Rain, lightning suspends Little League title game in second inning
EAST PROVIDENCE — For the third time in as many nights, only part of a baseball game was completed at the Little League state tournament.
Play was suspended in the bottom of the second inning Thursday at Kimberly Ann Rock Complex. Smithfield held a 2-0 lead on South Kingstown in its bid to force a winner-take-all finale, which — if necessary — will now take place no earlier than Saturday.
Lightning and the ensuing downpour sent players and fans scattering for their cars about 40 minutes after the 5:45 p.m. first pitch. Both teams are set to resume at the same time on Friday.
Connor Curtis worked a pair of scoreless frames for the District IV champions, allowing their offense to jump on top. Connor Queenan scored on wild pitch and Mason Dionne bounced an RBI single through the right side, scoring Brayden Castellone from second. Dionne was cut down attempting to race all the way to third base, but Castellone’s hook slide across the plate came in plenty of time.
More: Meet the top high school athletes of the spring season, as All-States week arrives
Curtis issued a one-out walk in the top of the first before locking in. He struck out the next four batters he faced and ended the top of the second on a foul pop to first. The left-hander tied Wednesday’s continuation with Cranston Western in the bottom of the sixth, drilling a solo home run as part of a 5-4 victory.
South Kingstown rolled through the District III field unbeaten and won its first two games of the state tournament. The league hasn’t brought home a state banner since the old Wakefield South County captured the 1960 version of the tournament. Smithfield sits two wins away from its first crown since 1967.
South Kingstown 00 – 0 0 0
Smithfield 2 – 2 2 0
Cole Rosen and Cash Gurnon. Connor Curtis and Connor Queenan.
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Smithfield, South Kingstown to resume Little League title game Friday
