CALLAHAN — Suwannee’s Gracie Watley and West Nassau’s Kelsea Bass were deadlocked in a pitcher’s duel. The two hurlers looked like they could’ve staved off the other all night.
So they did. Only mother nature’s intervention stopped the show.
The No. 6 seed Bulldogs and the No. 3 Warriors stood in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the sixth inning by the time rain and lightning delayed — then postponed — Wednesday’s Region 1-3A quarterfinal. The two teams are tentatively slated to make up the remainder of the contest on Friday with a time to be determined Thursday morning.
“It’s not great weather the rest of the week,” SHS coach Greg Gabby said. “Friday’s looking like the best day, so me and their coach talked, it’s looking like Friday is when we’re going to be able to make these last couple of innings up.
“We’re not 100% on times of everything. We’ve got to get with ADs, they’ve got all kinds of testing and exams at the end of the year. We’ve got to plan around all that stuff."
The Bulldogs (11-11) couldn’t have asked much more from Watley’s start, as well as the defense behind her. Save for a two-on threat in the bottom of the second where Bass and first baseman Kenadie Royal got on base in consecutive at-bats, Watley never put more than one runner on base in any inning. Watley finished with two hits and a walk allowed while striking out three before umpires called the game in the middle of the sixth.
“Gracie’s going to keep you in any game,” Gabey said. “When she’s healthy and throwing like she normally throws, she’s going to keep you in any ballgame.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs got half of their hits on the night in the first inning off Bass. Catcher Addison Petersen lined a one-out single to left before shortstop Maylee Gabey followed with a two-out bunt single. But Bass recovered, getting Watley to ground out to second to end the threat.
The only other real scoring chance for Suwannee came in the top of the sixth with Petersen hit a hard grounder that bounced off third base and into left field for a leadoff double. However, Bass needed just six pitches to get the next three batters out, including a strikeout on Watley.
The silver lining of Wednesday’s rain out could be extra time in the batting cages to prepare for the difference in Bass’ pitch speeds and what the Bulldogs are fresh from experiencing. They struggled against Wakulla’s Charley Butler, an Auburn commit, in a 3-1 loss in the District 2-3A title game last Thursday.
“Hopefully having this game rescheduled for the last inning and a half, we can find a way,” Gabey said.