Connie Mack championship game postponed due to weather

It didn’t appear anything was going to stand in the way of the top-seeded Las Vegas Cats in Saturday’s championship game of the Connie Mack state tournament at Faith Lutheran.

Then Mother Nature chimed in.

The game was suspended due to lightning and heavy rain with the Cats leading the second-seeded Las Vegas Mustangs 8-3,

The game will resume 6 p.m. Monday at Faith Lutheran, with one out and the Cats batting in the bottom of the fifth inning. If the Mustangs were to come back and defeat the Cats, a second game would be played afterward.

The Cats wasted no time jumping all over Mustangs starter Skyler Miller, and plated five runs in the second inning.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Miller walked Layne Adaro and Joel Lindahl, scoring Kevin Verduzco and Brandon Smith to give the Cats a 2-0 lead. Trevor Johnson then knocked Miller from the game when he drilled a base-clearing double that scored Jacob Peters, Adaro and Lindahl, giving the Cats a 5-0 lead.

The Mustangs answered, though, with three runs in the top of the third. Jacob Schilder got on board via an error by Lindhal, and Ashton Caniglia followed with a walk. Branson Tressler stroked a run-scoring single that brought home Schilder, and Caniglia later scored on a passed ball. Tressler eventually came home on groundout by Tyler Black.

The Cats got to relief pitcher Andrue Sanchez in the bottom of the fourth, as they tacked on three more to extend their lead to 8-3.

Cats starting pitcher Danny Jimenez lasted three innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks while striking out four. Reliever Brandon Smith retired six of the first seven batters he faced and was still pitching for the Cats when the game was halted.

The game was suspended immediately after Cats’ starting catcher Trace Everett flew out to center to lead off the bottom of the fifth.