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Schools

The Games Will Go On ... Eventually

Rain has washed out hundreds of high school sports events across Northeast Ohio during the last month. Here's how one local school has dealt with the weather woes.

Nicole Pieffer receives dozens of phone calls every day in the athletics offices at . Parents and alumni and friends of the Eagles always want to know all about their favorite high school teams or raffles or just how they can be more involved.

But during the last couple of weeks, Pieffer, the athletics assistant at the school, has received more calls than ever before about when, exactly, the Eagles will be playing. Day after insufferable day, the teams are never on the fields or the courts or the diamonds. The rain has quickly developed into the surprise MVP for all spring sports teams.

And the problems are the same at almost every high school across Northeast Ohio.

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“The best thing,” Pieffer told yet another inquisitive fan early Tuesday afternoon, “is just to call every day.”

The Eagles, like so many professional athletes — like all of us, really, if you listen to the old baseball axioms — are day to day. Athletics director Paul Michalko talks with the coaches every morning and determines whether the teams might be able to play a few hours later. He then sends the news out to parents by 1 each afternoon.

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Far more often than not, the news is that there is no news, that there is no game.

“This is probably the lowest number of games that we’ve had at this point,” said Michalko, who has worked in or around high school sports for much of his adult life and has been at St. Edward for nearly two decades. “There’s never been anything like this.”

The lacrosse, rugby, and track and field teams have been largely unaffected, though their schedules often feature only one or two games or meets each week, which allows for makeup dates to be scheduled much more easily. 

The baseball and tennis teams, on the other hand, have not been so lucky. The baseball team, the Division I state champion in 2009 and 2010, has endured more rainouts and cancelations (11 games and three scrimmages) than it has played games (just seven). The tennis team (eight rainouts and eight matches) has nearly matched that unenviable figure.

“Normally, it’s cold,” tennis coach Todd Ashdown said. “But you can handle the cold.”

Rain, on the other hand, is a different problem.

The only thing that has kept the teams sharp is the prevalence of indoor facilities. The lacrosse team and some members of the track and field team are able to practice in the school, though not as effectively as they might be able to practice outdoors. The baseball team spends most afternoons at Diamond Indoor Sports in Westlake, where baseball coach Danny Allie is the director. The tennis team can move its matches to Paramount Tennis Club, also in Westlake, where Ashdown in the club pro. And rugby ... well, rugby is rugby. Almost nothing can stop a rugby practice or match.

The largest impediment for the Eagles, of course, will be postseason seeding. How can coaches and OHSAA officials make accurate determinations about teams — whether they deserve a postseason bid or should be relegated to stay home for the rest of the spring — on the results of eight or 10 games? So the Eagles and most other teams in the area are scrambling. The tennis team, 3-5 overall, will play as many matches indoor as necessary. The baseball team, 5-2 and on the field for just three games since April 1, is planning to play the next two Sunday afternoons.

“This has been, by far, the worst season,” Allie said. “You try to stay positive, but there’s not much you can be positive about when you go outside and the fields just aren’t dry.”

About the only positive is that the games have to go on, some way, some how.

As for when they actually start, ignore the schedules on the school website. They were rendered worthless weeks ago. Just listen to Pieffer.

Call every day.

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