Red Sky at Night, Collar Bones, and More Rain

After a couple of days without the persistent rains of the past month or more, the forecast was calling for an 80% chance of storms and showers for Sunday afternoon....the forecasters did not disappoint...well actually it was a disappointment, but the storms came, whether we wanted them or not.

Sam was scheduled to work the Junior ACME Tournament at Lima Central Catholic, a double header starting at Noon...I was slated to work with my old buddy Jim Runneals at Convoy Crestview, a double header, one in the winner's bracket, another to follow would be an elimination game. The first game was a Marathon contest between Van Wert and St. Marys. I was behind the plate at the site of my 14 inning Sectional Final game in the Spring High School Season. This game was to last just about as long, time wise, 2 hours 45 minutes, but it only took 7 innings. Van Wert carried a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the 7th, but walks, errors, and wild pitches, let St. Marys come away with a 8-7 win, and move on in the winner's bracket....The Cougars meanwhile, were left to take on the home squad, Crestview, who had been thumped on the other diamond by Minster, 21-11 in a 6 inning run rule game on the other diamond.

The "highlight" of the first contest was me...I was a human target behind the plate, getting hit by foul balls no less than 5 times..4 of them solid shots, once in the mask(no damage), once in the shoulder, one a solid hit in a crease of the protector, just above the chest protector....and then the big one...a quick hard foul tip, that caught my collar bone square...I was down to one knee, and walked over to the VW Dugout thinking "That might have broken the damn thing"...but it didn't apparently the Houseworth bones are as thick as the Houseworth skulls....I've got a bone bruise, but otherwise no worse for wear...it has been a rough Summer on the aging body. However, I was back out behind the plate and finished the game off.

Game #2 got started late, and the sun was shining bright.... but another storm brewed and that one headed north into Paulding County, which had gotten blasted on numerous occasions throughout the day....our luck was not to last however, and in the bottom of the 5th, with Van Wert on the verge of run ruling the host school, leading 9-2 with one out, 2 on, and a 3-0 count on the batter, I saw a large bolt of lightning hit to our west...we called the players in to wait out the 30 minute time delay...before resuming the game, we needed not to have bothered. Withing 15 minutes all Hell broke loose and the storm came down on us with a vengeance. 60-70 MPH winds accompanied by straight line rains ended any chance of finishing the contest in the late afternoon.

So here we are, Sam and I will work the finish of the Van Wert/Crestview game then move to the back diamond for a elimination game...then Garry and George will work the other Winner's Bracket contest on the main diamond at 6pm. This however is in doubt at least for today...you see it decided to rain like cats and dogs again about 7 this morning, it's over now, but with as much rain as the Convoy area go last night....I'm not sure either diamond, especially the back reserve diamond, can dry off in time.

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More Rain? Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight?

As I headed out of Convoy, once the game was cancelled for the day, Jim and I headed to the local carry out for some liquid refreshments...I saw one of the biggest bolts of lightning in my life at the west edge of town near the Indiana Border. As we left the Carry Out, the rains returned with force, and the winds with them. As I drove down Ohio 49 south of town, I knew what it was like going through a Hurricane. The winds probably in the 60 or 70 mile range and the rain was blinding...I drove 5 miles through that before coming up on the Intersection of US 224 in Van Wert County...the rain settled down and I made the 30 mile trip to Celina in a steady, although manageable, downpour.

Once home, I grabbed a beer, and watched more heavy rain move in from the west...after than, with Patricia sitting on the porch, I noticed a yellow turned to red hew...so I grabbed the camera, and took a few photos which are included today.

The old saying is, "Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight"...so I figured the rains were done...not so fast, as I said, another large round of storm came through this morning, making 27 days of 33 with at least some rain...that streak is going to end it appears, as the rest of the week will be dry, or at least so they say! I'll believe a week of dry weather, only after the 7th day.

Meanwhile, rain or not, the Baseball Tournaments will continue...Garry and I, along with a dozen and a half other guys have been selected/nominated to work the Junior ACME and ACME State Tournaments, much of which will be held in Celina....not sure how many, if any, I will be assigned to work, but in the meantime, I have many Sectional and Districts games, as does Sam(along with his baseball work in Columbus), to work in....

Rain or not, the summer is going to be a busy one....

back later>>>>>

Photos-The RED Skies would not have proved a Sailor's Delight this morning, as despite the look out west of my porch last night(notice the scenic power lines)...more heavy rains hit the area around 7AM. The one thing the rains, heat, and humidity bring, is a bumper crop of flowers and weeds to go with them. And my Diamond Chest Protector is not protecting me that well...arms, and collar bone have been the latest victims...might be time for a new one next season, and probably a new plate mask as well.