- November 28, 2024
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Seabreeze and Father Lopez finally played Monday, after rain postponed five games in five days.
BY MATT MENCARINI | SPORTS EDITOR
There’s a great SportscCenter commercial where the anchors simulate what they would do if a show went into a rain delay, killing time as if they were athletes.
I know it never really happens, but I get a kick out of watching Steve Levy and John Anderson pretend to be ballplayers anxious to get back out on the clay. But for some local baseball teams, the end of last week was the real deal, and much longer.
Seabreeze was scheduled to play Melbourne Wednesday, May 1, but that didn’t actually happen until May 6, the same day Father Lopez finally played St. Johns Country Day, which had been postponed since Thursday, May 2.
Both teams were waiting to play the first game of their respective regional tournaments.
At one point, it looked like Seabreeze might play during the weekend. Father Lopez and St. Johns Country Day actually showed up to the field Friday. But a constant downpour nixed those best intentions.
“You look at it both ways,” Seabreeze coach Anthony Campanella said late in the week, before the Melbourne game. “At the end of the season, a lot of these kids are kind of tired. This can be a positive thing where it can give them some rest. Or, in our situation, we've been playing so well, so we want to play.”
Both teams were able to get some work in, though, during the delays, although their activities were limited.
“It’s just something we’ve been talking about all year, and that’s adversity,” Father Lopez coach Trevor Berryhill said. “Teams that are going to be successful are going to push through. ... It’s not about the weather or the other team, its about us — stay mentally tough and be ready to play.”
But both coaches also recognized the large part timing and rhythm plays in their sport, and for their teams.
“You just have to hope that the coaches have done a good enough job starting the season (so) that these guys can execute,” Campanella said.
Unlike Levy and Anderson, when the rain delays ended for Seabreeze and Father Lopez, they didn’t get to hop into a chair and read off a teleprompter.
The Sandcrabs and the Green Wave had games to win. Their seasons depended on it.
