LYNN — The show must go on. Despite the severe thunderstorm warning, the sectional round of Little League continued. Starting off with Gloucester vs. Andover and ending with Peabody West vs. Reading.
“We don’t say the R.A.I.N word. That doesn’t exist here. I’ve been checking the radar. The one below us is drying out and the one above is just gonna miss us,” said Baseball Little League Director Joe Baglieri.
There is a backup plan when it comes to rain outs yet there is some trick to it. “If both games get rained out then we just push everything back a day,” said Baglieri. “If one game plays and the other doesn’t, we add a second game on Saturday. You run into trouble with workers. I had to UMP for some of the 11s games because we couldn’t get enough to cover.”
With the wind picking up and the threat of rain looming over the field, the Gloucester vs. Andover game went on. “All we can do is hope and pray that this will miss us. That’s all you can really do,” said Baglieri. “ We need a dome. It would be the first in the country. There used to be an indoor mini golf place that had a dome over it. It wasn’t big enough for a Little League but it was for mini golf. It would be nice.”
Gloucester took the lead in the second and followed through into the sixth to take the game over Andover 6-3. Andover had a double play in the top of the fifth only for Gloucester to answer with one of their own in the bottom and then again in the sixth. Gloucester’s runs came from Bryce Albano, Milo Aberle, Giuseppe Ferrara, Nicolas Catanzaro, and Luca Aberle.
As the last strikes of the Gloucester vs. Andover’s game came over the plate and as Peabody West and Reading arrived at the field, clouds were scarce as the sun set over the park. A great day for baseball.
