The first Cellular South Diamond Classic Baseball Tournament, which was scheduled to begin Thursday, was pushed back to today after the week’s inclement weather.

Vidalia will open the festivities at Chester Willis Field with games against Loyd Star at 4 p.m. and Brookhaven at 6 p.m., with Cathedral and Natchez facing off at 8 p.m. for the second time in a week.

&uot;The field is pretty saturated from (Wednesday) night,&uot; Green Wave head coach Craig Beesley said. &uot;We decided to move every game back to (today) and Saturday. It’s in great shape now and by tomorrow evening should look real good. The infield is dry; the only problem is right field. If it wasn’t for (right field) we could’ve played today.&uot;

Saturday’s games include Vidalia and Brookhaven’s junior varsity teams going at it at an 11 a.m. tilt, and Cathedral and Brookhaven’s varsities tossing the first pitch for 1 p.m.

&uot;We’ve got the same teams coming, we just had to rearrange the bracket a little bit,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;We’re not going to be able to get in as many games in. Some of the teams coming had previous games on Saturday and weren’t going to be able to make it back.&uot;

Chester Willis is now home to three area teams, since Trinity Episcopal joined Cathedral and Natchez High in the fall of 2004 when its previous field was put on the market.

Beesley said coaches and supporters from all three teams worked diligently during the offseason in resloping the field in multiple spots to improve the drainage system.

&uot;Everybody is working together, trying to get the field in shape,&uot; he added. &uot;(Cathedral) still had basketball going on this week, as did Trinity. It’s been tough on the parents, but hopefully the field is ready to play.&uot;