Our late-arriving spring initiated plenty of grumbling in the world of high school baseball. Opening day pressed too close to income tax day for coaches and players alike.

However, Century's Tate Leapaldt saw all the postponements as a godsend. He was in no condition to practice or play baseball on AprilFool's Day.

"I had trouble with my lower back. It came out of nowhere," said Leapaldt, a jack-of-all-trades. "(The Human Performance Center) gave me some exercises and rehabilitation stuff and it's straightened out now. … The lower back muscles were really, really tight.

"Ithink Imissed two and a half weeks of practice. … I finally got cleared right before our first game (April 16). The bad weather was very much a blessing."

West Region pitchers would probably vote to keep Leapaldt, a 5-foot-10, 145-pound junior, incapacitated. He's gathered steam as the season has progressed and takes a .412 average into the state Class A baseball tournament at Jamestown.

Century meets Fargo South in today's opener. The Patriots, 17-12, are the fourth seed from the West Region. South, 22-5, won the East Region championship last weekend.

Leapaldt, who normally bats third in the Century lineup, has 25 runs scored and 19 RBIs to go with his team-leading average. Nine doubles and three triples are featured among his 35 hits, the leading hit total among tournament hitters.

"The second half of the season I made a run," Leapaldt said. "Iwas at about .350 halfway through the season and the second half I hit pretty well."

Not that there's anything wrong with .350.

"I'm definitely happy with the year I've had.I think last year I finished the regular season at .270 or something."

Leapaldt, a right-handed thrower who swings left, credits his batting surge to increased strength.

"It was off-season lifting, big-time,"he said. "Balls that didn't get through the infield last year are scooting through this year," he said.

Leapaldt, who is third on the team in innings pitched, said he closed with a rush on the mound, too. After losing his first two decisions, he stands 2-2 with a 1.36 ERA. He's surrendered 21 hits, walked 15 and struck out 12 in 252/3 innings. In nine games he has two saves and two complete games in five starts.

Early in the season control was a concern. Mike Gustavsson, who shares CHScoaching duties with Kent Schweigert, said Leapaldt's slow start on the mound may have been related to the early-season health issues.

"He swung (the bat) pretty well, but that's different from the pitching motion," Gustavsson said. "… The last couple of weeks he's done pretty well for us on the hill."

If Leapaldt doesn't have command of his pitches he said things can get ugly.

"Gus mentioned I wasn't bending over and I was leaving some balls up," Leapaldt said in retrospect. "My control came back the second half of the season, which helped a lot. … Idon't throw hard like Hunter (Johnson), who can throw it past guys. I have to hit spots and control my off-speed pitches, too."

With the addition of the split-fingered fastball, Leapaldt said his repertoire is much better than it was last season. "I think most of my strikeouts come on the splitter," he observed. "As long as I keep it down, it's a good pitch. If it gets up it can get hit."

Century qualified for the state tournament for the second straight season by going 2-1 at the West Region tournament in Mandan. The Patriots downed Bismarck 6-1 in the first round, were blanked 7-0 by Minot lefty RyanBollinger in the semifinals and defeated Jamestown 10-0 in the state qualifier.

Leapaldt blanked Jamestown on three hits, walking two and striking out three while going the five-inning distance.

Reaching the state tournament this spring was a real achievement, Leapaldt said. Last season Century placed fourth in the state with some outstanding seniors. This year the changing of the guard didn't derail the Patriots.

"It's been a very successful year … and we're not done yet," Leapaldt said. "… State was our primary goal coming into the year because we've got so many sophomores. But we definitely feel we've got a chance of doing something at state with Hunter pitching against Fargo South."

Johnson played basketball through his sophomore year, but knew that would be his final season.

"Baseball has always been my favorite sport and I've always been better at baseball," he said. "I've been playing as long as I can remember. …We've got home videos of me hitting whiffle balls in the back yard when I could barely hold a bat."

The pitcher was Leapaldt's father,Eldy.

"My dad played baseball when he was younger and he always loved it, so he put me in it," Leapaldt said.

A .412 average says dad made a wise choice.