The Saskatchewan Twilite Baseball Championships held July 5 to 7 at Davidson was cancelled on the second day of play due to a heavy storm that dumped two-and-a-half inches of rain on the town.

Davidson councillor Jason Shaw, who put in hours of work fixing up the ball diamonds for the games with help from a group of local volunteers, said he called off the tournament on July 6 because of the poor conditions of the fields after the storm. He said the games on July 5 were played, but they couldn’t even get through the top of the first inning in the first game on the second day.

“The two diamonds that had shale on them held up in the rain longer than the temporary (one) that we made,” said Shaw. “You can’t put rain on sand and dirt. Even on the shale diamonds the mounds are made of clay and dirt. We would have been alright with half-an-inch of rain, but (with) two-and-a-half inches there was just water laying everywhere.”

Shaw said the majority of the 600 people who came to town stuck around for all three days despite no ball games being played, so the weekend should still be considered a success. He said the campgrounds and motels were full with people and most of the businesses in town benefitted.

“The beer gardens were well attended Friday night for the Rider game and Saturday when it got rained out,” he said. “There were still people around until Sunday at lunchtime. They ate at restaurants. They went to the golf course. With our central location, it’s good to have.”

Ross Lynd, a Saskatchewan Twilite Baseball committee member, said this is the first time in probably 20 years that the annual tournament has been cancelled because of rain. He said they haven’t had a follow-up meeting yet, but it likely would not be rescheduled.

To read more please see the July 15 print edition of The Davidson Leader.