Titans flush away negativity, seat themselves in sixth place

At one point in the Greater Spokane League baseball season the University Titans were 2-6 and struggling.

“We were trying so hard to win, and the harder you try, the worse it gets when you struggle,” coach Don Ressa said.

Things changed when they drew a picture of a toilet on a white board in their dugout, with a button the players could push to flush any negativity away.

The result has been a seven-game winning streak and rise to sixth place overall in league. Most recent wins were a doubleheader sweep of rival Central Valley 13-7 and 6-5 that clinched a top-six finish and spot in next week’s district playoffs.

“We’ve gotten good pitching and hitting and OK defense,” Ressa said of the Titans’ run.

In particular was the pitching performance of Nick Burger, who the Tuesday before the CV series beat league-leading Ferris 3-2.

“It was a classic,” said Ressa. “He threw a straight change(up) all day for strikes, had a great curve ball and had those big monsters from Ferris out on their front foot swinging through balls. Throw them fastballs, and they kill you.”

Adam Smith, J.D. Peterson and Calvin Jurich, who had a win and two saves during the seven-game streak were also solid on the mound.

U-Hi (9-6) played Lewis and Clark on Wednesday and finishes the league season today and Friday against Mead.

Central Valley (8-9) finished the season Wednesday at Ferris and among the top six district teams, although three teams were only a game behind.

Wednesday, West Valley and North Central (both 10-5) played for No. 1 3A honors into an eight-team eastern regional playoff. East Valley (9-7) is third.

All three teams finish their seasons with doubleheaders against the top three teams in league, the Eagles against Mt. Spokane, the Knights against Shadle Park.

In latest GSL stats, Eagle Michael Hauschild leads the league with a .475 batting average and 10 doubles, teammate Matt Peterson and CV’s Kris Henderson are hitting .441 and .440 respectively. Henderson leads the league in runs batted in with 25, has nine doubles, the same as U-Hi’s Kenny VanSickle, and three home runs. Teammate Kyle Renz leads in runs scored with 20.

WV’s Greg Bradley is third in earned run average as a pitcher at 1.74 and as a hitter leads in triples with three. EV’s Bret Riggin continues to lead the league in strikeouts with 57 and has a 1.82 ERA. Teammate Jye Lanphere, a .432 hitter, has a league high four home runs.

Bears take state shot

Central Valley may not have won GSL soccer, but finishing second for 4A seeding purposes was almost as good.

The Bears, like league co-champion Mt. Spokane, have two attempts at winning a state berth, a first for coach Brandon Deyarmin.

The two earned the double-elimination District 8 4A tournament playoff spots and meet Friday night for the title and a state appearance.

CV (11-4-1, 10-3) finished third overall in the GSL but is second for 4A district purposes following Cheney’s upset of Ferris in their season finale.

“It was a shock and a surprise,” said Deyarmin, whose team had lost two days earlier, costing it the league title and likely dropping it into the loser-out portion of the tournament.

“I had a conference in Seattle, and as soon as the game was over was off to the airport to catch a plane. I was quite upset and frustrated.”

In Seattle on Friday he got the call that Cheney had pulled a shocker and the feeling, Deyarmin said, was like winning the league.

East Valley (11-2, 12-3) tied Mt. Spokane for the league title, the first for both. During the previous 21 seasons of GSL play, just six other schools had won titles.

The euphoria may have been counterproductive in Tuesday’s 3-2 seeding loss to Cheney in the 3A regional playoffs. Ben Funkhouser scored and had an assist in the match, but the Blackhawks scored late in the game to win.

“It was a big deal. They’re happy to be GSL champs, but the carry over was a bit much,” said coach Jeff Rose of Tuesday night’s loss. “The first half we came out a little bit flat. The second half we played to our capabilities, but it was just too late.”

University (8-6, 7-6) locked up the sixth district 4A berth with a win over Rogers last Friday and played Ferris in a loser-out contest on Wednesday.

West Valley (5-11, 3-10) beat North Central 3-2 on Tuesday for the league’s third 3A regional playoff spot.

Softball playoffs near

The final three games of the GSL softball season will determine playoff seedings for Valley teams.

University (14-2) is in second place, a game behind Shadle Park and a game ahead of both Mead and Mt. Spokane among teams vying for the top four seeds into next weekend’s District 8 playoffs.

Central Valley (10-6) is a win away from locking up one of the two remaining playoff berths.

East Valley (7-10), with pitcher Cassie Schreiber sidelined by illness, dropped three games behind North Central in the loss column for the top 3A seed but remained ahead of the other three teams.

Included is West Valley (4-11), which has four games to play in its quest to join the four-team district playoff.

Titan Angie Boardman is second in the GSL in batting with a .558 average. Teammate Tonya Schnibbe and WV’s Gabi Lobello are among the top seven with .459 averages.

Boardman leads the league with nine doubles and has a couple triples. Schnibbe is fourth in league with three triples. Lobello is league leader in stolen bases with 19, and teammate Lindsay Hood has scored 21 runs, tied for fourth in league.

Linse Vlahovich, 13-2 and third in league in earned run average, remains the league leader with 158 strikeouts in 89 innings.

Playoffs near for rest

The GSL boys golf season ended Monday with University, Central Valley and East Valley finishing fifth through seventh.

CV’s Nick Grigsby shot 72 to finish third at Liberty Lake. U-Hi’s Adam Pritchard was ninth with 75.

Also among the top 15 finishers were CV’s Patrick Norton, EV’s Josh White and Ben Johnson with 78s.

State qualifying for 4A boys, including CV and U-Hi, is Tuesday and Thursday of next week at Wandermere and Indian Canyon Golf Courses.

The girls finished on Tuesday, U-Hi and CV finishing fourth and fifth. Titans Haley and Mandy Parsons finished fourth and fifth with scores of 79 and 80. Bears Katie Sorenson and Nicole Barham shared ninth with 86.

State 4A qualifying is Monday at Downriver and Wednesday at MeadowWood for girls teams.

EV and West Valley golfers qualify for State 3A on May 23 at Hangman Valley for girls and the Creek at Qualchan for boys.

“District tennis tournaments continue today and finish Friday at Mead for 4A individuals and at West Valley for 3A.

University finished 10th during last weekend’s Inland Empire Tournament when Ashley Miles and Patrick Roth finished third in mixed doubles No. 1. Josh Steele lost in the boys No. 1 quarterfinals, as did the mixed doubles No. 2 team of Olivia Sanchez and Ken Mayhew.

East Valley’s Miranda Brother was third in girls No. 2 singles, and Mel Dossey of West Valley reached the girls No. 1 singles quarterfinals.