It’s not very often — OK, it’s practically never — that a team can advance in a state tournament without even competing.
But that’s the unusual position the Greencastle-Antrim baseball team found itself in Monday.
The Blue Devils were awarded a 7-0 forfeit win over Franklin Towne Charter when that school decided late Sunday night that it was not going to participate in the PIAA Tournament in baseball or softball.
The “win” moves Greencastle (18-5) into the quarterfinal round on Thursday against District 11 champion Pocono Mountain East (17-6), which defeated Upper Dublin 4-2 on Monday. The site and time have not yet been determined.
The apparent reason for Franklin Towne Charter (8-1) pulling out of the tournament was money. It decided that there was not enough money to pay for two buses to take their baseball and softball teams to their first-round games.
What made the decision a lot less palatable for the PIAA is that FTC sent an email to PIAA on Sunday at 10:45 p.m., and it was not seen by PIAA officials until Monday morning. That gave the organization no time to replace Franklin Towne Charter and it was forced to give forfeit wins.
G-A athletic director Vicky Ritchey said, “I was out helping to prepare the field and didn’t get notice from PIAA until about 9:30. Their email said they (FTC) were not able to find affordable transportation to the games that were three hours away.
“Since they made the decision so late, it not only deprived us of a game, but it deprived another team a chance to play in the tournament.”
It also created a mess for people who had already bought tickets for the game (they will get a refund), and for those who were trying to purchase tickets.
Blue Devil baseball coach Eric Shaner said, “It’s certainly not how you want to win, but at this point in the season you will take any win you can get. It gives us a chance to get some guys who are banged up some treatment and allows us to set up our pitching for Thursday.”