No Baseball Game Today By DAVID MILLER News Sports Editor After looking out the window at the snowcovered landscape and after checking the outside thermometer reading, it is difficult for one to imagine that baseball season was supposed to open today for the Ponca City Wildcats. But the Wildcat schedule doesn’t lie — the first game was set for March 3 (today) against Broken Arrow at the Po-Hi baseball field. Obviously, plans have been changed and the opener will be played sometime later. When the season does start, new Wildcat head coach Drew Burris has quite a few returning players on his 2014 roster and is cautiously optimstic about his team’s prospects. He has set a high standard for this team to shoot for and is anxious to get started. “We are shooting for a 25-win season,” he said in specifying some team goals. “We want to finish in the Top 3 in our district and we have the same goal as most teams at this time of year, we want to qualify for the state tournament,” he added. Some of the returning players he has at his disposal this year include Chase Kurtz, Joey Furber, Robert Nanni, Austin Emmel, Dalton Mazurier, Brian Wicker, Devon Wilkins and Blake Shepard. One of the keystone elements of any team is its pitching staff, and Burris has a number of pitchers who are getting a look as the season starts. Included among the possible pitching corps are Emmel, Furber, Sam Flowers and Shepard. Add to those names the ones of Riley Sells, Mazurier and Nanni, who also likely will see some time on the mound. “I see our team as an offensive team,” Burris said. “Other goals are to score eight runs a game, be aggressive on the base paths and play hard. We want to be play aggressive and to make all the routine plays. We will keep things simple.” Since today’s game against Broken Arrow here and Tuesday’s game at Broken Arrow have been weathered out, the likely opener will be Friday against Bishop Kelley at the Po-Hi baseball field. Weather forecasters see more favorable conditions then and the Wildcat players and coaches had the foresight to cover the infield before Sunday’s snowfall. The game against Kelley is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PONCA CITY BASEBALL WILDCATS 2014 Varsity Schedule March 7— Bishop Kelley at Ponca City, 5 p.m. March 8 — Ponca City at Bishop Kelley, 1 p.m. March 10 — Ponca City at Enid, 5 p.m. March 11 — Enid at Ponca City, 5 p.m. March 13-15 — Owasso Tournament March 19-21 — Edmond Festival March 24 — Ponca City at Collinsville, 5 p.m. March 25 — Alva at Ponca City, 5 p.m. March 27 — Ponca City at Newkirk, 4 p.m. April 1 — Ponca City at Tulsa Union (2), 5 p.m. April 3-5 — Shawnee Tournament April 7 — Ponca City at Bartlesville, 5 p.m. April 8 — Bartlesville at Ponca City, 5 p.m. April 10-12 — Gladys Winter Tournament, Enid April 14 — Bixby at Ponca City, 6 p.m. April 15 — Ponca City at Bixby, 6 p.m. April 17 — Ponca City at Blackwell, 5 p.m. April 18 — Broken Arrow at Ponca City, 5 p.m. April 21 — Newkirk at Ponca City, 4 p.m. April 25 — B. T. Washington at Ponca City, 4:30 p.m. April 26 — Ponca City at B.T. Washington, 1 p.m. April 28 — Sapulpa at Ponca City, 4:30 p.m. May 1 — Ponca City at Piedmont, 6 p.m.