Good Thursday morning. Some news this morning and we begin with very shocking news from Mount Si High School’s boys’ basketball program.
Many people who are associated with Mount Si are big fans of top senior returner Bennett O’Connor. Everyone knows how good of a player he is, but after the news that came out about him last night, many will add this term to describe “B”: a warrior, and in a literal sense, too.
O’Connor’s dad Chris took to Twitter last night to report Bennett suffered a pair of knee injuries, injuries which were revealed in a recent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. According to Chris, his son had been apparently battling these injuries for several months (including during Mount Si’s summer trip to Arizona in June for the Section 7 tournaments), and he attempted to address it through physical therapy but did not get any relief out of it. The injuries included a torn ligament and sprain, and are likely to keep him out of action until at least the start of the upcoming Mount Si basketball season. As for Bennett, he’s taking this detour in stride. “All good! I’ll be more ready than ever,” he himself wrote on Twitter.
Chris had this advice for parents. “Moral of the story get an MRI if your kid has any kind of chronic pain. Tough kid!,” Chris wrote. And we’d certainly echo that. Tough kid, that “B”.
Bennett and fellow senior Quin Patterson are expected to anchor the Wildcats this coming season as they seek to defend the Washington 4A high school state hoops title they won prior to the onset of the COVID-19 virus pandemic in March of last year. No champion was crowned during this recent season due to it being shortened as a result of the pandemic.
Other news on a Thursday…..
Baseball: Valleyite Davenport finally receives his first professional assignment
Pitcher Aaron Davenport’s long wait to find out where he will start his journey to the big leagues has come to an end.
A pair of media outlets covering the Cleveland Indians’ minor league system, Indians Prospective and Cleveland Futures, both reported that Davenport, the Duvall product who was drafted by Cleveland in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball draft in July and signed with the team shortly thereafter, has been assigned to the Indians’ Rookie league team operating out of the Cleveland spring training facility in Goodyear, AZ, outside of Phoenix.
The minor-league team’s season is in its final month. They play a game today and will have games through mid-September down there, meaning Davenport, drafted from the University of Hawaii’s baseball program, which he pitched for the past three seasons following his graduation from Cedarcrest High School in 2018, is likely to see at least one or two appearances, maybe more. His future path following the end of the season is uncertain; it is possible he may be assigned to play in the Arizona Fall League, although decisions on that will be announced later.
Davenport in being drafted became the first-ever player with ties to Cedarcrest High School or its predecessor, Tolt High School, to be picked in this draft, and also became the highest-ever Valley athlete selection in the draft, eclipsing the eighth-round selection of Mount Si High School grad Reece Karalus, from North Bend, by the Indians’ American League rival Tampa Bay Rays in 2015, part of a group of Wildcats who have been drafted in recent seasons. Only one from that group remains active – pitcher Trevor Lane, who was drafted in 2016 and is still with the New York Yankees organization, who made that pick for him back then. Lane is currently on the injured list after suffering an elbow injury, but is expected to be ready in time for the 2022 season.
Soccer: Red Stars, Louisville end in draw
Valleyite Nikki Stanton made an albeit very brief appearance for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Chicago Red Stars pro women’s soccer team in their game last night with Racing Louisville FC in Kentucky. The North Bender, a 2008 MSHS grad, played the final minute of the 1-1 tie between Chicago and Louisville which was contested in front of around 7,300 fans at Lynn Family Stadium in the Kentucky city’s downtown core. The tie moved Chicago to 6-7-3 on the season and the Red Stars will play Kansas City next, on August 28.
About Rhett Workman
Rhett Workman is the editor of the Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal. Workman is a veteran sports journalist, having covered Snoqualmie Valley sports for nearly a decade with the Snoqualmie Valley Record newspaper before starting up the SVSJ. Workman’s coverage has earned the support and respect of Valley coaches, players, parents and fans, and the SVSJ continues the standard of coverage that Workman brought to the Valley Record.View all posts by Rhett Workman →