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Monroe baseball falls in weather shortened battle with Warren

Baseball often is described as cruel. So is nature. And on Tuesday the two conspired to deliver a difficult 3-1 weather shortened loss at the hands of Warren County to a young William Monroe baseball squad in the Conference 28 semifinals.

 

“This was tough, I know,” said Wildcats coach Michael Minch. “The weather obviously just wouldn’t cooperate. Fortunately for us, we get the win. I’m proud of our guys for battling hard but I also feel for William Monroe.”

 

Playing in steady rain all game long, in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dragons had Tyler Gentry and Sal Coyle on third and second base resepctively. But after Bryce Slaughter struck out and the bat flew out of his hands because of the wet conditions, the umpires gathered. It was the second time it happened in as many innings. With the conditions in the dirt awfully muddy too and both opposing pitchers struggling to grip the ball, the decision was made by the crew to call the game. While the Dragons appealed for a delay to try and clean up the field and see if the rain would lighten up, it fell on deaf ears.

 

“I’ve never seen something like this happen,” said Monroe coach Mike Maynard. “It’s been raining like this since we started the game and I thought they could have at least allowed us to work on the field to try and get it dry. We had 50 bags of stay dry. But I guess not. This is just a tough way to go out. We had two guys on with one out and we’ve won a lot of games in the sixth and seventh inning this year. This just makes it harder.”

 

Five innings must be played by VHSL rules for a game to be called final. Anything short of that requires a suspension and then resumption of play. Technically speaking by VHSL rules, the sixth inning did not count since it was never finished.

 

Warren County took the lead in the top of the fifth when Ronnie Dodson hit a two-out two-run home run after Cam Ford was walked. The game’s last hit — and there were five total — gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead that ultimately held.

 

“Our sophomore catcher, he had a passed ball the inning before and he comes back and absolutely wipes that out by crushing a ball over the fence to centerfield,” Minch said. “I couldn’t be happier for him.”

 

The two squads traded runs in the fourth. Warren got on board with a pair of walks and a groundrule RBI double from Brendan MCMackin. Monroe starter R.J. Payne was able to work out of the rest of the jam with a pair of strikeouts. The Dragons picked up their lone run of the game after a pair of hit batsmen and a passed ball that allowed Jonathan Sexton to score.

 

The loss ends Monroe’s season (17-5) while Warren County picks up a Region 3A East bid. The Dragons graduate a pair of seniors including Gentry and Payne. Gentry was 0-for-1 with a walk in his final game. Payne was 1-for-3 and pitched 4.2 innings, struck out 10 batters and gave up just three hits in his final outing.

 

“We’re going to miss R.J. and Tyler so much,” Maynard said. “They’ve meant so much to this program and are going to be so hard to replace obviously. But I’m proud of them and all the young guys who worked their tails off all year.”

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