THE FRONT ROW with JASON ELLIOTT: The quick trip around the prep bases

Believe it or not, the spring sports season is winding to a close. 

By next Saturday, a high school baseball team will have its season end in 6A baseball. 

Funny thing is, it really felt like it was just getting started. 

WITH THE Idaho High School Activities Association now sponsoring the state baseball tournaments in four different classifications, area district and regional tournaments were moved up, leaving the District 1 play-in game between the second and third seed next Friday afternoon. 

The only problem is, both Coeur d’Alene and Lake City have four games — two later today, and another doubleheader on Tuesday — to determine who is playing when and where. 

There’s also that issue of the suspended game between Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls that might need to be made up, should Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls wind up with the same league record. 

Post Falls is 5-2, Coeur d’Alene 2-1 and Lake City 0-4 in 6A IEL play. 

Things get even tighter when looking at the MaxPreps rankings, which are used to seed teams heading to the state play-in series. 

Three teams qualify in four separate pods throughout the state, with those four winners advancing to the state tournament May 14-16 at Memorial Stadium in Boise. 

As of Friday, Coeur d’Alene is ranked 13th, Post Falls 14th and Lake City 19th. 

Whoever wins the 6A District 1 tournament will host one of the play-in series, but after that, it’s going to take some work. 

In 5A, Sandpoint is ranked second, Lewiston fifth and Lakeland ninth as those teams wind down the season. The 5A Region 1 tournament, which also includes Moscow, begins on May 1.

Timberlake is ranked seventh in 4A. In that classification, the top four ranked district champions host a best-of-3 series to determine the top four teams to the championship round at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. Bonners Ferry, the other team in the Intermountain League, is currently seeded 14th.

If nothing else, this format is a good way to get more teams involved in a state tournament, with more chances for teams to play their way into a special ending of the season. 

It sure beats the alternative of only being able to have a select group of teams getting that same chance. 

IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE that some fans might be hitting the panic button when it comes to the Seattle Mariners this spring. 

For whatever reason, star players like Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor haven’t had much success at the plate. 

Or they can’t win on the road, holding a 1-8 record away from T-Mobile Park in Seattle after being swept by San Diego on Thursday night. 

A little bit of offense against Texas a few weeks ago, and those one-run losses might have turned the other way. 

Sure, we can panic. 

It won’t help anything, but you can try. 

But if you find yourself starving for a little tension on a baseball field, go check out a high school game in the coming weeks.

It means a little more right now. 

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at 208-664-1876, Ext. 1206 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on ‘X’, formerly Twitter @JECdAPress.