Canceled, changed, forfeited, postponed. More than a month of wet spring weather has forced Pine-Richland High School coaches to find creative ways to finish their respective seasons.
“It was the worst spring I have ever seen,” Pine-Richland boys tennis coach Janet Chappell said.
Rain has been measured on 32 days in Pine and Richland townships since spring sports began in mid-March, according to Weather.com.
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“We had to play three of our 12 section matches inside,” Chappell said. “We had at least three other matches that we had to get played, and we played in the rain just to get them finished.
“We had very few practices so we were unable to work on things,” she said.
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Despite numerous lost practices, Pine-Richland qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA boys tennis playoffs and will play Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. today. The Rams defeated Chartiers Valley, 5-0, in the first round of playoff action.
The Rams baseball and softball teams might have a chance to finish their section seasons on dry fields today, but more thunderstorms are predicted late in the week and beyond.
Besides the rain, Pine-Richland teams have been forced to cope with another thing beyond their control – playoff deadlines imposed by the WPIAL and the PIAA.
In an effort to keep pace and finish the season, the Rams softball team plays a doubleheader at Oakland Catholic starting at 3 p.m. today. Pine-Richland stands 4-6 in Section 3-AAAA behind Shaler (12-0), North Allegheny (9-3) and Seneca Valley (7-5).
The Rams baseball team closes the section season with an important game against visiting Shaler (7-4) at 4 p.m. today.
Despite playing on wet and muddy fields most of the spring, Pine-Richland’s baseball team is 12-4 overall. The Rams are 8-3 and tied with Butler and Seneca Valley for first place in Section 1-AAAA.
Track practice goes on despite poor weather. Usually the runners can cope with wet weather better than pole vaulters and high jumpers who need solid traction on their takeoffs.
“It has made it difficult to get consistent quality practice in, especially for sprinters and jumpers,” Pine-Richland boys track coach Brian Devinney said.
The Rams girls track team did not miss a practice or meet despite the weather.
“Track is a different animal as far as weather is concerned,” Rams girls track coach Donald Thomas said. “Our kids start running outside right after our Christmas break.”
High school spring sports across the state end June 17 with the PIAA softball and baseball championships at Penn State. The state softball title game will be held at Penn State’s new $12 million Nittany Lions Softball Park.
The state track and field championships for Class AA and AAA will be May 27-28 at Shippensburg University, the same date as the state tennis championships at Hershey Racquet Club, Hershey.
“The inclement and uncooperative spring weather has resulted in a very frustrating spring interscholastic athletic season,” WPIAL Executive Director Tim O’Malley noted recently in a letter to area athletic directors.
O’Malley advised schools not to use forfeits as a “convenient way” to complete section games.
“It is our hope that the weather will eventually cooperate,” he wrote.
