Spring Fling delayed but not stopped by rain

MURFREESBORO — The Powell softball team hasn’t been to Spring Fling in 10 years. This season’s Lady Panthers made it back, only to have the wait continue.

Rain played havoc with the schedule Wednesday in Murfreesboro.

“It’s definitely been memorable,” senior Ashley Wheeler said. “Some of the girls were joking. We’re trying to figure out if it’s a sign: how well we’re going to do or how bad we’re going to do.”

The Lady Panthers put in a long day even before they played an inning. Their wake-up call came at 7 a.m., and they were at the Starplex fields by 8:40 a.m. in advance of a 10 o’clock start. But then came two early delays followed by an attempt to start the game.

Crews from the Murfreesboro Parks and Recreation Department began work on the Starplex fields after the rain let up about 11. The crews were ready for precipitation after looking at forecasts the night before.

“We just played it by ear,” said Thomas Laird, the parks department’s athletic superintendent. “It’s hard to predict Mother Nature. We had extra crews and extra product on standby to be prepared for it.”

►RELATED: Spring Fling schedule, results

Teams finally got on the field around noon, but the rain started back up about 30 minutes later.

“We got games going and teams got into it, then it hit again,” Laird said. “Some got an inning in, but then we got another big storm.”

The weather eventually cleared and the games restarted but forced some games to be pushed back more than seven hour hours.

"We have been very fortunate to go all week without any delays," Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association executive director Bernard Childress said. "But we've dealt with them before.

"(This) is pretty rare. We talk about it in the office about how many years we go without any rain delays whatsoever. We've been very fortunate."

Softball games were scheduled to start as late as 9:30 p.m., but Childress, who still helps oversee the tournament as part of his Spring Fling duties, said teams are typically fine with playing late.

"I know there have been times when we've had to play really, really late," Childress said. "We played games at midnight. (Wednesday) may be one of those days."

The Peabody baseball team was forced to sit through a nearly two-hour lightning delay in the middle of its Class A elimination win against North Greene.

“The threat (of lightning) was enough to keep us from getting on the field for a while,” Peabody coach Todd Lumley said. “We’re not the ones in charge of it, so we just need to keep playing when we can as well as we can.”

At Smyrna, a Class AA baseball tournament site, the tarp was pulled off and put away before immediately being put back on because of rain.

“It’s rained pretty much since 10 o’clock (in the morning),” Smyrna coach David Looper said. “My team has been here all day and hasn’t complained. They’ve been pulling tarps and raking.

“They’ve had a sucky job, but these kids have been great about it.”

Reach Michael Murphy at mfmurphy@tennessean.com or 615-259-8262 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports.