April showers
15 of 23: Days of rain this month through Saturday.
5: Days of rain, first 22 days of April 2010.
6.4 inches: Average amount of rain throughout the Miami Valley this month, with some recordings of 8 inches.
1.3 inches: Average amount of rain throughout the Miami Valley in April 2010.
4.04 inches: Average amount of rain for Ohio in April.
2.20 inches: Average amount of rain for Ohio in April 2010.
Source: WHIO-TV Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson
It’s not often that basketball and baseball practices collide. But in Ohio, in the spring, anything goes.
“Oh, sure, this weather even affects our basketball programs,” Fairmont High School baseball coach Kent Drake said.
“They have open gyms, but earlier this week we had to bump those out to get our practices in. I know that Coach (Hank) Bias and Coach (Tim) Cogan get frustrated with it, but they know that we’re in season.”
It’s past the midway point of spring high schools sports seasons. However, talk about divisional titles and postseason rides is a long way off. These days, especially this month, the only thing teams want is a good day to play and a dry field.
The spring rain that accompanies March and April always affects Midwest teams. But this year seems to be even more brutal — and damp — than ever. There’s a good and continuing reason for that: rain, followed by more rain.
“To put it in perspective, the monthly rainfall record (in the Miami Valley) is 9.2 inches,” WHIO-TV Chief Meteorologist Jamie Simpson said. “If we don’t get there by the end of the weekend we will by the end of the month.”
That’s the kind of unprecedented and consistent rainfall from which Drake and all area spring coaches have been taking cover and rescheduling around since their seasons began in earnest a month ago.
And it’s not just the diamond sports that have been affected.
The 61st Edwin C. Moses/Dayton Relays were rescheduled from Friday to Monday at Welcome Stadium because of another front of showers that — like always — poured in from the west.
In addition, the rain has affected tennis programs and play at every soggy golf course in the area.
Youth baseball, softball and T-ball programs also have been hit hard, limiting their practices and games.
The annual April showers have resulted in an understanding among high school conferences: Nonleague games are the first to go or not be rescheduled. That way, divisional and overall conference titles still can be determined.
Greater Western Ohio Conference commissioner Eric Spahr has taken that one step further in baseball: Games are bunched on Mondays and Tuesdays — and Wednesdays if needed — to prevent teams from leaning on an ace pitcher. With bunched league games, that’s physically impossible.
Most baseball and softball teams have played just eight to 12 games through the weekend. Those seasons started on March 28.
“It’s always a difficult task,” said Spahr about squeezing in enough conference ballgames to decide divisional titles.
“At the end of the day you can play four, six, seven games in a week because you’re allowed four doubleheaders. They’ll end up using the first week of the (postseason) tournament to get some games in there as long as it doesn’t impact the pitcher lineup.”
Calling all umps
As president of the Kettering Umpires Association, it’s up to longtime official Ron Duncan to make certain an umpire crew is at a rescheduled game or pulled from a postponed contest. That’s not easy.
“I just got done with all the reassignments I had for (this) week,” Duncan said on Friday.
“Took me an hour and a half and I’ll probably get shot down because it’s supposed to rain on Monday and Tuesday.”
Duncan supervises a crew of 100 umpires. Between the KUS and the West Central Ohio Umpires Association, they call everything from varsity, reserve and freshman baseball and softball games to middle school sports.
Duncan constantly updates a recorded message to warn umps if a game has been called. If a game is postponed after umpires arrive, they still get a show-up fee of $10. That evolved because of rising gasoline prices. Scarce even in the best of times, the umpire association didn’t want to lose any potential recruits just because of travel that wasn’t at least somewhat reimbursed.
“I’ve had some bad (spring) seasons, but this is about the worst that I’ve seen,” said Duncan, who’s been scheduling for the KUS since 1989.
“If it rains during tournament time, I don’t know what we’re going to do. We had a bad (spring) two years ago, but nothing like this. This is the worst.”
Duncan and his association have an answer to the spring rains that would appease postponed events: Switch it up.
“We’ve said for years that we ought to have football in the spring and baseball in the fall,” Duncan said.
“You can play football in the rain, but not anything else. It would be hot and dry for baseball and softball in the fall. Of course, that will never happen, but it would work.”
Deal with it
Wright State University baseball coach Rob Cooper grew up playing year round in an ideal California climate, the opposite of Ohio’s four seasons.
He also has an answer to perpetually wet playing fields: artificial turf.
“I just chalk it up to this part of the country; it’s something everybody deals with,” said Cooper following the Raiders’ 6-3 win in 10 innings on Friday at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
“It’s just another good reason for Midwest baseball teams to have turf. We want it and we’re trying to get it.”
Cooper and his crew frequent the Nutter Center’s McLin Gym when Nischwitz Stadium is unplayable.
The Athletes in Action sports complex at Xenia has the area’s only artificial turf baseball field. The only part of the major league-size surface that isn’t turf is the pitcher’s mound. As long as the pitcher doesn’t slip — and it’s not raining or lightning isn’t in the area — it’s game on.
The AIA field is playable much sooner than a wet grass-and-dirt field. Its drainage system dries the playing surface quicker than a natural field.
That makes it a much sought-after location — for a fee — for nearby high school and college teams. Even DePauw and Manchester universities, both located in Indiana, scheduled a March doubleheader at AIA. It was rained out.
Sinclair swept Lorain Community College at AIA in a baseball doubleheader on Friday when most other teams were rained out.
Same for all
Dr. Jim Murphy is president of Patterson Park Youth Baseball. The longtime successful organization offers programs for youths ages 5-18 and features a complex of eight playing fields tucked around Irving Avenue in the corner of Dayton, near the Oakwood border.
Like all other area youth baseball organizations, Patterson Park has been hit hard with soaked fields. Some of its fields drain more rapidly and are ready for play sooner than others. One game was played Saturday before rain cancelled two contests.
At this early point of their seasons, rescheduled games are bumping allotted practice times.
“We’ve never had a spring like this,” said Murphy, who’s been a Patterson Park official since 1993.
“Practice is pre-empted for a game. The coaches all know that; everybody’s in the same boat. They argue other stuff, but not that.”
Never rained out
The only recreational sport that seems to have been unscathed by the rain is bowling. According to proprietor Doug Wilson, “business has been better” at both Beaver Vu Bowl and Pla-Mor Lanes this month.
Open bowling as well as Cosmic Bowling have been positively impacted by the perpetually wet weather.
“Bowling provides an opportunity for people, even in this weather, to be able to get out of the house and have fun,” Wilson said.
“Bowling never gets rained out.”
Teed off
Kittyhawk Golf Course, like other public venues, has seen a drop in league and casual play because of the rain. Its full league lineup on the Eagle, Hawk and Kitty courses played just once last week. On Friday, there were three golfers after 2 p.m.
“The rain’s been terrible,” assistant pro Ian Harker said.
Kittyhawk seems to drain better than most courses and can accommodate play when other places can’t. But not last week.
Also hindering area golf was an exceptionally long and harsh winter. It’s not unusual for winter golf to be played well into December and start up again in early March. Not this year.
Unlike those other affected sports, an eventual benefit looms for golf. “This will definitely help out for May,” Harker said. “Most courses should be in great shape after all this rain.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton @DaytonDailyNews.com. Contributing writer Debbie Juniewicz contributed to this report.
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