Twenty-four hours after their teams played for 18 innings on Wednesday, Hartland coach Brian Morrison and Brighton coach Charlie Christner were still marveling at what happened.
“It definitely feels better to win it,” Morrison said, “but now that you have a day to look back on it, it’s pretty remarkable and something I’ve never seen and I don’t know if I’ll see again.”
John Baker broke a scoreless tie, and ended the game, in the bottom of the 18th with a homer to left field.
The game was one short of the state record for innings (19), and the Eagles’ pitchers combined for 25 strikeouts, one off the state record.
The contest lasted for a little over four hours, forcing the postponement of the scheduled second game of the doubleheader to today at Hartland High School.
That game will be broadcast on The Post starting at 3:50 p.m.
Here’s a link to the broadcast!
Christner said the Bulldogs worked out in the school’s new weight facility on Thursday.
“We have some sore bodies,” he said. “Our pitchers (David Kauff and Tommy Coughlin, who went 10 and seven innings, respectively), and our catcher, Chad Rensi, who caught all 18 innings. We had some sore high schoolers.”
Baker (10 innings of near-flawless relief) and Hartland catcher Cade Martin, who caught all 18 innings, undoubtedly were a little sore Thursday as well.
As for today’s game, neither coach would discuss how many innings it will take to conclude.
“Those games are fun,” Morrison said. “You never know what they’re going to bring. This is a new game, and maybe this one will finish in regular time, and maybe it won’t.”
Christner, while hoping for a different result, is looking for the same effort from his team.
“If my guys give the effort we had Wednesday (today), I’ll be ecstatic,” he said. “If we can play however many innings and play defense and pitch like we did yesterday, I’ll be happy.”
Other than that, though, the demands of the schedule dictate that both teams move on.
“We’ve got 25 more games, or whatever it is, that we have to play,” Morrison said Thursday. “It’s on the schedule. Yesterday is yesterday, and we’ve got another one (today).”
