Spokane Crush headed to World Series

Members of the Spokane Crush 13-U baseball team have been waiting for this opportunity for years.

The Crush, made up of players from all over the Spokane area, went 4-1 and took second place at the Washington State Championships held June 15-17 in Bremerton. The effort earned them a trip to the 13-U World Series on July 24-29 at the Big League Dreams Baseball Complexes in Chino Hills, Calif.

Spokane, whose members have been playing together for three summers, lost to the Kent Bulldogs in the championship game.

Coached by Kevin Fitzpatrick, the Crush qualified for the Washington State Championships after going undefeated and winning the Pasco Invitational May 18-20.

Approximately 50 teams will be competing for the 13-U World Series, and with a 29-6 record on the season, Spokane hopes for continued success.

Legion baseball

Spokane Northstars’ pitcher Matt Walsh did something in a 6-5 win over the Spokane Blue Devils last Wednesday that, frankly, doesn’t happen that often.

Walsh pitched the first six innings and left with the lead. The reliever ran into trouble in the seventh, so Walsh re-entered with one out. Walsh struck out the first batter he faced, gave up a two-run single, then got the final out on another strikeout, stranding the potential tying run at second base. Walsh therefore earned the win and the save.

Shooting

Spokane’s Amanda Furrer was crowned Washington State champion after winning the Prone event at the Washington State Outdoor Championships held May 11-13 in Wenatchee. Elisha LaFond of Spokane took second, finishing 19 points behind Furrer.

LaFond got her revenge in the Air Rifle competition, finishing four points ahead of Furrer to take first place.

Track and field

Colville senior David Musson took second place in the javelin with a throw of 212 feet, 7 inches at the Nike Outdoor Nationals June 14-16 in Greensboro, N.C.

Musson earned the state title in the javelin at the 2A state meet in May.

Basketball

Annual Washington all-state girls basketball games for players 3A and below will be held Saturday at East Valley.

The event, coordinated by Lakeside athletic director Tom Oliver, will feature three games among nearly 70 players from throughout the state. Class B East meets West at 1:30 p.m., Class 1A East against West is at 3:30 and 2A/3A East against West is at 5:30.

Some 15 area players will participate, including eight Great Northern League athletes in the 3A/2A game led by Richelle Daily from Medical Lake and Kellie McCann-Smith from Clarkston.

Jordan Harazin and Megan Teade from four-time state-champion Colfax, will play for the 1A East team.

Roni Jo Mielke from Sprague-Harrington and Jen Christerson from Reardan are among the B players.

Miscellany

Odessa was 2006-07 classification winner of the Wells Fargo Scholastic Cup, which rewards season-long combined accomplishments for athletics, academics and sportsmanship.

The Tigers were this year’s 1B runaway winner with 1,290 points, well ahead of runnerup Curlew’s 725.

Ferris (1,005 points), last year’s winner, and Mead (835) placed second and third respectively in 4A, finishing behind Richland’s 1,075. Pullman (1,015), a two-time winner previously, was second to Sehome (1,285) in 2A. Lakeside (1,065) finished third among 1A schools and Colfax (865) was fifth. Northwest Christian, the 2006 B winner, finished fourth in Class 2B.