PREP ATHLETICS: Delay of game: Area athletics forced to get creative while waiting to compete
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MARSHALL -- Springtime in Minnesota can be unpredictable and perhaps a little frustrating -- but this year stands out more than most for the area coaches and players involved in spring sports.
Several snowstorms and a historic mid-April blizzard that dropped well over a foot of snow, combined with cold temperatures, have kept most athletes indoors.
"I’ve never seen anything like it," Minneota golf coach Greg Gile said. "This is the worst I’ve ever seen in 51 years of coaching."
The Viking golfers have not only missed out on three meets this season, they haven’t even had a single practice outdoors.
"It’s been difficult," Gile said. "It’s hard being inside."
With conditions making it impossible to practice outside, coaches have been forced to get creative. Gile said he’s taken the golfers to use the golf simulators several times at Brau Brothers in Marshall.
"We utilize a two-hour block at the two hitting stations," he said. "They have two big hitting areas that are computerized and show a golf course. We put up driving yards and have our kids hit 100-yard shots and then 50-yard shots -- each kid will hit five and then step out. Then the next one hits five and steps out."
On Friday, the Minneota golfers alternated between using the simulated driving range and playing a mock round of golf at Brau Brothers.
"You can actually play a course on the golf simulator," Gile said. "The screen is the net. Golfers hit off a mat and a computerized eye analyzes everything on your swing. It’s pretty cool."
While the Canby/Minneota track team practices in Canby, the Minneota/Canby softball and Minneota baseball teams share the gym space in Minneota. Golfers have practiced at St. Edward Catholic School.
"We have Chinese balls that are rubber," Gile said. "They perform like a golf ball. You can slice them, shank them -- all the sins of golf. We’ll have them line up and hit off carpet samples -- thin ones, not shaggy carpet. It works well for indoors."
While about a dozen golfers can line up and hit shots in the gym, everyone else is out in the hallway practicing putting skills.
"They do putting on carpet runners," Gile said. "We have a putting machine that kicks the ball back if you make it."
Gile said he tries to have the students get solid repetitions in and then get out of the gym.
"We go into the gym for an hour," he said. "We hit, chip, putt and then get out of there. We have to keep the morale up, so we don’t dare go long."
Movie and pizza days have also helped keep the indoor-bound team motivated.
"We watched ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ two weeks ago and this week, we’re watching a golf film -- it’s like a golf lesson -- with chipping and putting basics," Gile said.
While it could easily be two weeks before they’re able to get on the course, Gile is optimistic that the warm weather as of late will quickly turn conditions around so that they can at least get on the outdoor driving range.
"We could be out in the mud on Monday," he said. "We’re hoping it’s nice enough to at least get outside. We’ll have to shovel a few spots (today) and Sunday, and we may end up using carpet samples because we need something dry to hit off of. It’s OK, though, if the golf balls land in the snow."
Despite the cards they’ve been dealt so far this spring, Gile said he knows other teams are in the same position.
"We know there will be other problems," he said. "We’re not even factoring in the lightning storms that will kick us off the course. We’re going to have to adapt, keep a level head and do the best we can."
The weather-forced indoor practices have also been somewhat grueling for baseball teams. Marshall head coach Chace Pollock said including the week in which pitchers and catchers can report, the team has had five weeks of practice -- nearly all indoors.
"We have had four of the five weeks of practice at 6 a.m. at the high school," Pollock said. "We have been going at that time because it’s the only time we can utilize the batting cages and gym because of the conflict of other sports. We have been outside for two days this spring -- and that was on a parking lot and field for a minimal time."
The Tiger baseball team spiced up one of their recent practice sessions by taking part in a "Tenniball" game, which is a baseball game using a tennis ball.
"Our four seniors drafted a team -- of ninth- through 12th-graders -- of about nine players per team," Pollock said. "They played a single-elimination tournament last Tuesday night. Each game was 6 innings."
While seniors Nick Klaith, Luke Jones and Jake Hess put together valiant teams, it was Kaleb Bossuyt’s team that won back-to-back games.
With the chaotic spring weather, Pollock said there isn’t much more they can do except for staying optimistic.
"Other than Tenniball, we have tried to give them days off here and there to keep them fresh," he said. "We have lost six of our 20 games so far -- four have been rescheduled -- so in all, if we get 15 games in before playoffs, we’d be happy."
The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton softball team has missed out on five game days so far -- four of which were scheduled to be doubleheaders. While he’s been part of the program for seven years, four as head coach, Granger Maranell said spring delays have been notoriously challenging.
"We’ve never played the first game on the day it was supposed to be played," he said. "But this is the worst so far. It’s going to be May almost before we get a game in."
Besides going out to the parking lot and practicing some pop flies, the Knights have been kept indoors for five of the six weeks of the practice season.
"Most of the time, we’re in the gym," he said. "We’re lucky enough to have some batting cages and pitching machines -- we’ll have girls pitch, too -- but we’ve had to be very creative this year."
Maranell said the softball players have had a lot of little competitions.
"We’ve tried to keep things fun but also have some competition between the girls," Maranell said. "We have groups on our team, and each group is in charge of coming up with drills for practice. They get a little chance to see what coaching is like -- they may even want to be teachers someday. It’s about being creative and letting them have a little fun so it’s not the same thing every day. We want to keep them hungry till they get to have their first game."
Due to the uncooperative spring weather, the Minnesota State High School League modified the rules for softball and baseball this season. The MSHSL officials agreed to allow school to play two five-inning games in a doubleheader format instead of the usual seven-inning length. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily help some Minnesota teams very much.
"It doesn’t really help our conference for softball because we play doubleheaders anyway," Maranell said. "Most of the other conferences around here only play one game a night. They play twice as many nights. It could help baseball because of pitch counts, but not softball unless the weather is 30 degrees outside or something. Then seven innings would be really long and (the new rule) would help that."
Maranell said he was a little deflated when he drove by the softball field on Monday, two days after the blizzard, but then had his spirits lifted by his team’s reaction.
"You could only get into one side of the dugout because of all the snow," he said. "The girls wanted to get shovels and get it scooped out so it would dry faster. They’re willing to anything to get outside."
While they’re trying to stay optimistic, Maranell said he feels bad for the seniors on the team.
"It’s their last go-around," Maranell said. "They’re worried they’re going to cancel the season. Hopefully we can find positives this season. It will be a memorable season at least."