Surf Cat

Well, for 1 1⁄2 innings, at least.

Proving the axiom that anything that can go wrong in 2020 will go wrong, the long-awaited Northwoods League season opener between the Kenosha Kingfish and the K-Town Bobbers — the first of the 26-game Kenosha Series this summer — at Simmons Field was spoiled by a driving rain.

The first pitch was officially delayed 34 minutes, and the teams slogged through the top of the second inning, applying large amounts of diamond dry to soak up water between at-bats. But with the score 0-0 and the Kingfish coming to bat in the bottom of the second, the game was delayed again and the tarp was put on the field.

The radar showed no end in sight to the rain, so the game was called off at about 8.

“Who would’ve expected anything else than rain complicating matters?” said Vern Stenman, president of Big Top Baseball, which owns the Kingfish, before the game. “It’s surprising that it’s not like a typhoon or something like that, really.”

The game was scheduled to resumed Thursday prior to Thursday’s regularly scheduled game, and the weekend forecast calls for sun and hot weather.

And even though the wet weather tempered enthusiasm a bit, the short line of fans waiting to get in prior to the gates opening — Simmons Field has been approved for only 25% capacity, at least to start the season — proved that baseball fans in Kenosha are eager for a season.

“It’s fun to see people coming back out, and the community’s always had a great affinity for this team,” Stenman said. “It doesn’t seem like things are changing in that regard. I think that a lot of our season ticket holders and seven-game club holders, they’re all here, and they are excited and ready to go for baseball.”

Said general manager Doug Gole: “Hopefully (the capacity) gets increased during the season, but here we go. Simmons Field is hopping, there’s music playing, and we’ve got people lining up to eat food.”

Gole emphasized that while the franchise worked with county health officials to create a safe plan for having a season, fan surveys repeatedly showed that support for a season was overwhelming.

“The surveys that we had, they were almost universal that people wanted us to play,” Gole said. “That was part of the decision-making process. It’s like, ‘Well, Kenosha wants this, and if it makes sense for us, let’s do it.’”

In addition to the reduced capacity, the Kingfish require fans to wear masks in all common areas, such as concession areas and bathrooms.

“I’m excited to see how well received our mask policy has been so far with people,” Stenman said. “We weren’t quite sure how that was going to go, and it’s been really positive and people have been really great about it so far, so that’s exciting.”

The number of concession stands has also been reduced with the goal of limiting traffic in common areas as much as possible. The team’s full COVID-19 Readiness Plan can be viewed on kingfishbaseball.com.

“It’s been little tweaks here and there to make sure that people feel safe,” Gole said. “The key thing is we want to make sure people are safe and that they feel safe.”

Gole said that, right now, the capacity at Simmons Field when all available areas are used is about 825. On Wednesday, it was about 700 to 750, he said. The gloomy weather hurt, but Gole said Wednesday’s ticket sales were trending well in spite of that.

“I think overall, yes, I think we were trending the right way,” Gole said. “I think we’re going to be able to fill and reach our capacities for most of the games.”

One of those in attendance was Nick Balk, who was there with his mother, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews.

“I’m very excited,” Balk said. “Not much has been going on with the whole coronavirus, so I’m ready to see some dingers.”

And did he feel safe?

“It looks pretty good,” Balk said. “The areas are pretty distant between groupings, so it looks pretty safe from what I understand. Looks like they’ve taken the proper precautions, but I’m no expert. I do feel safe.”

Also excited to be back at the ballpark was server Robin Josko, one of the seasonal employees who works there. Josko has worked for the team since its first season in 2014, and she greeted fans with her mask on.

“I’m taking the precautions they want us to,” Josko said. “It’s a little silly being outside wearing (a mask), but if it makes somebody feel better about their experience here, then that’s what we want. We want everybody to feel comfortable.”

Yes, this season won’t be the same as the six Kingfish seasons before it, and Wednesday’s rain was another nagging reminder that doing anything this year seems to be a huge task.

But Gole chose to look on the bright side. He pointed out that the NWL’s Madison Mallards, also owned by Big Top Baseball and annually the most well-attended summer college team in the country, aren’t playing this summer. Neither are the NWL’s Lakeshore Chinooks, based in nearby Mequon.

“There’s very few places in the country right now that have got live sports,” Gole said. “Kenosha’s lucky. Madison didn’t get this. Madison couldn’t play. Lakeshore couldn’t play. Eau Claire couldn’t play.

“Kenosha’s playing, and that was because of the fans. The fans told us they wanted to see us play, and we said, ‘OK, we’re going to bring something normal back to your summer.’”

That’s something everyone can use right now.

“If we can put good baseball out there and have a little affordable family entertainment and keep people safe, that’s going to be a success,” Stenman said. “And that’s what the Kingfish’s job is in this community, is to have a little bit of an escape and a little nine-inning vacation.

“That’s what we always like to say, and our job hasn’t changed, I guess. Because of everything going on around us, we just have to focus on safety.”