The weather gods are pretty sly.

Four to six weeks ago, when the spring high school athletic season began, the landscape was clear of snow and the wind had lost its chilly bite. Teams were outside on the first day practice was allowed, running around in shorts under a warm sun.

Everyone was talking about the unfrozen ground and the beautiful weather.

But just when southern Maine was lulled into believing that the chaos typically caused by spring weather fluctuations had been dodged, a low-pressure system stalled over New England, dumping precipitation on the region for a week or more.

“What goes around comes around,” said Gary Stevens, the athletic director at Bonny Eagle.

The rain has been wreaking havoc on the schedules of spring sports teams. Baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and tennis squads are in the midst of their seasons, and each has had games rescheduled and then postponed again.

“We’ve had stretches of rain for four or five days in the past and we’ve been able to get things in,” said Windham AD Steve Merrill. “But this is extending into a second week and it’s going to make things very difficult.”

Of course, no one wants to endanger the athletes by playing on wet surfaces, but another consideration is the state of the fields themselves. A game on a water-logged grass field can destroy the playing surface, requiring repairs and reseeding.

What makes spring an especially difficult season for athletic directors is the array of other events that must be navigated when rescheduling games.

“There are proms and NHS inductions, and you’ve got a shortage of buses and officials,” said Lake Region AD Todd Sampson. “It’s a tough time of year.”

Moving a game requires finding an open date that works for both schools, arranging for officials and securing transportation. One sport, tennis, can be moved to indoor courts – and Stevens has made arrangements for the Scots to use USM in the coming days – but those facilities are limited in number.

“It’s going to get messy,” said Gorham AD Gerry Durgin. “We’re getting shoved into a small window.”

For now, teams will try to squeeze in games the best they can. Things aren’t quite at the point where seasons need to be truncated, but if the inclement weather continues that option may need to be considered. Playoffs for most spring sports are scheduled to begin during the first week of June.

Durgin sums up what several of the athletic directors said: “We’re trying to be as positive as we can.”