Jun. 25—SIGOURNEY — It was shaping up to become a tight battle down the stretch between the Sigourney Savages and Cardinal Comets on Thursday. But Mother Nature had other plans.
With one out and the bases loaded for Cardinal in the top of the fourth inning, rain began to fall, with two lightning strikes to match, putting the game into a temporary delay. After the brief pause, officials met with both coaches at midfield and called it off, with Sigourney coaches and players waving goodbye to the Comets in the adjacent dugout.
After three and a 1/3 innings, the Savages and Comets were done, with the Savages walking off their home field with a 6-5 no-contest.
Before the elements would interfere, the Sigourney bats were causing their own fits for Cardinal starting pitcher Blaine Bryant.
The Savages jumped on Cardinal in the first, plating five runs on two walks, three hits and an error. Sigourney found itself on top 5-0 after one inning of play. Max Phillips and Cade Molyneux both had two-run singles in the half inning to help build the Savages’ lead.
“We just started hitting the ball right away. I don’t think [Cardinal] was prepared for us as far as hitting the ball like we did out of the gates,” Sigourney head coach Lee Crawford said.
“It was great to see us attack like that. We’re gonna see faster pitchers than tonight but I still thought it was good.”
But Cardinal wouldn’t go away. The Comets would have a run-scoring inning of their own in the second, plating three runs thanks in large part to a two-run home-run from Tristan Clarke. The long-ball was Clarke’s first of the season.
The Comets would make it a 5-3 game as it headed into the third.
Cardinal head coach Rick Scott said he liked how his group responded as the game went on, not letting the first inning woes stick with them all night.
And with the Comets scoring 12-plus runs in the last two games, Scott expected the bats to come up with runs at some point.
“First inning we didn’t get on the board and had a rough outing on defense, but then we found ourselves and we’ve been putting up runs last few games so I had a feeling we would find a way to break through,” Scott said.
“That’s kind of what this team does. They just keep battling and eventually they break through with some runs.”
The Comets kept that slowly-but-surely mentality all night, scoring two more runs in the third and fourth innings to make the Savages sweat as their lead had been cut to 6-5.
In the top of the fourth, Cardinal loaded the bases with one out after a pair of walks from Sigourney freshman pitcher Reed Molyneux. But then the rain hit and the game would eventually be left there.
“It’s tough we didn’t have a chance to see how we would come up there but you can’t do anything about it,” Scott said.
Crawford said Thursday’s matchup would likely not be made up given the late-season schedules for both schools. When asked if the game would be made up, Crawford said “I doubt it.”
“We only have one open date, but we’re vying for a conference title so I really can’t fill it,” Crawford said.
The Comets will head back home to face the Central Lee Hawks Tuesday at 7 p.m. Sigourney will travel to take on their SICC rival in the Keota Eagles on Friday at 6 p.m.
Matt Belinson can be reached at mbelinson@ottumwacourier.com.