Even though the Gaffney Minor League All-Stars didn’t record a victory at this past weekend’s state tournament, it doesn’t mean the tournament was without drama.

In fact, there was plenty of drama, especially in the team’s opening game against Byrnes.

Gaffney held a comfortable 9-1 lead heading into the fourth inning when the sprinkler system unexpectedly activated and the game was delayed.

Manager Brian Parker decided to pull ace Chandler Brooks after the 30-minute delay but the strategy backfired as Byrnes rallied for an improbable 15-11 victory.

Gaffney never recovered from the stinging defeat and lost its next two games to Aiken and Mt. Pleasant to make a quick exit from the allstar tournament.

Parker blamed the lack of timely hitting for the losses.

“We left over a three game series over 3 dozen men on base (37) to be exact,” Parker said. “We had plenty of opportunity to score we just couldn’t get them across the plate.”

Gaffney also had trouble adjusting to the grass infield and the baseballs.

“Several issues that we were not prepared for were playing with grass infields, which made a huge difference,” Parker said. “Also, the core of the baseballs we used were very different including the weight of the balls. All of our pitchers were not comfortable throwing that different of a ball that we had played with all season.”

There were some bright spots, though. Brooks allowed just two hits in seven innings of work.

“I am very proud of the effort put forth by our guys,” Parker said. “I felt it was an honor and a great privilege to have the opportunity to be able to coach this great group of kids. I look forward to seeing these guys back next year, competing again in our regular season and attempting to represent our town in their respected divisions in the state tournament.”