A Linton baseball game in the twilight zone
I was not supposed to be there Tuesday night.
On my way to Shakamak to watch the Lakers take on Eastern Greene I got a phone call from our correspondent Shad Cox. He was going to try and take pictures of Linton baseball taking on Terre Haute North. The problem though was that Terre Haute North’s varsity team was not there.
Instead, the Patriots had brought its junior varsity team to play first. It was peculiar but I thought nothing of it. Turns out, Linton was surprised the JV team showed up without the varsity team too. Shad couldn’t stay for the later varsity game so I told him not to worry. I could swing by there and take photos on my way back from Shakamak.
The Miners scored seven runs in the first to lead 7-1 as the game started at 7 p.m. Senior Bracey Breneman was pitching with fellow senior, Jaydan Miller, catching. Breneman was trying to locate the corners of the strike zone but the umpire kept calling the majority of his pitches as balls. Terre Haute North scored three runs in the second inning as the game was getting strange.
Since I went to a previous game where Shakamak won, I needed to eat dinner and recharge my camera. With Linton up 7-4, I felt like I could catch the end. The end never really came.
When I returned the game was still in the fourth inning and this was after 9 p.m. Linton was up 10-6 as the Miners were still struggling to get strikes in the eyes of the umpire. When Linton Coach Jacob Harden complained, the umpire tossed him from the game.
Welcome to the twilight zone folks.
It felt like Harden was not given much of a warning but that’s the twilight zone. Linton had entered a dimension where normal events turned zany.
Terre Haute North took the lead at 11-10 after five innings. With all the runs and long at-bats, the game was going late. It was now 10:15 as most fans had left as the temperature kept dropping. The students have school the next morning.
Linton struggled with its fielding in the sixth as Terre Haute North added five. Errors were made that Linton does not typically make but that’s what happens in the twilight zone.
Of course, Linton scored four in the sixth to cut the lead to 16-14. Now, it’s nearly 11 p.m. to start the seventh. Turns out the stadium lights are programmed to turn off at 11 to save electricity. Sounds reasonable when the varsity game is scheduled for 5 p.m. This takes us back to the confusion on why the junior varsity game occurred first.
Linton officials were unable to get the lights back on and finish the game. Terre Haute North and Linton agreed to end the game as a tie. The Patriots led 16-14 but the Miners would have likely added more runs in the seventh the way things were going.
Linton’s record is now 4-5-1, which also sounds like a soccer formation. A sport that is known for ties far more than baseball.
Plenty had to happen to get the outcome that occurred Tuesday night at Roy Herndon Field and the only way I can explain it was a throwback to the “Twilight Zone” show that began airing in 1959. Linton entered a weird dimension that does not make much sense. Heck, even my camera batteries were losing power faster than normal.
I was not supposed to be at this game and given the outcome, I am not sure if I truly ever was.
Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npacegcdw@gmail.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.
Ty Boyd at the plate for the Miners.
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