TAMPA - Fans could take their pick of classic games.
But therein was the problem Thursday at the Ed Radice Sports Complex. Without running shoes or a good scout team, you had to pick one.
Cambridge, Palm Harbor University and River Ridge fans had their portable folding chairs set with each area team competing in an evening semifinal.
But among all of those, an 18-inning classic (believed to tie a state tournament record) was unfolding between Fort Myers Bishop Verot and Callahan West Nassau, who started three hours earlier.
Not long after that concluded, two of the three local-interest games also went into extra innings.
What a delight.
What a nightmare.
"I kept running over here trying to see what was happening," said Jode Hanson, clad in her PHU shirt and hat but trying to catch the end of the River Ridge-Naples game, which went 15 innings before Naples won 3-2.
PHU finished off Niceville 2-0 in nine innings, while the other Class 5A semifinal marched on across the complex and out of sight from the Hurricanes' field.
Hanson, a self-proclaimed softball "diehard," couldn't help but leave her daughter's game from time to time to check out the River Ridge game and count the ongoing "K" signs collecting on the fences at the other games.
A full night's work for a fan.
At next week's state baseball tournament, the games will unfold one by one at Legends Field. One semifinal goes 14 innings? The other one will just have to wait.
Florida High School Athletic Association assistant director of communications Robert Hernberger said that option frequently is tossed around for softball , but a coaches committee refuses it.
Multi-team softball tournaments are routine, from summer club play to holiday tournaments. Coaches know the drill, and adjust.
"We've seen River Ridge, we've seen Naples a couple times. There's not a lot of surprises at this point," PHU coach Chuck Poetter said. "We have people, they'll be booking the other game, seeing if we can find anything out."
But Cambridge's Raymond Tapia got to eye his final opponent up close, being able to watch Belle Glade Glades Day beat Laurel Hill before his team played. Only the Class A semifinals were staggered, and that was fine by him.
"The game is strategy. A good coach is a weapon," Tapia said. "If you can't see the other game, you start looking at your parents, asking "Who's not interested?' They don't want to go, they want to watch their kids."
Coaches and fans shouldn't have to choose. Each classic deserves center stage.
