Rain, rain, go away

The baseball and softball teams at Fort Recovery High School have had to play games battling rain, sleet, snow and high winds.
Across the state line, the Patriots haven’t gotten the chance.
Thanks to precipitation and an inconsistent weather pattern, Jay County’s baseball and softball teams are 10 days into their seasons and have yet to play a game.
“You get frustrated and anxious,” said JCHS baseball coach Lea Selvey, whose team has had to reschedule four games because of cold, rainy conditions. “The other part of it is, (I’ve) been around long enough to know there’s not much you can do about the weather anyways.”
That’s a notion JCHS athletics director Steve Boozer can attest to.
“It comes with the territory,” he said. “Spring schedules aren’t worth the paper they’re typed on.”
The early, non-conference games, Boozier said, are easier to reschedule. Should the weather not comply for conference games, a game later in the season may have to be bumped from the schedule to make room for the conference tilt. Those take precedence.
Should weather disrupt the season enough that the Patriots are unable to play a full schedule — all Jay County softball games have been rescheduled, and one baseball game is still in limbo — Selvey isn’t too concerned.
“As long as you can get a lot of your games in,” he said. “Very rarely do you get all 28 in anyway.”
Having to find correlating dates between schools is a much easier process than it used to be, Boozier said.
In the past, rescheduling a game usually meant having to make five or six phone calls back and forth with other ADs and officials. Now, Boozier and his secretary Joni Penrod can handle the changes with a few emails.
“All these changes, I think I’ve only talked to two or three people (by phone),” Boozier said. “It simplifies things. I can sit there at lunch and if I get an email I can respond to it.”
While having to postpone games has become easier for athletics directors like Boozier, it has become more and more frustrating for the athletes.
“For the most part it’s pretty annoying, honestly,” said JCHS sophomore softball player Chloe Trissel, whose team has had six games postponed and is slated to host Fort Recovery at 5 p.m. tonight.
Trissel said the months of conditioning and practicing indoors has gotten her squad pumped for the season, only to feel let down when the games have been postponed.
She said she’s had enough of the emotional rollercoaster.
“It’s kind of like waiting for Christmas morning and never getting to open your present,” she said.
With the extra practice time, both the softball and baseball teams have had to improvise, practicing inside, using the same drills they have during the offseason.
“You’ll get lucky once in a while and do a couple of new drills,” she said. “But there is only so much you can do when you’re sharing space with four other sports teams too.”
Selvey has taken a different approach to his practices, breaking up the routine by occasionally playing dodgeball. He’s also been able to spend a little more time individually with some players on hitting and pitching drills.
Still, the itch to get outside and hit the diamond is taking its toll.
“It’s horrible,” said Jacob Geesaman, a junior catcher on the baseball team. “I feel cooped up inside all of the time. I just want to be out in the field with my spikes on.”
The Patriot boys and girls track teams were able to squeeze in one meet April 5, and the tennis team opened its season the same day with a victory over Blackford.
But the baseball, softball and golf teams have yet to begin.
What will it be like when Jay County’s baseball and softball teams can finally start their seasons?
“A great moment,” Geesaman said.
Warmer, dry weather is on the forecast this week, with sunny skies and temperatures in the high-60s and low-70s expected. The Patriots — players, coaches and athletics administration alike — are hoping today is the day they hear the two words they’ve been anticipating all winter.
“Play ball.”