The first day of spring finally will arrive tomorrow.

When I think of the spring months, the first connotation that delves into my mind are the sights and sounds of the baseball diamond. The familiar banter of coaches doling out directives, the crack of the bat and the ball slapping into the grasp of a catcher’s mitt are all synonymous with not only baseball but spring as well.

High school baseball teams kicked off their first practices of the 2015 season on March 2. The majority of squads played their first games this past week. Even though spring didn’t officially arrive until today, the weather these past three weeks has been spectacular which is conducive to not only baseball games, but practices. Oftentimes teams are forced to practice indoors due to inclement weather conditions.

That hasn’t been much of a hurdle early in the season much to the delight of local players, coaches and fans. I’m excited to see how the Newport Knights, Bellevue Wolverines, Sammamish Totems, Interlake Saints and Bellevue Christian Vikings perform on the diamond this spring. Last season the Knights, who finished the season with an overall record of 10-10-1, lost to the Issaquah Eagles in the Class 4A KingCo playoffs.

Bellevue finished with an overall record of 12-9-1, Interlake went 10-11, Sammamish finished with a mark of 9-11 and Bellevue Christian ended the 2014 season with a record of 7-12. The 2015 season may have just begun, but there is no shortage of excitement with regard to high school baseball in the Bellevue region with the multitude of talented teams in the area.

Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com