Blizzard of ‘26 delays debut for spring athletics

Tim Yean

Sports Editor

The latest blizzard that struck Rhode Island brought with it historic levels of snow, causing some delays in RIC’s spring athletics. Read to find out how RIC’s teams are doing amid the blizzard of ‘26. 

The entrance to Alumni Stadium has been covered up by a wall of snow left over from Feb. 23’s blizzard. (photo by author)

The women’s lacrosse and baseball teams were the most directly-affected programs hampered by the snow. Women’s lacrosse’s opening games, a weekday visit to Wellesley College on Feb. 25 and their home opener on Feb. 28 against Massachusetts Maritime Academy, were both cancelled with no sign of a potential reschedule. Baseball’s opening day match at Mitchell College on Feb. 28 was cancelled.

For the baseball team in particular, they’ve been unable to practice on their home field the entire winter due to not just the most recent snowstorm but a bundle of snowstorms that have blanketed Pontarelli Field. Head coach of the baseball team Cody Kauffman said that they have been able to make due with the use of an indoor practice facility outside of the college.

“We’ve had the ability to go to an indoor facility, Wide World of Indoor Sports, and practice indoors,” Kauffman told The Anchor in a phone call. “That gives us the ability to have a full field and do [infield/outfield practice].”

On campus, the baseball team has been able to utilize the indoor hitting facility located next to third base of Pontarelli Field.

“We’ve been able to hit in there too,” Kauffman said. 

For the cancelled Mitchell College game, Kauffman said that there are plans for a potential makeup date against the Mariners. The baseball team was also able to push their game against the University of Saint Joseph up to the same day of the cancelled Mitchell game to keep the Anchormen on pace with other teams and not face a late start to the spring season.

Pontarelli Field press box. The stairs leading up to the entrance (left) remain unshoveled. (photo by author)

“We’ll still be able to catch that [Saint Joseph] game so we’ll be able to get our first game in early,” Kauffman responded when asked about the potential late start.

Basketball games for RIC were slightly affected. The Little East basketball tournaments moved a day later to their original start days, with games starting Feb. 25 instead of a day earlier on the 24th.

It’s not just on the collegiate level that Rhode Island College has seen events moved. The Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIIL), responsible for the regulation of high school athletics in the state, pushed high school Division I playoff basketball games originally scheduled for the week of Feb. 23 at the Murray Center to the following week on March 2-3. 

Those postponements have resulted in a squeezed schedule for the league, and for the state tournament games, the Elite Eight playoff games have moved from the Murray Center (boys’ games) and the CCRI Warwick Campus (girls’ games) to the schools of higher-seeded teams.

Even as Rhode Island College kept students home the entire week through basic cancellations Monday and Tuesday and a transition to virtual learning Wednesday through Saturday, sports still have to plow along somehow, even if it means moving around a couple of chess pieces on the board.

Follow @rictheanchor on Instagram and read all sports articles on anchorweb.org to keep up on RIC athletics and get prepared for the upcoming spring season (with the snow hopefully all gone).