Blair Oaks beats Blue Springs on controversial call

Call it a walk-off umpire's reversal.

After Blair Oaks head coach Harv Antle came out to argue a potential game-changing call in the bottom of the seventh inning, the two umpires got together and reversed the decision to preserve a 6-5 victory for the Falcons against the Blue Springs Wildcats in the opening game of the Capital City Invitational on Friday afternoon at Vivion Field.

Blue Springs' Jeremy Lufft stepped to the plate with the tying run on second and two outs. He hit a chopper to Blair Oaks third baseman James Reinkemeyer, whose throw to first was a little off-line. First baseman Logan Gratz attempted to tag Lufft, but the latter was ruled safe by the field umpire. That brought out Antle, who asked the umpires to get together. After a brief discussion, the umpires ruled Gratz did make the tag, ending the ball game.

"You appreciate the umpires getting together," Antle said. "... That's why you've got two umpires out there. Angles change and one guy will see something that the other guy didn't. The bottom line is, and they'll tell you that, their job is to get it right. When it goes against you, you don't like it, but when it works for you, it's a good thing. We caught a break there and were fortunate at the end they got it right.

"By the same token, we don't feel like we stole anything. We feel like we won the ball game and earned the victory for the things we did throughout the whole game, not just what happened at the end."

Blair Oaks held a 6-1 advantage before Blue Springs' late rally.