After many schools were unable to practice for a week and a half due to the swine flu scare, the baseball schedule resumes at full steam today when the playoffs begin for four area teams.

Ryan and Guyer will both open Class 4A Region I bi-district series at 7 p.m. at home, and Argyle will play a 3A Region II bi-district series against Paris North Lamar at McKinney Boyd at 7:30 p.m. Pilot Point rounds out area action when it opens 2A Region II bi-district play at 7:30 p.m. at Lake Dallas against Paradise.

Ponder, which won the District 10-2A title, earned a bye and will begin play next week in the area round.

Ryan opens against Fort Worth Brewer, and Guyer draws Saginaw Boswell after a coin flip gave Ryan the top seed in District 5-4A. Ryan and Guyer were crowned district co-champions.

“I really felt like we were playing great before the long layoff,” Ryan head coach Bret Warnack said. “Obviously we had a rough loss the other night [Friday’s 4-2 loss to Guyer]. I think our kids are confident. I feel good about where we are. I feel good about our pitching. I think we have a good shot.”

Guyer head coach Johnny Kinzy said in his 18 years of coaching, he’s never experienced anything like what some teams, including those in Denton ISD, had to go through with school and practice cancellations.

“It was good to get back in the routine,” Kinzy said. “There were more changes in one week than I’ve ever been a part of when it deals with an entire school district and the UIL. I feel fortunate we got to play last Friday [against Ryan] and that we get to start the playoffs [tonight].”

Kinzy said Friday’s win over Ryan, which earned the co-championship for the Wildcats, who are making their first-ever playoff appearance, isn’t significant in the grand scheme of things since the regular season is over. But he did think it would give his team some momentum to build on heading into the postseason.

“It’s how well you play on each given day,” he said. “We’ve just got to be prepared on that day and compete to win. The win will give us some momentum. The kids are getting to reap the rewards of all the hard work they’ve done in the past, and it’s been a long time coming for a lot of these guys. We’re ready to go.”

Warnack said Brewer, the team the Raiders (20-6) will face, is one that will not make many key mistakes and will take advantage of those its opponents make.

“Offensively, they do the little things well,” Warnack said. “They have a couple of guys in their lineup that are really good hitters. They have a lot of guys that do little things well, put the ball in play and fight well. If you give them opportunities, they have a chance to score some runs on you.”

Kinzy said Boswell, the third-place team from District 6-4A, won’t blow teams away at any position, but do the small things right and will be a tough opponent for the Wildcats (23-4).

“They’re a solid bunch,” Kinzy said. “They don’t look like just an outstanding athletic team, but they’re very scrappy and put the ball in play. They have pitchers that throw strikes and they make the routine plays. It’ll be a good challenge for us.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com .