The weather outside is frightful with spring sports 3 weeks away

   The most famous rodent in the Northeast, Punxsatawney Phil, has never traveled to Ogdensburg, but he sure nailed the winter forecast three weeks ago.

     If you thought the furry rodent had gotten sloppy after co-starring In Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, or that he couldn’t understand winters along the Southern Ontario-Northern New York landbridge, think again. When Phil saw his shadow on Feb. 2, legend has it that winter-like weather would continue for six more weeks.

    If you don’t put much stock in a groundhog living 7 hours away near Pittsburgh, just take a look around St. Lawrence County. Sixteen inches fell in Waddington last week. Nineteen dropped on Redwood. Snowbanks line Ford Street. The snowpack in most backyards and fields has topped 2 feet.

   So relying on the boyhood math lesson I learned from Jethro Bodine of The Beverly Hillbillies – “knot knot plus knot knot equals … don’t rush me Granny’’ — our winter weather should end March 16, the day before spring sports practice begins across New York State.

   OFA athletic director Matt Tessmer is concluding the “marathon’’ of winter sports and preparing for the spring “sprint.’’

   “The spring can become a grind if the teams can’t get outside,’’ Tessmer said. “We assume they won’t be outside until April, but if it goes too far into April then that’s a problem. If they are able to get outside in March, then awesome.’’

  He mentioned this before the latest snowstorm dumped anywhere between 1-2 feet.

   “I don’t worry about it until mid-March,’’ he added. “It can leave pretty quickly.’’

     “The games are basically packed into a month and a half. Both seasons are dependent on the weather, one for travel, the other for game conditions. I enjoy the spring season more as it is shorter, moves along, and is outside. Certainly, there are challenges with field conditions, cold/wind, rain, and shortage of officials, which lead to scheduling difficulties that can be frustrating.’’

   Spring sports have changed mightily in the past 50 years. In similar weather conditions, my father, Fran Holleran, had his baseball teams throwing in the undersized Morristown gym. It was too small to set up a makeshift infield. At the first sign of temperatures in the mid-40s or low-50s, he shepherded his boys to the school bus garage. He broke out the rubber baseballs and slapped ground balls across the pebbles and potholes. Baseball survival training.

  Tessmer juggles much more at OFA than 15 MCS baseball players and one wet field.

• Baseball and softball players compete in varsity, junior varsity and modified sports on four fields.
• Boys and girls lacrosse and track and field teams use the track and turf field.
• Varsity golf competes at St. Lawrence State Park Golf Course.
• Grass fields at two different elementary schools can accommodate softball and lacrosse.
  
  Tessmer also holds a trump card that few North County schools can play – the Newell Golden Dome.

    “When we are all inside, we use the Dome for baseball, softball, lacrosse, and track.  We have hitting cages in the dome as well. We have two gyms at OFA that can be used by any of the teams. Track uses the hallways.  Modified softball uses an elementary gym. Modified baseball sometimes works out of a gym at another elementary school. The golf team has simulators at school. I give the teams a practice schedule every week that they work from.  People use the facilities from 3:15-9:15 p.m.’’

  Brooks Brenno, OFA baseball coach entering his third season, said some workouts already have begun.

  “As we cannot do anything to make the weather better, our guys started throwing the first week of December,’’ Brenno said. “We have a great group of dedicated players who are there every Sunday when possible, and even traveling to Canton for some hitting during the week. The way it looks now, our first game is scheduled for April 2nd, but it will be a longshot as to whether we will get to start that early.’’

  Brenno’s players used the cages inside the Dome for hitting and pitching, and travel to Canton to utilize the field house.

  “Last season we actually had an anomaly where we were able to organize a non-league scrimmage with Lisbon during the last week of March due to the weather actually being so great,’’ he said “It was about 65-70 degrees and felt like a game being played in the beginning of May.’’

  One of Morristown’s most celebrated diamond alumni, Chris Schroh, holds found memories of playing in the 1980s, but never treasured the April weather.

  “Man, playing in that weather was just part of the experience of living in the North Country,’’ recalled Schroh, Section X’s small-schools player of the year in 1987, his junior season. “I can remember it being so cold that the snot running from our noses would almost freeze on our faces. We took batting practice with snowmobile gloves because the vibration of the bat in the cold would leave you wishing that your hands would just fall off.’’

   “I remember playing against Hermon-Dekalb my freshman year and having snow blow across the field. I was the catcher that year and only took my gear off that game when I had to hit. The only time I ever felt ‘lucky’ that I was the catcher.’’

  Consider yourself “lucky’’ again, Chris. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s are forecast for this week around your San Diego home. No reports of snow.

            Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/