City tilt officially kaput

LHS, FSHS baseball must wait for sub-state

The players and coaches were ready to go, but the field at Hoglund Ballpark was not.

And so, any possibility of finishing the baseball game that started Thursday between Free State High and Lawrence High was washed away Friday.

Play came to a halt in the top of the third inning Thursday because of rain with the Firebirds ahead, 5-4. Free State’s Lorenzo Ricketts was due to bat at 5:30 p.m. Friday with teammate Brett Lisher on third base with one out, picking up where Thursday’s game left off.

Now, it might as well never have happened. Five innings have to be complete for a high school baseball game to count.

“Of course we want to play, and I’m sure their kids and coaches did too, but sometimes decisions aren’t in your hands, and I guess this is one of those,” said Free State coach Mike Hill, who received a phone call around noon Friday about the game’s fate.

“Today is certainly understandable. You have the health of their field and the health of the players to think about for today. But Saturday seemed like a viable option.”

There was talk of waiting until today because Hoglund’s main tenants, the Kansas University baseball team, would be out of town this weekend.

The Lawrence High and Free State baseball squads will learn their official Class 6A sub-state pairings today.¢ The Firebirds will be a No. 2 seed and play host to No. 7 Leavenworth either Wednesday or Thursday.¢ The Lions will be seeded fifth and likely will play No. 4 Topeka Washburn Rural on Tuesday in Manhattan.

But a Saturday game was out because of possible complications with Lawrence High’s graduation Sunday.

LHS athletic director Ron Commons cited “field conditions and other commitments over the weekend with graduation” as the administration’s official reasons for its decision.

At 3:15 p.m., LHS coach Brad Stoll had yet to tell his team the bad news, but he already knew what the unanimous response would be.

“They’re going to be disappointed,” Stoll said. “Our club was looking forward to finishing the game. The decision was made, and we have to deal with that.”

The Firebirds (16-3) and Lions (8-11) will find out today their Class 6A sub-state pairings. Hill said his team — as a No. 2 seed — likely would play host to No. 7 Leavenworth either Wednesday or Thursday. If the Firebirds advance, they likely would play the winner of No. 3 Topeka and No. 6 Emporia.

video 6Sports video: Firebirds win canceled game

Stoll said his No. 5-seeded Lions were likely to play No. 4 Washburn Rural on Tuesday at Manhattan, then if LHS advanced it would play the winner of No. 1 Manhattan and No. 8 Junction City.