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Rain slides championship game to Thursday evening
By Ralph Pokorny
Nevada Daily Mail
The Nevada Griffons won two of the three games they attempted to play this past weekend. But the big winner was the weather, as it caused several delays and finally brought the second annual National Baseball Congress Tournament of Champions qualifying tournament to a halt Monday afternoon, during the championship game.
The game between the Griffons and the Slashers will be replayed on July 8 at Champion Diamonds, at 7 p.m., with the winning team receiving a berth in the NBC World Series in Wichita.
The thunderstorms that tore through Nevada early Monday dumped about one-quarter of an inch of rain at the Champion Diamonds complex southeast of town, but that was enough, on top of the previous rainfall to delay the start of the championship game from 1 p.m. to about 3:45 p.m.
The entire tournament had already been pushed back one day due to rain on Friday, and more rain Sunday morning delayed the Griffons 10 a.m. game to 2:30 p.m.
When the championship game started Monday, thunder was still rumbling from a storm that had just passed to the south of the complex and dark clouds were moving in.
The Slashers went scoreless in the first inning.
When the Griffons came to bat, cloud-to-ground lightning was visible to the west and the field lights were already on.
Several fans were packing up their chairs and heading for shelter.
Korey Drew led off for the Griffons hitting his first home run of the summer over the left field fence.
Mickey Nichol struck out and Nick Shay was at bat when suddenly a lightning bolt struck close to the field, bringing the game to an immediate end, ultimately costing Drew his home run.
The Slashers and the umpires headed for shelter and away from the towering metal light poles, chain link fence and wire dug outs during the lightning display, but the Griffons opted to stay in their dugout.
Shortly after the numerous lightning strikes and booming thunder was joined by another heavy rain shower that rendered the field unplayable.
After several telephone calls and a lengthy discussion between the coaches, it was decided to replay the entire game at 7 p.m. Thursday, at Champion Diamonds.
On Saturday, the Griffons, who won the tournament last year, beat the Slashers 9-2 in their tournament opener.
The Slashers jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second inning that lasted until the Griffons half of the inning when they sent nine batters to the plate scoring five runs. They added two in each the fifth and sixth innings for a 9-1 lead.
The Slashers scored their final run in the ninth inning to provide the final margin of victory and move into the loser's bracket where they had to play and win two games on Sunday to work their way to the championship game.
Rain struck again early Sunday morning delaying the Griffons 10 a.m. game with the Springfield Generals until 2:30 p.m. The Griffons beat the Generals 15-2 earning a place in the championship game.
The Generals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Griffons tied it in the third. The Griffons added a second run in the fourth inning and two more in both the fifth and sixth innings for a 6-1 lead.
In the seventh inning the Griffons added four more runs taking an 11-1 lead and putting the Griffons in a position to end the game early.
The Generals ended any thought of a mercy-rule shortened game by scoring their second run in the bottom of the seventh inning and holding the Griffons scoreless in the eighth.
The Griffons added four more runs in the ninth inning to win 15-2, handing the Generals their first loss in the tournament.
The Generals played the Slashers Sunday night immediately after their loss to the Griffons, losing 6-2.
The Griffons next game will be this afternoon if the weather permits in El Dorado, Kan. with the Broncos to make one of two games rained out several weeks ago. The Broncos have had 13 games rained out so far this summer.
On Wednesday, the Griffons play the Parkville Sluggers in Parkville.
Their scheduled game with St. Joseph, since it is not a league game and will not need to be made up, was canceled so the Griffons could replay the championship game with the Slashers.
The Griffons host the Sluggers on Friday night and the Tahlequah, Okla. Bandits are in town on Saturday.
On July 11, the Griffons leave for their annual trek to southwest Kansas to play the Elkhart Dusters and Liberal Bee Jays.