After game cancellations due to weather at the beginning of the season, baseball head coach Brian Kelly said he decided to call the Athletic Department at Minnetonka High School last Tuesday, in an attempt to find available turf space.

“Tuesday of last week I was just driving to work thinking what more could I do to help our guys get the opportunity to play a game because we’re getting pretty bummed out just sitting in the gym for so long,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he cooperated with Athletic Director Andy Ewald as well as Park and Chanhassen administrators to schedule two games for tomorrow, both against Chanhassen.

Senior captain Jacob Stillman said he looks forward to the doubleheader against Chanhassen and believes Park prepares to play two close games.

“I expect some good games. Chanhassen is a really good team, and I think we are also a good team, and we will be up to the challenge,” Stillman said. “It’s exciting because we will get to be able to play during the day and at a nice field.”

Stillman said in practice the team simulates game situations which are expected to occur during future games.

“A lot of players, in their realistic positions for the game, will go out in the field and we will have other teammates be runners. And we will go through game-like situations so that we can be best prepared for the games coming up,” Stillman said.

According to Kelly, the Metro West Conference decided that although conference teams are scheduled to play each other twice throughout the season, only one of those will count towards official conference standings.

“In the past you played two, this year they’re only counting one conference game toward the conference championship and conference standings. The reason we’re doing that is to alleviate some of the pressure to absolutely get both games in,” Kelly said.

Kelly said the first game of tomorrow’s double-header will factor into conference standings, while the other will not.

According to Stillman, the team prepared for the double header just as it would for any other game.

“Because it is a lot of baseball in a row, some people are maybe going to be put into some positions they don’t play as much, but I don’t see us playing or preparing much differently from other games,” Stillman said.

Park plays at 9 a.m. April 26 at Minnetonka High School against Chanhassen. The second game will occur 20-30 minutes after the end of the first, according to Kelly.