THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: May 7, 2014

The postseason is upon us.

You can't script this stuff, but if you could, fans might want to see it go like this:

IN ITS final appearance in the Region 18 softball tournament, the North Idaho College softball team will win the tournament, which begins today in Twin Falls.

The Cardinals have won 21 of their last 30 games, including wins over Southern Idaho and Salt Lake, both teams ranked ahead of them.

NIC, the third seed in this week's tournament, will face No. 6 seed Western Nevada (12-43) at 4 p.m. PDT, with the winner advancing to play the winner of No. 2 Salt Lake (33-19) and No. 7 Colorado Northwestern (8-45) on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

NIC was just a few runs away from advancing to the championship game last year, and who knows, maybe the Cards are just about to play the best they have all season.

Stranger things have happened, but you can't underestimate a motivated team.

This being a final time to chase a NJCAA title might be all they need.

AFTER WATCHING Coeur d'Alene and Lake City battle in the 5A Region 1 softball tournament championship game, you can't help but think that lightning could strike twice.

Coeur d'Alene went a perfect 12-0 in 5A Inland Empire League play this season, with Lake City's only four losses in league coming to the Vikings.

Two years ago, Lake City was the team that had beaten Coeur d'Alene every time leading into state. But when the teams played in the state title game, Coeur d'Alene upset the Timberwolves for the championship. Lake City went unbeaten - the second time in three years - to win the 2013 title.

Judging from Tuesday's finish in the championship game, there's a good chance they will have to play again at least once, maybe twice, maybe even three times before this year' champion is crowned.

WITH FIVE of the league's eight opening round series going seven games, fans in the NBA have been entertained to say the least in the first two weeks of the playoffs.

Miami, which has won the last two championships, breezed through the first round.

The other series were anything but.

Arguably the most entertaining series was the Portland-Houston series, with a ton of close games and Blazer guard Damian Lillard's walk-off 3-pointer to win the series on Friday night in Portland.

To say that game was a must-win for Portland might be an understatement, considering only one road team - Brooklyn - won a Game 7 on the road, and that was with a veteran heavy roster against a team that had advanced to the playoffs twice since 2002.

It will be difficult for Portland to keep it up against San Antonio, who nearly beat Miami in the NBA finals last year.

Then again, the good teams lose at some point.

And that's why you really can't make this stuff up.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.