Last night I umpired for the second consecutive night. It was a Little League game (which is all I'm doing) between Summit's "Colts" and the Angels, which I believe are from Springfield. I've done games for both these teams before, and they're both decent clubs, though on purely a talent basis I'd give the edge to the Angels.
Their lefty starter had speed to burn and a little movement. The lefty I saw them pitch last time had even more movement on his pitches though not quite as much speed. Frankly, if I were grooming these kids for professional play I'd take the kid with the moving pitches. But the Angels didn't score any runs until the fourth inning, when they got four. The Colts came back, scratching out a run against the tough lefty. Then in the fifth they got two more, as the lefty's steam puttered out. It went to the bottom of the seventh and the Colts got a two out hit to drive in the tying run.
I briefly considered calling the game there. But it was only 7:50 and I thought that given the pace of the game these kids might be able to fit in one last inning. I told the coaches we'd play one more and I would make sure to keep it moving. With one out the Angels got a kid on base to start the eighth and I was afraid I'd made a mistake. The center fielder hadn't seen the ball. I again considered calling it, but we continued. The Angels weren't able to put the run across as the pinch runner got thrown out at second trying to steal. Excellent throw by the catcher.
The Colts put some pressure on the Angels. To cut to the chase, they loaded the bases (mostly on walks) with two outs. We were down to our last batter. With a full count, the batter dribbled one up the third base line. The fielder got it and shoved the ball to the man covering third, just in time. It was tight and I heard a few complaints, but the ball beat the runner on the force. Game over, tie score 4-4. I'd say that was the best Little League game I've seen since I was playing in them
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For clarification, when I wrote "We were down to our last batter," I meant "The game was down to its last batter." I had no allegiance to either team. Clearly, on a field without lights in a tie game in the bottom of the eighth, bases loaded and two outs, no other hitter would be coming to the plate. And as I think about it, I don't think the count was full on that last batter; I think it was 1-2, perhaps 0-2. The batter was not too pleased with the second strike called, which he thought was outside.
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