Nine Shadle Park baseball players competing this weekend in the State 4A baseball tournament have been in this position before. It's just that most of them aren't in the same positions they played during last year's state appearance.
Facing elimination with each successive 3A regional baseball game, East Valley and pitcher Bret Riggin turned in remarkable performances en route to this weekend's state tournament. Tuesday's 2-1 victory over rival West Valley – a state quarterfinalist last year – put the Knights (15-9) in this weekend's four-team Yakima pod of the 16-team tourney.
Whoever said that it's the little things that count must have had the Ferris baseball team in mind. Because several little things added up to one big 7-1 victory Tuesday night over regular-season Greater Spokane League champion Mt. Spokane in the District 8 4A playoffs at Avista Stadium, giving the Saxons another state appearance.
Pitching overshadowed hitting during Saturday's four-game District 8 4A baseball tournament at Avista Stadium, but Shadle Park made good on early offensive opportunities to win its second championship in three years. Three of the top four batters in the Highlanders order combined on 5-for-5 hitting in the first three innings, scoring all three runs in their 3-2 title victory over Mt. Spokane.
University's baseball team continued on track with a harrowing District 8 4A playoff-opening 4-3 victory over Gonzaga Prep. The Titans (12-8) made it 10 wins in 11 games with the Wednesday night win in a game shortened to five innings because of rain.
When he learned a week ago that Central Valley had finished second for district soccer seeding purposes, coach Brandon Deyarmin said he was as excited as if the Bears had won the Greater Spokane League. It got even better when Jesse Dunbar's goal with nine minutes to go in a 1-0 victory over Mt. Spokane Friday gave CV its first district high school boys soccer championship.
Prior to his death at age 55 in 2003 from complications caused by a brain tumor, former major league pitcher Ken Brett impressed upon his children the importance of education. His emphasis came even as athletics had been the vehicle of his success and opened up new worlds, in particular a fondness for the East Coast while with the Boston Red Sox.
Mt. Spokane's Chris Zalud placed teammate and All-Greater Spokane League goalkeeper Jeff Srock squarely in the middle of the frying pan during Tuesday's District 8 4A winner-to-state, loser-out soccer match against Mead. Zalud, whose foul led to a game-tying penalty kick by Mead at the end of regulation, doused the fire by scoring off a rebound in the fourth minute of overtime, sending the senior-dominated team to its first state soccer tournament with a 3-2 victory at Mt. Spokane.
Beefed up Greater Spokane League 3A baseball representation takes on the traditionally powerful Mid-Valley League today in the first round of the regional playoffs. Two teams from the eight-team tournament qualify for state. The field of three from the GSL and five from the MVL include GSL top seed West Valley of Spokane, a top-eight state finisher last year, and last year's third-place team, Selah.
The shot came – like a bolt from the blue. And with it Central Valley qualified for state by winning its first District 8 4A soccer championship, 1-0 over first-time finalist Mt. Spokane.
They may have to erect a monument on Washington Street after the launch by West Valley freshman baseball player Brian Peterson against North Central on Wednesday. Peterson hit a mammoth grand slam home run over the right-field fence at NC that landed in the middle of Washington Street and ignited the Eagles' 11-2 triumph.
The modern-day equivalent to the chicken-or-egg conundrum for prep athletes and their parents is this: Which comes first, high school or club sports? Rick Wolff, chairman of the Institute for Sports Parenting had this to say about athletes who might on occasion choose to miss a high school game for a club event: "You can't serve two masters. It's not fair to the girls and boys at every practice who expect to play. As a parent I'd be outraged."
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.
Opportunism was its own reward as Cheney captured the top seed to Thursday's 3A regional tournament with a 3-2 win over Greater Spokane League co-champion East Valley on Tuesday at Spokane Falls Community College. In a match of contrasting halves for District 8 seeding, Cheney's Blackhawks built a 2-0 lead with a dominant first-half effort and the Knights rallied to tie by controlling the second half.
With three children who played a variety of sports at all levels, Spokane psychologist Andrew Haffey has more than a passing interest in the well-being of athletes. As both parent and professional, he has an understanding of what youngsters have a right to expect from their parents and coaches.
Increased pressure by sports parents is driving young and experienced coaches alike out of the profession. "A lot of good coaches of all ages say, 'It's not worth it to me,' " said Harry Amend, Coeur d'Alene schools superintendent. "It's hard on a coach, hard on their families and takes the joy out of it."
The spring sports season hurtles rapidly to its regular season conclusion in the next week. All four Valley Greater Spokane League baseball teams are vying for respective 4A and 3A district playoff berths, University opening an important Thursday-Friday showdown two days ago with a 13-7 victory over rival Central Valley.
Shadle Park doubled its fun Thursday and in the process wore out the left-field line with another batting highlight reel to further tighten the Greater Spokane League baseball standings. Six of the Highlanders' 13 base hits during their 7-2 victory over league-leading Mt. Spokane were doubles. And six of their hits were pulled down the line, past third baseman Marcos Armendariz.
Greater Spokane League track completes its final week of divisional competition next week and for East Valley's boys, last Thursday's meets created an interesting twist. North Central, defeated by the unbeaten Knights 80-65 last week, upset Mead 73-72 on Thursday.
Lewis and Clark stayed inside the building in hiring its newest boys basketball coach. Jeff Norton, a 20-year staff member, longtime boys assistant, 15-year head tennis coach and head of the English department, was selected from an initial field of seven candidates.
A soccer loss the week before to Shadle Park's boys left Ferris two games behind Central Valley in the Greater Spokane League. Two matches later, the Saxons have created a four-team tie for first place with Wednesday's 2-1 victory at home over the Bears.
A slow start had University baseball people squirming. The Titans had lost three straight games while falling to 2-6 in the Greater Spokane League. "We lost games when we were ahead and spent a lot of time talking about pressing," said Titan coach Don Ressa, last Friday. "We talked about taking one pitch at a time and letting things go."
Shadle Park continued its torrid hitting streak at the expense of Ferris and got solid middle-inning pitching by Brian Kranches to inch closer to the second-place Saxons with an 11-4 Greater Spokane League baseball triumph at Avista Stadium. The Highlanders extended their consecutive innings with base hits through a second straight game. And until they were held scoreless in the seventh inning, they had scored runs in 10 successive innings.
Shadle Park baseball players enhanced their batting statistics at the expense of Central Valley pitching Friday, but it wasn't enough to prevent them from losing ground in the Greater Spokane League. The Highlanders (8-3, 6-3) pounded 18 hits, including a three-run, seventh-inning home run by Josh Powell, but lost to the Bears (8-5, 6-5) 12-11.
East Valley's boys track team finds itself in good company two weeks into the Greater Spokane League track season. The Knights are 3-0 atop the National Division with Thursday's win over North Central, just ahead of perennial power Mead.
