Baseball: Rain Suspends Lancer Battle in Bottom of the Seventh

The La Salle and Bishop Amat baseball teams were just three outs away from wrapping up a Del Rey League game Wednesday afternoon, but the home plate umpire had seen enough.

As the rain poured down at La Salle’s home stadium, the umpire waved his hands to abruptly end the game after Bishop Amat reliever David Berg threw just one pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning.

But after protests from both coaching staffs, the umpire acquiesced and play resumed. One out and one wild pitch later, however, he changed his mind, and the game was suspended with Bishop Amat holding a 9-4 lead. Play is expected to resume April 15 at La Salle with Berg back on the mound and La Salle senior Nick Crow at the plate with one out in the seventh.

“Their pitcher was slipping (on the mound), so he didn’t feel it was safe for him,” said La Salle coach Harry Agajanian on the umpire’s explanation for calling the game.

"We said at the beginning we'd go suspended game, and that's probably fair,” Bishop Amat coach Andy Nieto said. “Unless the bylaws say something different, we'll continue next time. If for some reason our league constitution says it has to be an official game, then we can't change the rule." 

The sudden ending seemed like the correct course of action given the odd atmosphere that engulfed Wednesday’s game. Play began with a controversial call at home plate when Bishop Amat’s Adam Alcantara was ruled out on a bang-bang play to end the top of the first inning. Then both teams battled the elements for the remaining six frames, as the harsh rain and wind combined to create a climate ill-suited for baseball. La Salle’s Garry Goebel even attempted to don a sweatshirt in left field during the top of the sixth to escape the cold, but his efforts to stay warm were quickly dashed, and he had to play the rest of the inning in his standard uniform.

But as uncomfortable as the weather made La Salle, Bishop Amat’s lineup was a bigger issue.

Goebel started the game for La Salle, and after wiggling out of jams in the first and second innings, he ran out of luck in the top of the third.

Bishop Amat centerfielder Jay Anderson ripped a 2-0 pitch over the left field fence to tie the game at one. Two more hits and seven batters later, Bishop Amat had built a 3-1 lead and had shown why it’s ranked No. 2 in the Los Angeles Times’ high school baseball rankings.

“They’re not ranked No. 2 for nothing,” Agajanian said. “They’re good. They play well. They’re steady — nothing fazes them. We went up on them, but they play hard.” 

Bishop Amat tacked on three more runs in the fourth off Goebel, who gave up six runs in three-plus innings.

La Salle's three relief pitchers fared no better than Goebel as Bishop Amat finished the day with 17 total hits. Alacantara went 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored to lead Bishop Amat, while Anderson went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two runs.

Bishop Amat starter Daniel Zamora lasted 4 2-3 innings on the mound, striking out seven and allowing two earned runs on six hits.

"Zamora gave us a good chance like he always does,” Nieto said.

Chris Williams and Nick Brown each hit solo home runs for La Salle.