The Telstar softball team continues to wait for a chance to play its state championship game.

For the second day in a row, and third time in the last five days, the Class C state championship game has been postponed because of weather. The Rebels are scheduled to play Calais Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Coffin Field in Brewer.

“We’re a little frustrated,” said Telstar coach Jim Lunney. “I’m sure Calais is in the same boat. They’d have like to have played the game. I’m not sure why we’re still at Brewer. They said they’d move the game someplace.”

The Class A game between Skowhegan and Scarborough was also postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

“I guess (Wednesday) is looking a little better and Thursday probably better than that,” said Dick Durost, the executive director of the Maine Principal’s Association. “Because of the time of the year, we’re probably going to have to schedule things on a day-to-day basis until we can get a day where we can get it in. Most schools are out of season and kids are looking at summer jobs. We can’t just say the weather forecast says it’s going to be nice in four days so we’ll wait four days.”

The C game was originally scheduled for Saturday but was postponed Friday afternoon and moved to Monday. While the state games in Class B and D were played at Saint Joseph’s College, the Class C baseball game was played in Bangor and the Class A baseball was played in Orono Saturday. That left only the games at Coffin Field in limbo. 

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“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Lunney. “I know they’re trying to get a central point between schools, but to me, the big question is shouldn’t we play the game? Not where we should play the game but shouldn’t we be playing the game?”

On Saturday, MPA officials discussed the possibility of moving the games to Saint Joseph’s College if weather jeopardized the games Monday. The MPA opted for keeping the games in Brewer, but the games were washed out by early afternoon.  Telstar was within 10 minutes of the field Monday when it learned it was postponed.

“I’m concerned that we haven’t even made an effort to play the game,” said Lunney, whose team played the Mountain Valley Conference championship game in Waterville at Thomas College last month. “The girls were ready to play yesterday. They would have gone to Calais to play yesterday. They were like ‘Let’s just play the game, Coach’ I told (Telstar athletic administrator) Gail (Wight) ‘We’re on a bus, we’ll go anywhere they want.'”

Lunney has suggested venues like Orono, Husson College, Thomas or even Saint Joseph’s College. Durost said that alternative sites have been considered but Coffin Field remains the best option.

“All those things have been talked about but none of the fields are in good enough shape to make a commitment to moving them from where they are,” said Durost. “Plus, it’s the East’s year to host them. So for Calais and Skowhegan, that’s not the fairest thing in the world to make them go any further South than they have to. It’s not a perfect situation, but it’s what we have.”

Lunney had his team on their high school field Tuesday morning for a quick practice. He said his team is frustrated and anxious to play.

“The kids are ready,” he said. “They’re past ready. We’ll play when they tell us to play.”

Durost says a change in venue could be made at some point but for now, the intention is to play the games in Brewer.

“Anything is a chance, but the most likely thing is it will stay right where it is, and it’s going to be one day at a time,” said Durost.


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