First Official Rain Delay leads to Sloppy 8-4 Victory

In the biggest game of the year, Kessler's short sided squad took advantage of some wildness from Rainwater's team and held off for the 8-4 victory. Kessler took Dan Breslauer with the first pick and rounded out the squad with Neil Rames and Jeff Feldman. Rainwater took T Marks, newcomer Ian Hall, Abe Kim and Tom Montor. With high humidity and the threat of storms, Bres dialed up in the first inning and worked out of an early jam to strikeout Monte. Abe followed suit and made quick work of Kessler and Breslauer. In the second, Feldman took the mound and stood tall with another scoreless inning.

The bottom of the second saw Kessler take Monte deep with one out but Rainwater made a running catch robbing Kessler and keeping the score knotted at zero. Kessler got two quick outs in the top while Rainwater pitched the bottom of the third and refused to yield in the scoreless battle. It wouldn't be till the 4th when the skies opened and the runs started to pour in. Ramer made two uncharacteristic errors on two grounders that he couldn't come up with cleanly. One led to a run while some clutch hitting by Marks and Rainwater kept the inning going. With Hall up and runners on 1st and 3rd and a full count, the game was called because of rain to make it the first official rain delay in Wiffle history. After a quick shower, play resumed and Breslauer got out of the jam with a huge strikeout of Rainwater and got Monte for the final out.

Hall pitched the bottom of the 4th and worked around some walks and got Breslauer to line out to Rainwater in left for what was a definite double. Kessler pitched the 5th and also had trouble with control and gave up an RBI to Marks to fall behind 4-0. Signs of trouble for Rainwater's squad began in the 5th when Abe came on and walked 4 consecutive batters, finding it hard to keep his footing with the wet ground. Rainwater came in with the bases loaded and worked a full count to Ramer before making a great play on a comebacker to the mound. He then got Feldman to strikeout on a full count to keep the score 4-1. Feldman got two quick outs on the mound to keep the momentum on his side. The bottom of the sixth saw it come undone. Kessler led off with a single off Monte and then the wetness and wildness took over. Monte struggled with control as the batters were in straight take mode. By the time it was over, the score was tied, all coming off walks. Hall came in and got a big strikeout before walking two more. By the time the second out was gotten, Kessler had taken the lead 6-4. In the top of the 7th, Kessler was showing great control and got two quick outs after Rainwater skied a pop up that Breslauer camped under for the easy out.

The game would be effectively over after Rainwater came in and after getting an out, Kessler turned on an inside fastball, a pitch that Rainwater rarely throws to make it an 8-4 game. Unfazed but angry, Rainwater struck out Breslauer on a hard slider but knew the big hit was going to end up costing him the game. In the top of the 8th, Monte walked and Hall singled to keep some life infused in Rainwater's team. Kim swung at a 3-0 ball and grounded out for a huge out. Marks made a final bid to keep it a game with a deep fly to right that was about to be a 3 run homer until Breslauer made the play of the day and caught the ball of the trees holding on after bobbling the ball. The game was over. Hall pitched a scoreless 8th and after Rainwater led off with a single, Kessler retired Monte and Hall to give him the 8-4 victory.

W: Kessler

L: Monte

HR: Kessler (1)

Rain Delay: 8 minutes