Wicked winter throwing a curveball to baseball, softball teams

It seems hard to fathom, but Friday is the official opening day for spring sports in Delaware County.

The treacherous winter weather has forced immediate changes to the regular-season schedule. For instance, the Central League has moved its openers, for both baseball and softball, from next Monday to Thursday.

Indoor facilities such as MapleZone in Concord are experiencing a boom in business as schools try to compensate for the lack of outdoor practice. Haverford High baseball rented out the tunnels in Citizens Bank Park for batting practice.

Overall, the relentless winter has impacted just about every local athlete playing a spring sport that requires a leather glove and aluminum bat. And we might not be out of the woods yet.

“We’ve been outside twice. We scrimmaged (Tuesday) at Shipley and we did very well,” Haverford High baseball coach Paul Bogosian said. “We threw 81 pitches in seven innings, and I was totally impressed with the way our guys looked. The defense was great, the offense was great. The pitching was exceptional. They have a turf, which was beautiful …

“It’s a real challenge. You try to be upbeat every day, and our guys have done everything I could ever ask of them considering the circumstances. They’re hanging in there. They’re frustrated and we’re frustrated as coaches, but the kids haven’t gotten too down or negative. I love our attitude and the kids realize that there won’t be much of a change to the weather until next Thursday, I think, at the earliest. I think we’ll start warming up a little finally.”

While the Fords do have a scrimmage under their belt, the majority of baseball and softball teams in the area cannot say the same. Tyler Kight and his Penncrest baseball teammates are doing their best to prepare for the upcoming season, but the poor conditions have made that a near impossible and frustrating task.

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