NEW BOSTON, Texas-Mother Nature prevailed for the third straight year Saturday at the McDonald's Softball Classic.
Host New Boston and Prairiland were in the bottom of the second inning of the championship game when heavy rain left the field unplayable in a matter of minutes.
Both teams were impressive in their first two games Saturday, the Lady Lions dominating Arkansas High, 15-0; and blanking Mount Vernon, 2-0. Prairiland beat Fouke, 8-1; and topped Rivercrest, 8-3.
"We didn't want to risk injuries in this weather because we've all got big district games coming up next week," New Boston coach Justin Arsenault said. "It got unsafe in a hurry, so we just called it.
"We still got to play some this year, and any experience for these young girls is always good. We can be pretty good this year, but we've got to get our hitting and pitching going together at the same time. There's four very solid teams in our district this year."
Pleasant Grove was playing Commerce for the consolation title when the bad weather arrived.
The third-place game was completed with Mount Vernon banging out 14 hits in a 12-4 win over Rivercrest.
Pleasant Grove lost its opener Saturday to Rivercrest,12-5, but rebounded to beat Fouke.
After losing to the Lady Lions, Arkansas High was defeated in a slugfest with Commerce, 15-14. The Lady Back bounced back to beat Fouke in the seventh-place game.
"We're pleased to get in some of the tournament," Arsenault said. "We had a lot of people show up, and the competition was great. We beat a very good Mount Vernon team, and Prairiland was really good, too.
Because of the weather the all-tournament team was unknown Saturday night.
Third Place
Mt. Vernon 12, Rivercrest 4
The Lady Tigers exploded for six runs in the fifth, including a two-run homer by catcher Harlie Robertson.
Michala Deleon also had a home run and two singles for Mount Vernon, with Heather Brown contributing two doubles and a single. Riley Hughes and Morgan Bennett added two hits each.
Lexi Rushing led the Lady Rebels with three singles, and Mychaela Murray had two hits.
Third Place
Mount Vernon 320 16 12 14 0
Rivercrest 012 01 4 9 4
Riley Hughes and Harlie Robertson; Allie Russell and Makenzie Pilgrim. WP-Hughes; LP-Russell. HR-MV, Micala Deleon, 2nd, none on; Robertson, 5th, 1 on.
Consolation Game
Pleasant Grove 422 0xx x - 8 11 0
Commerce 103 0xx x - 4 4 0
Kristin Key and Faith Dossey. Sydney Shaw and Megan Reiber. WP-Key. LP-Shaw.