BELGRADE — The State A softball tournament went into a lightning delay Thursday while two second-round games were in progress.
Laurel was leading Polson 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth, while Libby led Havre 2-0 in the bottom of the second. After two hours of heavy rain, officials made the decision to postpone Thursday's games and resume play where the games left off at 9 a.m. Friday.
Lightning strikes were clearly visible within a 10-mile radius of the Belgrade Softball Complex when the action was halted around 4:20 p.m. and had continued for over an hour, accompanied by marble sized hail at the time of publishing.
There were two more second-round games scheduled to be played on Thursday evening, that will now be moved to Friday. Columbia Falls is set to face Hamilton and defending champion Frenchtown would take on Billings Central.
The MHSA made the call to end play on Thursday at 6 p.m. after water had pooled up on the fields. There is more rain and lightning in the forecast for Friday. The MHSA has only ever canceled one tournament due to weather, and that was in 1996.
Four first round games were completed on Thursday.
SCORES
Libby 8, Lewistown 6
Laurel 9, Corvallis 3
Hamilton 7, Hardin 5
Frenchtown 11, Livingston 1
