On Wednesday, the Devils Lake baseball team learned it will have to wait at least two more days to get its season started.
Thursday’s season opener against Grand Forks Central was postponed.
Friday’s non-region game against Park River/Fordville-Lankin was canceled.
Both slates were scheduled to be held at DLYA Field in Devils Lake.
It’s not the first schedule change the Firebirds have dealt with this spring. They were originally supposed to begin their season in Belcourt against Turtle Mountain on March 31. Their home opener was scheduled for April 7 against Grafton. Both games were canceled due to cold weather and poor field conditions.
As of Wednesday, the snow had mostly melted. Unlike the week prior, the turf infield could actually be seen. The netting behind home plate has been raised as well. But, as of Wednesday, the team hasn’t been cleared to play in the grass outfield.
Devils Lake’s non-region home doubleheader against Mandan is still on for Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Firebirds are hoping to practice on the field Friday.
The high temperature in Devils Lake is in the high 40s both Friday and Saturday.
One of the few positives from this situation is that, barring any further schedule changes, the Firebirds’ first action of the season will be non-region play — as originally intended. If Thursday had gone on as planned, they would have had to jump right into Eastern Dakota Conference play with no warmup games. Instead, Devils Lake will open its season against Mandan, a Western Dakota Association school.
But the longer this drags on, the more games Devils Lake will have to play in a shorter amount of time. The EDC tournament begins May 19, with the last regular-season game on the current schedule penciled in for May 12. The Firebirds will need to find room on their schedule for all 10 EDC opponents in about a month’s time.
Devils Lake is now scheduled to open EDC play on Tuesday, April 14 on the road against West Fargo. The Firebirds will then travel to West Fargo Sheyenne on Friday, April 17. The first home EDC game is now set for April 21 against Shanley.
The Central games were rescheduled for Thursday, April 30 at DLYA Field, the team announced Thursday.
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