Waterford — The latest rendition of The Rivalry nearly elicited tears of joy. Sunny, 70 degrees, whispering breeze. A 1-hour, 38-minute infomercial on high school baseball. Throw strikes, pick up the ball. Textbook pickoff plays. A successful bunt. Theater. Not decided till the last pitch.

And when it ended a little after 5 Wednesday, the Fighting Buddy Dewaines of Montville earned a 1-0 win over the Fighting Connor Lewises of Waterford. All you can ask on April 15. Stay tuned to the state tournament where both programs will be heard from. Loudly, declaratively.

Just don’t stay tuned to future years within the Eastern Connecticut Conference, or whatever appellations our new league/leagues will have around here. Waterford versus Montville, the best baseball rivalry we have. Waterford and Montville, who aren’t exactly in book club together in any season, any sport — just the way we like it — may go kaput.

Imagine: Two towns which border each other and poke fun at each other and compete with each other are thought to have not enough in common. So say the suits entrusted with lecturing us about what’s best for all the kids.

Waterford and Montville in nonleague games? Maybe. Or maybe not. Nobody knows. Nobody can at this point, what with uncertainty hovering like cigarette smoke at the casino. And so after Wednesday’s game, some of the dramatis personae were asked their opinions about the current morass within the ECC and a future in which the Waterford-Montville game is the exception, not the rule.

Dewaine, the winning pitcher: “I don’t think we should break up the rivalries or the friendliness of the ECC. It’s great to go across a few towns to play a team instead of going 45 minutes to play a bunch of kids you don’t know or see once a year. I think the ECC breaking up is not a great thing. Every time we play Waterford, it’s always a great game. You’re always on your toes. Last year we had a protest game. It’s not a good thing to break up the rivalry.”

Montville coach Phil Orbe: “If I can speak not as the Montville baseball coach, but as a product of southeastern Connecticut, it’s a shame. Really sad. It really is. Very sad. Some schools are just looking at their perspective instead of how we’re all supposed to be in this together. I’m a big believer in the ECC. Not just in baseball. I’m a big believer in the athletic programs in this part of the state. Seems that’s being thrown out the window with people worrying about their own agendas.”

Lewis of Waterford, the losing pitcher: “It’s terrible. This is a great rivalry. The kids know each other. They’re always good games. The teams are always really good. It’s just sad. It’s fun to play them.”

Waterford coach Art Peluso: “I enjoy playing Montville. It’s fun. It’s competitive. You always have a good game. There’s always some juice behind it. We want to play good teams. You lose, you lose. But they make us better. This game has to make us better.”

You just read the words of Dewaine, a three-sport athlete and perhaps the best overall athlete in the league. Of Orbe, a three-time state championship coach and the quintessential competitor. Of Lewis, among the most clutch kids in Waterford history, author of two buzzer-beating baskets in state basketball tournaments and owner of a Division I baseball scholarship to Hartford. Of Peluso, who got the Lancers to the state finals two years ago and past championship coach of the ECC Tournament.

What would they know anyway, right?

The coaches … the kids … who ever asks them their opinion on whom they want to play? Nah. Can’t have that. Too many egos involved at higher levels. After all, why should Waterford and Montville play in baseball when they can travel an hour to play somebody else?

And we let it happen.

The coaches, at least the ones south of Norwich, think this is a joke. The kids want to play their friends. Readers, many of whom played in the ECC themselves, can’t understand it. And yet it’s happening. Once again the question: Why? Shouldn’t we — all of us — start asking the people in charge a few questions?

A great day, Wednesday. Those of us there were lucky to be in that place at that time and smart enough to enjoy it. At the end of the day, Dewaine was saluting teammate Jeremy Sagun’s defense and teammate T.T. Bowens, who got the final out of the day. And they were all saluting each other, rivals they are, for a really good game.

So by all means, let’s kill it. Waterford-Montville. Who wants to see that anyway?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius