Rain washes out PONY League World Series in Washington
No champion crowned during waterlogged tournament
In the immortal words of “Nuke” LaLoosh in the iconic baseball movie “Bull Durham”: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”
And rain it did in Washington for the past week, washing out most of the PONY League World Series as league officials scrambled to finish the waterlogged tournament.
Torrential downpours earlier this week washed out the losers bracket games Tuesday and ultimately canceled Wednesday night’s championship game between Washington County and Chinese Taipei. Grounds crews worked tirelessly to make Lew Hays PONY Field in Washington Park playable, but the outfield had become a marshy mess and multiple trenches cut into the grass failed to drain the water.
But just 10 miles to the northeast at McDowell Field in North Strabane, four teams found a way to play.
Teams from Washington County, Mexico, Puerto Rico and West Covina, Calif., gathered at Canon-McMillan’s varsity baseball field to play their own impromptu – and unofficial – round robin tournament with fans in the stands cheering them on. The games throughout the afternoon included PONY League umpires on the field and deliveries of Domino’s Pizza to the dugouts.
Enrique Hinojosa, who is the assistant coach for the team from Navojoa, Mexico, said playing the consolation games at McDowell Field on Wednesday allowed his squad to face-off against Puerto Rico since the two teams were supposed to play in the losers bracket Tuesday morning. That meant Mexico was able to play four different countries in the World Series since they had already played teams from Germany, Chinese Taipei and the South Hills of Pittsburgh.
“So we were able to play everybody,” he said.
Hinojosa, who has been to the PONY League World Series with five different teams representing his country, said the coaches from Puerto Rico organized the McDowell Field games on Tuesday after the losers bracket round was canceled. McDowell’s infield is synthetic turf, although the outfield is natural grass and appeared to be in excellent condition.
“I know Abe and the guys at PONY, and they are good guys,” Hinojosa said of Abe Key, who is president of PONY Baseball/Softball. “I understand the importance of playing the World Series at Lew Hays Field, but this is just unfortunate for so many people. You can’t do anything about the rain. It’s not what anybody wanted.”
But questions are now being raised about whether tournament officials could have found an alternative field to play the losers bracket games and championship once it became clear the outfield would be unplayable. Other nearby synthetic fields include EQT Park where the Wild Things play and Washington & Jefferson College’s baseball field, although they do not have the same infield dimensions as the PONY League.
Nathan Voytek, who is president of World Series Tournaments Inc. that organizes the annual event, wanted to shine the spotlight on the volunteer grounds crew that worked relentlessly Tuesday and Wednesday trying to get the ballfield playable.
“The outfield has become saturated and the water table is full and it’s just sitting there,” Voytek said. “The amount of hours the volunteer grounds group has put in. They’re fighting their butts off and taking off time (from work). It’s been extraordinary.”
He acknowledged that changes might need to be made to the field, such as improved drainage and possibly even synthetic turf in the future.
“Obviously it’s expensive (and) a lot of people use the field,” Voytek said of possibly switching to synthetic turf in the future. “I think it’s definitely an option, but we could also improve drainage.”
Jeff Kotula, who is president of the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency that is one of the biggest promoters of the PONY League World Series, said a synthetic turf field should be considered to allow for games to continue regardless of the weather conditions.
“I believe this is the first time in 74 years that the PONY League World Series has canceled numerous games due to weather and field conditions,” Kotula said. “However, as a longtime partner of the series, we would welcome a discussion on improving the field while retaining their traditions and improving our guests’ experience to further support this great event for Washington County.”
Voytek said he prefers a grass field – especially since synthetic turf is expensive and usually must be replaced every 10 years – but he was open to possible changes in the future.
“Baseball should be played on grass. (The 2026 tournament) was an anomaly. In all of these years it hasn’t been a problem. I don’t know if we’re going to recreate the wheel for an unprecedented (situation),” Yoytek said before pausing.
“Will we learn from this and evolve? Yeah,” he said.