Spring Grove's first round state playoff baseball game postponed

Spring Grove's baseball season will continue for at least one more day.

The Rockets' first round PIAA Class AAA state playoff game against Pottsville was postponed by showers that came through Pine Grove less than an hour before the teams were scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Monday. The game will now be played at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the same field.

"We got here, the grounds were a little damp and they really worked it up, the grounds crew did a great job," Spring Grove coach Kevin Stiffler said. "I think it would've been good, would've been nice playing conditions, but you get to this point and both coaches, we both agreed, that we weren't sure we could get seven in. You work for this moment, and we just felt like it was the best decision was to go at it tomorrow."

Skies were cloudy when the teams arrived more than an hour before the scheduled game time, but rain began around 3:20 while the Rockets were taking batting practice. Radar forecasts showed that the rain would likely continue for much of the afternoon and evening.

"We were checking radar coming up, and we thought we might be in the clear," Stiffler said. "Then all of the sudden, it just kind of changed. About 20 minutes before we were supposed to take batting practice, we checked, and there was a band on the radar."

By postponing the game, both teams avoided the possibility of having to continue a suspended game or end a game before a full seven innings had been played. Stiffler saw both set of circumstances arise during district play, first when his team had to suspend and resume a first-round game against Bishop McDevitt. While scouting his opponent for the next round, Stiffler saw Greencastle-Antrim beat Lampeter-Strasburg in a game that was called after five innings.

"For states, who wants that?" he said.

Spring Grove's Anthony Reed, the team's lone senior, will play Tuesday despite a conflict with the school's baccalaureate ceremony.