Rain forces shifting of playoff games

Rain around the state played havoc with Saturday’s prep playoff action.

The State 4A baseball playoffs at Avista Stadium were rained out and rescheduled for today.

Davis will play Tahoma at 10 a.m., followed by the Ferris-Southridge game at 1 p.m. The winners will play at 4 for a berth to the state semifinals.

Tournament director Paul Manfred had the foresight to gain approval for a Sunday contingency date.

“Each school had to sign a waiver and a board member had to approve it,” he said. “When I saw the weather forecast I called all the school districts. I had them (the waivers) in my hands (Friday).”

Manfred, Gonzaga Prep’s activities coordinator, said he saw the form explaining the waiver process when he was downloading team packet information from the WIAA Web site two weeks earlier.

He took action following a call to assistant executive director Cindy Hettinger about planning ahead in the event of a rain delay, particularly with Tahoma traveling here from the west side of the state.

“I got lucky this time,” Manfred said. “Hopefully, the thing works out for (today).”

•Elsewhere, rain postponed the State 2A baseball playoffs scheduled for University High School.

All four teams agreed to play today. All games were pushed back an hour from Saturday’s original start times: Omak vs. East Valley-Yakima will begin at 11 a.m., and Naches will play Pullman at 2 p.m. The winners of the two games will play at 5 for a semifinal berth.

•State B baseball playoffs at Mead were rained out. All games will be made up today at Mead. Northport will take on Pateros at 10 a.m., and Asotin and Republic will play at 1 p.m. Winners will play at 4 for a semifinal bid.

•The District 7 1A softball playoffs at Colfax were rained out. The games were rescheduled for Monday.

Newport will take on Colfax, and Kettle Falls will play Freeman, both at 11 a.m. Subsequent games will be played at 1 and 3 p.m.

•The District 9 B softball playoffs in Kennewick were rained out. The games will be made up Monday.

Asotin will take on Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia, Prescott will play Garfield-Palouse, Touchet takes on Dayton and Colton will play DeSales, all at 10 a.m. Other games will be played at 12:15 and 2:30 p.m.