THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Young Prairie Legion squad battling through a trying summer

First it was the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then, it was scrounging to put together a team, and a schedule.

So a little rain — OK, maybe a LOT of rain — wasn’t going to stop the Prairie Cardinals class AA American Legion baseball team from taking the field.

After putting away a soggy tarp, the Cardinals were nearly 10-runned before scoring 12 runs in their final two at-bats to beat the Moses Lake Spuds 15-13 at Post Falls High.

“It’s been a strange year,” said Prairie coach Mick Zeller, who is also the coach of the Post Falls High varsity team. “We we’re going on 10 1/2 months without playing a baseball game.”

But at least the Cardinals are playing — for now.

WHEN LAST Prairie played, the Cardinals, who draw primarily from Post Falls High, were trying to qualify for the state Legion tournament last July.

This March, Post Falls’ high school season was halted before the Trojans could play a game. A month later, the high school spring sports season in Idaho was canceled.

Zeller, an assistant coach for Prairie the past two seasons, agreed to be head coach, replacing Pat Call, whose son, Tanner, had aged out of the program.

But as the coronavirus spread, the American Legion officials chose to cancel the American Legion World Series, and the qualifying regional tournaments.

Idaho said it would sponsor a Legion program.

Then it wouldn’t.

Then it said Legion teams could play as “travel” teams, wearing the Legion patch but not being affiliated with Legion.

Then Idaho said yes to Legion baseball again.

“It wasn’t until early May that we knew we could play,” Zeller said.

He put the word out, looking for Legion players.

But several of his varsity players were already committed to Northwest Premier, a North Idaho-based travel team.

A few others were seniors not planning to play baseball in college.

The result?

“A bunch of young kids, with not a lot of experience,” Zeller said.

In fact in Tuesday’s win, Mick’s son Spencer, who just completed his junior year, was the only Prairie player who had played in a high school game.

The Cardinals’ catcher, Zach Clark, would have played varsity this spring as a sophomore.

And junior Ethan Miller, his top pitcher, was away at a wrestling camp in Boise. He would have been on varsity this year, too.

Everyone else on the Cardinals’ AA team would have either played on the JV or freshman team at Post Falls this spring.

IN PART because many Washington teams aren’t playing Legion, Prairie has had a hard time finding games.

With Lewis-Clark deciding not to play, Coeur d’Alene is the only other class AA North Idaho League team playing this summer.

When the two teams met early last week, the more-experienced Lumbermen swept the Cardinals, 17-2 and 23-5, in what turned out to be Prairie’s season opener.

After 23 walks and hit batters in 10 innings,” Zeller said. “I thought, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to make it through this season.’”

Tuesday’s game was just the third of the season for Prairie.

For the first few days of practice in late May, the Cardinals could have just eight players and two coaches there, due to restrictions on social gatherings at the time.

The Cardinals have already had 10 games canceled, mostly due to COVID-19. One team from Western Washington decided not to make the trip to Idaho due to concerns over the virus. Bellingham was going to play Prairie in a single game prior to playing in the Senior Wood Bat tournament, but when that event was canceled, that squad decided not to come. That would have been a guaranteed five games for Prairie.

Zeller said he’s hoping to play Moses Lake in a pair of doubleheaders, and hopes to get in three scheduled games with Northern Lakes, which draws from Lakeland and Timberlake high schools.

“We had 20 games scheduled, and now we’re going to be lucky if we get 10,” Zeller said.

AS THE only two AA Legion teams in North Idaho, Coeur d’Alene and Prairie will both advance to state in late July in eastern Idaho — somewhere.

The Boise-area Legion teams aren’t playing this summer because of COVID-19 restraints in Ada County. Teams from North Idaho and eastern Idaho will meet for a state tournament — though it hasn’t been determined where in eastern Idaho it will be, or how many teams will play.

Heck, Zeller said he wasn’t sure that Prairie would even go — what if some of the players were concerned about traveling to eastern Idaho? Or what if their parents didn’t want them to go, because of the COVID?

The Cardinals only have 13 players on the roster now. If a few players chose not to go to state ...

Then again, the point may be moot.

Already, four different school districts, including Coeur d’Alene’s have temporarily shut down summer sports activities due to positive COVID-19 tests. And Coeur d’Alene’s Legion program is shut down until at least next week because of positive tests in its program.

Meanwhile, for now, Prairie will keep playing, whoever the Cardinals can find to play.

“It’s great experience for these younger kids,” Zeller said. “That’s why I was hoping we would get more games.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.