Waiting for Opening Day
Boy, do we hate to be wrong! The very next day, we were asked to announce that the game was cancelled. But, why? For once, it wasn’t weather or ferries.
It turns out that Ocracoke’s varsity baseball team has only eight players, one short of a full dugout.
2016 started off as the first year that the varsity baseball team would be in a conference, with a full season of twenty games. As of Thursday, the season had been officially struck out.
Ocracoke School athletic director and English teacher Charles Temple explained that it’s a matter of math.
“Kids are a limited resource,” he said. “We are trying to offer the most opportunities we can, but sometimes it’s more than the number of kids can support.”
The popular spring sport this year is track and field, which has 17 boys and 7 girls signed up. In its second year, the track team is building on the successes of Ocracoke’s cross-country team. The Dolphin track stars are expected to run circles around the competition at their first meet this Wednesday (March 9th) at Pasquotank High School in Elizabeth City. Fear the Pod!
“We have kids who just want to run track,” Charles said. “Last year, if we’d had enough girls to make up the team, we could’ve gone to states. Our runners are so good, and we’re going to be able to compete in a lot of races."
Charles also pointed out that track isn’t just for runners. Some kids are interested in shot put, discus, and high jump.
It hasn’t escaped notice that Ocracoke has a ballfield, but no ball team, and a track team, but no track. But Ocracoke had two active Little League teams before there was a field, and, apparently, a track team without a track is fairly common among our competition.
“Out of all the schools in the Coastal 10 conference, only Manteo has an actual track,” Charles said. “We’ll also compete in 1A/2A meets at Currituck and Pasquotank on their tracks.”
The Dolphins use Jackson Circle as a makeshift track, setting up hurdles and measuring out distances for timing. In addition, First Flight High School is allowing Ocracoke’s team to practice on their track on Saturdays. The Current will keep you posted about upcoming track meets!
Track isn’t the only spring sport besides America’s favorite pastime. You may have thought that basketball season was over, but some Ocracoke players were invited to shoot hoops in the AAU travel basketball league based in Kitty Hawk.
And, of course, not everyone is sporty. When you account for the kids who just aren’t interested, it leaves just eight high schoolers left for the baseball team.
Charles says that he and the baseball coaches Vince O’Neal, John Kattenburg, and Brian Samick considered bringing 8th graders up to play varsity, or recruiting some of the aforementioned non-athletes, but finally they decided to call the season off and hope for a better turnout next year.
“It’s a shame, it’s really too bad,” Charles said. “The eight kids on there really want to play.”
As athletic director, Charles is looking on the bright side.
“The big picture is that the junior class is the first class that has really played baseball, and they think of the sport as theirs,” he said. Luckily, the juniors will have another chance at bat next year. “After this year, we’ll have younger kids coming up playing baseball, and as we go on, we’ll have more kids who’ve been playing baseball all along.”
Those kids include the middle school Dolphins, who have an 8-game season scheduled, starting March 21st. Come out to cheer them on at their first home game on March 23rd! This team is part of the Tideland Middle School conference and will play Hatteras, Columbia, Creswell, and Mattamuskeet. Go Dolphins!
And don’t forget our Little Leaguers! The Blue Claws and Raptors will have full teams, and their season kicks off April 16th. Ocracoke Youth Center, which owns and operates the Community Park, will sponsor t-ball again this year, and practices have already started for grown-ups who want to join the new adult softball league, which will play later in the spring. Baseball fans can look forward to good times ahead.
“Cancelling the varsity season is a one-off situation,” Charles said. “The baseball program is building, it just takes a while. Longterm, this isn’t a crisis. The field won’t go unused.”
To read more about the Ocracoke Community Park's Field of Dreams, click here.
