Good Monday morning. It’s a weekend wrap and even though we’re in the dead of winter, we have a boatload of diamond cuts from youth select softball and baseball for you this morning as teams competed in local tournaments yesterday taking advantage of the currently relaxed Washington state COVID-19 restrictions. Here’s all the softball first, with scores and highlights powered by our friends at GameChanger, available on Apple IPhones and IPads in their app store.
Washington Shock 16U 10, Elite Diamonds Surowiec 0 (game one, doubleheader): In Everett yesterday, a one-hitter by Bellevue HS’s Rachel Treves in the circle lifted the Snohomish-based Shock to the win over their Redmond-based rivals. Mount Si High School’s Willow Westbrook was 0-2 with two runs scored and a stolen base for the Shock.
Washington Acers Quinney 14U 11, Issaquah Flame XT 2: The Auburn-based Acers rolled to the win over the Issaquah-based opposition. Isabelle Foote, daughter of Mount Si High School head volleyball coach Bonnie Foote, was 0-1 for the Acers.
Washington Ladyhawks Baker 2, Washington Ladyhawks Abraham 16U 1: This friendly battle between Snohomish and Issaquah-based units of the Puyallup-based organization saw Baker’s crew win a pitcher’s duel at Dodd Field in Issaquah anchored by a homer from player Cameron Dunn, from Mountlake Terrace High School. Cedarcrest HS’s Kaylee Hulse was 0-2 for the Abraham squad.
Washington Shock 16U 10, Elite Diamonds Surowiec 0 (game two, doubleheader): A triple from Westbrook and a homer from teammate Annie Oylear powered the Shock to the nightcap win and doubleheader sweep of the Diamonds last night. Westbrook scored twice and also drove in a run pacing the Shock.
Washington Ladyhawks Hirai 18U 1, Washington Ladyhawks Abraham 16U 0: The Bellevue-based Hirai unit beat their Eastside rivals in another pitcher’s duel. Hulse was 0-1 for Abraham while fellow Red Wolve Riley Warden was also 0-1 for the Hirai unit.
Washington Acers Quinney 14U 7, Issaquah Flame XT 2 (game two, doubleheader): Acer pitcher Alanna Wirtala pitched a complete game gem, scattering two runs, one earned on seven hits striking out seven as Quinney’s crew took the back end of the twinbill to grab the sweep of the pair. Foote was 0-2.
Issaquah Flame Black ’04 16U 16, Northwest Lady Bandits 14U 0: Mount Si High School’s duo of Makayla Malan and Emery Kreidel-Reimer powered the Flame to the win at Dodd over their Kirkland-based competition. Malan tripled headlining a 2-4 effort scoring twice and driving in two more runs, while Kriedel-Reimer added a hit, walk, run scored and two RBI’s to the efforts for the Flame.
Washington Ladyhawks Abraham 16U 9, Northwest Speed 2: Homers from Redmond HS’s Natalia Farago and Adna HS’s (southwest Washington) Karlee VonMoos powered the ‘Hawks to the win over their Everett based rivals in Issaquah. Hulse, for Abraham’s ladies, was 0-1 with a walk.
Baseball
Aces Baseball 16U 7, FCA Cardinal 0: Mount Si’s Tristan Aasland and a teammate combined on a no-hitter as the Snohomish-based Aces blanked the Woodinville-based FCA in a GSL Tournaments event in Puyallup. Aasland worked three innings of the no-no on the hill, striking out seven, and he helped his own cause offensively, with a hit and two RBI’s.
Aces Baseball 16U 10, Driveline 0: Aasland played right field in this one for the Aces and was 1-1 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI as teammate Jackson Weeks tossed a no-hitter in this one to lift the Aces to the win.
Basketball
Montana State men win: The Bobcats held off the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID, yesterday 71-61. Freshman Tyler Patterson did not start for the first time this season, but the Snoqualmie product, a 2020 MSHS grad, still saw ample playing time, logging 20 minutes of it off the bench for MSU. He could not take advantage of the opportunity, though, as he was 0-2 from the floor and ended up with just a rebound, steal and assist each.
Soccer
Idaho State ladies fall: We missed this game from this past Friday, but Idaho State University’s ladies dropped a 1-0 decision at home in Pocatello, ID, to Division II Northwest Nazarene. Senior Rachel Brownell, from Fall City and a 2017 MSHS’er, started and worked the full 90 on defense for the Bengals with no stats of note. ISU wraps up their non-conference schedule Friday with a meeting against D-II Westminster in Salt Lake City.
Wrestling
McBride falls short at NCAA regionals: Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Parker McBride, a senior from Duvall and Cedarcrest HS grad, repped the Valley in last night’s NCAA Division II super regional in Grand Junction, CO, but saw his season come to an end as he failed to win his weight class. McBride, competing at 125 lbs., won his opening match before falling in his next two to get eliminated in a tie for fifth. He beat Chadron State’s Tate Stoddard in the opening match, then fell to Adams State’s Isaiah Delacerda and Colorado Mesa’s Cian Apple.
Friday news….
Good Friday morning. A lot on the ledger this morning, but we start with baseball, and a long-awaited debut for a Mount Si High School grad with his new college team.
Junior Justin Lutz started at catcher for Montana State Billings’ baseball team yesterday in his debut with the Yellowjackets as they faced New Mexico Highlands University in MSUB’s season opener at a tournament in Grand Junction, CO. Lutz got a single in the contest, his first hit with the NCAA Division II team, but was unable to deliver in the clutch as Billings fell 7-5 to NMHU.
Lutz finished 1-5 on the day, but had a chance to be the hero in the ninth. Trailing by the two runs 7-5, and with two on and two out, Lutz grounded out to first base, with the play developing in such a way as he and the NMH first baseman collided with one another. Lutz was down for a moment but got up and left under his own power not appearing to have been seriously injured on the play, but it perhaps was a bit of a scare for the Fall City product, as he missed all of last season recuperating from, yes, injuries. Lutz joined MSUB last year after two successful seasons at the community college level with the Community Colleges of Spokane squad in the NWAACC. Lutz graduated from Mount Si in 2017.
The Yellowjackets play today against host Colorado Mesa University. It’s a two fer, with a nine-inning game to start things at 11am our time, followed by a seven-inning nightcap right afterward. Both games are being streamed live on the RMAC Network, which is available on phones, tablets and set-top devices. They’ll wrap up the weekend in Colorado with a game against Highlands tomorrow. The games are being played at a field which will be home to the professional Grand Junction Rockies team this summer; the squad is a first-year independent minor league team after having been part of Minor League Baseball’s Pioneer League. That league, which was a so-called “Rookie” class minor league, was turned into an independent league this winter as a result of changes Major League Baseball implemented with the minor leagues.
Also from baseball this morning:
Gonzaga rallies for series-opening win in the Big “D”: Gonzaga University’s squad overcame a lightning delay and a five-run first inning from host Dallas Baptist University to rally and stun the 21st-ranked DBU squad 10-7 last night in the opener of a weekend set in Dallas. Junior Mason Marenco, from North Bend and a 2017 Mount Si HS grad, played late in the game as a relief second baseman for GU and had no official at-bats. Gonzaga continues the series tonight with DBU. First pitch tonight is 4:30 p.m., and you can catch live coverage if you have a Roku set top device. Search DBU Baseball and look for the app, download it, and it will be free to watch. Additionally, if you are in the Dallas area, the game is on WFAA’s digital channel 8.2 this evening.
Basketball: COVID-19 issues affecting two teams with Valley athletes
Once again, the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting college basketball and affecting teams with Valley athletes. Two teams were impacted by news on this front yesterday.
First, the University of Portland’s men’s basketball team, with North Bend’s Hayden Curtiss, did not play the University of San Diego last night, and both that game and tomorrow’s scheduled regular season finale with Santa Clara University in northern California were canceled after the program learned of a positive COVID test result involving someone on the team. The school did not release information on who it was that tested positive. That said, they did indicate in a statement contact tracing was being conducted.
The two games canceled will not be rescheduled, and there is a chance this situation could result in an early end to the season for the Pilots, as their participation in next week’s West Coast Conference postseason tournament is not definite as of yet as a result of all this. This entire situation puts a damper on what has turned out to be a fairly successful season for the 2020 Mount Si High School grad, even if the stats really don’t tell the story. Curtiss went into last night’s scheduled game third in the WCC in blocks, averaging around 1 1/3 of those a game.
We will update as we get more on this situation for you.
Meanwhile, Pacific Lutheran University’s men had two games added to their schedule yesterday to makeup recent canceled games due to the pandemic. The two games against Whitworth University from earlier this month that were postponed thanks to a virus-related issue with the Pirate program will be made up on March 13 and 14. The March 13 game is a 7:00 p.m. tip while the 14th is an afternoon tip at 1:00, providing Valley fans an opportunity to see North Bend’s Brett Williams in action with the Lutes. Both games will be streamed on the NWC Digital app, available on phones, tablets and set-top devices, and you will also be able to listen to the games live on the radio in Spokane, on KSBN-AM radio.
Score from last night:
St. Mary’s men 58, Pacific 46: The Gaels wrapped up their home regular season schedule in Moraga, CA, last night with a senior night win over the Tigers. Freshman Jabe Mullins, he of Snoqualmie and a 2020 Mount Si HS grad, came off the bench at the end of the game and played the final seconds of it with no stats of note reported for SMC, who is at BYU to finish the regular season tomorrow.
News: Cedarcrest HS conditioning program announced
Cedarcrest High School has announced another round of sports conditioning for athletes will start next week. This program, modeled off a program introduced earlier this month, will be open only to those athletes in winter and spring sports season sports (this means if you are currently playing in a fall season sport – volleyball, girls’ soccer, football and cross country, you will not be permitted to participate).
The sessions are free but you need to pre-register and complete some paperwork, which you should be able to find within your Final Forms apparatus or on the school’s website. The website is linked at right in our news links. You must register by midnight Sunday in order to participate.
More information is available on the school’s website.
Also:
WIAA announces Game of the Week: With high school sports back in Washington – in a lot of cases with few or even no fans allowed at games due to current COVID-19 restrictions – the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and their state tournament sponsor, Gesa Credit Union, have partnered up to bring fans free webstreams of high school sports action from around the state.
The games begin tonight, with a live football game between Capital and North Thurston High Schools down at South Sound Stadium in Lacey, scheduled to kick off at 8:00 p.m. The streams will be available through the NFHS Network. You will need to sign up for an account with the service, and those are free. Additional games will be announced at a later date, and a schedule will be available on the WIAA’s website, which is at right in our news links.
The games are being produced by Centralia-based ELI Sports Network, a friend of this blog. Paul Beattie, who runs the network, and his company have been streaming partners with the WIAA in recent years, and they do a lot of game streaming down in southwest Washington. He in recent months has also begun to feature commentary on his company’s website, which you can find by Googling “ELI Sports”.
Additional games from around Washington are also available on the network, but you will need to pay a $10 monthly subscription fee in order to view those games. It is not known at this time if Kingco or Wesco Conference games will be available on this platform or elsewhere on the web once those leagues restart play. Schools around the state are using several different streaming options, among them YouTube and Facebook Live, to provide action for fans who are unable to be at games in person due to the current restrictions, which are not expected to change in the near term after announcements yesterday from Washington Governor Jay Inslee.