Fairfield American and Glastonbury American will have to wait another day to decide the Little League state championship.
Monday's title game was postponed due to thunder and lightning in the area and pushed back until Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in Prospect.
The first lightning strike hit around 5:15 p.m., forcing a mandatory 30-minute delay. With the thunder and lightning continuing, the umpires called the game at 5:46 p.m. although it wasn't actually raining. However, the skies opened shortly after the game officially was postponed.
Since the Prospect field has no lights, the game needed to start by 6:30 p.m. to assure a full six innings could be played. Little League officials would not have wanted to start the contest and then have it suspended after two or three innings.
The winner of Tuesday's clash will travel to Bristol on Thursday for the New England Regionals, which get under way Friday at the Giamatti Little League Complex.
Glastonbury won the opening game of the best-of-three series 7-4 on Saturday, but Fairfield American rebounded with a 3-2 win on Sunday on Brendan Bucher's game-winning single in the bottom of the sixth.
Fairfield American is looking to repeat as state champions, a feat last accomplished by Shelton National in 2007-08. Before Shelton National, the last repeat winner in the state was Stamford Federal in 1981-82.
Connecticut is the only berth in the regionals undecided, as champions have been crowned in the five other states.
So far, the only returning team from last year is Cumberland County, Rhode Island, which lost to Fairfield American 1-0 in the championship game. That contest featured a spectacular pitching duel by Fairfield American's Nick Nardone and Cumberland's Tyler Calabro.
The other state champions are: Goffstown (New Hampshire), Barre County (Vermont), Yarmouth (Maine) and Andover (Massachusetts).
Connecticut opens on Friday against Vermont at 8:15 p.m., then faces Maine on Saturday (8 p.m) and New Hampshire on Sunday (5 p.m.)
After an off day Sunday, Connecticut concludes pool play on Aug. 9 against Rhode Island at 1 p.m. in a game that will be televised by NESN.
After pool play wraps up on Aug. 10, the top four finishers advance to the semifinals on Aug. 11. The championship game is set for Aug. 13 at 1 p.m. and will air on ESPN.
