‘You’ve just got to fight through the conditions’: Bend Elks try to play through wildfire smoke

Tuesday evening's game was suspended; one of several activities, events affected

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Fighting through the conditions is exactly what the Bend Elks Baseball team did Tuesday night against the Walla Walla Sweets -- until it just couldn't work, due to all the smoke.

Players - most of whom are from other states - aren't used to Central Oregon's wildfire season, let alone playing a game in the heavy smoke it creates.

"When you're in the game, you're in the game. There's not a lot you can do you can't really think about it -- you've just got to fight through the conditions." player Brooks Juhasz told NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday.

Officials suspended the game in the bottom of the sixth inning because players were struggling to breathe -- and even see the ball.

"Outfielders couldn't even see how the ball was coming off the bat, so it was really changing even how the game was being played." said Kelsie Hirko, operating owner for the Bend Elks.

By the sixth inning, the Elks were winning 9-5. Even though they were up by four, one of Tuesday night's pitchers said the haze impacted his game and the team's ability to play.

"It was extremely hazy by the end of the fourth inning," Juhasz said. "I couldn't even pick up the catcher's signs -- we had to move to where he would put his signs on his body, because I couldn't even read his fingers, so it was really interesting."

Suspending or canceling games can hinder the rest of the schedule and impact how far the Elks go in the playoffs.

"We are still in the playoff hunt, and so these games do make quite the impact for our team, and our wins and losses ratio" Hirko said. "And so that's why we're really trying to be able to get these games in, but we're looking at doing it safely."

The Elks were supposed to resume Tuesday night's game at 3 p.m. Wednesday -- but that too was canceled due to the smoke.

However, that game is considered a win for the Elks.

The team did play again Wednesday evening, defeating Walla Walla 10-3.

Other organizations had to cancel activities and events because of the smoke. Bend Park and Recreation District updated their current activities list. You can find that here.

And High Desert Chamber Music postponed its planned Wednesday pop-up concert at Bend's Old Mill District, delaying it to noon on Saturday, August 14.