mwball.com

March-Westin defeated ERA by forfeit Tuesday night in what proved to be a drama filled event.

Boparc officials decided to play Tuesday nights games in spite of the weather which continued to bring rain throughout the night, leaving the field in an almost comical state of mud puddles.

After completing their first game of the night, team ERA and MW agreed to continue play as scheduled in spite of the poor conditions.

MW pulled out to a quick lead as they played near perfect defense. James had a no-hitter going through two innings and only one walk. While MW had sloped in 7 runs of their own.

This trend showed no signs of changing when Tony of ERA injured himself during a diving catch in left field. As he limped off the field, the clear frustration of the ERA began to boil over. Derek made the comment that he refused to see anyone else get hurt (because of the weather) as he walked off the field. He then informed the umpire that he did not care how it was scored, “even if it means we forfeit.”

The umpire was clearly unsure on how to handle the situation, of which she had quickly lost control, and informed MW that she would confer with her colleagues and inform us of the decision the next day. This surprised many of the MW players because the simple act of ERA walking off the field seemed to imply a forfeit, but MW was confident that when the situation was explained to the head official that he would come to the same realization and MW would not be forced to replay the game at a later date. (Side note: March-Westin already knew that they would be shorthanded if forced to play the game at a later date.)

Wednesday morning March-Westin players were informed that they would be required to replay the entire game from the beginning that Thursday. Not only would MW struggle the field a full team due to schedule conflicts but this decision seemed to defy common logic.

Coach Tom promptly contacted Boparc to get clarification on the ruling and to ensure that they were fully aware of the previous night’s events, clarifying to them that they had in fact already played 2 innings and fully intended to finish the game that night. Upon hearing this information the Boparc officials reversed their decision and awarded March-Westin the victory.

MWBall has learned that many of the ERA players are not happy with the ruling by Boparc, suggesting that March-Westin had sweet talked their way into a victory that they did not deserve. Having seen the communications that took place first hand I can assure you this is far from the truth. In reality Boparc was poorly informed from the beginning, not realizing that the game had already started.

The players of March-Westin hold no ill feelings towards ERA and its players, however they do feel that the correct decision was ultimately made and that it is unfortunate that such confusion and miss-information was being propagated.

MW will be credited with a 7-0 victory by forfeit over team ERA.

Aye, Papi, I did not know you could do it like that: Nick-9, Jackson-3, Wimer-3, Brian-2, Jennings-1