Saturday, March 7.

I sat at a scorer’s table at Kiski Area High School.

The Freeport girls basketball team came out hot that afternoon. The Yellowjackets built a big early lead against their nemesis, North Catholic and led by eight in the third quarter.

The the Trojanettes started doing Trojanette things again, went on a 30-4 run and won the game.

The North Catholic boys were next. Trojans’ guard Isaac DeGregorio couldn’t miss, launching 3-pointers seemingly from the other side of the river in Kiskimere and draining them.

North Catholic rolled that day over Westmont Hilltop.

I didn’t know it then, but those would be the last live sporting events I would cover.

Fast forward to May 28. The coronavirus has swept the country and sporting events have been canceled, postponed and suspended.

I have no idea when I will cover another live sporting event. It may not be until fall. It may not be until next March.

There’s no way of knowing.

But there are some signs that sports will be returning sooner rather than later.

The NHL and NBA have plans to crown a champion. The NHL plan calls for a 24-team Stanley Cup playoff tournament in two “hub” cities.

Pittsburgh may be one of those cities.

There could be Stanley Cup playoff games played at the Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township.

How cool would that be?

The Pittsburgh Penguins wouldn’t be there, though, according to the plan. The Pens would be in the other hub city.

Fans won’t be in the stands, either.

It’s going to be so surreal to watch a sporting event with no one in the area. Something profound will be lost.

The NBA has a similar playoff format in mind, only the association will play its entire postseason at one site.

I hope both sports return. Sooner rather than later.

Major League Baseball is another story. The owners just proposed a laughable salary structure to their players late Tuesday, one so absurd it elicited laughter from the union.

The proposal in a nutshell: the bigger the player’s contract, the less percentage of pay he gets.

Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout would receive just 23 percent of his salary. Granted, that is still 7.6 million this year, but the owners and union negotiated and agreed to a scale that would have paid Trout a pro-rated 16.8 million for 82 games in 2020.

Did the owners really think this was a proposal that the players would go for? Really?

MLB squabbling aside, things are starting to slowly move toward normalcy.

Summer leagues in Youngstown, Ohio, are scheduled to begin play next week and several Butler County residents participate in those leagues.

As more counties go green, more teams will be permitted to get together and practice again.

And, who knows, maybe I’ll be at a game again soon.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.