Winter weather wreaks havoc on local sports

 

By ANDREW DREISCHARF
The Independent

 

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Baseball and softball seasons for Woodstock High School and Marian Central Catholic High School were scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 19. Those teams are still waiting to play thanks to Mother Nature.
Cold temperatures in the upper 30s made the fields at Marian and Emricson Park unsuitable for playing last week. A snowstorm Friday, dumping upwards of 10 inches on the Woodstock area, only put the fields in worse playing condition.
“I don’t know when the fields will be ready,” said WHS Athletic Director Glen Wilson. “Our field is like a bowl. When it gets full of snow it could be awhile before it dries out.”
Baseball and softball aren’t the only sports that have been affected by the beastly weather. Practice space for all teams has become a hot commodity as teams are all forced inside to practice, for the most part. Players are becoming impatient.
“I can’t wait to start playing,” said Marian senior softball player Katie Sharp. “The weather hasn’t been cooperative at all.”
Coaches are eager as well to begin the season as well, but also know everything must be ready for the sake of the players and their playing fields.
“They won’t let us play until the field is ready, and that could be a week,” said WHS baseball coach John Oliveira. “We hope to be playing by next weekend, but with the weather, you never know.”
Walking on the fields that teams at Marian and WHS will eventually be using, it’s quite easy to see why they have had to cancel games. The fields are muddy in places, and rock-hard in others. The snow has made everything slushy at this point. There are also snow mounds all over the fields. The sun has been helping to melt the snow, but it freezes again at night.
At the moment, safety is the most important thing at the moment for the athletes. No one wants to see anyone get hurt, and therefore, it’s a necessary evil to cancel games.
There have been a few days since practice began when the weather has been nice and teams have gotten to go outside. The WHS boys tennis team got to use its courts a few times.
“It was nice to get outside,” said WHS senior tennis player Ryan Ortmann. “The sun felt good.”
The girls soccer teams at WHS and Marian have been outside regularly, and the Lady ’Canes soccer teams did get a game in last week.
“As of now, nothing is in playing condition,” said Wilson. “Hopefully soon we can start playing.”
Right now, the teams and their fans will have to keep playing the waiting game and hope for no more inclement weather. The reason the spring season begins when it does is because there are only a couple of months left in the school year for the players to play their respective games. IHSA rules do not currently have seasons stretch into the summer, though they do in other states.
“Right now guys are sinking one to two inches in the muck when they go out there on the field,” said Oliveira. “We’re ready, though, as soon as we can play.”
Players and coaches are used to spring sports not starting on time because there is usually still winter weather in the area.
“It’s something you know is going to happen,” said Oliveira.
Information on cancellations will be available through WHS and Marian and on the Independent’s website, www.thewoodstockindependent.com.

 

This article was published in the March 26, 2008 edition of The Woodstock Independent.