The outbreak of swine flu across the nation hit the state of Alabama this week and as a result all postseason events for the Alabama High School Athletic Association were halted late Wednesday evening.

The closing of three school systems in Huntsville and the urging of a medical advisory team forced the decision, according to the AHSAA Web site.

The decision affects many schools in the Pike County area. The Charles Henderson baseball and track and field teams were set to compete in postseason events this weekend

CHHS baseball head coach Derek Irons and the Trojans were slated for a weekend best-of-three series with St. Paul’s in Mobile and Irons weighed in on the events of the past few days.

“This has been a letdown for the guys because we were ready to get the series started (Friday) and now we have an extra four days off,” Irons said. “We will just take that time to regroup and regain our focus.”

According to a tentative schedule on the AHSAA Web site, the Trojans and Saints will begin play Tuesday with a doubleheader and play Wednesday if necessary.

The semifinal round will be played as planned May 8-9 with one change. If both teams agree the series would be split up with one game on Friday and two on Saturday.

“Usually during the playoffs we have week off in between games and it will be longer for us now and we are just ready to get out there,” Irons said. “But like we have been telling the guys all year, we need to worry about the things we can control and this is not one of those things. All we can control is how we practice today to get ready.”

The track and field state championships were scheduled to be split between Troy and Gulf Shores. Now all classifications will compete in Gulf Shores next weekend. The tentative schedule is for classes 1A-3A to compete May 7-8 and classes 4A-6A to compete May 8-9.

The CHHS softball team, CHHS golf team and Goshen softball team had tournaments postponed from this weekend until Tuesday. The area tournaments for softball now may use a single elimination format if all schools in the tournament agree. The regional tournament and state tournament will be played as scheduled.

All sub-state tournaments will now be played Tuesday and the state tournament will be played as scheduled.