SULPHUR — The City was well-prepared this past weekend.
Rain in the Lake Area could have put a
serious damper on Sulphur’s first time hosting the Class 3A, 4A, B and C
baseball state
tournaments. However, McMurry Park was equipped for the elements,
something LHSAA executive director Kenny Henderson noticed,
and that ability could bode well for the city in future sporting
events.
Inclement weather Friday prompted officials to move some of the action to a third field, which helped games flow more smoothly.
“When the weather came in and it got bad, turf fields really came into play; the drainage was great,” Henderson said. “I’m
not sure if we had natural grass fields that we would have gotten some of those games in.
“I didn’t hear anything but positives from the fans. They were able to see multiple ball games.”
Combined attendance for the Friday and Saturday sessions was 6,423 — 3,522 for the eight semifinal games Friday and 2,901
for the four championship games Saturday, which also followed a morning of showers.
Sulphur Parks and Recreation Director Norman Farr said he was relieved that the start of Friday’s games was only delayed by
two hours, adding that attendance likely would have suffered a lot if games had to be postponed.
“We would have been playing semifinals (Saturday) morning and everything would have been pushed back,” Farr said. “Nobody
wanted to go into Mother’s Day. Even the threat of rain can sometimes make the attendance lose about 2,000 to 3,000.”
Elizabeth’s semifinal loss against
Family Christian was delayed from its original start time of 1 p.m. and
moved to the alternate
field. Still, Elizabeth coach Rhon Morgan complimented the Sulphur
crew for getting the field up and running within two hours.
“The field played real good and was in good condition considering all the rain,” Martin said. “They did a tremendous job getting
it ready to play.”
The current agreement of playing the Class 3A, 4A, B and C baseball tournaments in Sulphur, the 5A tournament in New Orleans
and the 1A and 2A tournaments in Ruston extends through the 2012-13 season.
So next summer bids to host the games will re-open, and Farr said he believes Sulphur could have a chance to secure more than
four state tournaments. Currently, all seven state softball titles are decided in the city at Frasch Park.
“We really would like to get it all
here in Sulphur. We think we can,” Farr said. “One of the nice things is
these classes
have always played separately on one field, but like (Friday)
night when one game would end, they’d all come out of the bleachers
and could watch another, so we think over time that’s going to
make people want to come more.”
Henderson said the people of Sulphur add another appealing dimension to awarding championship events to the city.
“They have such great facilities; that’s one of the best things you can point out,” Henderson said. “And then the people of
Sulphur and Lake Charles treat us so nicely and they treat the teams so nicely. It’s just a good positive experience to be
had by all.”