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Plan B...sometimes C or D
So what is a team supposed to do when it rains and it can't play its games?
It depends on the game they play and where it's played. A baseball, softball or tennis team can't really practice on a soaked field -- a little soggy maybe, but not waterlogged.
Track teams can have some of their athletes practice as usual -- meets aren't usually postponed unless there's lightning or some other imminent danger -- and, surprisingly, for golf, it's business as usual as long as it's not a deluge.
Fort Scott Community College's baseball team was supposed to go to Iola to take on Allen County in a key Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division doubleheader Thursday. Instead, they did what they could at Lions Field. The infield wasn't in bad shape, except near third base where the tarp didn't stay down as well as it should have.
Infielder Brandt Barnes, who was helping head coach Chris Moddelmog with an infield drill while recovering from an illness, said that earthworms had moved up to the surface, especially in the outfield.
Other players were in the Dave Regan Clubhouse taking batting practice. A few of them were in the LaRoche Locker Room watching the Kansas City Royals game before they took their turns in the cage.
The Greyhounds didn't go too hard because the rain-out and some other rescheduling now means they'll have to play doubleheaders Friday at Allen and Saturday at Neosho County. That just begins a stretch where they'll now have to play eight games in five days.
Other coaches would probably like to be busier than they are in terms of game -- although not to an extreme like that. For instance, Fort Scott High School's varsity softball team hasn't played since it opened the season with its home tournament back on March 25. The Tiger junior varsity, partly due to cancellations, has played just two games also.
"We're just going to hit in the (batting) cage upstairs," FSHS head softball coach Alvin Metcalf said. "Our pitchers will come down (to the gym floor) and pitch and get in a day in of that. It'll be just a short practice. We've already been in the gym so much that all our little stuff is done. But we can come back and work on our hitting."
The softball teams will finally get back out on the field -- hopefully -- Saturday morning. The varsity will play a Wichita Home School team at 10:30 a.m. on Don Hewett Field. A JV game between the programs will take place afterward.
The Tiger varsity baseball team played twice last week but won't have another chance to play games that count until next Thursday, which is when the postponed doubleheader against Pittsburg will be played (The softball games vs. Pittsburg will also be played Thursday).
The baseball Tigers began the day by running in the gym -- a course that took them along the baselines of the basketball courts and through the hallways between the bleachers and the locker rooms on each side.
"We usually do some conditioning first," FSHS head baseball coach B.J. Pruitt said. "Then we'll throw, do some different drills that we can do on the floor. We've done some work on infield stuff -- bunt coverage, first-and-third (situations) -- little things like that that there's enough room to do in here and keep the guys focused.
"We can work on some of the little things we may overlook (outside). We can work on pickoffs and fundamental, technical-type things. We make do with what we've got, definitely."
Pruitt also noted that there is a contingency schedule that covers when teams can use either the FSHS gym or the old middle school gym in case of rain.
Fort Scott High head boys' track coach Don Epps' plans are influenced by what events the athletes are involved in. Strength athletes such as those who shot put, discus and javelin, will lift weights.
"We can do a lot of technique drills," Epps said. "We work on speed, power and explosion. With weight events, you can go outdoors to some degree. With discus, the concrete gets slick and you have trouble standing up. Javelin, you have to wear longer spikes."
Runners can pretty much stick with their normal routine, unless the rain is coming down in torrents or there's a threat of lightning. And even then, they can still work inside.
"The school is set up where we can run," Epps said. "We can in the gym. We could even run up the stairs of the juco wing. Distance runners can run mileage or inside or outside"
Jumpers might still be able to work on long or triple jump and maybe even high jump. But for safety's sake, pole vaulters won't practice in slick conditions.
"Pole vault is no go," Epps said. "If it's bad at a meet, it's cancelled. We don't take any chances with that."
Fort Scott High golf coach Ken Klassen said that when it's just a light rain or a mist, as was the case Thursday, the golf team goes ahead and practices normally. This is because most tournaments are played in those conditions.
If there's a downpour, things change a bit. The Tigers can practice putting indoors over go over fundamentals.
"We can video tape everyone's swings and then play the back," Klassen said. "We can critique their swings. Sometimes, we might come in and hit into a net. It depends on the conditions. Earlier in the year, we're more likely to do the video. Later, we tend to just go ahead and take the day off."
Lightning, of course, results in immediate suspension of play. In fact, the presence of lightning is the only time a player can leave the course without hearing the warning horn.
As for Fort Scott's tennis team: It didn't practice at all Thursday after it's tournament at Pittsburg was called off Thursday. That was partly because the Tigers are scheduled to play in a dual today at Nevada.
"After a while, there's not much we can do inside," Fort Scott tennis coach Lynn Barr noted. "Early in the year, you need to go over little things. Since the game is self-officiated, you have to go over the rules.
"If there's an extended period where we can't get outside for a few days, we'll go inside. But even early in the season, we weren't inside much. We needed to be on the court, so we went ahead and went outside, even when it was fairly cold. Once we're in the middle of the season, though, there's not much we can do."