The South Atlantic League playoffs begin Tuesday and the Piedmont Boll Weevils are tired.

Tired of rain, that is.

Last week, the 90-47 Boll Weevils clinched the second half of the pennant race without ever playing in Fayetteville. Three straight rainouts at Cape Fear combined with losses by Delmarva and Hickory, giving them an insurmountable cushion in the Northern Division.

But the team isn’t just siting back and enjoying the time off. Sunday afternoon, Nate Espy and Marlon Byrd, two of the league’s best players, sat in the dugout, swinging their bats at imaginary balls, peering out at another rainstorm.

And yes, Sunday’s game with Delmarva was rained out. Piedmont will try and finish the regular season with a doubleheader today, beginning at 12:05 p.m.

The players hope to get it in.

“We sure do,” said Espy. “It has been a tough week. We went to the mall and there was a lot of card playing. We want to play. We need to get our rhythm going into the playoffs.”

“It’s the same story, different day,” smiled manager Greg Legg when told of Espy’s comments. “These guys love to play baseball. And we’ve had (four) rainouts and a day off in the last week and it’s getting more mental than physical. This is supposed to be the fun time of the year —playing for a championship. ”

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That quest begins tomorrow and amazingly, Legg still doesn’t know who his team will face in the first-round, best 2-of-3 series.

Since the Weevils won both halves, they play the team with the second best overall record in the Northern Division. Hickory was 74-64 and Delmarva 74-62 going into Sunday.

But in the wacky world of SALscheduling, Piedmont goes on the road for Game 1 and comes home for games 2-3. Does that make sense to you?

It doesn’t to Legg. If Hickory gets the nod, it’s less than an hour to J.P. Franz Stadium for Game 1. But if Delmarva wins the spot? Listen to this schedule:

Piedmont would have to play the doubleheader Monday, drive eight hours to Salisbury, Md. for Tuesday night’s game and then board the bus and drive eight hours back home for Wednesday night’s game.

Some reward for a team that dominated the league from start to finish, huh?

“I think if a team wins both halves, there should be some type of reward,” Legg said. “Maybe get a bye or maybe have all three games at your place.”

“Instead, it’s nothing to us for winning both halves except for bragging rights.”

Piedmont can brag that is will start the playoffs with the three leading winners in the league. Ryan Madson (14-5, 2.59) will start Game 1, wherever it is. Brett Myers (13-7, 3.18) will start Game 2 and lefty Frankie Brooks (14-8, 3.44) is set to go for Game 3 — or Game 1 of the next series.

“We have all the confidence in the world in those guys,” said leadoff man Jay Sitzman, who is third in the league in average at .316. “We hope we’re hitting on all cylinders.”

“You can’t go wrong with any of those guys,” agreed Espy. “The way they’ve pitched this year is just tremendous.”

“Those three guys have earned their shot to pitch in the playoffs,” Legg said. “They deserve it.”

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The Weevils will be overwhelming favorites to win the league. You want league-leaders in pitching and hitting? There is someone in every category.

Espy (.312), Byrd (.309) and Jorge Padilla (.305) join Sitzman in the SAL’s Top 10 averages. Espy is tied for the lead in homers with 21 and is first in on-base percentage (.439). Byrd leads in triples (13) and extra-base hits (59) . He is also among the leaders in hits (159), RBIs (93), slugging percentage (.515, just behind second-place Espy’s .531), and runs scored (104). Sitzman has 53 stolen bases, which is third.

Brooks leads the league in innings pitched (17723), with Myers second at 17513.

The non-starters are all capable. Backup catcher Kevin Sullivan is hitting .324 — which, if he had enough at-bats, would put him second in the league. Reliever Matt Bailie is 7-0 with a team-low 1.39 ERA. Justin Fry (13) and Mark Outlaw have combined for 24 saves.

The team leads the league in ERA at 2.91 and is second in hitting at .270. And none of this surprises Sitzman. He says the Phillies brass has let the team know how pleased it is.

“We made the playoffs last year (in Batavia) and thought if we played like we’re capable, we could make the postseason here,” Sitzman said. “I think that’s the reason they kept a lot of the guys together here. We’ve got good chemistry.”

Now, it’s time for the rain to stop so they can prove it.

“It would be nice to finish what we’ve started,” Legg said.

Yes it would, regardless of where they have to play Game 1.

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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.