The weekend wrap!!

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Rhett Workman

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.

Posted in Basketball, College Sports, On the Diamond, Soccer, Wrestling/Gymnastics | Leave a comment

Sunday news……

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Rhett Workman

Good Sunday morning. A lot this morning, but we begin on the hardwood with a Valley college freshman and his team breathing a little bit of a sigh of relief this morning after a COVID-19 scare.

The University of Portland’s men’s basketball program announced yesterday they will be competing at next weekend’s West Coast Conference postseason tournament in Las Vegas. The school had put that appearance on hold late Thursday after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of Portland’s final two regular season games. However, the school, in their announcement yesterday, indicated that the test result in question was determined under closer review to be negative. The “false positive” came about according to the school due to what it described was a technical error.

With that in the rear-view mirror, North Bend’s Hayden Curtiss and his teammates now will head to the tournament looking to close out things on a strong note. Curtiss, a 2020 MSHS grad and Pilot freshman, is among the WCC leaders in blocks per game, averaging just under 1 1/2 of those a contest.

Men’s scoreboard:

Pacific Lutheran 98, Puget Sound 82: The Lutes took the NWC lead at 7-1 overall after a big home win in Tacoma over their cross-town rival Loggers. Sophomore Brett Williams, from North Bend and a 2019 MSHS’er, was 4-7 from the floor and finished with 11 points pacing the Lutes.

BYU 65, St. Mary’s men 51: The Cougars closed out the regular season on a strong note at home in Provo, UT, over the Gaels. Freshman Jabe Mullins, he of Snoqualmie and a 2020 MSHS grad, played limited minutes in the game for SMC with no stats of note reported.

Now to baseball.

Baseball: Valley player begins his quest to make “The Show” today
Major League Baseball’s spring training exhibition season starts today for all MLB clubs, and for one Valley athlete, that means his first chance to show why he should be a big-leaguer.

Pitcher Trevor Lane, a 2012 Mount Si High School grad from North Bend, is on the major league spring training roster for the New York Yankees. Lane, who was drafted by the Yankees in 2016 out of college at the University of Illinois-Chicago, would, had COVID-19 not wiped out the 2020 season, have played last year at New York’s Triple-A minor league club in Scranton, PA, just one step below putting on pinstripes as a member of the so-called “Bronx Bombers.” But he is getting the chance to make the big club this spring, having been granted an invitation to camp as a so-called “non-roster invitee”, meaning a player invited to camp who is not part of the Yankees’ 40-man roster.

Lane is among a number of pitchers and other players in camp with such invites; among other non-roster invitees to New York’s camp this spring include a pair of ex-Mariners pitchers, Lucas Luetge and Adam Warren, ex-Seattle outfielder Jay Bruce, journeyman infielder Derek Dietrich, a former Miami Marlins player, catcher Robinson Chirinos, who fans may recognize as a former Texas Rangers player, and veteran starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin, a former member of the Colorado Rockies.

The Yankees open the schedule today meeting the Toronto Blue Jays at their spring training facility down in Tampa. Today’s game is at 10am, and if you have the MLB.TV app, available on phones, tablets and set-top devices, you’ll be able to see the game live. New York’s games today, tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday this week will be televised/streamed, allowing Valley fans opportunities aplenty to see Lane and support him in his quest.

MLB.TV’s broadcast will come from the Yankees and their network, YES, in New York. Michael Kay, their longtime play-by-play man, will be on the call. If you want more information on MLB.TV, and subscription fees, go to Major League Baseball’s website and look for MLB.TV in the top menu bar.

Scores from the college ranks:

Bellevue U. (NE) 14, Olivet Nazarene 3: The Bruins scored early and often to roll past ONU on neutral soil in Versailles, MO. Senior Cody Banks, he of Duvall and a 2016 Cedarcrest HS grad, was 0-4 but drove in a run for BU in the contest.

Gonzaga 19, Dallas Baptist 7: GU scored nine third-inning runs, then cemented the blowout of the Patriots with seven more runs over the final two frames as the Bulldogs grabbed at minimum a series split with the DBU’ers on their field in Dallas with one more game to go this afternoon. Junior Mason Marenco, from North Bend and a 2017 MSHS’er, saw action late in the game for GU with no official at-bats.

Central Methodist 12, Bellevue U. (NE) 5: The Bruins’ weekend tournament hosts from Central Methodist in Missouri showed why they’re among the top-10 ranked teams in NAIA baseball, pulling away late in the contest for the victory. Banks was 0-4 for BU.

Puget Sound 20, Whitworth 3: The Loggers opened the season off with a bang at home in Tacoma, pounding out most of the damage late as they rolled to a win. Catcher Clayton Waltz, a sophomore from Snoqualmie and a Mount Si HS grad, was 1-1 with a run scored and RBI for UPS.

Other action:

Softball
College-Hillsdale (MI) 7, Charleston (WV) 0: Carnation’s Elaine Townley chipped in to pace the Chargers to the shutout of the West Virginia team at a tournament in Glenville, WV, yesterday. The junior, a 2018 Cedarcrest HS grad, doubled to headline a two-hit effort, driving in a run. Hillsdale in their nightcap last night pocketed a 4-3 extra-inning win over West Virginia State, with no stats reported from that contest.

High School-Elite Diamonds ’03 18U 11, Seattle Sundodgers 2 (game one, doubleheader): The Diamonds rolled to a win in the first of two up in Everett with the help of Mackenzie Burke, who homered and drove in four runs. Mount Si HS’s Jaclyn Huntzinger was 0-1 for ED, while former Cedarcrest player Payton Pluschke was 1-2 with an RBI.

High School-Elite Diamonds ’03 18U 18, Seattle Sundodgers 2 (game two, doubleheader): Pluschke, now playing for Redmond High School, powered the Diamonds to the nightcap win and twinbill sweep, courtesy of a three-hit effort (she was a homer short of hitting for the cycle) which drove in four runs. Huntzinger was 0-2, but walked once and scored a run pacing the Redmond-based Diamonds.

Volleyball
Whitworth takes weekend sweep of Whitman: The Pirates handed Whitman College’s ladies another loss last night, this in four sets, 22-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-13, as Whitworth overcame a slow start to dominate things in the contest in Spokane and take a weekend sweep. Junior Emma Anderson, from North Bend and a 2018 MSHS’er, had seven kills, two aces and a dig to pace the Blues.

Northwest swept at home: The Eagles dropped a contest at home to NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific last night, 25-23, 29-27, 25-16. Senior Courteney Carr, from Snoqualmie and a 2017 MSHS’er, had 14 assists, a block and dig for the NAIA’s Eagles, from Kirkland.

Lacrosse
Limestone College men fall: In a battle of top-15 programs in NCAA Division II, Limestone College could not overcome a slow start and was blown out at home in South Carolina last night, 12-3, to visiting Wingate. Sophomore Chris Haycock, from Snoqualmie and a 2018 MSHS grad, saw action in the game for the host Saints, recording no significant stats of note.

Soccer
Whitworth women 3, Whitman 0: In Spokane, the Pirates handled the Blues in a rivalry battle. Freshman Izzy Smith, from North Bend and a 2020 MSHS’er, came off the bench and logged 30 minutes of action for Whitworth, with a shot on goal but no goals scored. The two teams play again today.

College of Idaho 2, Northwest women 0: The Coyotes handled the Eagles in the contest late last Friday night in Caldwell, ID. The Valley duo of Sarah Hommas and Maggie Gunning both started for Northwest, with Hommas, a Cedarcrest HS grad, logging 69 minutes and Gunning, a MSHS alum, working the full 90. Neither had stats of note reported.

Seattle U. women 1, Cal Baptist 0: The Redhawks handled matters at home in Seattle over their conference rivals from California. Freshman Sarah Creighton, she of Snoqualmie and a 2020 MSHS’er, came off the bench and logged the final 26 minutes of the game for SU with no stats of note reported.

Football
Puget Sound 20, Pacific Lutheran 3: The Loggers finished off a season sweep of the Lutes, beating PLU last night at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. Senior Alex Rendon, from Snoqualmie and a 2017 MSHS’er, caught one pass for three yards for PLU, who dropped to 0-3 with the loss.

Posted in College Sports, Football, Lacrosse, On the Diamond, Soccer, Volleyball | Leave a comment

Duvall’s Davenport shuts down ASU bats, while North Bend’s Williams delivers on hardwood for PLU men, along with other action involving local collegians…..

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Rhett Workman

Good Saturday morning. A little snow on the ground as you may see in the upper Valley as we start the weekend, but we are busy this morning, starting our look at local sports with a trip to the baseball diamond.

Any question about the expectations for one Valley athlete on the college diamond were answered in a big way last night.

Duvall’s Aaron Davenport overcame a slow start and pitched a strong game last night, leading the University of Hawaii to a season-opening surprise victory over a top squad from the Pac-12.

Davenport went seven solid innings, allowing two runs on just seven hits, walking one and striking out seven, as Hawaii topped Arizona State University 3-2 down in Tempe, AZ. The victory came in Davenport’s first outing as a collegian in nearly a year, with the 2020 season of course having been shut down due to COVID-19. The sophomore, a 2018 Cedarcrest HS grad, had not seen much in the way of game opportunity during the pandemic, ending up pitching this past summer for a hastily-organized team down in Oregon after the Cape Cod League, his normal college summer league, shut down for the season due to the pandemic. But the rust proved to not be a factor in the end, and Davenport was able to shut down the very tough ASU offense. He, however, received no decision, as Hawaii scored the go-ahead run in the ninth.

The Valleyite will likely get the call next for the Warriors’ home opener, next Thursday against local foe Hawaii Pacific, from NCAA Division II. The game will be televised statewide in Hawaii, and it begins at 6:30 local time (9:30 in the Valley) next Thursday night.

Also from baseball:

Bellevue (NE) 8, William Woods (MO) 7: There was a little flavor of home on display for Duvall’s Cody Banks yesterday and the rest of his Bruins. Banks, we’re sure, is probably very familiar with the story of the 1995 Seattle Mariners and their “Refuse to Lose” run to the American League West pennant and trip to the postseason that year. Well, these Bruins had a little bit of that in them as they rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the last inning after the opposing Woods team scored three runs in their half of that frame with six runs of their own. It was sparked to some degree by the Cedarcrest HS grad, who doubled to drive a run in, but later in the frame, with two men on, teammate Josh Vaughan walked it off with a three-run homer to send BU to 7-2 on the season with the victory on neutral soil in Missouri.

Banks, a senior, finished 2-4 with a run scored and RBI. Vaughan, incidentally, is also from the Northwest; he is from Boise.

Colorado Mesa 15, Montana State Billings 11 (game one, doubleheader): Mesa, among the top teams in NCAA Division II, rolled out to an 11-2 lead after four innings but had to hold on in the end as MSUB mounted a comeback attempt late but fell short in the first of two down in Grand Junction, CO, yesterday. Fall City’s Justin Lutz doubled and drove in three runs for MSUB in the contest.

Dallas Baptist 13, Gonzaga 2: The Patriots of the Missouri Valley Conference kept the pressure on and rolled to an easy win over the visiting Bulldogs last night in Dallas. North Bend’s Mason Marenco was 0-1 in a pinch-hitting appearance for the Zags; he is a junior and 2017 MSHS grad. The two teams continue play today.

Bellevue (NE) 14, Olivet Nazarene 5: In the nightcap of their first day of play at their weekend tournament in Versailles, MO, the Bruins bats picked up where they left off from the earlier game and smoked the ONU squad. And Banks did his part too, with a homer headlining a 2-5 effort; he scored two runs and drove in three more. Bellevue plays again in the event today.

Colorado Mesa 17, Montana State Billings 5 (game two, doubleheader): Lutz, a junior and 2017 MSHS grad, started behind the plate at catcher for MSUB and went 1-3, but it was all Mavericks in this one as Mesa rolled to the win and doubleheader sweep. MSUB finishes up play in their season opening tournament hosted by CMU today.

Softball: Hillsdale splits two
Michigan’s Hillsdale College split a pair of games at the Glenville State College tournament in West Virginia yesterday, blanking the host school’s team 7-0 in the opener before falling in their nightcap to Shepherd University 8-6. Stats for that game are not available, but stats were posted for the Glenville game, with junior Elaine Townley, she of Carnation and a 2017 Cedarcrest HS grad, going 1-3 to pace the Chargers in that contest.

Basketball: North Bend’s Williams does very well to pace PLU men
A solid performance by a Mount Si High School grad helped lift his college basketball team to a big rivalry win last night.

Sophomore Brett Williams, from North Bend, was perfect from both the floor (4-4) and free throw line (3-3), finishing with 11 points to pace Pacific Lutheran University’s men to a 71-63 home win inside Olson Auditorium down in Parkland on the PLU campus over their arch-rivals from the University of Puget Sound in another round of the Tacoma city rivalry series between the two schools.

Williams, a 2019 MSHS’er, also had three rebounds and a block to aid the Lutes, who moved to 6-1 on the season. The two teams meet again tonight at 8:00 and it will be streamed live on NWC Digital app, available on phones, tablets and set-top devices.

Montana State outside shooters, including Patterson, struggle in Bobcat loss: Montana State University’s men returned last night from a COVID-19 shutdown, and it seems as if their outside shooters, including one with ties to the Valley, were a tad bit rusty and it showed.

The Bobcats went 0-12 from three-point range, and that was a huge factor as MSU fell on the road to the University of Idaho 74-69 inside Moscow, ID’s, Memorial Gymnasium, located on the UoI campus. Freshman Tyler Patterson, from Snoqualmie and a 2020 MSHS’er, was himself 0-4 from the floor including 0-3 from beyond the three-point line in just 14 minutes of action. MSU dropped to 9-8 on the season while Idaho recorded its first win of the season with the surprising win.

The two teams meet again tomorrow at 1:00, and you can see the game on PlutoTV, streaming on phones, tablets and set-top devices.

Volleyball: Whitworth stuns Whitman in thriller
Down two sets to none, the Whitworth University ladies stormed back and stunned visiting Whitman College in five sets last night, 20-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-14, 15-10, taking the eastern Washington rivalry clash at home in Spokane. North Bend’s Emma Anderson, a junior and 2018 MSHS’er, had eight kills, seven digs and two aces for the Blues in the contest. The two teams play again tonight.

Posted in Basketball, College Sports, On the Diamond, Volleyball | Leave a comment

Friday news….

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Rhett Workman

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.

Posted in Basketball, College Sports, News and Comment, On the Diamond | Leave a comment

Valley soccer talent on display in college women’s soccer match, along with a diamond cut and more on “Sully’s” college decision…..

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Rhett Workman

Snoqualmie Valley soccer supporters were treated to a special event last night – seeing three of their own play one another close to home in a college women’s soccer contest.

Mount Si High School graduates Maggie Gunning and Sarah Creighton, along with Cedarcrest High School alum Sarah Hommas, all saw plenty of playing time for their respective teams in Seattle University’s 2-0 win at home over visiting Northwest University, from Kirkland.

Creighton, playing for the NCAA D-I’s Redhawks, got her first college assist, assisting on one of the two SU goals in the contest in 70 minutes of work, while Gunning started and worked the full 90 for Northwest on defense, with no stats of note recorded. Hommas also played significant minutes, with the forward logging 76 minutes for the Eagles also recording no stats of note. Gunning and Creighton are both from Snoqualmie while Hommas is from Duvall.

Seattle U. is scheduled to play this weekend while we do not list Northwest as having another game on their schedule until March 7, although all of that is subject to change.

Also from the pitch this morning:

More on Mount Si senior Smith’s decision to commit to Northwest Nazarene U. men’s soccer: Mount Si High School senior Sullivan Smith, as we told you earlier this week, committed and signed to play with NCAA Division II Northwest Nazarene University’s men’s soccer program. We told you we would try to catch up with Smith, and we did for you. He is very excited about the future.

“I am very excited about my decision to attend NNU next fall and can’t wait to get going with them,” Smith told us. “On my visit I felt very comfortable with the coaches and the team and knew I could see myself there as both an athlete and a student. They play at a very high level in the GNAC and I feel that I am going to fit into the system very well and make an impact as soon as possible.” He added the quality of the campus and facilities, smaller class sizes and closeness to home also were factors in his decision.

As to the pandemic and resulting shutdowns of college recruiting affected his individual search, Smith indicated that was the case with him. “My recruiting process was changed a lot due to (COVID-19) as well as most of the athletes. Without film from last year’s high school season and a summer of tournaments it was more difficult. Throughout the summer and fall I had been in conversations with schools from all divisions but the dead period for Division I made it quite difficult since those coaches wanted to see me play more. Despite the couple D-III offers I got and potentially having some D-I opportunities in the spring, I decided that D-II, NNU specifically, was the best fit for me,” Smith told us.

Now that his college future is set, Smith has a lot of unfinished business to take care of. “My first goal for the remainder of my senior year is to win as many ECNL games as possible with my Eastside FC (club) team and score some goals in the process. I am very excited for our high school season and I am confident that we are going to be a very strong team this year. Our goal is to win every game we play, no matter how many we get,” he told us. “My goal for last season, before it got cancelled, was to break the scoring/points record for Mount Si, but due to the lack of games that might not be possible this year. No matter what I am going to do my best to score all that I can and have some fun as a captain playing with my teammates and helping us win.”

NNU is located in Nampa, ID, which is west of the Idaho state capital, Boise, off I-84. The city is fairly large and is fast-growing, with many folks moving to that area from states such as Washington due to, among other things, more relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.

Baseball
Mount Si HS players back to work for select baseball team: Several Mount Si High School baseball players hit the field with their select team last night as their 2021 season opened quite early thanks to them not having much of a 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bellevue’s Boys of Summer 16U’s are the select team, and they braved the cold, wet conditions for a 4-3 win under the lights at Eastlake High School over Redmond-based FM Sports. Leading the Wildcat contingent was Owen Theis, who had a hit and run scored, and Tristan Aasland, who pitched an inning, walked two and struck out two without allowing a run or hit. Boys will continue play through the weekend.

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