt,” Lewiston coach Will Emerson said. “We can’t let them go anymore, and so they called it. They said they were at their limit.”
Despite a steady rain, the teams played on, and it was the Cougars who struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning.
Catcher Ethan Andrews started the ball rolling with a hit. Andrews moved to second when his Mt. Blue teammate David McDonald got on ith a solid hit. McDonald tried to steal second base and was thrown out, but his efforts allowed Andrews to score, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead. Pitcher Alex Philbrick got on with a walk and eventually scored on a sacrifice.
The Blue Devils found their groove when Mt. Blue made two key errors that allowed Gordon Beckwith and Owen Cox home for Lewiston’s two runs. Jack LeBlond picked up an RBI along the way.
At that point, the baselines, mound and ground in front of both dugouts looked like quicksand. That’s when the umpires called the game after the third inning.
“I thought that because they wanted us to try to get the game in … and it was like they were doing everything they could go get the game completed — especially with Lewiston coming back and tied it up. I thought they were going to finish the game,” Mt. Blue coach Stephen Lancaster said.
“They were willing to go to this point. Enter the top of the fourth and they decided to call it right then and there. I think it is too bad that they actually were willing to call it this point, but at the same time send us all the way down here into a storm and then call it after three.”
Lewiston coach Will Emerson, left, and athletic director Jason Fuller, right, act as groundskeepers in the rain during a baseball in Lewiston on Friday.
The ball gets past Mt. Blue first baseman Wyatt Viles in a baseball game against Lewiston on Friday.
Lewiston second baseman Owen Cox gets ready to try and tag out Mt. Blue’s David McDonald in a stolen-base attempt during a Class A baseball game in Lewiston on Friday.
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