An unusually cold winter and a wet spring have caused many Pitt-Johnstown softball and baseball games to be canceled.

The inclement weather has caused one game to be canceled for the softball team and left seven games to be rescheduled as of April 2.

When the three postponed games will be made up is still to be determined.

Even the men and women’s track and field teams, which rarely have competitions canceled, had the Juniata College Invitational called off.

Men’s track and field head coach Carl Keifer said that invitationals are not rescheduled and the final decision on canceling is given by the hosting coaches.

Time constraints prevent rescheduling because meets are usually held on weekends and most team’s schedules are booked full, according to Keifer.

He said that he was excited about the prospect of adding more meets to their schedule next year and was hoping to add the meets around mid-March of next year.

“Costal Carolina University (Conway, S.C.) has a meet that would be nice to go to. A lot of the other schools we compete against go to it, so we need to do the same”, Keifer said.

Keifer also added that there are talks of the teams competing in a Virginian invitational as well.

“Our teams is now large enough, and it would help us hopefully qualify more student athletes for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships,” he said.

A team must compete in at least four meets to be eligible to compete for conference and national medals.

Adding more meets would arguably eliminate the possibility of the teams.

The softball team played all of their games at the scheduled time on a trip to Florida.

However, upon their return to Pennsylvania, eight of their first twelve games were postponed.

Baseball team members were not so lucky on their trips to Southern states.

Four games were canceled from the West Virginia leg of their trip while three in North Carolina were canceled as well.

Since their return to Pennsylvania, only one game has been canceled so far.

According to Pitt-Johnstown Athletic Director Pat Pecora, the artificial turf at Point Stadium has allowed many games to be played that would have otherwise been canceled.

Pecora said coaches are the deciding factor on whether a game is to be played or reschedule it.

“The coaches then inform the athletic directors, and they, in turn, notify the umpires,” he said.

“Coaches can also collaborate and decide to move game locations if the weather is better at the other field.”

When it comes to rescheduling games, the responsibility also falls upon the coaches, since they know their schedules best, according to Pecora.

“I’m always in constant contact with other universities, receiving and sending emails keeping us up-to-date on what changes are being made to game locations and times,” Pecora said.

“The coaches know the weather better than the meteorologists.”