Ejections, umpire confusion, and a walk-off (that no one knew was a walk-off)

It was meant to be a quiet, single-game round for the AutoOne Midland Carine Cats, but instead, last night’s 3-2 win over the Royals delivered more plot twists than the Bad and the Beautiful - including four ejections, a walk-off hit that didn’t know it was a walk-off, and a lengthy standoff that ultimately robbed both teams of a full contest.

Despite the drama, the Cats dug deep, played with composure, and walked away with a hard-earned win – even if the scoreboard took a backseat to the chaos on and off the diamond.

The Royals came out swinging, posting two early runs off Ash Harwood thanks to a string of sharp hits across the first two innings. But Carine hit back just as quickly. Sara Riou led off with a trademark drive to centre, followed by a thumping triple from Macca Vawser, bringing Riou home and tying the game.

From there, both pitchers settled in, turning the middle innings into a tense back-and-forth where every base mattered.

Controversy first struck in the third inning, when Scarlett Kelly, who had earlier entered as a Designated Runner, was mistakenly re-entered as a speed-up runner for Harwood. The move, while innocent in intention, constituted an illegal entry, triggering automatic ejections for both Kelly and coach Drew Herrington.

With Herrington sidelined, the injured but ever-reliable Georgia McCabe, operating on crutches, took over coaching duties from the dugout, issuing substitutions through the umpire via Vawser.

The game reached peak absurdity in the fifth inning.

After Harwood cracked a centre-field double to bring in Vawser for the go-ahead run, 14-year-old Cats’ junior Kelsie Hinchliffe was announced (audibly) as Harwood’s substitute at second base, marking her State League debut.

At the same time, McKinley Robson replaced Dempsey Henderson in the batter’s box. But just after Robson received her first pitch, the Royals coach called time, arguing that Hinchliffe had never been properly substituted.

With that, Hinchliffe was tossed in what may go down as the fastest ejection in State League debut history.

Coach McCabe – still unable to physically set foot on the diamond – was also ejected in the aftermath, taking the tally to four people in the clubroom and one very frustrated dugout.

Ironically, Kelly and Hinchliffe, who have shared junior 100, 150, and 200-game milestones together, now share first career ejections on the same day too.

At this point, with Carine up 3-2 and 25 minutes still on the clock, the Royals coach decided to escalate further – arguing at length that the ejections should result in a forfeit for the Cats.

Rather than lodging an intention to protest and continuing the game, the prolonged argument between coach and umpires spiralled into a stalemate. The game ground to a halt, with players standing idle as the clock ticked past the maximum time.

In a frustrating end, the Cats were awarded the win as the home team batting last, and what turned out to be Harwood’s RBI double earlier in the fifth became the de facto walk-off – 30 minutes before the game technically ended, as the Royals coach preferred to gamble on a win via forfeit rather than give his team the opportunity to win it on the diamond.

Through the mess, one thing stood out: the maturity and leadership of the Cats’ senior players, who kept the team calm, focused, and ready to restart at any moment.

NEXT WEEK: BACK TO SOFTBALL (WE HOPE)
The Cats return to familiar territory next week with a double-header clash against Fremantle Mariners and Thornlie Hawks — and after two rounds of rulebook madness, they’ll be hoping the only talking points are around the high quality of the softball.