Inclement weather foils Redmen again

BELLEVUE — Bellevue's home baseball game against Clyde on Friday was halted in the top of the third inning due to thunder. It was par for the course for the Redmen this month. Three of Bellevue's last four Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division games have been halted by rain, lightning or thunder. "It's been kind of frustrating, but it is what it is," Bellevue coach Andy Dennings said. "When you get an opportunity to play you've gotta be ready to go." Bellevue's home game against Perkins on April 16 was halted in the seventh inning with Perkins leading 3-0. The Redmen played Wednesday at Norwalk and were trailing 2-0 when the game was stopped in the bottom of the fifth due to lightning. It later rained to wash out that day of baseball. Initially, Bellevue thought it was going to get to finish both games — Perkins coach TJ Blanton said Wednesday he was prepared to finish the last inning when the teams meet again May 1 — but the SBC on Thursday awarded Perkins and Norwalk wins in the suspended games. Bellevue athletic director Cody Cramer said SBC Lake administrators took a closer look at conference bylaws and OHSAA rules, which state that a game is declared official after five innings, or if the team that is behind bats in the fifth inning. If a game is stopped in the sixth or seventh, the score reverts back to the last completed inning. "With OHSAA rules you don't have to continue (at a later date), so that constitutes a game," Dennings said. "It sounds like what they decided to do was follow the rules as far as OHSAA and NFHS (National Federation of High Schools). That's how that reads so it's a complete game." The decision dropped Bellevue's SBC Lake record from 3-0 to 3-2. "We were OK with it. We've gotta own it and score more runs," Dennings said. "That's on us. When the game ended they were ahead and that's how it rolls. That's baseball." Perkins is 5-0 in the Lake and Norwalk is 5-1 after an 8-3 five-inning win over Sandusky on Friday. The Blue Streaks pulled to within 8-7 when the game was stopped by rain in the top of the sixth, so the final result reverted back to five innings. The Bellevue-Clyde game will be finished at a later game. The Redmen were leading 2-0 on Friday when the game was stopped a second time because of thunder. The first stoppage came just three minutes after Cooper Winke threw the game's first pitch. Bellevue took the lead in the bottom of the second when Tatum Gore's double scored Caden Lindsey, who drew a walk from Clyde starter Colt Flores. Gore scored on a Sam Cooper groundout. "We've gotta try to get some games in," Dennings said. "Mother Nature has won a lot of ballgames." Bellevue was happy to get Winke back on the mound after he missed some time with an injury. Starting catcher Drew Dennings batted Friday, but is not playing in the field due to an arm issue. "Tatum does a really good job back there," said coach Dennings about Tatum Gore, who is now catching. "We're blessed to have two catchers who could start for a lot of teams in the area." Bellevue, which is scheduled to host Wauseon on Saturday in a non-conference matchup, has allowed only eight runs in five SBC outings. "We're pitching well enough to win every game," coach Dennings said. "You give up 2, 3, 4 runs, you have a shot to win. We don't feel like we're hitting it that bad, but we haven't been able to get things go our way. We're in a little rut, but we'll bounce out of it."