Baseball sub-district playoffs are set to kick off May 6 for Seamount baseball teams. The problem? Rain has decimated a league schedule that was supposed to conclude this week.

“I grew up on this hill,” said Hazen baseball coach Gary Jacobs. “This is the worst season I’ve seen in 40 years.”

Since the first day of league play (March 16), it has rained on 19 out of 29 days. Making matters slightly worse for Renton schools, the least rainy week of the season by far was April 18-22 (.04 inches total), spring break for Renton School District, meaning no games were scheduled.

With so many games with common opponents that need to be rescheduled in the final days of the season, there’s a mad dash to get them in on time. That means double headers, back-to-back games and maybe even a triple-header this Saturday, depending on the weather earlier in the week.

“Do you have the pitching? Do you have the players?” Jacobs said. “It puts a lot of stress on the staffs just to be able to prepare to compete. There’s really a trickle-down effect.”

There’s also a shortage of umpires with so many teams around the area trying to get make-up games played.

Jacobs said the difference in drainage ability of the fields is another wild card.

“Our field may be playable; but if the other team is the home team, they have to decide if they will play at our field instead,” he said. He’s already had one team turn down the offer.

Between the three Renton School District teams, 17 league games have been rained out so far this season. The teams have been able to make up a few of those, but many remain.

Not surprising, the Seamount standings may look completely different next week. Lindbergh is currently in first with a 5-1 league record, but the Eagles have played four fewer games than Hazen (8-2) and Kennedy Catholic (8-2), who are tied for second. Highline is in third with an 8-3 record.

Postseason tournaments will almost certainly go on as scheduled, meaning the teams will simply have to find a way to get the games done.

“Leagues make every attempt to get our league games in so that postseason play can begin as scheduled,” said Brian Kaelin, Renton School District director of athletics. “This may mean having teams play double-headers, holding make-up games on weekends, etc.”

Kaelin said if leagues are unable to get all of their regular season games in by the first scheduled postseason contest, the leagues would need to look at other options. One option is changing the dates of postseason games, which Kaelin called a last resort.

Softball teams have had the same problems, but have a little more breathing room because sub-districts start a week later on May 14. The Seamount league tennis tournament is set to start May 6.

“It’s just been crazy weather,” Jacobs said. “We’re all scrambling.”