Greg Lee: This spring has been beyond kind words

I refuse to use those four-letter, weather-related words beginning with “r” and “s” in the following item.

They’ve become derogatory words as far as I’m concerned and I will not utter them here again this spring. You know which words I’m talking about.

They describe 99 percent of the weather we’ve experienced in the past seven weeks.

It’s been so bad for our spring sports high school athletes that I’m surprised they haven’t collectively thrown in the white towel.

But that speaks to the grit they possess.

With a little more than a week left in the regular season for baseball and softball teams, here’s a look at the league races as teams jockey for district/regional seeding:

“Inland Empire League athletic directors decided that seeding for the 5A and 4A baseball and softball regional tournaments will be based on head-to-head conference play among teams’ respective divisions because a full league schedule will not be played.

In baseball, Lewiston (15-0 overall, 11-0 league, 8-0 5A) is closing in on the league title and all-important No. 1 seed for the regional tournament. Lewiston visits Lake City (11-2, 6-2, 3-2) Saturday, and the league-leading Bengals can clinch the top seed with a split.

LC, which was swept by the Bengals 10-6 and 4-3 on April 12 at Lewiston, needs a sweep to stay alive for the No. 1 seed. The regional begins May 6. The top two teams advance to state.

Coeur d’Alene (6-11, 4-7, 1-6) and Post Falls (4-10, 3-6, 1-5) are well behind the leaders and are battling for the third and fourth seeds.

“In 4A, Lakeland (7-6, 6-5, 6-0 4A) has clinched the No. 1 seed. Sandpoint (7-7, 4-5, 2-4) and Moscow (2-14, 2-11, 2-6) will meet in a regional opener May 3. The regional champ advances to state.

“In softball, LC (12-3, 8-1, 3-1 5A), Post Falls (10-3, 6-1, 3-1) and CdA (12-5, 8-3, 3-3) are in a three-team chase to decide the league title and No. 1 regional seed. The top seed will play host to the bulk of the regional tourney.

LC, which swept a pair of games at Lewiston (10-7, 5-7, 1-5), plays host to the Bengals today. Post Falls will play 11 games in seven days beginning Friday, including two doubleheaders against LC. The regional tourney begins May 8. The top two teams go to state.

“In 4A, Moscow (8-10, 6-7, 6-2 4A) and Lakeland (8-9, 3-7, 3-2) split their doubleheaders. Lakeland has three games remaining with Sandpoint (0-18, 0-10, 0-5). The regional tourney begins May 5. The regional champ goes to state.

“In the Intermountain League, meanwhile, teams won’t come close to completing a league schedule, especially in baseball.

Athletic directors decided that seeding for district will be based on league winning percentage.

One baseball coach was told nearly two weeks ago that any postponed games would not be made up.

There will be some teams playing fewer games than others.

In baseball, St. Maries (9-3, 4-1) has a half-game lead over Bonners Ferry (8-3, 3-1). Priest River (4-3, 3-2) and Timberlake (4-7, 3-3) are still within reach of the leaders. Kellogg (2-9, 0-6) is in last.

The district tourney begins May 6 at Timberlake, which finally played its first game at home Tuesday. If the district tourney can’t be completed – which was a concern last year and is a possibility based on what has happened this year – the top two seeds will advance to state.

“In softball, Timberlake (9-6, 7-0) has all but clinched the top seed. The Tigers can wrap it up Saturday when they play host to St. Maries (7-3, 3-2) in a doubleheader.

Of the remaining three teams – Kellogg (11-4, 7-4), Bonners Ferry (1-4, 0-4) and Priest River (0-11, 0-7) – Kellogg has a chance to finish as high as second. District begins May 1. The champ advances to state and the runner-up can earn a state berth in a play-in game.

“Now if it just wouldn’t r—- or s—- the next week we’d all be happy.