For many students, the late winter has thrown a wrench into the cogs of spring time revelry. But on campus, the rain and wind has been a nightmare for Vikings baseball and softball.
“Well, we have had a lot of rain before,” said head softball coach Angie Goularte, “but this season is up there with one of the craziest.”
Entire weeks of games have been rained out and needed to be rescheduled, providing some added stress to both student athletes and teachers.
“It’s hard to get all the faculty and students on the same page last minute,” said head baseball coach Steve Ward,”because students need to miss class and have to make up with teachers, as well as be ready to play.”
The softball team plays many of their games as double headers, which works in their favor when it comes to rescheduling games. Goularte’s team has caught up on all their games, but is feeling the effects of the rain in a different way.
“One of the hardest parts with the rain is that we do not have any indoor facilities that we can use when the weather is bad,” said Goularte. “Therefore we miss out on valuable practice time.”
For the baseball team, the weather may have playoff consequences. The Big 8 is a highly competitive conference this year, with seven of the eight teams in contention for a playoff spot. All seven teams are within a win of each other, and Ward says the rain puts DVC at a minor disadvantage.
“Our field doesn’t drain as well as the rest of the fields, so a lot of our home games have been pushed back,” said Ward.
But the major disadvantage is that to make up all the games, the baseball team will play a grueling seven games in the final 10 days of the season. With the playoff race as close as it is, these next seven games could make or break the Vikings post season hopes.