Rain May Disrupt Big Week for Pearl River Sports

To bend a phrase, April and May showers could bring May scheduling headaches.

The result is a big week in Pearl River High School athletic events threatened by the possibility of rain.

"A lot of it comes down to field usage and maintenance in terms of what held up and making sure we have safe playing conditions for the teams," said Pearl River Director of Athletics Todd Santabarbara. "As always, the weather is and can be a challenge."

That has been particularly true for the Pearl River softball team, which still has to make up two games from earlier this season against Tappan Zee. The game at Tappan Zee is scheduled for 4 p.m. today, with the game at Pearl River set for May 23. The Pirates are also set to play Albertus Magnus twice this week -- on the road Tuesday and at home Thursday -- as well as a non-league game at Class AA powerhouse North Rockland Saturday.

Pearl River is currently the top-ranked team in the state in Class A. Albertus Magnus was state ranked in Class B until last week.

Pearl River must play the games against Tappan Zee and Albertus Magnus before the May 25 Section 1 softball pairings meeting because they are league games.

"Tomorrow, if the field is not playable at Albertus, we could move it to Pearl River and cancel the JV," Santabarbara said. "Right now we have Friday as an open date for baseball and softball. (If a game is rained out) we look at open dates to see where we can best slot them. At that point, if have to cancel a JV game or non-league game, we would."

The Section 1 baseball pairings meeting is Monday, May 23, but Pearl River has only two league games left to play. Just like the softball team, the Pirates (12-4) play at Albertus Magnus Tuesday, then at home againt the Falcons Thursday as they try to wrap up a league title.

Section Lacrosse Pairings Coming Tuesday

The Pearl River girls lacrosse team is set to wrap up its regular-season schedule today at home against Nanuet, a team the Pirates defeated on the road Saturday. The Section 1 lacrosse pairings meeting for boys and girls is Tuesday, with outbracket games Wednesday and the first round Thursday.

The Pearl River girls team is likely to be among the top seeds in Class C, which could get them home field advantage for at least home game and in the tournament. The boys (6-10) would most likely be on the road Thursday and could have an outbracket game Wednesday.

Tennis Conference Tournament

Pearl River will send two doubles teams to the Conference Championship Tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Clarkstown South. Jeremy Rosen and Sam Berry won the League 4B championship last week and Neil Francis and Brendan McIntyre earned their spot in the conference tournament by making the league semifinals.

The Conference Tournament draws singles players and doubles teams from League 4B (small schools) Albertus Magnus, Nanuet, Nyack, Pearl River and Tappan Zee and League 4A (large schools) Clarkstown North, Clarkstown South, East Ramapo, North Rockland and Suffern. The top three singles players and top three doubles teams advance to the Section 1 championships May 24 and 25 at A. F. Veteran Town Park in Ardsley. 

County Championships

The weather could also threaten the county championships in golf Wednesday and in track and field Thursday and Friday at Clarkstown North.

Editor's note: Allan Goldstein contributed to this report.