ADELANTO — The High Desert Yardbirds are no longer playing baseball games at Adelanto Stadium.

Owner Andrew Dunn told the Daily Press he was losing money every night due to a lack of attendance.

“I made the decision that for this season, we'll move the games out,” he said, referring to the move to have the Yardbirds play the remainder of their season on the road. “There was no discussion with the City of Adelanto. We just left.”

Dunn, who also owns the independent Pecos League in which the Yardbirds play, said he made the decision on Sunday after a flooded field delayed the start of the Yardbirds’ game against the Tucson Saguaros. The Yardbirds lost what turned out to be their last home game, 6-4.

“How do you flood a field in the High Desert?” he said. “I'm not saying it was on purpose, but I didn't know you could flood the field there.”

Yet the Yardbirds players remained in good spirits amid Sunday's two-hour delay, a reflection of a successful season in which the team is likely to win the league championship, said announcer Terry Kurtz.

Kurtz, the longtime High Desert media personality and amateur Yardbirds beat reporter, called the 2019 Yardbirds season their best season yet. The team won the 2017 Pecos League championship in its inaugural season in the league.

During the delay, the team's young manager, Sean McNeill, told Kurtz, “We’ll make the best of it. We’ll overcome it."

But it appears low attendance and possible Pecos League-centered politics were too much, despite a talented baseball team, that leads the Pacific Division with a 35-12 record as of Friday.

Forty people on average attended Yardbirds games this season, stadium co-manager Darrel Courtney said, and "over half of those were host families not paying."

Courtney said each Yardbirds game cost Dunn about $300 to put on.

Neither Dunn nor Courney would say for certain the Yardbirds baseball would return to Adelanto next year.

“We'll look at next year at the end of the season,” Dunn said.

In recent months, field conditions at Adelanto Stadium have been criticized for being less-than-ideal. Patches of dead grass are noticeable from the stands.

This year marked a drastic departure from past years, when semi-pro baseball was played atop a lush baseball-only field. This year, a portable pitchers' mound was brought in, and the dirt infield was left to turn to grass.

But Dunn said it wasn’t the condition of the field that convinced him to depart. It was the lack of fans.

“The condition of the field was fine,” he said. “We were adjusting.”

The adjustment resulted in quality baseball, Kurtz said. The team has a 16-5 record playing at the former Maverick Stadium this season.

Kurtz said other forces beyond the field conditions or lacking fanbase may have led to the departure of the Yardbirds, but he did not offer specifics.

“I don't think the field conditions and lack of fan support are the overall reasons for the demise of Pecos League baseball at Adelanto Stadium,” he said.

Courtney said stadium management is looking for another baseball team in an effort to retain the recently created dual-sport nature of the Stadium. The semi-pro soccer team High Desert Elite, which happens to be co-owned by the two stadium managers, also plays at Adelanto Stadium.

"The stadium is a baseball stadium,” Courtney said. “We were really hoping to do dual sports, baseball and soccer. It’s doable.”

Garrett Bergthold can be reached at GBergthold@VVDailyPress.com or at 760-955-5368. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Garrett.