THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Saturday, March 14, 2015

Some start to spring sports we're having, isn't it?

A perfect game in Coeur d'Alene High's softball opener at Sandpoint on Thursday.

Baseball teams actually practicing outside, instead of inside the gym with Whiffle balls.

Are we still in North Idaho?

FOR THE Timberlake baseball team, often times the Tigers are not on a baseball field until playing for the first time, often in Orofino.

"It's been crazy," Timberlake coach Bill Rider said. "It feels like someone transported Arizona up here. Usually we've got snow on the field for the first couple of weeks and are practicing in our gym."

The downside for Timberlake, since you can't predict the weather around here, is that the Tigers' first game isn't until next Thursday, when Timberlake travels to Riverside High in Chattaroy, Wash.

"I'm just excited about having some nice weather this early in the season," Rider said. "We usually push the schedule back a week, and now the boys are excited to get going. We played an intrasquad game (last Saturday in Spirit Lake) and it started to get dark, so we had to pick up. The kids were upset and mad that we had to stop."

The same feeling was echoed by Post Falls coach Dustin Frank, whose team opened the season on Friday at Rogers High in Spokane.

"It's insane," Frank said. "We've been very blessed to be outside. We've never had anything close to this in my time as coach. The kids are ready for some games now and definitely excited and ready to compete against different teams instead of each other."

Even some area golf teams have had a chance to get more than a few rounds in on a course, instead of practicing chipping and putting on mats in the gym.

"Twin Lakes (Village Golf Club) has been open for a couple of weeks and we've been able to start practicing a lot earlier than any other time I've been here," said Matt Miller, in his seventh year as Timberlake golf coach.

"The course usually opens on April 1," Miller added. "It's been really nice with the way the weather has been. We might get a chance to get some of the rust off before our first tournament."

SOMETIMES SUCCESS in winter sports can cause a slow start - the case in point, the St. Maries baseball team.

When spring sports practices began last week for the baseball team, they were missing all but four kids from the roster.

Those guys had other things at hand - like bringing home third place in the state 2A boys basketball tournament.

"It was great last week, but we only had four kids at practice," St. Maries baseball coach Craig Tefft said. "Some of them are still trying to get their arms in shape and be able to stand in and hit live pitching. It's a real experienced group, so they'll catch up quick."

How this results in local teams catching up with those from the south, wait and see.

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.