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COLUMBIA — After the Rock Bridge baseball team pulled out a 4-3 win over Camdenton to start off the first round of the Columbia Baseball Tournament the field was quickly covered with only a half hour until the scheduled start of Rock Bridge’s next game against Vianney. A small storm cell was quickly approaching. Once it hit, the baseballs really started to fly.
Rain delays can dampen the spirits of players, but the boys of Rock Bridge have created some creative ways to pass the time. A team favorite is Dugout Baseball.
- Zach Kurzejeski swings early in the second of the Rock Bridge baseball team's two games today. The Bruins scored three runs in the first inning, but fell to Vianny, 11-9.
- Nick Little, second from right, tosses a baseball on the dugout steps during a game the Rock Bridge team plays to pass time during a rain delay on Friday afternoon. The goal of the game is to toss the ball onto the steps, and depending on the step it lands on and sticks, it correlates to a base, just like baseball.
- Rock Bridge baseball team members stand in gusty winds before a storm passes through during a rain delay on Friday afternoon. The delay separated the double header, which the Bruins split, beating Camdenton4-3 in the first game and losing to Vianny in the second, 11-9.
The game involves taking baseballs and lobbing them onto the steps of the dugout. Getting the ball to stop on the first step counts as a single, the second step a double, the third step a triple, and if the ball stops on the top step without touching the grass it’s a home run. Scoring works just like regular baseball by driving in the “runners”.
“Freshman year we started playing,” senior catcher Tony Stiffler said. “One of the seniors started playing it in Sedalia, and it just kind of caught on and everyone started playing it.”
Stiffler said the team can really get serious about the game and start keeping score if the rain lasts long enough.
Assistant coach Rob Widbin said the team’s rain delay activities today were a tamer than usual.
“One time we had kind of an umpire delay down in Springfield, and we played baseball golf” Widbin said. “We’re pretty good golfers. If we can’t win another baseball game we’re going to basically go out and golf and try to win a couple of matches there.”
Once the storm passed and play resumed Rock Bridge appeared to have a handle on Vianney, taking a three run lead after the first inning. But the cold weather that followed the storm cell seemed to freeze up Rock Bridge’s defense. For the next few innings Rock Bridge committed several defensive errors that allowed Vianny to take the lead and hold onto it for an 11-9 win.
Rock Bridge will play Excelsior Springs tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at Rock Bridge.
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