Hite’s hat trick too little, too late for Shadow in season finale

Well, at least Brett Hite and the Shadow gave it a go.

Hite scored three times in a six-minute span late in the second half of the season finale, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Spokane from losing to the Cascade Surge 4-3 in Premier Development League soccer action Sunday in Salem, Ore.

The Shadow, eliminated from playoff contention when Cascade beat them 5-1 July 16th, finished the season 10-6-0, good for 30 points and second place in the PDL’s Northwest Division. The Surge finished 12-2-2 with 38 points, winning the Division.

The Surge went into halftime up 2-0 off a Mauricio Chavez brace. They got two more in the second with Ian Leibbrandt and Andriy Budnyy putting the Surge up 4-0 with just nine minutes to play.

But Hite scored in the 83rd, 88th and 89th minutes to make it a game, though time ran out on both the game and the season for the Shadow.

Motorsports

Mica, Wash., rider Joe Kopp took the lead on lap twelve and held off a challenge from Ken Coolbeth to win the 25-lap AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship race Saturday at the Darke County Fairgrounds in Greenville, Ohio.

•Spokane’s Kevin Richards drove from the back of the field twice on Saturday to win the Windermere 100 at Stateline (Id.) Speedway. It was his fourth straight INSSA win.

Baseball

Jon Staats tossed eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits as the Spokane RiverHawks beat the Bellingham Bells 4-1 at Spokane Falls Community College.

Jaime Pedroza went 2 for 3 with a run scored and three stolen bases for Spokane (8-19). Bellingham is 11-12.