He stood before the kneeling players during a preseason meeting. His message was simple.

A former baseball coach in the Puget Sound region told his players that there would be games over spring break. If you wanted to remain on the team, be ready to play — or relinquish your spot.

That edict did not come from South Kitsap coach Jim Fairweather, but at this point, it wouldn’t matter. The Wolves had another game scheduled for Tuesday that was rained out.

The pitcher’s mound was covered and there were no cars in South’s parking lot. With nary a drop of rain on the ground, it is difficult to understand why. During a week where the weather forecast called for nothing but dark clouds and downpour, Tuesday featured neither. With the exception of those willing to brave the cooler weather in the stands, it was a fine day for baseball.

But in what has become a reoccurring theme this spring, there was no game. The weather was similarly fine for a March 17 nonleague game against Emerald Ridge. It rained a little that morning, but not enough to warrant a rainout when the weather cleared up early in the afternoon.

At least the Wolves were able to make up that game the next day. That was not the case a week later when the umpire crew somehow forgot to show up on a beautiful day at Heidelberg Park and two consecutive attempts to play Stadium were rained out.

There also was the decision to postpone Saturday’s nonleague game at Timberline the day before it was scheduled because of rain. Considering the game was slated for noon, there would have been no problems playing when the weather stayed good into the evening.

It is enough to make a baseball enthusiast scream: “Just play ball!”

There always are rationalizations behind these decisions. School districts are facing budget cuts and do not want to bus teams for 50- or 100-mile roundtrips if there is potential for games to be canceled. There also are concerns about player safety and field preservation.

But at what point do baseball coaches and school officials become too conservative in their decision-making?

A reporter once asked Philadelphia Phillies’ minor-league pitcher Matt Way how many games were postponed during his high-school career because of rain. His response? Never.

Not even one? He must have been raised somewhere such as Dallas, Los Angeles or Miami.

Wrong.

Way grew up in Sitka, Alaska, where the average rainfall is 86 inches a year.

Seattle receives less than half of that.

It seems reasonable that if they can play games in Alaska during this time of the year – when snow is often still on the ground – taking the field here should pose little or no challenges. People just need to accept that in the Northwest, early spring baseball games are unlikely to be played in sunny settings.

Some will argue that the decisions are worthwhile now that rain is not in next week’s forecast. But even if that does not change, the frequent schedule adjustments have created another problem. The Wolves are now scheduled to play four consecutive games beginning Tuesday.

Without the ability to start seniors Ricky Johnson and Gordy Anderson for more than two of those games, South will have to send two of its more inexperienced arms to the mound. That likely will place a significant strain on the bullpen and some of the team’s younger pitchers.

Is that what is best for the athletes?

Does it benefit the teams around the league who also have a glut of games scheduled next week to face junior-varsity pitchers? Does that prepare them for the caliber of starters they will see in the playoffs?

It does not help those squads, and South certainly does not benefit from the layoff after finally building some momentum following an 0-5 start.

When coaches make their preseason addresses about accountability and spring-break games, they need to share that message with their colleagues, too.

Just play ball!