NATCHEZ — If absence makes the heart grow fonder, delays make the rivalry stronger.

Cathedral and Natchez High teams were prepped, warmed and ready to take to the diamond Saturday, but Mother Nature had a different plan.

An all-day rain-a-thon meant the season opening exhibition game would have to be pushed to Tuesday.

Despite the delay, the game will still fulfill its role, NHS head baseball coach Skip Golding said, of bringing two local teams together on the field they share.

“It’s great for the town and for the people to come out, too,” Golding said. “It’s close, it’s financially advantageous, and coach (Craig) Beesley and myself have a great relationship.

“We’re sharing a field, and I’m pulling for them, and I’m sure he’s pulling for me, except when we play each other.”

The teams will face off again in the regular season at Chester Willis Field.

Beesley said the Bulldog and Green Wave players have some familiarity with one another, which adds to the rivalry.

“It’s a good cross-town game, and we’ve been playing them for several years, so it’s turned into a good, competitive game,” Beesley said.

Beesley also echoed Golding’s belief in that it’s good for both Cathedral and NHS to share a field.

“We’ve been playing on that same field ever since Cathedral started a baseball program in the mid ’70s,” Beesley said. “Coach Golding and myself have talked about some upgrades we’ve needed and about the general upkeep. Everything seems to be going well right now.”

The schools’ junior varsity squads will play at 5 p.m. and the varsity teams at 6:30 p.m. When determining which players will make up each squad, Golding said he’s simply going with the top nine.

“The best nine will play in the second game, and the other nine will play in the other game,” Golding said. “Everyone will play, and you can go from the first roster to the second roster depending on how you play.”

Beesley said he’s eager to see how his team fares hitting-wise, especially since his players haven’t hit well in practice, he said.

“That’s been an area of concern for me in the early part of the year,” Beesley said. “I’m anxious to see us against live pitching to see how we’re going to do.”

ACCS baseball

After dropping an exhibition game to Parklane Academy 5-4 last Tuesday at the Brookhaven Academy preseason tournament, the Rebels hosted Tensas Academy for a scrimmage Friday.

Coach Hunter McKeivier said neither team kept score in Friday’s game, but he was happy for his players to get some time on the field.

“Our hitting was a lot better Tuesday than it was (Friday),” McKeivier said. “Defensively, we were able to move people around to get an idea of what we want to do lineup-wise, but during the year, we still have some moves we might want to make.”

ACCS opens its regular season Monday on the road at Central Private, which was the runner-up in the South State playoffs last season in MAIS Class AA.

“Traditionally, they’re a very strong team, and they return everyone from last year,” McKeivier said. “They’re a good fundamentals team, and they’re not a flash-in-the-pan type team. They’re going to bunt, steal, put the ball in play and make plays when the ball’s hit to them. They’re going to throw every pitch for strikes.”

The game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.