Through the first few weeks of the BC Premier Baseball League season, the White Rock Tritons – and most of the teams in the 11-team junior circuit – have had a tough time getting on the field.
The weather has not been kind to the PBL’s April schedule, and the rain washed out a planned four-game series between the Tritons and Okanagan Athletics last weekend. The two rivals were supposed to play two games Saturday afternoon at South Surrey Athletic Park and two more Sunday.
But when rain led to the cancellation of Saturday’s doubleheader, it all but eliminated Sunday’s slate, too, considering the distance the Kelowna-based Athletics would have had to travel.
“Saturday was washed out, and then because of the travel commitments, they would’ve had to have known really early Sunday if we could play, so they could’ve made it here,” said Tritons head coach Kyle Dhanani.
Though it wasn’t raining prior to the scheduled first pitch Sunday, the fields were deemed to be in unplayable condition.
The South Surrey games were far from the only ones postponed due to rain.
According to the BCPBL’s official schedule, nine games weren’t played on the weekend. A doubleheader April 1 between the Coquitlam Reds and Abbotsford Cardinals was postponed earlier this month, and even the two games White Rock has managed to play this season – a doubleheader two weekends ago against the North Shore Twins – were pushed forward a day due to weather problems.
Dhanani said the four-game series with the Athletics would most likely be made up in the summer, once school is done and a midweek games are possible.
In the meantime, the Tritons will take a non-weather related break from the PBL schedule this weekend when they head to Kamloops for the Best of the West tournament, which Dhanani pointed out is a popular spot for collegiate scouts.
The Tritons qualified for the tournament last fall, defeating Okanagan 2-1 in the qualifying contest.
“It’s a big tournament, and the top-six teams qualify automatically for next year, so that’s our starting-point goal,” Dhanani said.
The Tritons are guaranteed to play four games, beginning Thursday.
