Tourneys disrupted ahead of snowfall forecast
The National Weather Service reports a 70% chance of snow this morning, 50% Saturday
When Augustin Ruiz began preparing the baseball field at Christian Brothers Athletic Complex at just before 8 a.m. Thursday, he felt good about the chances the Jim Pierce Memorial Tournament would commence.
It was sleeting by the time the
St. Michael’s Horsemen began to take some batting practice in preparation for their 9 a.m. first-round game against Jemez Valley.
The rest of the day was spent watching a mixture of snow, sleet and rain come and go, and Ruiz, the Horsemen head coach, made a difficult decision: The tournament would be canceled. Ruiz said the alternative of using another field in the city was not available because other city schools were using them for tournaments.
With the field taking in so much precipitation, Ruiz said the outfield will be slippery and could pose a safety risk for players.
“We had to make a decision,” Ruiz said. “We had Cobre coming in from down south. We had Kirtland Central coming from the Four Corners. I had them scheduled for the later games in the day.”
It was supposed to be a weekend of baseball and softball action in Santa Fe, but the weekend forecast is casting doubt on whether any of that will happen.
Santa Fe High was using its field for a round-robin tournament for the weekend, and had to use Capital’s field when it adjusted its schedule to accommodate teams for cold temperatures on Friday. Thursday’s game between Capital and Santa Fe High to kick off the tournament was postponed. Santa Fe Indian School had its baseball and softball complex booked with its tournament that begins Friday.
The Roseanne Noedel Memorial Softball Tournament at St. Michael’s
made it through one game before postponing its six-team tournament until Saturday — weather permitting.
SFIS head coach Jude Torres and Santa Fe Public Schools athletic director Marc Ducharme said their decisions to move forward or cancel their tournaments will be made Friday morning. The outlook does not look promising. The National Weather Service forecasts a 70% chance to snow in the morning, and a 50% chance Saturday.
Torres said the problem with the weather forecast is that teams are beginning to ratchet up their schedules as the basketball season wrapped up Saturday. With only six weeks left until the end of the regular season, it leaves no room to reschedule tournaments, and few open dates to find replacement games.
Torres added chances are he will set up a doubleheader with a team that is also looking to make up games, if they can find dates that work.
“We’re trying to build some chemistry and pitching arms in condition,” Torres said. “That’s a big part of our early season. If you can’t get them throwing early in game situations, their accuracy, arm strength and endurance really suffer.”
Ruiz found a good compromise to make up for losing three games this weekend. St. Michael’s, Cobre and Albuquerque Sandia Prep will hold a one-day round-robin session at Sandia Prep Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. The Horsemen will get to play the Indians and the Sundevils in the afternoon, so long as the rain stays away.
Otherwise, Ruiz said he has three open dates that won’t create issues with rest amid the 12-game District 2-3A season that begins in 12 days for the Horsemen. He added the decision to cancel the tournament was done to give the other five teams in the tournament a chance to find make-up games in a timely fashion.
“We get to knock out two games in one day, which would be awesome,” Ruiz said.