U-Hi’s VanSickle named MVP at recent tourney

University baseball player Ken VanSickle was named MVP of the Sapa Johnsrud Memorial Tournament last weekend in Whitefish, Mont.

VanSickle, a senior at U-Hi in the fall, finished 12-for-22 with two home runs, a triple, two doubles, eight runs scored and 14 driven in.

He catches for the Bandits, which won its third tournament this summer, 11-2 over the Billings Royals, and improved to 36-9. They were second in a fourth tourney.

Next Wednesday they begin the Spokane American Legion Senior state qualifying tournament against either the Pullman Patriots or the Blue Devils.

The Valley Cannons, made up of Central Valley, East Valley and West Valley baseball players, play Tuesday against the North Stars in the first game of double-elimination competition.

The tournament, all nine-inning games, concludes July 24 with the winner qualifying to state in Yakima, beginning July 30.

Week left in baseball

Spokane Valley Baseball is entering its final week and several teams can begin thinking playoffs.

Blasingame Insurance (Centennial) in the Giants League turned back two of its closest challengers and is a win away from post-season.

The team beat American On-Site Services 11-1 and Home Run Construction 9-3 during a pivotal last week. Riley Benton and Ben Ward did the lion’s share of the pitching. Benton also went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs batted in against Home Run Construction. J.J. Sheffler contributed a clutch RBI.

Mountain View I moved into second place with a pair of games remaining. Trevor Stroh on the mound and Nick Baggerly at bat keyed the surge. Twins Beaux and Brad Dodd were 3-for-4 with a double.

In the Midget League, unbeatens Gibson’s Nursery and Realty Rangers have two-game leads in their respective divisions with two games remaining.

The two won handily twice again last week; Gibson’s Nursery outscoring its foes 23-3 and Realty Rangers its 31-2.

Banner Fuel (Chester) and Valley Instant Printing (Trentwood) hold an edge for the other playoff berths.

Among Midget highlights, Merit Electric’s Brandon Anderson pitched no-hit ball for three innings and struck out nine. Wells Fargo Bank’s Alex Jacot hit two home runs and drove in five runs. Tate Murphy hit a grand slam home run for Adams.

Tom’s Barber Shop in the Pee Wee League American Division improved to 10-0 as the league’s lone unbeaten team.

T.J. Thies and Eric Rowe combined for a no-hitter against Pizza Hut. Thies and Tyler Dixon combined to strike out 15 in a 6-1 win over Econo Landscaping. Dixon was also 2-for-2 with a double and triple to drive in three runs. Glen Mellick tripled, and Arron Mettler hit a double and triple for two RBIs in the first win.

The team leads Spokane Indians by a game, the Ponderosa team getting 15 strikeouts from Brandon Stalker and Brandon Anderson in an 8-3 win over Sterling Self Storage.

Ginno Construction is another game back, Taylor Downey hitting a home run in one win and going 3-for-3 in the other to drive in a total of five runs. He also pitched, allowing no hits and striking out six. Tyler Peterson had the game winning hit in an 8-7 victory over Econo Landscaping.

Blasingame Insurance (Pasadena Park) has secured a playoff berth from the National Division after improving its record to 10-1 with a game left. Schmitz Construction is a win away.

Last week the Sunrise team blanked White Elephant 8-0, Garrett Schmerer allowing the lone hit, while Colin Deyarmin was 3-for-3 with a double. He drove in two runs and scored three.

Elsewhere, Angelo Gonzalez and Austin Sloan combined to strike out 13, and Trace Hussey hit a three-run homer for A&L Compressed Gases.

Tourney near in softball

Monday is the final day of regular season league competition for Spokane Valley Girls Softball leagues, although there are still some makeup games to be played before the league’s double-elimination tournament.

Tourney play will go through the end of July in the four age groups.

As of reported games from last week, Sir Speedy improved to 7-0 with three games remaining to lead the 16U league. Included was a 7-1 win over second-place White Elephant in a game between unbeaten teams.

The 14U League remains close, BNSF at 7-1 and Commercial Battery 5-1 with OCB a game further back.

BNSF has gone unbeaten since a season-opening setback, including a 19-9 win over Commercial Battery and 23-8 victory over OCB.

Division I in the 12U League is a three-team race among Farrell’s Spray Service, Awardmasters and Home Run Construction, all with one loss.

Home Run Construction, which hasn’t lost since the season opener, handed Farrell’s its first loss 17-12 on Monday to create the tie. Awardmasters hasn’t lost since the first game of the season either.

Kimmel Athletic and OCB are unbeaten in Division II. Their showdown, rained out earlier, is yet to occur.

In the 10U League, Farmers Market and Garden Center was a perfect 8-0, prior to the league’s final two games this past week.

Ford and Grimes and Panther Printing were a game further back.

But this season has generally been wide open. Of 39 games, 17 have been decided by three or fewer runs, including six one-run decisions and a tie.

Liberty Lake 18’s play

Liberty Lake Women’s 18-Hole Club golfers were afforded the luxury of tossing out their two worst holes, but counted full handicap during this week’s outing.

Lowest net scores for the day were by Donna Ogilvie in C flight and Myrna Neubauer in D with 58s.

Jill Grover finished with a net 63 in A flight followed by Rose Jones and Carol Blume at 64.

In B flight Gloria Cash and Connie Hatfield had net 60s.

Other C leaders were Flurry Snyder with 61 and Louise Newtson and Nancy Monteith with 64s.

Jan Hussey had second low net in D flight with 66.

Trailhead golfers tie

There were ties for low gross and in B flight for net during weekly Trailhead Ladies Golf Club play.

Marcia Rowley and Joyce Jacobs shared low gross honors with 49 in A flight.

Shirley Rodman and Bev Johnson netted 30 for their tie in B flight.

And Ro Lisk had not one, but two chip-ins.

Wilma Capaul was B flight low gross winner with 54, Patty Haskins shot 55 to win C and Eileen Couper‘s no-handicap winner was a 62.

Other net winners were Deanna Hauser with 36 in A and Grace Libby with 26 in C.

Guess who leads golf?

You get three guesses, and the first two don’t count about who scored best among Liberty Lake Ladies 9-Hole Club golfers.

Karen Strauss won again in first flight, shooting low gross 48.

Other flight winners were Sadie Rueckert with 55 in second, Cheryl Baumber with 57 in third and Alice Sturman with 67 in fourth.

Net leaders included Elaine Tai with 35 in first flight and Ann Archibald with 37 in second.

There was a tie for third flight net between Frances Martin and Carol Gerdts with 31. Judy Theis shot 35 in fourth flight.

Emma Long and Joanne Ruddell each had chip-ins.

Blume leads Painted Hills

Painted Hills Ladies League golfer Carol Blume had a superb round during last week’s medal competition.

She shot 42 in A flight to pace the field.

Low net in A was by Betty Grassl. Her 35 was aided by a birdie on the fourth hole.

Other winners included Beth Zehm with gross 50 and Susan Crosby with net 34 in B flight, Pat Angove with 57 and Edie Foedisch with 35 in C, and Cathy Esmay with 60 and Nancy Hobbs with 34 in D.

No-handicap winner was Kelly Klose with a 54, while Jan Gracyalny and Carol Schjodt had chip-ins.