Former Indian Harris named to Canadian hall

Billy Harris, a right-handed pitcher with the Spokane Indians in the early 1960s, was selected for induction into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Harris, who lives in Kennewick, where he operates Billy’s Bullpen tavern, compiled a 14-16 record the Triple-A Indians from 1960-62.

The native of Duguayville, New Brunswick, amassed 174 wins and 1,373 strikeouts in a professional career that spanned 15 seasons (1951-65). Trapped in the pitcher-rich Dodgers organization, Harris made just two major league appearances.

“I swear to God, this is the greatest thrill of my life,” Harris is quoted as saying in the hall of fame release. “This was always something that I’ve dreamed about.”

Of all Canadians who played in the big leagues, Harris ranks first in minor league career shutouts with 45, second in strikeouts and third in wins. His 0.83 ERA in 1952 still ranks as an organized baseball record for pitchers with 200 or more innings. He was a four-time minor league all-star.

“We were teammates, and I must say with all sincerity that he was one of the finest competitors to ever take the mound,” said Tommy Lasorda, the former Spokane Indians and Dodgers manager, a member of the Canadian hall. “He is very deserving and I offer him my sincere congratulations.”

Induction ceremonies will be June 28 in St. Mary’s, Ontario.

College scene

Robbie Cowgill, a senior at Washington State, has been named the Toyo Tire Pac-10 Conference men’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year.

The native of Austin, Texas, has excelled on the court, in the classroom and in the community. A four-year starter majoring in management and operations, he has a 3.36 grade-point average in the honors college and will graduate in May.

Cowgill is a two-time CoSIDA academic all-district and Pac-10 all-academic first-team selection.

•Basketball players earned the Community Colleges of Spokane scholar-athlete awards for February.

Matt Dorr, a freshman from Mt. Spokane, is the male winner. He played a key role in the Sasquatch’s 30-2 season, being selected to the All-Eastern Region and All-NWAACC tournament teams. He has a 3.83 GPA.

Kellee Neal, a sophomore from Ephrata, Wash., is the female winner. She averaged 10 points and six rebounds, shooting 47 percent from the field. She was a first-team All-NWAACC tournament selection.

•Louis Hurd of Spokane (North Central), who won the British Columbia Colleges Athletic Association basketball scoring championship for Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, announced he will transfer to Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C.

Hurd, who played his first two years out of high school at Everett Community College before transferring to CBC, averaged 20.2 points this season to head his school to fourth place in the BCCAA.

•Jake Beitinger, a junior at Central Washington after transferring from Eastern Washington, was selected the newcomer of the year in Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball.

Beitinger, one of two unanimous selections to the All-GNAC first team, averaged 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.54 steals, all top-10 efforts in the league.

Matt Penoncello, a Central junior guard from Moscow, Idaho, was second-team All-GNAC.

•Trevor Frank, a senior at Whitman College from Coeur d’Alene High School, placed ninth in slopestyle out of 62 competitors at the U.S. Collegiate Snowboard Nationals in Sunday River, Maine, to earn All-American recognition.

•Annie Brophy of Spokane (Gonzaga Prep), a sophomore at Notre Dame, tied her career-best score with a par 216 to finish second to a teammate at the Rio Verde, Ariz., Invitational women’s golf tournament last weekend as the Irish won the team title.

Second place was Brophy’s best collegiate finish and her first-round score of 1-under 71 matched her best 18-hole score for the Irish.

•Mattie Bridgmon and the Eastern Washington men’s and women’s teams were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Bridgmon, a junior, was named to the association’s all-academic women’s team with a 3.65 GPA.

EWU had one of 98 men’s teams and one of 158 women’s teams honored with GPAs of at least 3.0