Mike Vlahovich

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.

The Spokane Stars Elite Blue girls select basketball team lost a winning streak last week that reached 65 games over a two-year period of nationwide tournament play. But they quickly began another with the championship of the Seattle Mid-Summer Night's Madness National tournament.

Four area volleyball standouts and their coach hit the road early this morning, taking a dawn flight to Sea-Tac Airport to begin a barnstorming East-West All-State series. The three-day set of volleyball matches featuring the best players from Class B through 4A begins in Fife, near Tacoma, and concludes Saturday night at Mead in Spokane.

Spokane Valley Baseball Giants League has become a five-team battle for four playoff berths with five games left to play. After tying Grocery Outlet, Blasingame Insurance (Centennial) is clinging to a half-game lead over American On-Site Services (Bowdish) and Home Run Construction (East Valley).

The Bandits continued their run of American Legion Senior baseball league and tournament success, and University's Kenny VanSickle was a major factor. VanSickle hit safely in seven of eight games, including during a 4-3 triumph over the Pullman Patriots and Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Valley Cannons that moved the team to 13-2 and first place in the Spokane League.

Cameron Elisara, a football player with a Washington State Cougars legacy, has orally committed to become a University of Washington Husky. Elisara, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound lineman who will be a senior at Ferris, announced Friday his intent to play for the Huskies.

Spokane Valley Baseball League took a turn as the season reached the midpoint for most teams. Blasingame Insurance and American On-Site Services moved to the head of the Giants League pack.

It was a fairly light week of competition for Spokane Valley American Legion baseball teams last week, including Monday's rain-postponements. But the Senior League Bandits made the most of their games.

A newcomer to Cheney volleyball and a person whose ties go back to the beginnings of the girls basketball program are the newest Blackhawks coaches in their respective sports. Former Shadle Park star Holly (Horn) Daniels was hired to become the Blackhawks' volleyball coach.

The number of Spokane Valley Baseball League unbeatens was cut in half through the second week of the summer youth season. Valley Electric, with one score unreported, is the only Giants League team with an unblemished record.

Thanks in part to a forfeit victory, the Spokane Valley Cannons, made up of baseball players from East Valley, West Valley and Central Valley, found themselves atop the standings early in the American Legion AAA League season. The Cannons, who lost a couple of games during last week's Cranston Memorial Tournament in Coeur d'Alene, improved to 5-0 in league with a 12-2 five-inning romp and 10-9 wins over Pullman on Monday before losing Tuesday to the North Stars 3-1 on TuesdayTeam offensive leader Bret Riggin, and Justin Marlow had three hits apiece, Riggin with a home run in the opener with the Patriots. Kyle Renz, among the team's season hitting leaders, was one of three others with two hits in game one and also had a hit in game two.

Spokane Valley Baseball season got under way and despite the dreary spring, virtually every game got played. East Valley (Home Run Construction) won a pair of one-run contests to take the early Giants League lead, 6-5 over North Pines (Grocery Outlet) and 7-6 in eight innings over Centennial.

A handful of records, mainly in Class B girls, was established during the recent Vern Fox Valley Middle School All-League track meet. The one Class A mark to fall was in the boys 400-meter dash where Greenacres' Brad Whitley sprinted 54.12, lowering his Class B record from last year by 3.38 seconds.

TACOMA – North Central's State 3A softball appearance was brief, but two successive losses couldn't diminish the Indians' thrill of playing in their first state tournament. The Indians lost 8-0 to Black Hills of Olympia and touted pitcher Tara Curtis, and 3-1 to Liberty (Issaquah) in opening-day games at SERA Fields.

Newport baseball players are no strangers to perfection. The Grizzlies (24-0) are one of two unbeaten teams remaining in the state as they compete for a championships beginning today in Yakima.

Three coaches, eight different pitchers and a host of position players have passed through University High's softball program. But the end result for the past decade has been the same. By attending to detail and fundamentals, the Titans, for the 10th straight year, will conclude their season at the State 4A tournament.

PASCO – The heat was on in Edgar Brown Stadium in more ways than one when Central Valley and Pasco squared off for a berth in the State 4A soccer semifinals. Temperatures on the artificial turf of the bowl reached the mid-90-degree mark and emotions among the players were just as heated as CV's best-ever season (12-5-1) ended in a 2-0 loss to the Bulldogs.

East Valley golfer Ashley Saffle captured Monday's Region 3A high school tournament against Mid-Valley League competitors to earn one of two Valley berths to next week's state tournament in Spokane. Saffle shot 82 at Hangman Valley for medalist honors. She is joined by West Valley's Ashley Wieber, a four-time state qualifier who finished second in regionals with 86.