SPRING HILL – As volunteers put the finishing touches on a cleaned-up field at the end of a near 2 ½-hour rain delay Thursday night, the radar indicated more rough weather was on the way at Anderson Snow Sports Complex.
But with just 3 ½ innings left to complete in the potential final game of the Dixie Baseball AAA Minors (age 9-10) All-Stars District 6 Tournament, an hour window seemed like enough.
Yet two and a half hours later, and just a shade before midnight, the crowd finally got in their cars and headed home, having watched Spring Hill American White pull off a 2-0 victory over previously unbeaten South Sumter in 11 innings, five more than normal for this age group.
Nearly six hours after the initial 6 p.m. start, one of the tournament hosts had forced a winner-take-all championship tilt on Friday, avenging a 9-5 loss to the same team on Tuesday. Both squads are already guaranteed a spot at states.
“It’s definitely a good thing, so can’t complain about that. It’s been a long week for sure, lot of rain delays,” SH American White head coach John McMurdo said. “We struggled a little bit throughout the week but we overcame it tonight. Heck of a job by these guys. It was a pitchers’ duel. Can’t give those other guys on the other side enough credit, either. They played a heck of a game.
“These guys stuck together, our team. The pitching was phenomenal. Then we had a couple big hits there at the end of the game and a couple walks went our way, and Raymond Groetsch went out there and shut it down. So it’s great, one more night.”
One of three Spring Hill entries into the double-elimination tournament, SH American White had defeated Spring Hill National on opening day June 17, 11-1, then beat Wildwood the next day, 15-1.
Monday’s action was washed out, and SH American White returned on Tuesday, losing to South Sumter. On Wednesday, SH American White knocked off SH National for a second time, 12-8.
South Sumter, meanwhile, eliminated Spring Hill American Navy on Wednesday, 10-0, leaving it one win away from the crown.
When Thursday’s game began, starting pitchers Dalton Williams for SH American White and Jackson Gill for South Sumter were cruising when lightning was spotted one batter into the bottom of the third inning. A torrential downpour soon followed, eventually forcing a shift to the neighboring field on higher ground.
Play finally resumed at 9:16 p.m. and both Williams and Gill continued their mastery. Only the 75-pitch limit forced both to leave the mound, Gill lasting 5 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and a walk while striking out three. The lefty Williams went 6 1/3 frames, also permitting five hits, walking two against eight strikeouts.
Groetsch and Kaden Ellis took over the pitching respectively, the zeroes remained on the scoreboard. As Ellis neared his pitch limit, he retired the first two batters in the top of the 11th, before Brandon Higgins and Brady McMurdo hit back-to-back doubles to break the scoreless deadlock.
Mikey Rizzuto, Cameron Najuch and Andrew Ward worked three straight walks off a pair of relievers to bring in an insurance run. Groetsch tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to end it, going 4 2/3 innings, scattering four hits and two walks, fanning five batters.
“Dalton, he’s just been amazing throughout the whole tournament. But tonight, his knuckleball was working great, he’s got that curveball and his fastball is just pretty explosive,” Coach McMurdo said. “With the pitch-calling we were doing, we were able to keep the guys out in front a little bit. They’ve got a ton of power, so we were trying to speed their bats up even more, and just throwing some of the off-speed stuff, it worked well.
“Raymond came in and just kind of picked up where he left off, and did a good job.”
By rule, both teams wouldn’t have their top two arms available in Friday’s rematch. Regardless, SH American White was happy to have made another game necessary.
“It’s tough. They knew it was an elimination night,” Coach McMurdo said. “I actually give those guys a lot of credit, because the week we’ve had, we’ve overcome some of our struggles with the bats, some struggles on defense. But it seemed like tonight it just clicked with them.
“The rain delay is obviously concerning, when you have a rain delay that long, especially after the rain delay last night, as well. But they came together and found the will power, and I’ve got to give Zach Hotop a lot of credit, too. He caught 11 innings tonight. So great job.”
SH National rebounded from its opening loss to its league brethren with a 15-3 thumping of South Lake the next day, and an 8-7 triumph over San Antonio on Tuesday. SH American Navy lost 16-4 to South Sumter on opening day, topped Brooksville on Sunday, 15-3, and Wildwood on Tuesday, 16-5. Brooksville lost to San Antonio on the first day, 7-4.
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.