Rain Postpones Cal Ripken Semifinals

— The Cal Ripken 10-Year-Old Series was postponed when storms blew through Northwest Arkansas during Thursday’s first semifinal game between Sarasota, Fla., and Northwest Bakersfield, Calif.

Tournament officials said the contest will resume at 10:30 a.m. today, weather permitting. Northwest Bakersfield had a 9-4 lead, but Sarasota was batting with two outs in the top of the fourth inning when lightning flashed close enough to Memorial Park to have the game suspended at approximately 7:20 p.m.

At A Glance

Cal Ripken 10-Year-Old World Series

At Memorial Park, Bentonville

Wednesday

GAME 1: Sarasota, Fla. 21, Hopewell Valley, N.J. 13

GAME 2: Bentonville 5, Danbury, Conn. 3, 7 innings

Thursday

GAME 3: Northwest Bakersfield, Calif. 9, Sarasota, Fla. 4, suspended by rain in top of 4th inning

GAME 4: Bentonville vs. Willamette Valley, Ore., 8 p.m., ppd., rain

Today

GAME 3: Northwest Bakersfield-Sarasota, 10:30 a.m.

GAME 4: Bentonville vs. Willamette Valley, Ore., noon

GAME 5: Championship, 6 p.m.

The second semifinal game between host Bentonville and Willamette Valley, Ore., is scheduled to start at noon. The championship game will be played at 6 p.m. as originally scheduled.

Leadoff hitter Nick Salas hit two home runs in the bottom of the third to spur an eight-run outburst for Northwest Bakersfield, which turned a 3-1 deficit into an 8-3 lead. Salas belted a leadoff home run to make it a 3-2 game, then capped the run when he belted the first pitch from Reese Clancy for a grand slam.

Sarasota picked up a run in the fourth when Garrett Browning doubled and later scored on a throwing error. Sarasota had runners on first and third with two out when play was halted.

Jack Hatten singled and scored on the combination of an Andrew Yoder single and a fielding error to give Northwest Bakersfield a 1-0 lead in the second. Sarasota bounced back in the top of the third with a solo home run by Jason Scott, then took the lead when Nolan Miller singled and scored on a single by Tyler Russin, who made it 3-1 when he came home on a wild pitch.

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