Teams dealing with postponed events
By Greg Seubert
Spring sports seasons are underway for area high school teams.
Mother Nature apparently didn’t get the memo.
While a handful of baseball and softball games and track meets went on as scheduled in late March and early April, most of them – as well as girls’ soccer games and boys’ golf matches – have been put on hold.
The reason? An early-spring snowstorm that dumped almost a foot of snow on the area and also resulted in Waupaca school officials calling off classes April 3-4.
Waupaca High School Athletic Director Carl Eggebrecht has already rescheduled seven baseball games, four girls’ soccer games and two softball games and is working to find make-up dates for one postponed baseball and two softball contests.
“I don’t remember getting 10, 11 inches of snow in April,” he said. “You can expect a 3- or 4-inch snowfall and in a day or two, it’s melted away. We’re almost compressing a nine-week schedule into six or seven weeks. This is a unique year to start out spring sports, there’s no doubt about that.
“It’s unique because you anticipate getting rain in the spring,” he added. “April showers bring May flowers. You anticipate maybe one day a week that you’re going to have to reschedule. When you get into a week to 10 days of rescheduling, that really compresses a lot of changes into multiple weeks later on. You have to find officials and when they’re available. You try to adapt.”
Doubleheaders are a possibility for baseball and softball teams, according to Eggebrecht.
“As days get longer, we might be able to start at 4 o’clock and have sunlight until 8, 8:30 at night in mid-May,” he said.
Waupaca’s teams participate in the North Eastern Conference, while Iola-Scandinavia, Manawa and Weyauwega-Fremont compete in the Central Wisconsin Conference.
“The conference games are more important to reschedule,” Eggebrecht said. “This early in the year, we try to reschedule the nonconference games, but when we discuss rescheduling with nonconference (schools), we always discuss that a conference game will override it and we may have to cancel that rescheduled nonconference game.”
That’s the case with Waupaca’s JV1 and varsity baseball games at Adams-Friendship originally scheduled for April 2. Those games have tentatively been rescheduled for Monday, May 14, but could be taken off of the schedule if that day is needed for a rescheduled conference game.
The storm also kept teams from practicing outdoors for several days.
“We have a set schedule for inclement weather like rain in May,” Eggebrecht said. “We have a rotating schedule for different teams to be able to go into the gym and use that for their practice time.”
Waupaca’s track team is scheduled to host Clintonville and Shawano at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 12, for the home opener on the school’s new resurfaced track at Comet Field.
That meet has yet to be rescheduled.
“That may dry faster with the black surface, so we might be able to get a track meet in,” Eggebrecht said. “I’ve had some inquiries from schools north of us wanting to get into our quadrangulars in the next couple of weeks. We’re playing it by ear right now as far as what we can do and just take it one day at a time. I still firmly believe that if we get some 40-, 45-degree weather with no freezing overnight, this may absorb into the soil rather quickly.”
Waupaca’s girls’ varsity and JV1 soccer teams had their first two home games on Comet Field’s new artificial turf postponed.
“It’ll be a benefit for us because once the snow is off, it’ll be usable,” Eggebrecht said. “The problem is how do you fit that schedule in when you have a middle school or high school track meet. We can’t use the turf field then, we have to utilize our practice fields for game purposes.
“We have some very good facilities that allow us to adjust and adapt to our times and needs,” he said. “There are times when the softball diamond at the middle school is more playable than our JV diamond at the high school because of the soil drainage. For baseball, we might be able to use Lakemen Field and we may be able to work a doubleheader using the lights. We’re at more of an advantage than other schools just by our community and school facilities.”
Once the snow melts, athletes, coaches and fans can expect to see cancellations during the season, according to Eggebrecht.
“This is snow,” he said. “We haven’t had rain yet.”
Here’s a rundown on rescheduled and postponed contests for Waupaca, Iola-Scandinavia, Weyauwega-Fremont and Manawa teams as of Friday, April 6:
Waupaca
April 2: JV1 baseball at Adams-Friendship, rescheduled for 5 p.m. Monday, May 14; baseball at Adams-Friendship, rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 14.
April 3: JV1 baseball vs. Clintonville, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 20; baseball vs. Clintonville, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20; girls’ JV1 soccer vs. Stevens Point, rescheduled to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17; girls’ soccer vs. Stevens Point, rescheduled to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17.
April 5: JV1 baseball at Clintonville, no rescheduled date; baseball at Clintonville, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 27; JV1 softball at Clintonville, no rescheduled date; softball at Clintonville, no rescheduled date; girls’ JV1 soccer vs. New Holstein, no rescheduled date; girls’ soccer vs. New Holstein, no rescheduled date; track at Wautoma Invitational (boys only), no rescheduled date.
April 6: JV1 baseball vs. Antigo, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 13; baseball vs. Antigo, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 13; JV1 softball at Oconto Falls, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 7; softball at Oconto Falls, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 7.
Iola-Scandinavia
April 3: Baseball vs. Menominee Indian, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 1; JV softball at Rosholt, no rescheduled date; softball vs. Menominee Indian, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 1.
April 5: Track at Tri-County Invitational, no date rescheduled; baseball vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8; softball vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8.
April 9: Boys’ golf at Manawa Invitational, no rescheduled date; baseball at Amherst, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 20; softball at Amherst, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 20.
April 10: Track at Wittenberg-Birnamwood Relays, no rescheduled date.
Weyauwega-Fremont
April 2: JV baseball at Omro, no rescheduled date; baseball at Omro, no rescheduled date.
April 3: Baseball vs. Pacelli, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17; softball vs. Pacelli, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 15; track at Wild Rose, no rescheduled date.
April 5: Baseball at Shiocton, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24; softball at Shiocton, rescheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24; track at Denmark Invitational, no rescheduled date.
April 6: Softball at Freedom, no rescheduled date.
April 9: Boys’ golf at Manawa Invitational, no rescheduled date.
Manawa
April 3: JV baseball at Stratford, no reschedule date; baseball at Stratford, no rescheduled date; JV softball at Stratford, no rescheduled date; softball at Stratford, no rescheduled date.
April 5: Baseball vs. Gresham, no rescheduled date; softball vs. Gresham, no rescheduled date; track at Shiocton, no rescheduled date.
April 7: Softball at Poynette Jamboree, no rescheduled date.
April 9: Boys’ golf hosts Manawa Invitational, no rescheduled date; track at Tri-County, no rescheduled date.
April 10: Track at Wittenberg-Birnamwood Relays, no rescheduled date.