Hold on for one more day of spring sports

Of course.

You knew that, after our extremely snowy winter, followed by an unusually soggy spring, Idaho’s high school spring sports season wasn’t going to end Saturday as planned.

They moved Saturday’s games at the state 5A softball tournament at Coeur d’Alene and Lake City high schools up an hour, trying to beat the impending rain, or at the very least, to buy another hour of daylight in case of rain delays.

As it turned out, with rain expected most of the day, officials postponed Saturday’s games to today, leaving teams and fans from Eagle, Kuna and Boise — as well as Lake City — to find something else to do on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 6 miles from Lake City High, and 8 miles from Coeur d’Alene High, the state 4A softball tournament at Post Falls High went on as scheduled.

Of course.

WEATHER HASN’T been kind to the state 5A softball tourney the last two years.

Last year’s event started in Idaho Falls, was moved to Blackfoot because of rain, then was moved to a Sunday finish at Mountain View High in Meridian for the four remaining teams — Eagle, Coeur d’Alene, Boise and Rocky Mountain.

Those were the four teams that won their first-round games, before the rains came. The losers bracket — which included Lake City — was canceled, and the four winners played a de facto single-elimination tourney on Sunday.

There’s four teams left this year as well, though they’re a little farther along in the tourney, and hopefully they won’t have to cut the tourney short again.

THAT MAKES it three times in the last four times North Idaho has hosted state softball that the tourneys had to be moved and/or delayed.

In 2011, rain at Post Falls High forced the 5A tournament to be completed at Lake City High — where the Timberwolves won the state title on their home field. Meanwhile, the 4A tourney at Ramsey Park in Coeur d’Alene was completed with no weather issues.

Two years later, the 4A tournament was at Post Falls High. That is, until morning rains on Saturday forced the tourney to be moved to Coeur d’Alene High — where Lakeland finished second to Bishop Kelly in a championship game that ended just before dark. Had the Hawks won and forced an if-necessary title game, they might have needed headlights or an extra day to play it.

And now this year.

Back in 2005, at least one state 5A game was moved from Ramsey to Coeur d’Alene High because of rain.

A year earlier, rains at Ramsey shortened the tourney. The teams scheduled to meet in the winners bracket semifinal instead played a winner-take-all title game up at Timberlake, with Middleton defeating Buhl.

But, what are you going to do? It rains elsewhere in Idaho in May — even in Boise.

Those of you from Eagle, Kuna and Boise, thanks for sticking around one more day.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.