Lenoir Community College is eager to get into a groove.
The team its hosts this weekend just wants to get onto a field.
The Lancers (3-0) host Allegany College of Maryland, which has yet to play this season due to snow and other acts of nature, in a four-game set beginning with a 2:30 p.m. contest today.
The first three games of the series were scheduled to be played at Grainger Stadium, but the mid-week rain has made the field too wet to play on, so all games will be held at LCC’s Lancer Field, coach Stony Wine said.
It’s the second time in a one-week span weather has caused a conflict between the two schools playing baseball. The Lancers were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Allegany’s home field in Cumberland, Md., last Saturday but snow kept them from making the trip.
“We just want to play and I know they do, too,” said Wine, whose team downed the club team from Craven C.C., 6-2, on Sunday. “We’re looking to get into our regular rotation and schedule and (Allegany) just wants to play some baseball.”
While the Trojans have yet to play this season, LCC has played three games but in those three games Wine hasn’t been able to put together a solid lineup and rotation because the games were used mainly as a way to get everyone some playing time early in the year.
This weekend’s four-game set is the last before the Lancers get into the meat of their schedule. They’ll travel to rival Pitt C.C. on Wednesday before opening Division II Region X play at home against defending league champion and eighth-ranked Catawba Valley C.C. in a three-game series next weekend.
“We have some big games coming up — some important games — so it’s imperative the guys learn something and get some things together this weekend,” Wine said.
Wine told The Free Press prior to the season opener that he felt his team’s strength is pitching, and he said a staff of arms will be Allegany’s forte as well.
Because of that, he sees this series as one where the teams may struggle to push across runs.
“Might be a low-scoring series,” Wine said. “Who knows how it’s going to be. I don’t see either team scoring a lot of runs.
“I hope we score 20, but who knows.”
FREEDOM CLASSIC BEGINS NEXT WEEKEND: The third annual installment of the popular Freedom Classic baseball tournament will begin Feb. 22 at Grainger Stadium. The three-day event will feature teams from the U.S. Naval and Air Force academies in a four-game series.
Game 1 of the series will be held at 6 p.m. on Feb. 22, Games 2 and 3 will be held on Feb. 23 at 2 and 5 p.m., respectively, and the series finale will be held on Feb. 24 at 12:30 p.m.
Air Force took two of three games to win last year’s rain-shortened tournament while Navy won the inaugural Freedom Classic 2-1 in 2011.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.