The Hickory Crawdads, for the second consecutive day, tried to kick off their 2008 season in the South Atlantic League against the West Virginia Power at L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina. Once again, the rain foiled our plans. It’s a bit ironic really. Last summer, we couldn’t buy a bucket of rain here in Hickory, and in fact, we’re still on water restrictions due to drought conditions, which is even more stupidererer. The current game plan is that we’ll play two double headers against West Virginia on Saturday and Sunday… what a nightmare for pitching coaches that will be. Earlier, the weather forecast said that it would clear up on Saturday and be rather nice on Sunday, but that has changed too. Now, it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow too and clear off tomorrow night and be nice on Sunday. So… I expect a double header on Sunday and the loss of two games in this series. Duke Welker is still slated to start during Hickory’s opener, whenever that may be.

It doesn’t look like there will be an opportunity to make up these lost games. We don’t play West Virginia again until August, which is after the half-way point in the season when the win/loss counter resets.

The Hickory Crawdads, in this statement, are offering all fans free admission to the park on Sunday to make up for the rain this week.

John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)