Heavy Rain Forces Greensboro To Move Game To Burlington

Because of extremely heavy rain in the area during its prior homestand, Greensboro postponed its Tuesday game against Hagerstown and was forced to move Wednesday’s game from its home park of First National Bank Field to Burlington Athletic Stadium, home to the Rookie-level Appalachian League’s Burlington Royals.

After the field took on nearly five inches of rain, the field became diseased and was re-sodded last Wednesday. After being under a tarp for nearly 72 hours this week, however, the new turf hasn’t recovered to the point where field conditions are considered playable.

The teams will play a doubleheader on Thursday, either back in Greensboro or again in Burlington. The site will be determined by how well the field recovers in the meantime.

The team explained the move in a press release.

“Unfortunately, the newly sodded infield has not recovered sufficiently and has caused this decision to be made. We hope to be able to play our Thursday night game here and will make that decision by Wednesday afternoon,” Grasshoppers president and general manager Donald Moore said.

Greensboro’s predicament is unusual, but it’s not even the strangest reason for a postponement this season. The Florida State League’s Charlotte Stone Crabs were forced to move a game onto their Gulf Coast League field after the backstop netting came down when it was crashed into by a catcher while chasing a foul ball.