Tournament begins, so does annual rain

Fans who attended the Kelso Klassic's opening night of softball on Friday night discussed the sure cure for a summer drought.

Just throw Kelso Klassic fastpitch softball tournament on the calendar, one suggested as ominous clouds rolled in from the southwest.

Sure enough, the marquee game for opening night could not be completed due to rain, and only one of four games on the schedule was completed.

"We will resume and reschedule tomorrow," said assistant tournament director Rick Heuring.

The 13-team tournament drew a large crowd to watch the battle between hometown Kelso Fastpitch and the New Zealand under-19 national team, which is playing as a tuneup for the ISC Junior Men's World Championship later this month in Canada.

New Zealand led 4-3 when play was suspended by rain in the fifth inning.

New Zealand struck first with three runs in the first inning on two hits against Kelso's Tom Jansen and two errors. New Zealand, which Heuring said arrived at 1 a.m. this morning after a 13-hour flight, added a run in the second inning.

But Kelso responded with a run in the bottom of the second and scored two more in the third on Brent Rampley's two-out single into right field.

In the only game that was finished Friday night, Nokomis (Ill.) Bud Light needed just five innings to post a 9-1 victory against the Memphis Pomen.

The tournament is scheduled to resume at 8:30 this morning.

The championship game in the double-elimination event is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday with an if-necessary game to follow at 4:30 p.m.