Culver City and Glendora will have to wait approximately 20 hours to finish its high school baseball playoff game in the state of California. It will pick back up in the bottom of the 13th inning on the day after it started.
The contest was called due to darkness.
This unfortunate reality stems from a combination of poor planning and circumstance. There was no reason for this high school baseball game to start when it did at a stadium without lights.
Culver City leads Glendora 11-10 in the bottom of the 13th inning.
Glendora High School and Culver City are both located in Los Angeles County, California. However, they are separated by more than 35 miles, which takes no less than an hour by car. And depending on the time of day in Los Angeles, it can take much longer.
Both high school baseball programs compete in the CIF Southern Section as part of Los Angeles Metro. The Tartans won the Division 4 final. The Centaurs won the Division 5 final. They both advanced to the Regional bracket.
Glendora earned the No. 2 seed at 20-11. Culver City earned the No. 7 seed at 17-15-1. Their first round matchup got underway with the first pitch at 4:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday afternoon. The latter traveled to the former.
A lot of runs were scored. The game was tied at 10-10 after seven innings. High school baseball only plays seven innings. It went to extra innings.
The score held strong until the bottom of the 12th. On to the 13th!
Culver City finally broke the tie in the top of the 13th inning to take an 11-10 lead into the bottom half. Glendora immediately put a runner on first.
And then the game was put on pause due to darkness. The sun went down. It was unsafe to continue. Officials called it a day.
California will continue its high school baseball playoff game a day later.
The Tartans and Centaurs were pulled off of the field around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday night. They will return to the diamond at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon to pick back up in the bottom of the 13th inning with no outs and one runner on.
Here’s the thing…
Glendora High School does not have stadium lights for its baseball field. Although it was not expected to go 13+ innings, this game did not need to begin at 4:00 p.m. It could’ve started earlier. Light (or a lack thereof) would not be an issue.
There also should’ve been a backup plan. Azusa Pacific University is located just three miles from the high school. If the game was not going to be played at a facility with lights in the first place, it should’ve been moved up the road when light became a problem.
Instead, Culver City will now be forced to travel more than an hour across town at the start of rush hour to resume a game that could be over in three outs. To make matters worse, only one of the two schools is still in session. The Centaurs didn’t get back home until after 9:00 on Tuesday. They have to go to class during the day Wednesday before the game resumes in the evening.
The Tartans do not have this same schedule. They did not have to drive 37 miles home on Tuesday night. They do not have to go to class on Wednesday. The commute on Wednesday night is right around the corner.