COUGARS

It's been a while since we greeted you in the morning, so we'll go ahead and pass along some links today that we thought you might enjoy. Plus some non-WSU video -- with a Cougar-related backstory -- that is just too incredible not to share. Read on.

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First, the WSU stuff. Mike Leach talked with Jim Moore and Steve Sandmeyer on ESPN 710 in Seattle yesterday for about 20 minutes. You can listen to it above, or on the link here. There wasn't much football discussed, though if you're interested in the details of Leach's bear hunt -- or need some anniversary advice -- you won't want to miss it. ... WSU's "home" game against Oregon gets a mention in this Ted Miller bit about the Pac-12's toughest trap games. ... The WSU baseball team lost its series-opening game to Washington last night.

OK. That's it for news. But we have something you need to see, assuming you haven't already (and you very well may have, because SportsCenter chose this play for its No. 1 spot on Friday). This weekend, Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash. (my hometown, born and raised) is hosting the NWAACC baseball championships at David Story Field, a park in which I spent plenty of frigid evenings as a kid watching games with my dad. It's a bittersweet couple of days, because LCC's longtime coach, Kelly Smith, a former WSU star who led the Pac-10 with a .418 batting average in 1980 before going on to a four-year career in the minors, is retiring at the conclusion of this season (full disclosure: I've known Kelly for years, and as a friend of his sons, the Smith household was a popular hangout throughout high school). Smith, an intense, old-school guy who demands -- often successfully -- quite a bit from his players (he did play for Bobo Brayton, remember), has won six NWAACC titles in 18 seasons, hoping for another one this weekend on his last go-round.

Anyway, LCC won its opening-round game on Friday, 4-2 over Everett. But it was the final out that had everyone buzzing. With a man on third base and two outs, an Everett batter lifted a deep drive to left field that looked as if it would be a game-tying home run. It wasn't. Here's why:

 

(H/T The Daily News)

That's Derrick Salberg, a Kelso native, making what might be the greatest catch, well, ever. Anyway, I've already wasted enough of your time with this non-WSU, Longview propoganda. But sometimes -- especially in the lull of the offseason -- you see things in sports that you just have to share.

We'll be back as events warrant.

Christian Caple can be reached at christianc@spokesman.com. Twitter: @ChristianCaple

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