Protested Henry-Santana Game Ends on a Bizarre Note

The season’s longest high school baseball game ended on a bizarre note on Wednesday when base umpire Kerwin Danley ruled that Patrick Henry’s Eric Karros had missed first base on a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving third-ranked Santana a 7-1 win.

The game, which began on March 15, had to be completed on Wednesday because Patrick Henry Coach Bob Imlay had protested after an odd turn of events in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a Norman Whitehead double had closed the gap to 7-3, home plate umpire Mike McDonald ruled that Whitehead had struck out on the previous pitch and also called him out for batting out of order.

After Imlay’s protest was upheld, the teams returned to Patrick Henry on Wednesday, where Karros batted with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Karros doubled to right but Danley ruled that he had missed first base. Since there is no appeal play in high school baseball, the game ended and Santana finally had its 7-1 victory.

“I think it’s really a shame that it had to end that way,” Imlay said. “They (the umpires) were incensed with me so they took it out on the kids. I didn’t see him touch first base because I was looking at the runners, but everybody I talked to said he touched it right in the middle.”

With the victory finally secured, Santana improved to 9-3 overall, while the top-ranked Patriots fell to 10-1.