Weather playing havoc on youth baseball seasons

One of the wettest, coldest springs in history is playing havoc on suburban Little League teams. Rain is causing game cancellations, scheduling nightmares and disappointed players.

Area baseball and softball leagues are all dealing with the same problem - too many canceled games and not enough dry fields or time in the season to make them all up.

"It has been brutal. We've had to redo the schedules over and over. It has been tough," said Tim Storm, a board member for the Palatine Baseball Association. In attempts to get all the games in, Storm, who also coaches, has extended the season by a week.

Usually ending the season during the first week of July so that postseason travel teams can begin play, the Palatine house league and many others in the area are running longer to get in playoff games. This poses a problem for some families that have already planned vacations.

"This is the worst year, without a doubt," said Cindy Brignola, who helps with scheduling for eight travel teams at the Sports Academy Northwest. Finding fields, umpires and coordinating the players and coaches is a challenge. "This has been such an unusual season. But we can't control Mother Nature," she said.

Storm clouds have not given us a lot of breaks this season. The area is more than 6 inches above normal for the year in rainfall, said Nathan Marsili of the National Weather Service. Through the end of May, we're in the top five wettest spring of all time, according to the service.

The temperatures aren't helping. This is the 10th coldest June. The area is seeing temperatures nearly 6 degrees below normal for the month.

"These are conditions you'd expect in April, not June," said Peter Caliendo, consultant for the Sports Academy Northwest in Buffalo Grove.

Some parents question why the baseball season can't start later and run into August to avoid the nasty weather.

Storm, who has been coaching baseball for 25 years, said football season, which is starting earlier and earlier, is one reason for the early baseball start. Postseason baseball travel teams are another aspect pushing Little League earlier in the season.

Playing in the rain can result in more than just the discomfort of getting wet. Caliendo warns that competitive coaches coupled with a desire to get a game in can lead to injury. Caliendo, who trains coaches on how to teach kids, says playing in the rain or on soaked fields doesn't make any sense.

"No game at any age is worth an injury," he said.

Young pitchers have a hard enough time grasping the ball with their small hands, he said. Slipping on the wet ground causing leg or ankle injuries is another risk.

Rainouts also force teams to play back-to-back games or doubleheaders.

"This isn't good for young kids' arms," Caliendo said.

Like many players at all levels, Melissa Serio has experienced a heavy playing schedule this year due to rain. The Palatine High School athlete, part of a summer softball program, is playing five days a week. She said rain canceled all play last Saturday, forcing her team to play four games on Sunday.

"I was tired," said the 17-year-old.

Serio, who started playing T-ball when she was 5, said this is the "rainiest" season she can remember.

Kyle McGee, a 10-year-old who plays travel baseball in Lake Zurich, is also frustrated with the weather.

"Our first game of the season was rained out. I was all dressed in my uniform and ready to play," said the fifth-grader, who thinks nearly 20 of his games have been called due to storms.