Heavy rains drenched western Massachusetts Saturday afternoon and halted play at the New England 13-year-old Babe Ruth Regional Tournament in Westfield, Mass., with Manchester's Ray LeBel All-Stars trailing Bennington, Vt., 2-1, in the bottom of the second inning.

The teams will return to the diamond today at noon to resume the losers' bracket contest.

Manchester grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Drew Merrick singled home Pat Swanson with the game's first run. But the Vermonters responded with two runs in the home half of the frame as LeBel starting pitcher Cam Nowawski issued several bases on balls.

Manchester manager Tony Doucet expects Nowawski to take the ball to the hill when the game resumes today.

“He a big strong kid with a good hard fastball and when he's on he's tough to hit,” said Doucet. “He had a little bit of wildness, but the timing of the rain today was bad because he was starting find his rythm and was throwing strikes in the second.”

Manchester, which suffered a 14-4 setback to host Westfield, Mass., Friday, must win today to remain alive in the double-elimination tourney.