Schedule shuffled by storm|[03/08/08]
Published 12:00 am Saturday, March 8, 2008
Rain, sleet and snow kept athletes across Mississippi from their appointed rounds on Friday.
Baseball and softball teams on every level postponed or canceled games as near-freezing temperatures and frozen precipitation descended upon the state. At the Cliburn Classic junior college baseball tournament at Bazinsky Field, Hinds Community College canceled its Friday game with No. 2 LSU-Eunice but still hoped to play today.
Hinds is scheduled to play Panola College, out of Texas, at noon, and Kishwaukee (Ill.) at 6 p.m. The games could be moved to Hinds’ campus in Raymond if Bazinsky is too wet, coach Sam Temple said. Hinds has a tarp covering its field, while Bazinsky does not.
LSU-Eunice and Kishwaukee didn’t escape the cold. They played in a steady drizzle and sleet early Friday afternoon, with LSU-Eunice taking a 19-1 win in five innings.
“We just went ahead and canceled our game,” Temple said. “It was just too much sleet and cold for us and it wasn’t getting any better.”
Mississippi’s four-year colleges also fell victim to bad weather. The first game of Ole Miss’ weekend series at TCU was postponed, as was Mississippi State’s series opener with Baylor in Starkville. Ole Miss and TCU will try to play a doubleheader today at noon. MSU and Baylor will play a doubleheader on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., and a single game Monday at 1 p.m.
In the high school ranks, Friday’s entire baseball and softball schedule was wiped out and today’s was up in the air. Travel conditions were playing a big factor in the decision to postpone.
Porters Chapel was to host Claiborne in a doubleheader this afternoon, but Shreveport received several inches of snow that would make the 3-hour trip treacherous. PCA coach Randy Wright said a decision would be made this morning on whether or not to play.
Warren Central was to play at Brandon this afternoon, and Vicksburg was scheduled to host Callaway at 10 a.m. The fate of both games would be decided in the morning, coaches said. Both teams lost division games to the weather on Friday. WC’s game with Greenville-Weston has not been rescheduled yet, while Vicksburg will play a doubleheader against Yazoo City on April 5 at Bazinsky Field.
St. Aloysius also rescheduled its division game with Puckett, originally scheduled for Friday, as a doubleheader at Bazinsky on April 8.