Ludlowe Baseball Game Against Darien Suspended

The umpires did everything in their power to get in Tuesday's baseball state tournament game between Darien and Fairfield Ludlowe. But after three weather delays and numerous lightning strikes, there was no chance of that happening.

The CIAC Class L first-round contest officially was suspended in the bottom of the second inning at 6:15 p.m. with the Falcons  holding a 1-0 lead. It will be resumed Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Kiwanis Field with a runner on first and no outs.

The coaches have to decide if they want to come back with Tuesday's starters. Ludlowe's Steve Guasco, the winning pitcher in the Falcons' 7-4 victory over Westhill in the FCIAC semifinals, cruised through two innings. Guasco allowed a leadoff single to Tom Blankenmeir in the top of the first, then retired six straight batters.

Darien's Ricky Hodges worked a bit harder, giving up an RBI single to Tom Nagy in the bottom of the first.

After the start of the game was delayed 20 minutes, the teams were forced off the field when lightning hit just before the start of the bottom of the second.

Following a 55-minute delay,  play resumed with ominous clouds once again settling in at Kiwanis Field. After Hodges walked leadoff hitter Alex Wright, umpires stopped the game again when more thunder was heard in the distance.

Shortly thereafter, the skies opened. This time, the umpires waited only 20 minutes before suspending the contest for good.

When the game was called, it was raining as hard as it had all afternoon, and there also were reports of heavy rain in nearby Norwalk.

The other issue that would have come into play is the fact that the Ludlowe field has no lights.

The winner of the Ludlowe-Darien winner will meet the Rockville-New Fairfield winner in the second round, a contest that has been pushed back until  Thursday.