January 12, 1997 in Sports

Brayton Loses Tri-City Job After One Season As Head Coach

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Former Washington State baseball coach Bobo Brayton won’t be back for a second season as manager of the TriCity Posse of the Western Baseball League.

Brayton guided the Posse to a 48-48 record and the Northern Division championship last year in the professional league. They lost to Long Beach in the playoffs for the league pennant.

“I thought I would be back, and I wanted to be back,” Brayton told the Tri-City Herald. “But they just decided they wanted somebody else, and they have a right to do that.

“I just want the people of the Tri-Cities to know I didn’t quit.”

Brayton, 70, who retired after a 33-year career at WSU, said he felt the owners want a younger manager. Co-owner Sean Kelly said the Posse were looking for someone with experience in professional ball. It was Brayton’s first pro job.

Baseball

Ed Cheff of Lewis-Clark State College was named the NAIA coach of the year at the American Baseball Coaches Association’s annual meeting in Dallas last week. It’s the fifth coach of the year award for Cheff.

“Anytime you receive something like this you share it with great players and some real good assistant coaches,” Cheff said. “A lot of people play a part in it.”

Last year, in his 20th season at the Lewiston school, Cheff led the Warriors to a 53-11 record and their ninth NAIA national championship in 13 years.

Baseball/softball

Gonzaga University and Spokane Falls Community College are putting on the Northwest Coaches Festival, clinics for area baseball and softball coaches.

Cindy Bristow, a nationally renowned softball celebrity, will headline the softball festival next Sunday at SFCC. It will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Feb. 22, at the Jepson Center on the GU campus, will be the baseball clinic from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Clinicians will include Gonzaga’s Steve Hertz, SFCC’s Dave Keller, former SFCC coaches Keith Snyder and Bill Johnson, former Eastern Washington coach Jim Wasem and Ron Brooks of Shadle Park High School.

Cost for either is $40 if pre-registered, $55 at the door. A staff of three can pre-register for $100.

Info or to register: Hertz, (509) 328-4220, ext. 4226 or Snyder, (509) 533-3648.

Bowling

Spokane’s men’s and women’s bowling associations will have their annual handicap tournaments next month.

Entry forms for both are available at county bowling centers.

Men: Feb. 1-2 and 8-9 with five-man team at North Bowl, singles and doubles at Colonial Bowl and three-man team at Fairchild Fun Spot. Deadline for five-man team, singles and doubles is midnight Jan. 27; three-man team is 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9. Info: Walt Utt, 328-8945.

Women: Feb. 15-16 and 22-23 with five-woman team at Colonial Bowl and singles and doubles at North Bowl. Deadline is midnight Jan. 31. Info: Babe Wehr, 926-9926.

College scene

Brian Guastella of Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), a junior forward on the Hamilton College hockey team in Clinton, N.Y., is the fourth-leading scorer for the 7-2 Continentals with four goals and five assists for nine points.

He has one game-winning goal. The Continentals are ranked seventh in the NCAA East Region.

Matt Bliss of Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), a senior at Pacific Lutheran, won the 177-pound title at the PLU Collegiate Open wrestling tournament last weekend.

Bliss, a co-captain and three-time national tournament competitor, improved his record to 15-4 with five wins in the tournament, capped by a 3-1 overtime decision over Kevin Stemp of Simon Fraser for the title.

Mike Homer of Spokane (Lewis and Clark), a freshman at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., was the Patriot League rookie of the week in men’s basketball for the first week of the new year.

In a four-game stretch, Homer averaged 17.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and shot 50 percent from the field, including making 17 of 34 3-pointers. He had a career-high 22 points against No. 21-ranked Maryland.

He leads the Leopards with a 13.7 scoring average and 44.6 percent (29 of 65) shooting from 3-point range. He has nine double-figure games.

, DataTimes

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