Fans expecting a playoff baseball game were greeted by tarps and sandbags instead of bats and balls at Surry Central High School Monday night.

A steady rain that ironically began at about the 7 p.m. starting time for last night’s Mountain Valley 2A playoff game between Surry Central and North Surry forced the contest to be re-scheduled for this afternoon at 4 p.m. Tuesday was a built-in rain day.

Now, whichever team wins has to play again on Wednesday. Another win would put them in Thursday’s conference championship game. Both the conference semifinals and finals have been moved to Ashe County, a far drive for either team. Another day of rain would push all games back one more day. Either way, there is the possibility of playing three games in three days.

Monday’s rain could alter the approach of Tuesday’s game for North Surry. The Greyhounds normally utilize their speed advantage on the basepaths, but sloppy conditions could neutralize the threat.

“Of course it will slow you down,” North Surry coach Tim Collins said. “You just have to be a little more careful when you run. We’ll have to look at how wet the ground is, but it will definitely have an affect.”

North Surry’s Champ Reynolds, out recently with a stress fracture in his arm, will be back for the game. Missing will be starting shortstop Wes Hunter, who broke his foot over the weekend. Call-up Jacob Pelfrey will start for Hunter. In Friday’s win over top-seeded Starmount, Pelfrey went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and picked up the win by pitching the final five innings. Suffice is to say, Collins is not sweating over Pelfrey starting in a playoff game.

“There shouldn’t be any problem there,” Collins said.

As far as the wet conditions, Surry Central coach Matt Scott said the field should be ready to go.

“I don’t see (wet conditions) being a factor,” Scott said. “We’ve done some work over at the field and it’s draining well. Our field can really handle a fair amount of water.”

Whether or not the rain stops is another matter. According to www.weather.com, there is a 60-percent chance of afternoon showers tonight. That does not bode well for the re-scheduled game or for East Surry and Mount Airy, both of which are hosting Northwest 1A playoff games tonight.