A Grip on Sports: As April’s last weekend exits stage left, we May have some flowers to pass along soon

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Did you know it’s one week until Bloomsday? That’s what happens when April’s showers get set to leave the stage for May’s flowers. That, and other thoughts, dominate our Sunday.

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• Not a lot of thoughts, actually. We have to be out of the hotel early this morning. Lots to do on this last Sunday of April. Let’s get right to it …

• The Mariner pitching has been dominant lately. It’s not an aberration. Not after it has lasted two weeks. The starters have been solid to great, the bullpen, even with key piece Matt Brash seemingly out for the season, adequate to solid. It’s enough to get one dreaming – of the addition of one more productive bat.

Anyhow, George Kirby pitched angry – in his case, that’s good – last night and the M’s won again, this one 3-1 over Arizona at T-Mobile.

• The Seahawks spent the weekend playing Little Dutch Boy, using every draft finger available to plug holes in a leaky roster. The question that remains, however, is simple. Is there enough there to win this season? And, to add another level of complexity, is there a foundation being laid for future, even greater success?

You know those oft-mentioned May flowers? In the Hawks’ case, they start popping up during the month’s workouts. And we might begin to have more definitive answers.

• Washington State joined Eastern and Idaho in finishing up spring football practice over the weekend. The Cougars held their Crimson and Gray Game at Gesa Field, with some stars in attendance and an immediate dose of, as John Madden used to say, trickeration. It worked. So did the way Jake Dickert set up the entire scrimmage, as the result came down to a last-second field goal.

Nothing will be the same in the fall, sure, as WSU and Oregon State play a Mountain West-based schedule and their old Pac-12 conference-mates disperse around the country. But for one Saturday in the spring, no one seemed to care all that much.

Thankfully.

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WSU: Greg Woods has you covered from Pullman, with his scrimmage story. As does Tyler Tjomsland, who has this in-depth photo gallery. … Greg had to keep one eye on the NFL draft and the free-agent signings after. He has a few stories covering those developments, including Jaden Hicks’ fourth-round selection by Kansas City and Brennan Jackson and Chau Smith-Wade being selected within a few minutes of each other in the fifth round. … He also has a look at the undrafted players who are the verge of signing or have signed NFL contracts. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation, it was a great draft for Washington, who tied a school record for number of selections in a seven-round draft. Included in the Husky total was Gonzaga Prep graduate Devin Culp. … UW also scrimmaged yesterday. … The Pac-12 had more players taken than any conference except the SEC. But that’s the conference’s last hurrah in that regard. … One change, of course, is Stanford will be playing in the ACC. … Oregon held its spring game yesterday and, despite some injuries that don’t look all that serious, the Ducks declared the day a success. And everyone is looking forward to the fall. … The second spring game under Deion Sanders didn’t have as much hype or as big a crowd as the first, but Sanders and Colorado hope it will have a better payoff. He’s looking to end next season in a bowl game. … UCLA held its spring game in the Rose Bowl and decided to have a fun time. That’s a good thing. … Saturday was also the last scrimmage for Arizona, with the offense doing what it expects to do in the fall. … Former Oregon State running back Damien Martinez will play for Miami this season. … In basketball news, now we know why USC gave women’s coach Lindsay Gottlieb a contract extension. Her team is going to be a national championship contender after adding the West Coast’s best player from Stanford. … California’s men picked up a Stanford transfer as well. … Washington added an Oregon State player.

EWU: The Eagles finished up Friday night, which means Dan Thompson had time to sit down and put together this summary of the spring for today’s S-R. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State has some men’s basketball roster churn to report today. … Northern Colorado held its spring game with the defense dominating. … A Weber State player will have an NFL chance.

Idaho: The Vandals also scrimmaged Friday. Peter Harriman looks back on that and ahead to the fall.

Preps: We have a few things to cover this morning, not the least of which is Dave Nichols’ roundup of Saturday’s action. … But there is also something more important. Deer Park High’s baseball program is holding a fundraiser for Hilinski’s Hope, the mental-health foundation founded to honor the memory of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski. Dave has that story as well.

Indians: The weather this week in Vancouver just never gave baseball a chance. More rain Saturday and no games. … Elsewhere in the Northwest League, Eugene routed visiting Hillsboro 9-1 and Everett edged host Tri-City 2-1.

Velocity: A late, controversial penalty allowed Central Valley to tie Spokane in extra time and, ultimately, led to the Fuego winning on penalty kicks. Ethan Myers was at ONE Spokane Stadium and has this coverage.

Seahawks: Dave Boling has a column this morning on the most important prospect the Hawks picked up in the offseason: new coach Mike McDonald. … As an aside, old coach Pete Carroll was in Auburn yesterday watching a spring basketball tournament. Must have been nice to have draft weekend off. … The Hawks seem to have a new plan, one they stuck to throughout the three-day draft. And beyond. … There has to be grades on the Hawks’ draft, right? … Sam Howell, a trade pickup, will fill the role of young quarterback on the roster.

Mariners: Kirby was not just good, he was nearly unhittable. He also struck out a career-high 12 in a seven-inning, scoreless outing.

Kraken: Matty Beniers needs a new contract for next season. And a better definition of his role with Seattle.

Reign: A 1-0 loss at North Carolina kept Seattle’s losing streak intact.

Sounders: Seattle started quickly but the match in Washington D.C. quickly unraveled and ended up in a 2-1 defeat.

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• Thanks for tuning in this morning. We will be headed back to Spokane this afternoon. Our plan? Listen to the Mariner game on the radio as we cross the state. Seems like a good plan to us. A throwback to bygone days. Until later …