Dolly washes away Coyotes series

EDINBURG - The Coyotes hoped to play three home games this weekend and that the field at Edinburg Baseball Stadium would withstand Hurricane Dolly.

Well, a quick look at the Coyotes' home would indicate that's not going to happen.

Field conditions that could generously be described as flooded caused the postponement of the Coyotes' series against Alexandria scheduled for Friday and tonight. The Coyotes and the ULB haven't announced a makeup date for any of the games. Hurricane Dolly has also caused a jumbling of the league schedule, with the Coyotes traveling on Sunday to Amarillo to face the Dillas instead of to Harlingen.

"It creates havoc. We're missing a three-game series against Harlingen and you can only play so many doubleheaders," ULB principal and acting Coyotes general manager Gary Wendt said, adding that Edinburg and Alexandria might try to play five games from August 5 to August 7. "We're just going to do the best we can."

Meanwhile, the WhiteWings cancelled their homestand and instead are playing in San Angelo against the Colts. Only the Laredo Broncos' series at home against Alexandria will be played as scheduled.

Wendt said there wasn't structural damage to Edinburg Baseball Stadium, but "the field's a mess."

"(The groundskeepers) can't get any equipment onto that field until sometime maybe (this) afternoon," Wendt said. "It just wasn't going to happen."

What is assured of happening is a major dispruption to the Coyotes' schedule. Already facing an upcoming doubleheader against San Angelo, manager Vince Moore and the Coyotes must find a way to overcome at least one more doubleheader on their schedule.

The Coyotes, who are 1 1/2 games behind Laredo for the fourth playoff spot, have to face Amarillo (which won the first half crown) instead of last-place Harlingen. Moore, however, wasn't complaining about having to play the playoff-bound Dillas. Instead, he sounded happy just to be playing this weekend.

And, of course, he was worried about what will be a jammed schedule.

"That's going to be the tough part, all the doubleheaders were going to have to play. As of right now, we have five games we're going to have to make up," Moore said. "It's going to be tough, so we just need to figure out a way to do this. We're in the fifth spot now, a game and a half back. It's going to be a challenge for us.

"I guess it will make it that much sweeter for us if we can accomplish something like this. It's going to be a real big challenge for us."

Brian Sandalow covers the Edinburg Coyotes for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.