W. Va. — The state high school baseball Region I Section 2 tournament pairings are set, with University the top seed, followed by Morgantown, Buckhannon-Upshur, and Preston, but as usual this season, there’s an even more powerful force that is dominating the competition.
Once again, the weather went 2-0 Monday May 7, with both sectional games called off.
Once again, area teams were forced indoors to practice on turf and try to salvage yet another cancelled game day.
“It’s been our toughest opponent all season,” University skipper Donovan “Buck” Riggleman lamented. “It’s pretty amazing what we’ve accomplished and how well we’ve persevered considering we’ve only been able to play and practice five times on grass all year. It’s very frustrating for everyone.”
Every baseball coach is well aware of just how different the game is played on turf compared to grass, and the only way to prepare on a natural surface is to take rep after rep after rep, a scarce luxury this spring.
“Hitting and throwing can be fairly well duplicated inside or on turf,” Riggleman explained. “”But the hops are so much more true and the ball moves so much quicker on turf, so the adjustment for both infielders and outfielders is just enormous. And without a lot of practice on grass, it’s just very tough to adjust.”
At Preston, coach Glen NcNew’s Knights have historically waged a constant battle with the elements for outdoor practice time every season, but this year has been especially challenging.
“Indoor practice and cancelled games for us are usually par for the course, but this year has been more like a birdie or maybe even an eagle,” McNew quipped. “We’ve practiced just 4 times outside all year, and we’ve had a dozen games cancelled. And with baseball, you can practice all you want, but to reach your full potential as a player and a team, you have to play games. That’s where you measure yourself, and really learn who you are and what you have to do to improve. For us, it seems like we finally got to play two or three games in a week and start to get into a rhythm, and then we were off for eight straight days.
“There’s not much you can do about it,” he continued, “but just roll with it, and do your best to be ready when you do finally get a chance to play.”
Riggleman praised the folks at Pro Performance for their cooperation for opening the indoor facilities for his Hawks to get some quality work in on days like yesterday, but clearly, the situation with the weather and the field conditions at Mylan Park have ramped up the angst for all involved.
“As coaches, our hands are tied,” he said, “and I’m not sure what the answer is. We’ve told our kids to be ready for something every day, be it a game or practice, and I’m proud of the fact that I couldn’t have asked for anything more from our team. They’ve done everything we’ve asked, and done their best through a tough situation.
“All we want to do,” he concluded, the irritation rising unmistakably in his voice, “is to play baseball. That’s it. We just wish we could go out there and play, but it’s out of our hands.”
Perhaps the clearest sign of the frustration that has been simmering all year came from Morgantown manager Mark McCarty who, when asked to comment on the situation, responded thusly: “I am not able to make any comments on the field conditions or the schedule at this time.”
As everyone’s mother preached, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…”
University and Preston are scheduled today (May 8) for a 2:00 p.m. game at Mylan Park, with Morgantown and Buchhannon-Upshur set to follow – weather permitting, of course.
