With just three outs to go, Coon Rapids (Minn.) High appeared to be cruising to a victory against rival Osseo (Minn.) High. Two days later, Coon Rapids limped away with a loss having broken or come near a variety of state records in the process.
As reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Osseo eventually eked out a 6-5 victory against Coon Rapids in 19 innings, the final three of which were played two days after the original game ran out of sunlight after 16 tense innings.
By the time it was over, the regular-season matchup had spread across more than five hours of game time and set four state records: Most at-bats by a team (Osseo came to the plate a whopping 68 times), most at-bats by a player (six hitters batted nine times), most sacrifice bunts (Coon Rapids completed five) and most strikeouts by a player (an Osseo batter tied the state mark with five Ks).
When the teams met to conclude the original game two days after it was postponed by darkness, both squads had to honor their original lineups, including all of the pitching and position switches that had come before darkness fell. That made things rather interesting.
Fitting for the drama that preceded it, when the game finally did reach its final frame, Coon Rapids loaded the bases with just one out in the bottom of the 19th only to end the game by hitting into a double play.
Whether or not either Minnesota squad competes in a marathon match like their wild May extra-inning affair again, they can all look back fondly on what has to be one of the cleanest extra-inning games ever played at any level: In 19 innings the two teams combined to make just one error.
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