Albemarle protest denied by VHSL

By Bart Isley

Published: June 5, 2008

On Tuesday, Albemarle’s baseball team drove away from its Virginia High School League state tournament quarterfinal down 5-4 in the middle of the fifth inning to defending Group AAA champion James River. The Patriots left with the assurance they’d be back Wednesday for a chance to rally and extend their season.

Within a matter of minutes, that all changed drastically.

The VHSL ruled shortly after Albemarle departed that the game would stand as a James River victory because the rulebook states that a contest can’t be continued the next day after it has reached the VHSL Handbook’s completion point, which is the fifth inning.

Albemarle then filed an appeal Wednesday morning at 10:30 a.m., which the VHSL denied early Wednesday afternoon.

“I may not like the decision, but we’re going to abide by it,” said Albemarle head coach Carroll Bickers. “We don’t have any other recourse.”

In a press release issued Wednesday afternoon, the VHSL explained why it can’t allow Albemarle the chance to complete its game with James River in accordance with the VHSL handbook.

“The decision by contest officials, both coaches and the site director to suspend Tuesday’s state quarterfinal game between Albemarle High School and James River High School after four and one-half innings is not permitted by the VHSL handbook and was therefore erroneous,” said Deputy Director of the VHSL Tom Zimorski. “League staff or their representatives are not permitted to change the Handbook due to specific circumstances or incorrect decisions by contest officials or game directors.”

Simply put, the officials at the field did something they weren’t allowed to do — decide to pick the game up the next day after the completion point. That action violated a VHSL rule, and allowing the game to stand as completed Tuesday abides by that rule.

Zimorski added an apology and then explained that the game’s result would hold, putting James River, the Central Region Champion, in the state semifinals while ending Northwest region runner-up Albemarle’s season.

“The decision is based upon the specific Handbook regulation cited previously,” Zimorski said. “Therefore, the result of the game stands and is final. I can assure you that every step necessary is being taken in order to ensure that these unfortunate circumstances will not occur in the future.”

A pair of weather delays after a 5 p.m. start held up Tuesday’s game, with the second delay putting the teams in the locker room after the top of the fourth inning. Eventually, with the field darkening, the teams re-took the field and played out a final inning.

With James River leading the game 5-4 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, Bickers and James River officials reached an agreement to call the game for the day due to darkness (the field was not equipped with lights, which requires a VHSL waiver) and pick things up Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“I think that the decision we made was the right one,” Bickers said. “I’ve always said it’s one thing to do things right, but you also have to do the right thing.”

The VHSL made the determination that the game would stand while Albemarle was in transit between Midlothian and Charlottesville. That left Bickers — who was informed by a reporter during the ride back — with the unenviable task of informing his team of their loss when the bus arrived back in Charlottesville.

“Kids are very resilient, probably more so than we as adults can be,” Bickers said. “Right now, they are state champions in my mind for the way they’ve handle it.”