Sometimes things are just too good to be true. When it was announced that Game 3 was on as scheduled between West Marion and Southeast Lauderdale Monday after South Mississippi had been wrecked by severe weather the night before, it came as a surprise to many. But Mother Nature took that loss in stride, bringing lightning and more inclement weather just before the ninth inning began Monday night.
Frustration ran rampant throughout the West Marion dugout and the Foxworth faithful down the first base side of the Tigers’ baseball field, as those who made the near two-hour trek from Marion County weren’t too keen on making another trip Wednesday for what could be just one inning of play.
If I can speak for those who made the long trip back home Monday night, it certainly wasn’t fun driving through puddles upon puddles of a rain-drenched Interstate 59, but that’s baseball.
There are two sides of the coin on the conclusion of the game being pushed to Wednesday.
On one hand, it gives the Trojans a chance to regroup. West Marion held a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning in Monday’s Game 3 before surrendering a run in the sixth and two runs in the seventh to completely flip momentum in Southeast Lauderdale’s favor. The Trojans went from a team ready to dogpile to a team holding on for dear life in a matter of minutes.
It also gives the Trojans an opportunity to rest some of their arms, namely Kolby Stringer, who was made available Wednesday after pitching an eight-inning gem Friday that featured 12 strikeouts.
But, on the other side of the coin, Southeast Lauderdale gets Stephen Eakes back, who also delivered eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. That’s without mentioning the obvious home field advantage the Tigers will have after the Trojans made not one, not two but three bus trips to Meridian in a five-day span. (Sidenote: Is it fair that home field advantage in the postseason is determined by the numbering of what district you’re in? With West Marion being in Region 8 and Southeast Lauderdale being in Region 6, the Tigers would have home field no matter what. Interesting.)
While writing this Tuesday, I know I may not have been looking forward to making another trip, but the prospect of seeing these two teams go at it one more time was too tantalizing to pass up. One thing’s for certain: these are the best two teams in Class 3A. Each game has been a delight, with the total runs scored in the series being deadlocked to an even tie at 7-7.
The forecast appeared to be all clear for Wednesday’s resumption, and whether the Trojans were able to claim victory over Southeast Lauderdale and punch their ticket to their first state championship appearance in program history was anything but an assumption.
