Due to the recent stretch of inclement weather — as well as games being postponed earlier in the season and pushed toward the backend of the schedule — the District 2 baseball tournament will have a later start date. Additionally, the championship games will no longer be played at PNC Field in Moosic.

District 2 chairman Frank Majikes confirmed the decision Saturday, though a definitive start date was not announced.

The later start dates will impact the Class 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A tournaments. Class 1A, with just three teams in the bracket, was originally scheduled to have its quarterfinal round May 19. Class 3A and 5A were originally scheduled to begin May 15, while the Class 2A, 4A and 6A tournaments were scheduled to start May 16.

“We had to change, Friday I notified all the schools that we don’t have enough time to get ready to go to (PNC Field),” Majikes said. “There are just too many games to makeup. We had to make that decision to give them another week to get it in. There’s not much we can do.”

Rather than beginning the tournament near the end of this week, the baseball playoffs will start the week of May 19, on a yet to be announced date.

Teams have been scrambling to find available fields and fit games into their schedules.

Earlier in the week, Wyoming Valley West switched its home game against Hazleton Area to Wyoming Seminary’s turf facility due to poor field conditions. Wyoming Area and Holy Redeemer’s contest, with potential Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 implications, was postponed Tuesday, and was not scheduled to be made up until May 13.

Those are just two examples of how difficult it has been for schools to reschedule games — especially when teams don’t schedule postponed games on the next available date.

As of Saturday, Delaware Valley had three games remaining to be played, while Blue Ridge and Carbondale Area had four.

“We had to make the decision to give it another week to get it in,” Majikes said. “There’s not much we can do; the weather is killing us.

“There is no way we would be ready for this Wednesday or Thursday. Teams are playing three or four games. It’s not good for the kids.”

The district traditionally schedules its championship games at PNC Field to coincide with the RailRiders being out of town over Memorial Day weekend. With the tournament’s start date pushed back, that will not be possible with the Worcester Red Sox coming to town May 27.

Instead, the championship games will now be played at neutral venues, where it will be easy for the District 2 committee to be able to accept tickets through the Hometown Ticketing service. All playoff games are free of charge until the championship games.

“I feel bad not being able to play up at PNC Field,” Majikes said. “We were restricted with the dates available. We didn’t make any decisions with the new dates.”

Majikes said there was a brief meeting with the District 2 committee Friday and all members were on board with the decision. It allows teams to get their pitching in order, not just for the district tournament but for the state tournament as well.

“We notified all the schools,” Majikes said. “We were waiting for everyone to get back to us. We didn’t hear any negative feedback, and they were happy, especially with the pitching rules.”

Originally Published: May 10, 2025 at 7:50 PM EDT