Lumberjacks rained out, practice inside

ORONO – Several hardy fans were still driving up to or milling about Mahaney Diamond early Sunday afternoon despite the arrival of the rain guaranteed by meteorologists everywhere.

After morning dawned with overcast skies, but still none of the monsoon-like precipitation the weather forecasters excitedly predicted, Bangor Lumberjacks players and coaches thought they had a good chance to get at least five innings in and make it an official game.

But shortly after 11:30 a.m., when manager Kash Beauchamp decided to start batting practice at noon, the rain began to fall. General manager Curt Jacey opted to postpone the game, and the New Jersey Jackals team bus pulled out of the University of Maine parking lot and headed for home in Little Falls.

That left Beauchamp a choice between taking the day off or holding a limited practice at the UMaine field house. He chose the latter.”You know even being home and being able to use this facility doesn’t really help right now,” he said. “The only positive is [starting pitcher] Jeff [Sparks] has one more day to rest.”

Sparks, the team’s ace with two quality starts so far, was experiencing some tightness in his right shoulder.

The rain appears to be following Bangor this season. After four of the team’s first seven games were called due to rain or wet fields, the Lumberjacks’ Friday home opener was delayed almost an hour by steady rain and then played under a couple of intermittent showers.

Saturday brought relief as the weather was warm and sunny, but Sunday brought the team’s first home rainout.

“I’m tired of talking about rainouts right now,” said Beauchamp. “It’s just frustrating. All that time off really screwed up our timing and rhythm at the plate, and we finally start getting some of that back Saturday night only to not play today [Sunday].

“It’s almost like going through spring training all over again.”

Tickets for Sunday’s game will be honored at any future Bangor home game, with consideration given for the location of the seats. Bangor team representatives will try to make sure people with rainout tickets get the same or equal seating – location and price-wise.

The Lumberjacks host the opener of a three-game series against the Elmira (N.Y.) Pioneers tonight at 7:15.