The BFA St. Albans Comets faced Essex in the 2012 Vermont D1 State Championship game. They started under the lights Friday night. Kate made it up from Yale to root on "her" Fairfielders and the rest of this nex-gen Comet team (in doing so, she returned the favor from when they traveled to see she and her Comets win the championship in '05 and '06). Great fun. Chelsea pitched beautifully, Eli made an epic catch of Essex's lead off bunt, and the Comet bats were hot. BFA took the lead twice, but each time, Essex -- playing well itself -- answered. Then the storm hit and the game was suspended, looking at being resumed Monday evening. The photos from the first four innings slowly deteriorate as the light disappears -- ended up shooting at ASA 3200 at 1/100th of second, so full of grain and blur and darkness, but they capture the scene. Three days later ...The game resumed Monday and I was fortunate to have the flexibility to see its completion. Essex jumped out to a 3-2 lead with a big hit, then pieced things together in the 6th to make it 6-2. BFA rallied in the 7th, as Chelsea led off with a double and Shanley singled and Caitlyn drove in Chelsea with a sharp grounder. Essex regrouped in time and held on for a hard earned win over the Comets. Congrats to Essex and congrats to the BFA girls for a heck of a season. I've enjoyed this group of Comets as they've come up through. They've been fun to watch. Bravo, ladies. Bravo. And Tim? The plane to balance business and family? Well played, my friend. And Chelsea? Taking time to "pass it on" amidst it all? Awesome.