Pirates call Lewiston second home

With all of the snow and cold, nasty weather this spring, the area’s four college baseball teams have gone to extraordinary lengths to play their home games.

But 250 miles?

That’s approximately how far Whitworth University traveled earlier this week to play a couple of “home” doubleheaders against Northwest Conference rival Willamette.

For the record, the Pirates (11-15, 10-10 NWC) won three of the four games, but the real story was where they went – and what they went through, in terms of money – to do it.

The teams were originally scheduled to play doubleheaders at Whitworth on Saturday and Sunday, but they were moved back one day each because of snow on Merkel Field.

With Willamette having already made the trip from Salem, Ore., Pirates coach Keith Ward got up at 5 a.m. Sunday to see if the Bucs’ home field was playable.

It wasn’t, so Ward checked the on-line weather forecast and determined that there was less of a chance of precipitation in the Tri-Cities area than in Lewiston, where the Pirates have already played 10 games, nine of which were the result of weather-related relocations. So he called Willamette’s coach and the umpires scheduled to work the games and told them to head to Kennewick, where the two teams split a doubleheader at La Pierre Field.

The high school field was not available on Monday, however, so the two teams headed back to Spokane, only to find Merkel Field still covered with snow. When the situation didn’t improve overnight, Ward again made early-morning calls to notify Willamette and the umpires that Monday’s doubleheader would be played in Lewiston.

Whitworth won both games on Monday, but Ward estimated his “home game” expenditures for the four games at a minimum of $2,300 once bus rental and food for his players were factored in.

“I don’t care what anybody says, it’s never been this bad,” Ward said of the weather. “We’ve only played two (doubleheaders) of the 12 homes games we’ve had on our own field.”

Ward and his players were forced to clear snow from Merkel Field – before chipping away the ice on the dirt surface of the infield and hauling it away on sleds – to get those in against the University of Pacific back in early March.

“We’ve only had eight outdoor practices on our field,” Ward said. “But what’s amazing is that we’ve still played 26 games, which is more than any other team in our conference. We’re calling Lewiston Whitworth’s South Campus.

“So far this spring, it’s been like a traveling road show and world tour for our guys. But they’ve been amazingly resilient through it all.”

WCC honors McKimmy

Gonzaga’s Marcus McKimmy, a senior outfielder from Yakima, has been named the West Coast Conference co-player of the month, sharing the honor with Pepperdine’s Eric Thames.

The Bulldogs (16-11, 1-1 WCC), went 13-7 in March, thanks, in part, to the hot hitting of McKimmy, who batted .418 (33 for 79) during the month and clubbed three home runs and six doubles.

McKimmy also drove in 25 runs and had nine multiple-hit games, including seven in which he collected three hits.