If anything, the game between Hollister National and Santa Clara
Westside on Saturday night in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament
gave everyone an update in Little League rules.
Andrew Matheson
If anything, the game between Hollister National and Santa Clara Westside on Saturday night in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament gave everyone an update in Little League rules.
It also provided an idea of the rather impressive feat that Hollister National is currently involved in.
On Saturday night, National and Westside played until they couldn’t play no more.
No, seriously. The game, which started at 7pm, was called at 11pm with the score tied at 3-3 after 10 full innings. Little League rules call for no inning to be started after 11pm, and so play was suspended until 11am Sunday.
Additionally — and this is where it gets kind of tricky — the game, which reconvened at 11am on Sunday was, in a way, considered a new ball game.
The score was the same and the inning was carried over from the previous night, but as for the pitching, it was a clean slate.
In Little League, pitch counts are set as to not tire the arms of 9- and 10-year-olds. Pitchers who throw 20 pitches or fewer are not required to have rest in between appearances. Those who throw 21-45 pitches are required to sit out one day and one game, and those who hurl between 46-75 pitches are forced to rest at least two days and one game.
Hollister National threw 207 pitches on Saturday night, alone.
But when the game was suspended on Saturday night, coaches on both teams learned that Sunday’s game would be a fresh start. There was no continuation on pitch counts.
Thus, National pitcher Andrew Breen, who had thrown 26 pitches of no-hit ball before the game was suspended on Saturday night, fell into the 21-45 pitch count range, and was now required to rest for at least one game and one day, despite Sunday’s continuation technically being the same game.
If that makes sense, well, good. I’m doing my job.
If that makes sense and sounds incredibly stupid, well, good. I’m doing my job.
Of course, the rules are set in place to keep the kids healthy, but for those extreme situations — say, five hours and 13 innings of Little League baseball — it sure does make the game a little difficult to put away.
Good thing National had pitching depth.
“In the district tournament, 10 of our 13 guys pitched, so we do have that working for us,” National Manager Adam Breen said.
Since there was no continuation from Saturday to Sunday, Breen could not pitch. And since the other three pitchers who threw before Breen – Greg Moreno, Hunter Haworth, and John Batelle – threw more than 20 pitches on Saturday, they could not throw in the continuation of Sunday’s game either.
Pitcher Riley Lange threw in Sunday’s continuation and got the win for National, but with the team scheduled to play Saratoga later in the day, Lange was yet another pitcher to be added to the list that was required to receive rest – a list now five pitchers strong.
There are 13 players on the National roster, and five of them were not allowed to pitch against Saratoga on Sunday afternoon. For most teams, that’d be the end right there.
But National threw Brandon Granger and Andrew Sotelo, got a 6-5 win over Saratoga, and will now play Saratoga in the championship round tonight, after Saratoga defeated Santa Clara Westside 4-3 on Monday.
In what might be even better news, though, is that National has nearly all of their pitchers rested and ready to go for the championship.
If the game goes 121 innings, which is what some fans were suggesting during Sunday’s continuation, National may just have enough to pull out a win.
