Maryville was just one base knock or walk away from winning its high school softball playoff game against East Hamilton. And then it was put on pause due to inclement weather.
The game was forced to resume approximately 12 hours later.
This would not have been an issue if the high school softball umpires showed up on time. They were late.
Maryville was tied with East Hamilton in the bottom of the 7th.
Maryville High School is located in Maryville, Tennessee, approximately 35 miles west of Gatlinburg on the east side of the state. It enrolls ~1,250 students in Grades 9-12. East Hamilton High School is located in Ooltewah, Tennessee, right outside of Chattanooga. It also enrolls ~1,250 students in Grades 9-12.
The Rebels and the Hurricanes both compete on the Division-I Class 4A level of high school softball in the Volunteer State. The former ranks No. 12 in the state while the latter ranks No. 11. They met in the second round of the Tennessee state playoffs winner’s bracket on Wednesday evening. The game was played at the Starplex facility in Murfreesboro.
It was originally supposed to get underway at noon. However, a pretty steady rain throughout the morning forced a lengthy weather delay across the region. First pitch between Maryville and East Hamilton was bumped back to 5:00 p.m. (ish). Timing very quickly became an issue.
High school softball plays only seven innings. The Rebels and the Hurricanes played a little bit more than six and a half. The game was tied at three runs apiece going into the bottom half of the seventh.
Maryville quickly loaded the bases with no outs. A sac fly, a bloop single to the outfield, or a walk would’ve scored the game-winning run. One base-knock would’ve ended the game. Barring a catastrophic collapse with three-straight outs, the Rebels were probably going to win the game.
And then it came to a complete halt.
The Tennessee high school softball playoff game was postponed because the umpires were late.
Due to inclement weather in Murfreesboro, the rest of the Class 4A Tournament game between East Hamilton and Maryville was postponed with the bases loaded and no one out in the bottom of the seventh. The rain started to fall before the seventh inning but the game was unable to continue due to lightning in the area around 8:30 p.m.
As a result, the Rebels were forced to halt their potential game winning at-bat with just three outs left in the game (unless the score somehow remained tied and forced extra innings). They were told to pick things back up on Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. at the same Starplex field.
This probably would not have been an issue if the umpires showed up on time but they were 20/30 minutes late. I don’t know exactly why they were not there on time so I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps they were coming from an earlier game. Maybe it was a miscommunication.
Regardless of the reason, Maryville likely could’ve ended the game in the bottom of the seventh if the umpires were on time. Instead, the game was bumped to the morning.
If that was not awkward enough, the game was moved to McKnight Park and it did not take long for more rain to cause another problem. It was announced at 7:00 a.m. that the game would not be happening at 9:00 a.m. Fortunately, things started to clear up. The originally-scheduled first pitch was back on.
None of this would’ve been an issue (probably) if the high school softball umpires just showed up on time. The Rebels probably would’ve scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday night. They had nobody out with ducks on the pond. And then it came to a complete halt.