Spring sports are here, but unfortunately spring weather is not. Blame it on the ground hog if you will, but inclement weather has played havoc with the first week of the spring sports schedule.
“It’s tough to find dates to reschedule all these games,” said Byrd athletic director Jason Taylor. “Both teams have to have an opening, and then you have to find officials to work the games. It’s disrupting their schedules as well.”
Byrd had 10 varsity events scheduled for Monday through Wednesday, but only two were played. The boys’ soccer team lost at Hidden Valley, 4-0, and the Terrier girls soccer team lost to Hidden Valley in Vinton, 2-0. That was more than most schools were able to play, as just about everything was postponed early this week as temperatures hovered around the freezing mark with strong winds.
It’s supposed to be nicer today, Thursday, and the Byrd baseball game originally scheduled for Tuesday at Cave Spring has been rescheduled for 5 pm today. Senior Gehrig Spradlin is scheduled to get the opening day start on the mound for the Terriers.
Both soccer teams are also scheduled to play today. The girls will be at Lord Botetourt for a jayvee-varsity doubleheader, with the jayvees opening at 5:30 pm. In Vinton, Byrd boys’ soccer coach Matt Guilliams will make his home coaching debut when the Terriers host LB. Again, the jayvees will open a doubleheader at 5:30 pm with the varsity to follow.
On Friday the baseball team is at Kiwanis Field in Salem to play the Spartans at 5 pm, and sophomore Bryce Booth is scheduled to start that one on the mound. The Terrier softball team will host Salem and the Byrd girls’ soccer team will entertain Bassett on the Patterson Stadium pitch.
Saturday will be another busy day. The Byrd home softball game with Cave Spring, originally scheduled for Tuesday, will be made up Saturday at 1 pm in Vinton.
Both Byrd lacrosse teams are also expected to make their season debuts Saturday. The girls will play at Cave Spring on the field atop the hill at Cave Spring High School beginning at noon. The boys will follow, and that should be an interesting game. Byrd coach Noel Spencer will be making his varsity head coaching debut while former Byrd coach Dean McDaniel is now an assistant for the Knights.
The Byrd lacrosse teams were postponed twice this week. On Monday both teams were scheduled to play E.C. Glass in Lynchburg but were postponed. The girls’ game will be made up next Tuesday, March 21, but the boys’ were yet find a date. On Wednesday the boys’ game with Roanoke Catholic and the girls’ game at Rockbridge were both postponed, and AD Taylor was still working on makeup dates at press time.
Finally, both the Byrd boys and girls were frozen out of Tuesday tennis matches at Bassett, with makeup dates yet to be decided. The tennis teams are now scheduled to open Monday against Glenvar, with the boys at home and the girls at Glenvar.
All this, of course, is weather permitting.
