That has been the image of the 2009 Connie Mack World Series qualifier around the Capital Region so far - kids trying to keep dry. South Troy Dodgers 17s players huddle under the umbrella during Thursday's resumption of a pool play game against the Lansingburgh Royals Thursday afternoon at Lansingburgh High School. (All photos by J.S. Carras - The Record).

South Troy's Robert Tedesco has shined in his two career appearances on the field behind Lansingburgh High School. He twirled eight shutout innings in Thursday's 8-6 16-inning victory, leading the Dodgers to a win in their first game of pool play. On May 30, he led bottom-seeded Mohonasen to a victory over No. 1 Lansingburgh in the opening round of the Section II Class A playoffs with a complete game 14-strikeout win.

"The difference was, (South Troy) executed and we didn’t," said Lansingburgh manager Ernie Ryan. "When it came time to laying down the bunts, they did and we didn’t. Simple as that. We had great pitching - both sides had great pitching - and you couldn’t ask for anything more."

Dodgers catcher Jason Sherwood caught all 16 innings of the marathon game and he laid down the game-winning suicide squeeze bunt in the top of the 16th. South Troy's second catcher is out with illness, meaning Sherwood will be behind the plate bright and early Friday morning when the Dodgers take on the New York Nine at 10 a.m.

"In my past, I’ve done squeezes a lot, so I was confident in what I could do," said Sherwood, a Guilderland High School graduate who is headed for Ithaca College. "But anybody on the team could have done the same thing and we were just lucky to get it down so we could end the game."

Tedesco got his uniform a little dirty sliding into third base on a stolen base attempt in front of Lansingburgh third baseman Jordan Zareski. He was stranded on third.

"To get on the rubber in a game that matters, it obviously means a lot," said Tedesco, a Mohonasen High School graduate. "When you have a great defense behind you, it takes a lot of the pressure off you. These guys played great. I love playing with these guys. They’re very solid defensively and I think that was why we won the game."

It was an afternoon of baserunning misadventures. The Royals saw two baserunners picked off in the bottom of the eighth - when one run would have won the game. Tedesco also induced a pair of inning-ending double plays before handing the ball over to Justin Rebhun to get the last three outs.

Check out the full story in Friday's edition of The Record.

Since I didn't see the first eight innings of the game (I was watching another game on the other side of the city) we didn't have a full boxscore with the story. Here is the play-by-play beginning with a bases loaded situation for the Dodgers with two out in the top of the eighth when the game resumed at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

Top 8, tied 6-6
Bases loaded for South Troy, two out
Tyler Young grounds to second base, ball bobbled, called out.
Bottom 8
Jeff Yattaw walks
Jared Teta bunt single, called safe when Joe Dugan was pulled off the bag at first
Pat Gareau up (Yattaw picked off at second base by Sherwood), Gareau strikes out
Zach Carle up, Teta picked off at first to end the inning.
Top 9
Alex Sobiecki strikes out looking
Sean Geisel singles
Jason Sherwood walks
Joe Dugan strikes out swinging
Justin Rebhun lines out to end inning.
Bottom 9
Carle bunt single
Jordan Zareski sacrifice bunt 1-3
Ray Carmel up (Carle to third on wild pitch) Carmel strikes out swinging
Dave Russo up strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Top 10
Rob Tedesco flies out to center field
Casey McPartlon singles up the middle
Matt Roth up (McPartlon caught stealing second base), Roth walks
Tyler Young up, flies out to center field to end the inning.
Bottom 10
Lewyckyj strikes out swinging
Zak Hunt grounds out to second base
Yattaw walks
Teta lines out to shortstop to end the inning.
Top 11
Sobiecki flies out to left field
Geisel singles to right field
Sherwood lines out to shortstop, Geisel doubled up at first to end the inning.
Bottom 11
Gareau singles to right field
Carle strikes out offering on bunt
Zareski strikes out swinging
Carmel strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Top 12
Dugan flies out to center field
Rebhun flies out to right field
Tedesco singles to right field
McPartlon up (Tedesco steals second base, then steals third base), McPartlon strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Bottom 12
Russo flies out to center field
Lewyckyj singles to left field
Hunt grounds into 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Top 13
Roth grounds out to third base
Young hit by a pitch in the head
Sobiecki up (Young steals second), Sobiecki walks
Geisel up, lines out to center field
Sherwood up, (Young and Sobiecki double steal), Sherwood strikes out swinging to end the inning.
Bottom 13
Yattaw strikes out looking.
Teta strikes out swinging.
Gardeau strikes out looking to end the inning.
Top 14
Dugan pops out foul to first base
Rebhun grounds out to shortstop
Tedesco lines out to second base to end the inning.
Bottom 14
Carle grounds out to second base
Zareski grounds out to pitcher
Carmel strikes out looking to end the inning.
Top 15
McPartlon infield single to third base
Roth up (McPartlon caught stealing second base), Roth pops out to pitcher
Young grounds out to shortstop to end inning.
Bottom 15
Russo infield single to shortstop
Lewyckyj up (Russo picked off at first), Lewycjkyj walks
Hunt up, grounds into 1-6-3 double play to end the inning.
Top 16
Sobiecki singles to center field
Geisel up (Sobiecki to second base on wild pitch), singles to center field, Sobiekci to third base
Sherwood suicide squeeze scores Sobiecki, Geisel to second base, Sherwood out at first
South Troy leads 7-6
Dugan up (Geisel moves to third on Carle balk), Dugan walks
Rebhun RBI sacrifice bunt scores Geisel, Dugan to second, Rebhun out at first
South Troy leads 8-6
Tedesco stirikes out looking to end the inning.
Bottom 16
Rebhun now pitching for Tedesco
Yattaw walks
Teta grounds out to second base, Yattaw to second
Gareau flies out to center field
Hastings pinch hits for Carle, Hastings grounds out to third to end the game.