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With the extensive rainfall from this weekend, many playing fields have been submerged.
"Just trying to stay afloat here," Corinth baseball coach Rob Scarbrough said on the phone Sunday afternoon from a flooded Corinth.
Scarbrough's Warriors were to play Game 2 of its MHSAA Class 3A first-round playoff series with Riverside on Saturday night in Corinth, but due to heavy rain showers, both teams will now try to play that game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Corinth.
The Corinth coach drove by his field Saturday night and Sunday afternoon to check on it, and he said the entire dirt part of the field had water on it.
"I don't know how long," Scarbrough said of the length of time it would take his field to dry. "It's going to take some sun and wind to dry the dirt part of it. The whole infield is under water.
"Hopefully we can get out there and push the water off the field. Maybe it will be good enough for us to get on the field."
Corinth's softball team will resume its series on Tuesday at home against Riverside.
The Booneville and Winona softball teams decided on Sunday to play the winner-take-all Game 3 on Tuesday (starting time to be announced this morning). Booneville coach Lee Boyette said the Winona coach told her that his field will not be playable today.
Following that pattern is the Mooreville-Independence Class 3A softball first-round series. Game 2 and the if-necessary Game 3 will be played at Independence on Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m.
Ingomar baseball coach Andy Wilbanks said there is probably a 90 percent chance his team will not be able to play on its field this afternoon against Greenville St. Joseph. According to Wilbanks, the infield had been covered with a tarp and it's now just a question of how much standing water there is on the field.
"It doesn't look good," he added. "We're swamped. I'm telling you, man, it's going to be a mess."
With that being said, Wilbanks said he and his players will do what they possibly can to try to make the field playable by 4:30 p.m. today.
You can count Mantachie coach Scott Collier as another coach who doubts his team can play on its home field Monday. His Mustangs team is scheduled to play Ackerman in Game 3 of a Class 2A first-round series tonight at 7.
"I'd say we're not going to play tomorrow night," Collier said Sunday afternoon.
Houston softball coach Keith Jernigan is also quite skeptical of his team resuming its Class 4A first-round series with Tishomingo County this evening in Houston. He said it is "very doubtful" that Game 2 and the if-necessary Game 3 will be played tonight.
Despite the unfavorable conditions in and around Northeast Mississippi, two area teams remained optimistic about playing today.
The Smithville baseball team is scheduled to play its Class 1A first-round series-deciding Game 3 at home tonight versus Wheeler, and that game was still on as of Sunday afternoon, according to Smithville coach Jordan Summerford.
'It all depends ...'
"It should be all right now because we've been so dry here lately," the Smithville coach said of his field Sunday afternoon, in between rain showers. "But it all depends on what we get late this afternoon and tonight."
Myrtle baseball coach Robert Gordon said on Sunday night that Game 2 of his team's Class 1A first-round series with Shaw was still set to be played in Shaw this afternoon at 3.
In Class 2A softball, Calhoun City is scheduled to host Hatley for Games 2 and, if necessary, 3 beginning at 5 p.m. today.
"I don't know if we're going to or not," Calhoun City coach Josh Hegwood said on the phone Sunday about playing today. "Our field drains very well. It's a sandy infield, and it (the field) does drain well.
"If it (rain) holds off tonight and tomorrow and we get sunshine, we may have a shot."
Contact John Wilbert at 678-1572 or john.wilbert@djournal.com