Friday, April 15, 2011

Stupid snow.

Well, it's true that our spring sports season is almost over (only about three weeks to go!), but Mother Nature sure doesn't seem to comprehend that. We have, so far, probably 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch of heavy, wet snow here in Mitchell, and it's still coming down pretty hard. This would be fine a few months ago. Maybe even in March. But mid-April? Come on now. This is nonsense. I wore my snow boots back to work after I took lunch because I got sick of my feet being cold and wet. Along with being a general nuisance, the snow also creates plenty of problems for our baseball and softball teams. So far, softball has already been postponed from this afternoon (now played on 4/22) and baseball is still waiting to decide what to do (although it doesn't look like there's any way they can play... they would tear that field to pieces). Football was also forced to cancel its spring scrimmage. Now, teams are forced to find a time in the next two-ish weeks to reschedule these games. Both baseball and softball are going to have a busy few days at the end of the season. The baseball team is struggling a bit this year. The Tigers are 7-30 overall and 1-10 in the league. This was expected to some degree, I think. There are 15 true freshmen on the roster, and of the sophomores, juniors and seniors, only a precious few actually saw much playing time last year or in previous years. John Greicar is pretty much the only fielder to have any varsity playing experience, and Ethan Opsahl, Thomas Pickett and Patrick Dennis are the only pitchers with a significant amount of experience. DWU has been in plenty of games. A few weekends ago the Tigers played three games that went to extra innings and lost all three. They are just young and don't have that experience yet. I think down the road they'll be good, as long as they can get some of these young guys to stick around. There are some very talented players on this team. The softball team is doing well; DWU is 12-17 overall and 7-7 in the league. The Tigers have split their past four GPAC doubleheaders, but two of the losses have been 1-0 games. DWU has plenty of power this season, and has been taking advantage. The Tigers have 16 total home runs so far, led by Kelsie Fahr, who has five. The pitching staff has also been solid for the Tigers. The DWU track team has two athletes qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Alex Liberty qualified in the decathlon last week and Derik Fossum in the triple jump. The decathlon is nuts... athletes compete in a 1,500-meter run, several sprint races, at least one hurdle race, high jump pole vault and I think hammer or javelin. Along with a few others. Talk about needing to be athletic and versatile. Kudos to Liberty for qualifying. On a random aside... the senior athlete recognition and DWU Athletic Hall of Fame banquet is Saturday. This year's senior class has accomplished some amazing things. Our latest hall of fame inductees also make up a talented bunch. Should be a fun evening for everyone. Here's hoping no one decides to talk for an hour and a half.