Umps don't pause the game for rain and chaos ensues, a breakdown
What Happened
In a tightly contested college softball game between the Cal Bears and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, the seventh inning takes an unexpected turn as a sudden rainstorm wreaks havoc on the field. With Cal leading 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Louisiana's Kayla Jim hustles to a leadoff double, representing the tying run. However, just as the next batter steps up, a heavy downpour begins, causing chaos on the field. Cal pitcher Randee Rowling struggles to grip the wet ball, and the umpires deliberate on how to handle the situation. After some back-and-forth, they decide to play through the rain, much to the displeasure of the Louisiana coaching staff. The slippery conditions lead to a passed ball, allowing the tying run to score from third. The Louisiana assistant coach, enraged by the umpires' decision, argues vehemently and is promptly ejected, drawing cheers from the crowd. The Cal catcher also becomes involved in a heated exchange with the batter, leading to her own ejection. Amid the drama, Cal's Paige Halstead tries to calm her teammates and restore order, but the chaos continues. The Louisiana coach returns to the field, prompting the umpires to threaten a forfeit if she does not leave. Despite the disruption, the rain passes quickly, and the game resumes. In the top of the eighth, Cal takes advantage of the improved conditions, scoring two runs to take a 3-1 lead. Pitcher Randee Rowling then secures the final out with a diving catch, sealing the victory for the Cal Bears. The dramatic seventh-inning rainstorm and the subsequent fallout between the teams and umpires create a memorable and chaotic scene, with the Cal Bears emerging victorious in the end.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentCollege softball is underway, and we had quite the scene
in this Cal versus Louisiana matchup.
Bottom of the seventh, Cal's up 1-0.
Randy Rowling, I believe that's how you pronounce her name,
on the bump, freshman for Cal, pitching to Jim.
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And we're going to get a rain patch that comes through
in the middle of the bottom of the seventh inning,
and it kind of sends everything into chaos mode.
But first, we have a leadoff base runner,
a hustle double for Louisiana.
That's the tying run. They're fired up about it.
Just in there, just beats the tag.
And then, out of nowhere, a rain cloud just comes through.
Look how much it just starts raining for three pitches it rains.
And that pitch is a ball, and then they call time,
and they think about it, and Blue gives her a new ball,
and some of the crowd starts leaving, like,
screw this, I don't want to get wet.
And she's like, hey, towel. Hey, time. Time, Blue.
Blue, can I get a towel?
I need it. The ball's wet.
So they come out, they bring her a towel.
She says, yeah, ball's wet because of the rain,
this rain that's coming through.
It's making everything slippery.
He says, well, it's going to pass through quickly,
so just try to survive.
And she says, okay.
Teammate puts the towel nicely.
She says, can I get a new ball?
Because this ball's wet, you know, because of the rain.
And the ump says, time out.
The coach says, can you guys talk about this?
Like, it's pretty heavy rain.
And the umpires get together, and they say, hey, what should we do?
The weather report says,
it's passing by quickly.
And all the umps say, let's just play confidently.
So then they get a new ball.
They give Randy a new ball, and one fan stays.
She's in her poncho.
One fan stays to watch the scene that unfolds.
Ball slips out of her hand.
Now the tying run goes to third base.
The catcher tries to corral it.
It slips.
And they're like, come on, Blue.
Like, it's pretty rainy.
Head coach comes out and says, what are you doing?
He says, well, we'll get her a new ball.
He says, okay.
Okay, here's the new ball.
Don't get it wet.
She's like, all right.
Keeps the ball in her glove.
Gets the hand on the towel.
Like, this sucks.
The rain's going to stop.
Can we just pause the game?
Is that legal?
I don't know.
Trying to keep the ball dry, but her hand's wet.
And is this ball really a new ball?
Rubbing the ball on the jersey?
That probably didn't help.
Rubbing the hand.
Trying to dry everything up, because now the tying run's on third,
and the ball's slipping.
And the very next pitch slips again.
Gets away.
Catcher tries to grab it.
Tries to throw it.
Slips out of the catcher's hand.
Tying run scores.
And everyone's like, what is going on?
What are you doing, Blue?
It's raining.
Assistant coach comes out and yells, that's fucking bullshit.
Hey, that's bullshit.
That's bullshit.
And she gets ejected, because a new rule is that assistant coaches
cannot argue that it's automatic ejection.
I think that's a good rule.
The fans are ecstatic.
Out, out, out, out.
You're fucking gone.
You're gone.
You're gone.
Quick thumbs on this, Duke.
You're gone.
Clapping.
Woo.
That guy.
Now, that's a raging Cajun, but he's not raging.
He's kind of the most placid of the bunch.
Meanwhile, the catcher in the background, we don't really see this,
but she throws her glove.
She throws her mask, and her and the batter step to each other,
and then quickly the catcher retreats.
Umpire throws the catcher out.
So we got ourselves quite a scene here, because one cloud of rain came by.
Number eight on Cal.
I really appreciate.
She's trying to calm the whole thing down.
She's trying to calm the whole thing down and break everything up.
She actually starts yelling at her teammates, like, stop.
All right?
Jeez.
Stop.
Now, the assistant coach comes back, and the ump reacts like he's seen a ghost.
No.
No.
Get back now.
You come back.
It's going to be a forfeit, this game.
Get off the field.
And she just laughs about it.
She likes what she's doing.
She's all about it.
She's smiling.
Meanwhile, they got to get out of this inning now.
They give her the ball, and then I'm not sure what that was about.
Did they go for?
Like, an under-the-glove high-five, and then her teammate high-fived her glove,
like a little glove pat.
So then did her teammate realize, and then she gave her a glove pat?
I was very intrigued by this.
What happened here?
Something cool happened in the end.
It seemed synchronized, but I don't think it was what they were going for.
Anyway, back to the towel, trying to dry the hands, trying to dry the ball.
The good news, the rain passed.
It was just a real quick cloud.
It was a three-pitch rainstorm.
Maybe the delay helped.
Calls her own strike.
Calls her own strike again.
Doesn't get it.
So now the go-ahead run is on first.
They try to bunter over to second.
Pitcher makes the play.
Safe, safe, safe, safe, safe, says the coach.
Safe, safe, says the umpire.
Both of them wrong.
The ball's not slippery anymore.
She made the play.
Out.
To the top of the eighth we go.
We got one out and an 0-2 count, but hit by pitch, so the runner's on first.
And then number 23 sends that one into the gap, making it first and third.
And Cal's got something going on.
They got things in motion.
They say, here, we'll show you.
We'll show you the bunt play.
Catcher kind of stumbles, grabbing it.
Run scores.
Safe at first.
They try to push it to go to third.
They do get the out there.
But now number eight, the leader who was saying stop yelling, she puts one past the second
baseman.
The right fielder bobbles it.
That's going to score a runner from first, and she's going to make it all the way to
third for the triple.
Cal takes a 3-1 lead.
Yes!
Fuck yeah!
Let's go!
And then number 12, Randy.
Shuts it down, and a nice diving catch to end the game.
A lot of theatrics.
The rain cloud lasted three pitches, caused a lot of chaos.
Cal ended up winning the game.
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