Having covered high school baseball for several years, I’ve learned one hard and fast rule while interviewing a coach after a championship — don’t stand too close, because that cooler of ice water is probably going to get dumped on him soon.

I usually stand at an angle where I can see it coming and then I can bale at the last second, leaving just the coach as the recipient of that cold blast. But I let my guard down a little last night and paid the price.

While interviewing Prep coach Pat Mooney after his team’s division-clinching win at the American Legion state tourney, two players charged at us from behind and got us both pretty good. I caught the uniform numbers of the two perpetrators and have filed them away under “get even with these two someday” — maybe I can return the favor in the middle of a class when they least expect it.

Like all athletes and longtime sportswriters, I think I’ve lost a step. That never would have happened to me in the old days.

But on the bright side, it felt kind of good on another steamy baseball night. And at least it wasn’t Gatorade.

That would have been messy.