THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: No extra charge for IHSAA to be optimistic
It was interesting to see/listen to all the people who wondered what took the Idaho High School Activities Association so long.
On April 17, the IHSAA finally pulled the plug on the spring high school sports season in Idaho, officially canceling the remainder of a season the governing body had first put on hold in mid-March.
“Just call it already,” many said as the waiting went on over the next month.
But in this case, there was nothing to lose for the IHSAA to keep holding out hope.
Sure, as time went on, there appeared very little chance high school sports would resume anytime soon.
Pro leagues which had suspended play kept pushing their projected return dates later and later into the calendar year.
And they weren’t planning on returning anytime soon.
This year’s seasons might not be finished before next year’s seasons were scheduled to begin.
At this point, there’s no guarantee this fall’s high school sports season will begin on time.
Most pros will get another season. But high school seniors will never get one last season of high school sports.
So the IHSAA waited and met, extending the suspension of play another couple weeks at a time, but refusing to shut it down, hoping against hope that somehow, they could get the kids back on the field — even just for an abbreviated finish.
But, given what was happening elsewhere in the country, most of us had a pretty good idea how this was going to turn out.
It got to the point when the IHSAA finally cancelled the spring sports season, hardly anyone was surprised. Disappointed, of course, but not surprised.
But at least they gave it every chance they could.
MEANWHILE, THERE continues to be very little to see when you drive by schools on what were supposed to be game days.
Just empty fields. Empty courts. Empty tracks. Empty everything.
Except for the parking lots.
They seem to be a gathering spot for folks, who will meet there, and back their cars up next to each other — keeping social distancing, of course. They’ll sit in the back of their rig — in the bed of their pickup, or they’ll lift up the hatch and sit back there.
If it’s a foursome, the other two drivers will back their cars up against each other in the other direction — with the proper gaps between the backs of all four vehicles.
The only thing missing was the campfire in the middle.
Not saying it’s a good or bad idea — just impressed people found a way to visit with their friends, and still follow the rules.
ON THIS date, four years ago:
Jared McDaniel went 3 for 4 with three doubles and an RBI in the first game and Max Baker pitched four shutout innings in the second game, leading the Lakeland Hawks to a 9-3 and 5-3 sweep of the Sandpoint Bulldogs to capture the 4A Inland Empire League baseball championship at Gorton Field in Rathdrum.
Both Sandpoint and Lakeland entered the day with 3-3 records in league, with Moscow sitting at 4-4. With the sweep, Lakeland finished 5-3 in league, while Sandpoint fell to 3-5.
Cody Garza hit a three-run homer in the third inning of the first game and Kyle Manzardo hit a three-run double in the sixth — both hits coming with two outs — as the Lake City Timberwolves swept the Post Falls Trojans 8-5, 14-4 in 5A Inland Empire League baseball at Post Falls High.
Braxton Tonkin struck out eight in a complete-game two-hitter in the opener for Timberlake, which split an Intermountain League baseball doubleheader at Priest River. The Tigers won the opener 4-2, and the Spartans took the nightcap 7-6.
Hannah McGrath had three hits and drove in seven runs in the opener, and the visiting Timberlake Tigers went on to sweep the Priest River Spartans 14-2, 20-3 in IML softball.
Paige Sines drove in three runs in the opener and Aubree Hall had four RBIs in the second game for the St. Maries Lumberjacks in a 15-0, 16-1 sweep of the visiting Grangeville Bulldogs in Central Idaho League softball.
Zac Magee won in the 400-meter run and Grady Leonard won the shot put and discus for the Coeur d’Alene boys, and Amber Mallet won the pole vault for the Viking girls as both teams brought home third-place finishes at the Strandberg Invitational track and field meet at Central Valley High.
Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.