GRANITEQUARRY — It was sort of like reading a great mystery novel, only to find that someone had ripped the final chapter out of the book.

Two desperate 3A South Piedmont Conference baseball teams waged an incredible battle at Staton Field on Monday afternoon. It was a game in which nearly every pitch brought hoots from one fired-up sections of rooters and a day on which the bases seemed to be loaded every few seconds.

In the end, however, it was a game that had no ending.

With A.L. Brown leading 7-6, heading to the top of the seventh, East coach Jeff Safrit was ejected by plate umpire Jim Esser. When Safrit didn’t exit the dugout swiftly enough to suit Esser, the umpire declared the game forfeited to the Wonders. The stunned voice of public address announcer Jeff Vail informed shocked fans that “the game is apparently over.”

“He said Ihad one minute after he threw me out,” said a surprisingly calm Safrit. “I took five seconds — maybe 10 seconds. Has this ever happened to me? Shoot, no.”

By 10 p.m. last night, every coach in the SPC had heard about the incident. No was quite sure what to make of it, though, because none of them had ever heard of anything like it, either.

Is the forfeiture appealable? No one knows. If the result stands, the Wonders are 3-3 in the league and 5-4 overall, while East falls to 2-5 and 0-5. Yes, 0-5.

“That’s got to be the best 0 and 5 team in the country,” said Wonder coach Empsy Thompson.

Last night’s events may have had their roots in East’s recent loss at Harding. Esser was the plate umpire in that game and confined Safrit to the dugout for less than flattering commentary on his calling of balls and strikes.

Yesterday, there was tension between the umpiring crew and both Safrit and Thompson as early as the bottom of the first.

Safrit has had a few hundred nose-to-nose confrontations with umpires over the years, but hadn’t made any of his trademark sprints across the field until shortly after Wonder pitcher Zach Ward fanned Matt Butler to end the sixth. A called strike during Butler’s at-bat had drawn catcalls from East fans and apparently Safrit didn’t think much of it, either. Moments later, he and Esser were locked in fairly animated conversation on the first-base line.

“I said. ‘The kid (Butler) is 6-foot-5,’ ” explained Safrit. “I guess that did it.”

Safrit was given the heave-ho. He tarried in the dugout, and then suddenly, the game was over.

“I wanted to win,” said Thompson. “But not like that. I haven’t been involved in anything like that. I hate it for Jeff’s kids.”

“I was looking forward to going out there for the seventh,” said Wonder pitcher Zach Ward, a free-spirited ‘Wild Thing’ clone, who was the only guy in green wearing short sleeves. “Sleeves get in my way,” he said.

The Wonders probably should have won the game easily, outhitting East 9 to 2. They smacked out four runs in the first against East ace Julian Sides and led all the way. Sizzling Wally Tuttle drove in three runs, while Tyson Fink plated two more with clutch singles.

East scratched out runs on a throwing error and a passed ball, then used a strong relief outing by Spencer Steedley to stay reasonably close. It was 6-2 Wonders heading to the bottom of the fourth when East’s Drew Davis delivered a two-out, two-run single to tighten things up. Then East crawled to within 6-5 in the fifth, scratching out a run on two errors, a sacrifice and a passed ball.

“Everything we got, they pretty much gave us,” said Safrit.

“Our defense didn’t make plays,” said Thompson. “But Ward kept battling. He put us on his back and carried us to thePromised Land.”

“I was just trying to keep from losing my mind out there,” said Ward, who struck out nine, while working around five errors.

East had the momentum when Wonder Andrew Petty, who had struck out twice and kicked three balls at short, redeemed himself with a long homer to open the sixth.

“Andrew’s a competitor,” said Thompson. “He wasn’t going to fold up.”

Petty’s blast made it 7-5. Then the Wonders loaded the bases with walks. But Thumper Williams’ line shot was right at second baseman Justin Miller, who doubled Josh Lee off first.

In its half of the inning, East rallied one last time, scoring on an error, two walks and Steedley’s fielder’s choice to make it 7-6. But Ward struck out Butler to end the threat and prompt Safrit’s ill-fated meeting of the minds with Esser.

NOTES: If the forfeit stands, the game will officially go in the books as A.L. Brown 9, East 0. ... Safrit indicated that he will have to sit out the next two games. ... Safrit said he’s not giving up on the season, even though East will just about have to win the conference tourney to make the state playoffs if yesterday’s result stands. “I’m gonna fight this thing to the end,” said Safrit.