Melcher, Smith Key Odessa To State Title

A-B/AA roundup

Nicole Melcher and Marci Smith led the Odessa girls to their first State A-B tennis championship on Saturday, defeating Ritzville’s Elizabeth Hille and Connie Kirkendall for the first time in seven meetings.

Melcher and Smith scored a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over their Bi-County League rivals. Their victory allowed Class B Odessa to tie Class A University Prep, led by girls singles champ Erica Perkins, for the team title.

In boys doubles, the Lind team of brothers Brian and Chris Keltz earned a state title by defeating Josh Billings and Futoshi Kobayashi of Charles Wright 6-2, 6-4.

Other area tennis highlights: Mandy Eastwood of Lakeside took fifth place in girls singles; Josh Greene of Medical Lake finished fourth in boys singles. The Ritzville girls finished third, as did the Lind boys.

The top-seeded girls duo of Lakeside’s Meghan Gould and Theresa Wagner won the State AA doubles title for the second year in a row, beating Sehome’s Jessie Jones and Kathy Oves 6-3, 6-1 at the Lakewood Racquet Club in Tacoma.

Mount Rainier freshman Courtney Perkins won the singles title, beating senior teammate Lara Botts 6-2, 6-3.

Mount Rainier won the team title followed by Seattle Prep. Lakeside was third.

In boys play, Seattle Prep sophomore Jeff Eicher beat Ballard’s Evan Osborn 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Brian Moss of Lakeside lost to Osborn in the semis and finished fifth.

Baseball

Lindbergh defeated Capital 4-3 in nine innings in the State AA championship game at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma. West Valley of Yakima beat Seattle Prep 3-0 for third.

Rochester ripped Kiona-Benton 11-0 for the State A title at Yakima, with Stevenson downing Cashmere 11-5 for third place.

Also in Yakima, DeSales defeated Kittitas 9-2 to finish the Class B season 26-0. Adna beat LaCrosse-Washtucna 16-8 for third.

Softball

At Larson Park in Yakima, Adna defeated Springdale 13-4 for the State B slowpitch championship. Kahlotus downed Northwest Christian 9-1 for third place.

Jen Francis and Heather Larm each had three hits as Mount Vernon rallied in the final three innings to beat Anacortes 9-8 in the State AA slowpitch championship game.

In Tacoma, Capital’s Sara Hill collected her second triple in the sixth inning to score Vicki Wenzel in a 1-0 win over Mark Morris in the title game of the AA-A-B fastpitch tourney.

Soccer

At Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, Highline clipped Mount Rainier 1-0 for the State AA championship, while West Valley of Yakima took third with a 1-0 victory over Shorecrest.