And still others had their games Saturday completely wiped off the schedule.
Welcome to spring sports in Washington.
The Battle Ground softball team started its bi-district playoff against Redmond on Saturday, but only got 4½ innings played before the rains arrived and stopped play.
The game is scheduled to resume at 5 p.m. Monday in Battle Ground, with Battle Ground batting in the bottom of the fifth inning, the bases loaded, no outs and Redmond leading 5-0 after the Mustangs’ Kaija Gibson hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the fifth.
“We’re hoping to play Monday, but if we get more rain that saturates the field, we may not be able to play until Tuesday,” Battle Ground athletic director Matt Stanfill said.
If the teams had completed five innings, Redmond would have been declared the winner in a suspended game. But the rains arrived three outs early to keep the Tigers’ season going.
In Bellevue, the Columbia River baseball team was determined to play ball Saturday, even if that wasn’t in an actual game.
The Chieftains arrived at Bannerwood Park in hopes of playing their 10 a.m. game against Seattle Prep in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Instead, they were told to come back in a couple hours while officials wondered whether to continue to delay the game because of rain or to cancel for the day.
So the Chieftains left the facility, only to return to the park. They even started warming up on the field. But a few minutes later, the regional was called off for the day.
No problem for the Chieftains. There was an empty field right next to the baseball stadium.
Whiffle ball time. Sliding into bases on the slippery grass. Just about everyone participated, except for those Chieftains who are nursing injuries.
For those guys, coach Stephen Donohue said an extra day of rest can only help.
Bannerwood Park has an artificial turf infield and a grass outfield. The outfield withstood the constant morning rain, but it the mound was slick. High school players are not allowed to wear metal spikes at this facility, and officials, citing safety concerns, decided to postpone the regional.
The Chieftains, who had only one night reserved for a hotel, called to reserve an extra night. After the whiffle ball competition, the Chieftains went to get some lunch before returning to the hotel for downtime before attending a movie at a Bellevue mall.
The Class 3A bi-district softball tournament in Spanaway was washed out Saturday, as well. Columbia River and Prairie each won two games Friday, clinching a spot into the 3A state tournament. They were supposed to play in the bi-district semifinals, but tournament directors instead opted to cancel those contests for the teams already in the state tournament.
Based on a power ranking, Columbia River will finish as the No. 2 seed from the bi-district, and Prairie will be No. 4.
The La Center softball woke up Saturday expecting to trudge through the weather to complete play in the 1A district tournament in Centralia. But by noon, after an hour delay, all games were postponed to Sunday. La Center is now scheduled to face Castle Rock in the 1A district title game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Fort Borst Park in Centralia, although Sunday’s forecast includes showers.
