Baseball: Weather postpones finish between Palatine, Prospect
It wasn’t a lightning fast finish for Palatine and Prospect Friday.
With the game in the bottom of the fourth and Palatine at bat leading 7-6, the game at Palatine was halted due to lightning detected in the area.
With the lightning detector still flashing 45 minutes later and the rain picking up intensity, the umpires and coaches determined to halt the game.
Because it was not an official game, the game was suspended. And even with both coaches experiencing personal commitments, the game will be completed, weather permitting, at 8 a.m. Saturday.
“These games are important for our seniors,” said Palatine coach Brent Carroll, whose daughter Kendra is graduating from Prairie Ridge Saturday morning.
“We lost a game like this last year when we had a lead. It was very similar to this game and we are looking to change that and give ourselves some momentum with the playoffs coming up.”
Palatine was able to grab an early lead against Prospect, striking for six runs in the top of the first.
Carter Monroe belted a wind-aided, two-run homer. The Pirates also took advantage of a pair of Prospect errors while Peter Mulhern drove in a pair of runs and Jett Griewe had an RBI single.
Each team scored a run in the second as Palatine led 7-1. Ken Munao drove in Jack Davis on a fielder’s choice for Prospect while David Oddo had an RBI single to score Ian Sherman for the Pirates.
Prospect picked up the pace in its next two at bats.
The Knights tallied three in the third on an RBI double by Louie Caldrone. After Davis walked, the pair moved up on a wild pitch. They both then scored on another wild pitch as Davis came flying home from second after the ball bounded away.
The Knights got two runs in the fourth. John Bazula drove in a pair with a single.
With the score 7-6 in the bottom of the fourth and the game already 90 minutes long, Sherman led off with a single. Lightning in the area then stopped the game until Saturday.
“The kids were resilient,” said Giusti, who will head out right after Saturday’s’ game to go to Valparaiso University where his son Connor will be playing his last home baseball game.
“They came out flat and they know it. We had to respond and I am glad we put ourselves in a position to potentially battle for the rest of the game.”
The game won’t affect the MSL standings for either team. Prospect (18-9, 9-5) had its East division title hopes crashed on Thursday when Hersey ( 23-6-1, 12-3) wrapped up the title with a 14-3 win over Hoffman Estates.
Palatine (21-8, (11-3), which was two games behind Fremd going into the Friday’s game, also cannot catch the division-leading Vikings. Fremd (24-1-1, 15-0) beat Elk Grove Friday 12-0.