The Barrington U12 All-Star team's first-ever game at the Little League World Series was put on hold because of lightning strikes and heavy rain on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Shortly after the National …
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The Barrington U12 All-Star team's first-ever game at the Little League World Series was put on hold because of lightning strikes and heavy rain on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Shortly after the National Anthem was played and the first pitch was thrown, the public address announcer at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa. informed the thousands of spectators that lightning had been reported in the area and there would be a 30-minute delay to the start of the game.
Players from Barrington and South Riding, Va. sat inside their dugouts or upon the steps leading to the field. Coaches stood just off the infield grass.
Fans of the New England team milled about the bleachers and tried to catch a glimpse of the Barrington players, who were stationed inside the third base dugout. Some people looked to the sky, wondering where exactly the lightning strike had been. The sun was still shining, the air was still hot and everyone was ready for some baseball.
After about 35 minutes, the announcer's voice replaced the soundtrack of rock n roll and other hits pounding through the stadium speakers.
Another lightning strike was reported in the area — another rain delay of 30 more minutes.
Eventually, the weather filling the skies around Lamade Field began to mimic the repeated weather delays. Heavy gray clouds rolled in thick over the stadium and a strong wind whipped over the top of the grandstand. Camera operators for ESPN draped plastic tarps over their cameras and members of the grounds crew waited and looked toward the sky.
Then it opened up.
Sheets of rain fell fast as the grounds crew raced to cover the infield. But the novelty of watching the workers try to preserve the field's pristine condition soon wore off, and everyone it seemed — fans, players, league officials and even a hearty group of youngsters who had been filling the downtime by sliding down the hill beyond the outfield fence — hoped for the rain to stop.
It did … for a bit.
By 5:30 bad weather had returned and everyone waited for the inevitable. Then came the announcement: the game pitting Barrington and South Riding had been rescheduled for Friday morning at 10.
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