CAFARO FIELD Scrappers are washed out; will conclude season with 2 games

The season finales against Jamestown begin at 6 tonight.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- The Mahoning Valley Scrappers' season ends tonight. So does their summer of wet and wild weather.
Mother Nature played another factor Tuesday night at Cafaro Field when unplayable field conditions forced the postponement of Mahoning Valley's game against Jamestown.
"What a summer," Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak said. "Right up to the end."
Since winning their fourth straight game Sunday, and capping a three-game sweep of Aberdeen, the Scrappers' season has been interrupted by weather.
Rain canceled their Monday game against Jamestown and also contributed to the field problems Tuesday.
"We had three games left," said Matt Duncan, director of stadium operations for the Scrappers, on the final home series of the season.
"It should have been an easy, quick homestand," Duncan said. "But today was one of the longest days of the year."
The field became saturated, Duncan said, from moisture trapped underneath the tarp. Not even extra drying agent was enough to salvage the game.
"The whole infield was bad from all the rain they've had," Kubiak said. "It just seeped up from underneath."
Surveying the situation
One hour before the game, New York-Penn League umpires John Gelatt and Bob Price met with Scrappers officials. They walked the basepaths and later determined them to be unplayable.
"You're just looking out for the concern of prospects' safety," Duncan said.
The area between first and second appeared to be the worst.
"I told our guys, if we were going to play, not to run hard or chase balls hard," Kubiak said. "It was just going to be a pitchers' night."
The teams will play a doubleheader today beginning at 6:05 p.m. Tickets from Tuesday's game can be exchanged for today's games or for any game during the 2004 season, the Scrappers announced.
richesson@vindy.com