MOOSIC, Pa. — When the raindrops finally stopped falling, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders took the field against Buffalo about 45 minutes later than scheduled, and when they did, they made history.
Not only the earliest season opener in franchise history but also the first baseball game ever played here on Montage Mountain in the month of March.
At least one fan wondered if it was too early.
"I think it's a little cold to be out here, but it's bringing the warm weather back. I like baseball," said Richie Kioske.
Opening night marks the start of the 34th season for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre franchise.
First, the Red Barons, then the Yankees, and since 2013, the RailRiders.
This year's team is generating a lot of optimism, with some of the Yankees' top prospects in uniform.
Fifteen players have big-league experience.
For the fans, the experience has been going strong for more than three decades.
Summer nights filled with the crack of the bat and the sizzle of the hot dogs on the grill.
"I think this ballpark is the best thing, good things to do," said Emmet Sherman.
A tale of two seasons on Montage Mountain, baseball at the bottom and skiing on top.
Skiers held on to the last scraps of winter as it was the last day of the season for skiing and snowboarding at Montage.
Ernie Pinelli, from Scranton, says he made at least 50 trips to the mountain this season, and the slopes were good, despite the uneven winter weather.
"When you're out here, you just can't get the smile off your face. You put away the worries of the world, all the bad things going on, and you realize out here, on this mountain, there's really some good people in this world," Pinelli said.
At Montage, ski season is over, but baseball season is just beginning.
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