Blame it on the rain: PONY cancels losers’ bracket games
PONY forced to cancel losers\\\' bracket games
It’s a decision that nobody involved with PONY Baseball and Softball Inc. wanted to make, but Mother Nature has forced their hands.
All Pony League World Series games scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled because of a water-logged Lew Hays Pony Field and with only one day remaining in the tournament, the losers’ bracket games will not be played.
That means the only two unbeaten teams, Washington County and Chinese Taipei, will meet in the championship game Wednesday.
The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., one hour earlier than previously scheduled.
Four teams with one loss: Hagerstown, Md., West Covina, Calif., Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and Navojoa, Mexico were eliminated by the rainy weather.
It is believed that it’s the first time in the 74 years of the tournament that this has happened.
“This is the last thing anyone wanted to do,” World Series Tournaments, Inc. president & chairman Nathan Voytek said. “I’ve been involved for a lot of years and there’s some people here that have been involved since the beginning and I know we’ve tweaked some things over the years and shortened games, but I don’t know that we’ve ever done this where if you’re in the losers’ bracket you’re eliminated and only the undefeated teams continue playing.”
According to the National Weather Service, more than four inches of rain has fallen in Washington since the beginning of August and most of that has come in the last few days.
With the potential for more rain Tuesday night and possibly more on Wednesday, Voytek said the decision to have the championship game as the only one remaining became the only realistic option.
If the original schedule would’ve been kept intact, there was potential for up to seven games to be played Wednesday.
“If this wasn’t the World Series, we would’ve just canceled right away, but we have teams from all over the world here,” Voytek said. “There are tournaments that play time-limit games. We’ve never done that, but in the travel ball world it’s not uncommon for teams to play games on time limits, but that’s not realistic for us. We’re going to have to work hard to get the field in good shape for one game tomorrow, so seven games weren’t realistic.”
The cancellation didn’t come without a herculean effort by the grounds crew led by Levi Bristor.
Several trenches were dug into the outfield to try and alleviate the standing water covering the grass.
It probably felt like Groundhog Day for the 25 or so volunteers who were working feverishly on the field, because they’ve been out there doing the same thing every day since the tournament started on Friday.
“They’ve been out there working every morning,” Voytek said. “We had to cancel the skills competition and every day has been a battle. The fact that we got games in yesterday is somewhat of a miracle. The field has just become so saturated.”
Although it has come to fruition in a much different manner compared to last year, the championship game will be a rematch of the 2025 final.
Chinese Taipei won the game in comeback fashion, 6-4. Washington County is seeking to become the first team from Washington County to win the world series in 71 years, and the third overall team to do it, joining Washington in 1955 and Monongahela in 1954.
Chinese Taipei is aiming for a 13th title.