Weather contingencies for state baseball this weekend
The spring weather may cause more issues with baseball’s state tournaments this weekend.
Already, one site in the Class 3A tournament has been moved. The games that were to be played at Niwot High School will now be played at Frederick High School, as Niwot’s outfield was flooded from overnight rain on Thursday morning.
The 1A state title game was originally scheduled to be played Thursday, but was postponed because the bracket’s early rounds were pushed back by weather. At noon on Thursday, that game was rescheduled to 6 p.m. Saturday.
More changes could soon be coming. There is a high chance of rain and thunderstorms in Denver (site of 5A and 4A) and Greeley (3A) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The 3A and 4A tournaments are scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday, with 5A set for Saturday and Sunday — due to wet fields in the early part of this week.
Pueblo, site of the 2A tournament on Friday and Saturday looks to be good to play this weekend.
As such, here are the weather contingencies for the weekend that has been communicated to schools:
The weather forecast is predicting a high chance of rain again, especially in Northern Colorado where Saturday and Sunday appear most threatened. Southern Colorado looks to be okay with only a small chance of thunderstorms each day.
As we look forward to the weekend, the following options will be explored should we be unable to play due to wet grounds:
Note: Game times may be adjusted to help school schedules when possible if games are postponed or have been postponed from a previous schedule.
Class 3A – Should either Friday or Saturday be postponed, Monday and Tuesday become the fall back date, using the same schedule. (Please note that at least two schools have graduation on Sunday.) If Monday and Tuesday end up postponed as well, then the first week of the tournament will move to May 22 and 23, with the semifinals and finals going to May 30 and June 1.
Class 4A – Move Friday’s games to Saturday and Saturday’s games to Monday, as neither Machebeuf nor All-Star Park are available on Sunday. Sites may be changed and times adjusted to accommodate the change in date(s).
If Monday is postponed as well, then move the tournament’s first 11 games to May 22 and 23; Games 12-14 (15) move to May 30 and June 1.
Class 5A – Should Saturday be postponed, the games will be moved to Sunday and Sunday’s games to Monday. Sites may be changed and times adjusted to accommodate the change in date(s).
If all days are postponed, then move the tournament’s first 11 games to May 22 and 23; Games 12-14 (15) move to May 30 and June 1.
All attempts in each classification will be made to play on schedule and on time, but Mother Nature has surprised us before.
