By Courtney Fishman
It’s raining, it’s pouring, BHS sports teams aren’t scoring.
This is not a result of poor performance, but a consequence of Cleveland’s record-breaking rainfall.
Cleveland broke the 1961 record for the most rain by .14 inches, amounting to a total accumulation of 6.89 inches in April. This total is almost four inches greater than the average rainfall, which has resulted in more cancelled games than usual.
Both girls’ softball and boys’ baseball were forced to cancel nine games due to the poor weather this past April. Coach Erwin Hines said that 50% of the varsity softball schedule was lost and an even higher 80% of the JV season was cancelled.
“It’s by far the worst [weather we have seen]”, said assistant baseball coach Todd Butler. “ There were a few articles I read that talked about the science behind it. From March through April, about 61 days, there were only 5 days that [the weather] was over 50 degrees and dry. This is the worst baseball season since the high school opened in 1961.”
According to softball co-captain Carly Wohlfeiler, “this season has been different than past seasons because of the amount of rain,” explained Wohlfeiler. “We didn’t get in that many games and I believe that if we had more games we would have been able to progress as a team and had a more successful season.”
Cleveland’s weather, though temperamental, was surprisingly 2.3 degrees higher than the 30-year mean temperature of 47.6 degrees. April’s weather had an extreme scope of temperatures ranging from a low of 31 degrees on April 3rd to a high of 82 degrees on April 10th.
“As a team we’ve had one of the most talented teams we’ve had and as a result of the rain we couldn’t establish a rhythm,” explained Butler. “In a four week period we played four games when typically we would play 15 games. We only played 17 games in Cleveland and two [during spring training] in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.”
Not only were games cancelled, but so were practices. With six teams all fighting for two gyms, teams were pushed to have late night practice or ultimately just cancel them.
“After the season starts, there is only so much practice a team can have”, said Wohlfeiler. “However, when there was a garage sale, there was only one gym to use so we ultimately had to cancel practice for those days when it rained.” Lacrosse coach Jennifer Tramer further explained, “We had less practice time overall due to bad weather so that can’t help but affect our ability to master our skills and perfect our game strategies.”
With spring sports wrapping up, the sun is finally shining down on Beachwood. One can only hope that Cleveland can now break the record for sunniest summer.
