Maybe it was the lights. Maybe it was the skeeters. Maybe it was the full moon. Whatever the reason, baseball players from both teams struggled on Wednesday night at Sunnycrest Park.

And while “struggled” is thrown around a lot in games, it fits the bill on a night when the first inning took 50-minutes to complete.

Cicero came into the ball park short several players, including Nicholas Capece, Michael Mooney, Jack Clary, Alysa Mooney, and Drew Matyasyk. They also welcomed one player to his first game of the season – Jackson Fudge.

The team from Chiodo came in with only 7 players, which meant that Cicero had to lend their friends on the other team a helping hand on defense.

Pitchers for Cicero included the starter, Alex Sanes-Carmona, Jacob Calabria and Connor Pearce. All worked hard, but had trouble dealing with an unrealistically small strike zone from the umpire that proved difficult for both teams.

The game started out strong enough, as Cicero started the first inning with 5 runs off 3 hits and 2 walks. Sanes-Carmona, Johnny Wozniczka, and Jackson Fudge all had hits, while Jacob Calabria, Sanes-Carmona, Wozniczka, Fudge and Alex Smith all scored runs.

The second and third inning brought much of the same at the plate, as CIcero brought in 8 runs off 6 hits and 4 walks. Hits were off the bats of Calabria, Sanes-Carmona, Capp and Fudge, while runs included Calabria, Sanes-Carmona, Daniel Capp, and Fudge.

This all added up to 13 runs scored in 3 innings by this Cicero squad.

Unfortunately, a defensive night filled with careless errors and poor decisions by Cicero left them behind by 7 runs heading into the final inning.

With the score 16-9 in Chiodo’s favor, Cicero came out determined to take back the lead. With 1 out, Calabria and Sanes-Carmona singled, followed by a Capp walk. Both Calabria and Sanes-Carmona scored on a ground out by Wozniczka, which was coupled with a fielding error.

With 2 outs, Jackson Fudge knocked Capp in with a double to get the score to 16-12. Alex Smith followed with a walk and Sean Bombard entered the batter’s box with 2 outs.

Jackson Fudge scored on a wild pitch to Bombard, putting the score at 16-13.  With Bombard facing a 3-2 count, Smith attempted to steal third base, but the tag was made off a solid throw from Chiodo’s catcher, ending the game.

MVP on this night was Daniel Capp, who faced, blocked and snagged some of the most difficult pitches of the season — thanks partly to a mound in disrepair and tough calls by the plate umpire.