Storm grounds baseball players
Toolbox
By Bruce Edwards Herald Staff - Published: August 19, 2008
The Twin State Peregrines are having their baseball stay in Cuba extended by at least a day, courtesy of Tropical Storm Fay.
The 20 Vermont and New Hampshire players and coaches will spend at least another day in Havana to wait out the storm that hit Cuba Monday and was headed toward the Florida Keys and Miami, according to a spokesman for the Miami-based travel company that arranged the flight.
ABC Charters Inc. spokesman Alex Vicente said that the 2:55 p.m. flight from Havana to Miami was cancelled because of the storm. He said Havana's Jose Marti International Airport is closed and that Miami International Airport is open but only for larger aircrafts. From Miami, the team was scheduled to board an American Airlines flight to Boston and then a charter coach to Lebanon, N.H.
Plans are now to get the team home today but that's dependent on the weather, said Vicente, who was in contact with the team at their Havana hotel.
"They're fine," Vicente said.
With the storm passing over Cuba and bearing down on Florida, the team of 14 players and six coaches from the Connecticut Valley South Little League was prepared to spend an extra day in Cuba if necessary, assistant coach John Carey said Monday morning from the Comodoro hotel in Havana.
On its 10-day trip, the team won the first Mango Cup Championship beating Los Santos Friday 3-1. On Saturday the Peregrines played the Playa, a more seasoned Havana city team, losing to them 7-4.
"It was a lot of fun and an incredibly relaxed game," Carey said.
He said the Peregrines were set to play another game Monday morning but it was cancelled because of the storm.
Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com.
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