The White Rock Tritons spent more time repairing their home field than they did playing on it last weekend, thanks to rain which has slowed the start of the B.C. Premier Baseball League season to a crawl.
On Sunday, the team arrived at their South Surrey Athletic Park home diamond early, about 8 a.m., in order to restore the rain-soaked field into playable condition in advance of a planned doubleheader against the visiting Nanaimo Pirates, the first half of which was to start at 1 p.m.
But the rain didn’t stop, and instead of an early-afternoon start, Game 1 – won 5-1 by Nanaimo – wasn’t played until 5 p.m. The two teams got through six innings of the nightcap before play had to be suspended – the Pirates had to catch a ferry home – with the score tied 3-3 in the sixth inning. The last inning of that game will be played the next time the two teams are scheduled to face each other.
“It’s tough. We had a team breakfast and then we were at the field early in the morning and basically didn’t get home until after 10 p.m.,” said Tritons’ coach Russ Smithson. “It was great of the Pirates to stick around as long as they did, but it’s tough not playing. We’re pretty rusty.”
White Rock did play Monday night at home against the Vancouver Cannons, losing 7-2. The Tritons now sport a record of 1-2, and while nearly every team has been affected by rainouts, some teams have played as many as eight or nine games already.
Smithson said the lack of games has affected his team in the early going.
“It didn’t go great (this week). We’ve aren’t playing poorly, we just aren’t executing,” he said.
“We haven’t thrown a lot of strikes, and our hitters have had a lot of strikeouts… so many strikeouts.
“Our timing is just off a little bit.”
One highlight from Monday’s loss to Vancouver was a home run off the bat of first baseman Zach Campagne, who knocked a Ryan Matsuda pitch over the fence for the team’s first round-tripper of the year.
Assuming the weather co-operates, the Tritons will be on the field plenty in the next two weeks. They play four times this weekend – twice Saturday, twice Sunday, all at home – and have three midweek games next week, followed by two more the next weekend.
Surrey’s other two PBL teams – the North Delta Blue Jays and Whalley Chiefs – managed to get on the field last weekend.
The Jays split a doubleheader against the Coquitlam Reds Saturday in North Delta, winning the first game 5-0 and losing the second, 4-2.
The Blue Jays also played Tuesday night in Abbotsford, beating the Cardinals 4-2.
The Chiefs played Tuesday as well, dropping an 11-1 game to Coquitlam at Mundy Park.