The 2013 spring season has been plagued with rain, snow, and even tornadoes, making for shortened seasons. The St. Louis area as whole has gone from drought conditions, to flood warnings in the matter of a few weeks, given that over 8 inches of rain have fallen in two weeks, well above the average. Snow has also caused big troubles early in the season with late bouts of the white stuff dropping over 18 inches in some places over the course of a few weeks in late February and early March. Some people were left wondering when the season would even start.
“This has been a crazy spring weather wise. I don’t recall seeing a day where we had 12+ inches of snow during the spring sports season,” said Todd Zell, Athletic Director.
One of the most affected sports for the season is tennis with many matches being affected in many different ways.
Another sport that has been affected is baseball. The baseball team came home from Florida to find 12 inches of snow on the ground, and the start of their season in doubt. So far only 20 games have been played on schedule, and the rest have been made up, sometimes weeks later than planned.
Ben Lovell, senior, jokingly added that the rain delays “cramps my style and takes away my “me time”. Lovell still has managed to keep his 24-1 pitching win-loss ratio, even in the rain.
Golf, surprisingly, hasn’t been hard hit by the storms, but it has made for some soggy play, and rough scores.
Soccer, has been moderately affected, but has had some help from the turf field. Plus, a drainage system under their field helps the water drain much faster than it would off of the baseball and lacrosse fields.
Lacrosse had also made good use of the turf fields, playing many games.
“The other problem it causes is the back up of rescheduled games at the end of the season. Right now many of our teams will be playing 4 to 5 times a week the last 3 weeks of the season,” said Zell.
But not only have games been negatively affected, practices have been up the air given that so many teams needed indoor spaces. Some teams have not been given full practices, with baseball splitting their time between JV and Varsity.
Its been one of those seasons, where mother nature seems to always have the ball in her court, having an edge. But as the season continues and more and more games become affected, the players and fans will still be there, playing and cheering on their wildcats. Because in the end, its not about the rain, or snow. Its about the game, and thats what the fans, and players, will be focused on.
