Oh, the things we do to play a home game...

It has become inevitable the past couple years that just when we start to think we're going to get out on our field, good ole' mother nature decides to dump heaps of snow on it. Our home opener with Northwestern was postponed from last Saturday, but we were bound and determined to do everything within our power to play at home this week. We were scheduled to play Martin Luther College today and Bethany Lutheran College tomorrow, both at home.
Although we moved our game scheduled for today to Ashland, WI, we still were trying to play at home tomorrow. Over the past week people have been putting many hours of hard work into the field. Highlights included shoveling a good portion of the outfield and breaking up inches of ice underneath the snow. There was also a competition to see who could chip off the biggest ice chunk with the ice pic. This kept a few entertained for a while. Numerous sleds were used to carry snow from the outfield to beyond the left field fence after using ice picks and shovels. Drainage ditches were produced from the left side of the infield into left field and it looked as if we would challenge the flow of the Nile River for a while. We also attempted shop vac'ing the water from the field. One (who will remain anonymous) even went to the extremes of starting snow on fire (and not realizing that when you pour gasoline on a fire while it's burning, the flame will, in fact, follow the gasoline back into the container. And, at that point, it's best to bail ship but AVOID throwing the container in the fire. Lesson learned. Despite all of our efforts, our field still looks like it needs a few days of the Sun's tender loving care before it's ready for Saints softball.

So... off we go to Ashland tomorrow morning to face Bethany Lutheran College in a conference doubleheader. With a few more days of sun, we hope to be able to play our home opener on Monday against Northwestern
College.