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Columbia's Bryant Green strolls into third base against Forest on Thursday night. (BRENT KUYKENDALL/Lake City Reporter)
Two hours is a lot of time to kill for anybody, let alone a team of teenagers. So Ty Wehinger — fresh off his team's opening night win and about to start his first game on the mound of the new season — did the only thing he could do.
"We actually chilled in (the clubhouse) and played Xbox and listened to music," he said. "We got a big old speaker there. Just hanging out, having a good time."
Once Wehinger's games of Madden and NCAA Football 2012 were through, his opponents — delayed when a man committed suicide on Interstate 75 — arrived at Columbia.
"In these situations, it can be tougher on the team that's waiting that it is on the team on the bus," Columbia coach Brian Thomas said. "The team on the bus knows what's going on. They know they have no control.
"When do we start (our players' warmups)? Do we not get you going? Do we wait? Do we get you in the cages? Do we take ground balls? All these different scenarios you got to do to keep kids in the moment."
Combine that delay with another half hour of getting warmed back up, and it's no wonder Thursday's District 2-6A opener between Columbia and Forest went a little off script.
A game full of errors, dropped third strikes, an umpire hit by a line drive, a dropped routine fly and several wild pitches would be enough to last a full seven innings. Those events, however, all transpired - in Columbia's favor - in the second inning of a 12-4 Tigers win.
The evening started off a little rocky for Columbia (2-0). Wehinger walked the first batter after a couple payoff pitches were fouled off. However, freshman catcher Grant Bowers nailed the runner at second on the only attempted steal of the evening.
The Tigers couldn't quite bail themselves out entirely. After a single and a couple of passed balls, Forest (1-2) managed a sacrifice fly to break the ice.
The game showed its true, weird colors in the second. After Columbia secured a 2-1 lead thanks to a Cole Williams RBI single and him coming around to score on a wild pitch, the Wildcats found themselves with a pair of runners in scoring position. A sharp line drive to the left side of the infield drilled the field ump in the upper left thigh. Both Forest runners advanced, believing they had just tied the game up at two apiece.
However, the home plate umpire called a dead ball on the play, pushing the Forest runners back to second and third and prompting the Wildcats' coach Jed Yancey from the dugout for a brief discussion.
"The umpire's part of the field!" a Forest supporter shouted from the stands. Their argument did little to persuade the eventual decision.
To make things even more odd, the bottom of the second started off with a one-out strikeout of Parker Steele. The Forest catcher failed to reel in the pitch, however, and Steele scampered to first.
A wild pitch, a groundout and a hit batter later, Steele found himself at third as Yancey took a visit to the mound. It proved a harbinger of weirdness and doom for the Wildcats.
Shortstop Mason Gray got popped up to shallow right field on what should've been a routine third out. However, after some heckles and maybe a longer bus ride than expected, Forest's right fielder pulled up short on the ball, allowing Steele to score and setting up two runners in scoring position. Yet another passed ball gave the Tigers a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"Every time they did something offensively, we answered," Columbia coach Brian Thomas said. "They're probably one of the better teams that we'll face all year, especially with the arms that they can run out at you.
Wehinger settled in from there. The senior right-hander finished with five strikeouts while pitching to contact throughout the night, including inducing a double play ball turned by Gray near the outfield grass.
Wehinger said that his first two innings on the mound shouldn't be an indicator to his ability. Rather, there was something bothering the knuckleballer out there.
"My nails," he said. "I had to file them down a little more. They were a little off.
"It (impacts pitches) more than you'd think. A fraction of a millimeter forward or backward on my hand grip would change the spin forward or backward."
UP NEXT
The Tigers are back on their home field Friday night to square up against Baker County (1-2). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.