Photos by Heather Belcher
New Richmond – Wyoming East and Oak Hill opened the high school baseball season on March 15 in a game that was halted by rain after three innings at Jerry Epperly Field.
Monday night in the War Zone, the two teams finished that March contest before rain and other elements reared their ugly head forcing another postponed game.
What started as a beautiful sunny day quickly changed as darkness approached.
Lightening forced the players to be removed from the field after the first pitch had been thrown in the regularly scheduled game.
Any hopes of completing the game were dashed when lightning turned to a deluge of rain and hail flooding the field.
Prior to Mother Nature’s intervention, the completion of the March game was an entertaining battle won by the Red Devils, 8-7 in 10 innings.
When the game resumed in the top of the fourth inning, Wyoming East held a 5-4 lead after scoring four runs in the third inning back in March.
Both teams threatened in the early going, but neither could push a runner across the plate until the bottom of the sixth.
Trent Rider tied the game 5-5 when he reached on a one-out single and scored on a double from Jayden McLain.
Following a scoreless seventh, the Warriors regained the lead in the eighth inning.
Jarred Phillips gave East a 7-5 advantage with a two-out double scoring Lucas Kennedy and Gage Cooper, but the Warriors could not close the deal.
A two-out walk to Rider haunted the Warriors when he scored on a drive from McLain that hit the top of the fence in left for his second double of the night.
When McLain stole third, the ball evaded the third baseman, allowing the Red Devil senior to score the tying run, knotting the game at 7-7.
The Warriors had a golden opportunity to score in the top of the 10th inning following a lead-off double from Miken Smyth.
Three nice plays on the infield by the Red Devils erased the threat, giving them a chance to end the game with a run in the bottom of the frame.
Saylem Blake reached on an error and advanced to second base on a single from Rider with one out.
Wyoming East moved a step closer to escaping the threat with a ground ball out, but the Warriors could not come up with crucial final out of the inning to extend the game.
Oak Hill pitcher Hunter Elswick singled to right, sending Rider home with the game-winner.
Connor Smith had three hits for the Red Devils and Rider had two. Smyth collected three hits for East and Phillips drove in three runs.
