Sports

SURPRISE, Ariz. – As Ty Buttrey pumped fastballs at 98 mph to Kansas City Royals hitters in the Wednesday afternoon sunshine, manager Scott Servais watched intently from the first-base dugout of Surprise Stadium.

SEATTLE – I don’t know if it’s sports writing’s Rule No: 1, but it’s in the top 10. And the rule is this: Nobody, not the general manager, the coach, and certainly not the journalist knows if a draft was a success before a game is played.

Seattle Sounders midfielder Pedro de la Vega will be out 6-8 weeks due to a right hamstring injury, coach Brian Schmetzer said Tuesday.

Gonzaga spent the past five months adding various items to its bulletin board, but the Bulldogs needed to clear some additional space on Tuesday morning.

There may be no more than a week left in the Oregon State men’s basketball season, depending on the Beavers’ progress at Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. Wayne Tinkle knows people talk about what’s next. The Beavers are 12-17, and unless there’s an unforeseeable run ahead, they’ll finish below .500 for a third consecutive year.

In our last edition of “Four Out,” we explored Gonzaga’s chances of getting back to the NCAA Tournament and whether an at-large bid was still realistic for a Bulldogs team that had just suffered its fifth loss of the season at Santa Clara.

Four Eastern Washington men’s basketball players and head coach David Riley received All-Big Sky recognition Thursday when the conference announced awards for the 2023-24 season.

From staff reports

“I think everybody wanted Luis in the league to be honest,” Velocity FC head coach Leigh Veidman said. “He fit the profile I was looking for.”

A season flush with victories just became one flush with individual awards for the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team.

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will fight boxing influencer Jake Paul on July 20 in Arlington, Texas. The bout is scheduled to take place three weeks after Tyson’s 58th birthday. Paul is 27 years old. Even Netflix, which will be live-streaming the fight, seemed surprised in their announcement of the showdown.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • This is it. The final Pac-12 (AWKI) basketball showdown between Washington State and Washington. In Pullman. With, possibly for the Cougs, a conference title at stake. At the least, NCAA seeding, again only for WSU. Oh, and maybe the final Mike Hopkins’ coached game in the state.

BILLINGS – A $40 million anonymous donation will help fund more than 70 new modular housing units spread throughout Yellowstone National Park.

Last year was another busy one for our national parks.

Fly fishing

From staff reports

On Saturday mornings at 7 , there is a barn that turns into a spin studio.

Two bald eagles near Suncrest show that they, too, have a sense of humor in this photo by Steve Feider.