Mead, G-Prep Survive
Mead beat University 5-4 and Gonzaga Prep got past Shadle Park 4-3 Friday at Seafirst Stadium in the first round of the George Gee Pontiac District 8 Baseball Tournament.
Mead and G-Prep (each 11-7) will face each other today at Seafirst at 11 a.m. for the right to play Central Valley (11-5) at 2 p.m.
The winner of the second game gets a berth into the regional tournament next week at Seafirst, joining regular-season champion Ferris.
Friday, Mead ended U-Hi’s season when John Barneson tripled in the bottom of the fifth to score Sam Hess and Marcus Muzatko to give the Panthers the lead for good at 5-4.
Mead’s Rob Elmer went the distance and struck out five to move his record to 4-0.
The Titans’ (8-9) Nick Spunich scattered four hits and struck out four.
As for G-Prep, with the score tied at 3 in the in bottom of the seventh inning, Bullpups sophomore Kevin O’Connel single into the gap in left-center to score Austin McDonald for the game-winner.
O’Connel was 3 for 3, scored two runs and drove in one. G-Prep’s Brian Herrin went the distance, struck out nine and scattered four hits.
Shadle finished the season 9-8.
Jeremy Fox hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to lift Garfield-Palouse past Touchet 14-13 in a loser-out District 9B Tournament game at Gar-Pal.
The Vikings play the winner of today’s DeSales-Rosalia game on Tuesday at Clarkston at 4 p.m.
Softball
Central Valley got clutch hits and executed the suicide squeeze to perfection to beat University 9-2 at Franklin Park in the Greater Spokane League District Tournament.
CV (12-6) got three RBIs from Tori Mills, and Crystal Lee was 2 for 4. Lee also scattered four hits and upped her pitching record to 10-5.
Mead (13-4) defeated North Central 3-2.
Tuesday, at 6 p.m. at Franklin, CV will play Mead for the first and second seeds to regionals next week. U-Hi plays North Central (12-6) at 3:45 to determine seeds three and four.
Although Mead committed four errors, the Panthers were the recipients of good defense in the top of the sixth as they clung to a 3-1 lead.
With the bases loaded, NC’s Stacey Fisher hit a ball that rolled through the legs of Mead’s shortstop, allowing Laura Cook to score from third.
The runner at second tried to score, but Mead center fielder Katrina Morton threw her out at the plate.
Meanwhile, Fisher was trying to go to third, but was thrown out by catcher Kristin Fuller to end the inning.
Track
It doesn’t have to be basketball season for St. John-Endicott’s Andee Schmick and Tricia Lamb to score lots of points.
In the Whitman County subdistricts at Pullman High, Schmick tied Lamb’s meet record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.6 seconds. Lamb then went out and set the record in the long jump at 16 feet, 4 inches.
Not to be outdone, the Eagles’ boys 400 relay team of Nick Strader, Ryan Schauble, Ross Jordan and Joe Gering set a record with a time of 45.2.
In team totals, Tekoa-Oakesdale’s boys and girls finished on top with 108 and 106 points, respectively.
In the Bi-County sub-district at Whitworth, Ritzville’s Travos Devore set a league record in the pole vault as he cleared 13 feet, 9 inches.
In boys action, Reardan and Valley Christian finished in a tie with 126 points. Davenport followed with 75.
For the girls, Ritzville won with 117 points. Valley Christian was next at 92 and Wilbur-Creston third at 68.
Tennis
Mead’s Ryan Moran will face Lewis and Clark’s Brandon Bale in the boys final of the George Gee Pontiac District 8 Tournament on Monday at 3:30 p.m. at Central Valley.
Moran defeated Gonzaga Prep’s Riggs Kubiak 6-0, 6-4 and Bale beat Shadle Park’s Dan Fennen 6-2, 6-3.
In boys doubles, Mead’s Eric Donovan and Bret Kaiser beat Ferris’ Brooks Laselle and Craig Henneberry 6-0, 6-0 to set up a championship match against CV’s Chris Trefry and Brad Heaton.
Trefry and Heaton overcame Mead’s Chris Koshman and Paul Dedura 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
In girls play, Mead’s Amy Fong will face University’s Leslie Whitten for the championship.
Fong defeated Rogers’ Daniela Paparella 6-0, 6-1 and Whitten posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Kendra Leyda of Gonzaga Prep.
In doubles, Ferris’ Darcy Reumping and K.C. Richards beat Emily Stuenkel and Nicole Destafano of University 6-0, 6-2. They will play Lewis and Clark’s Anna Adolphson and Julie Mattox. The LC duo beat Ferris’ Kellie Barker and Megan-McKitterick 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).
All championship matches are at CV at 3:30 p.m.
Golf
Ritzville’s girls stole the show in a sub-district qualifier at the par-72 Harrington Golf Course.
The Broncos’ Angela Gibler was the medalist with a 97, and was followed by teammates Katie Kirkendall (99), Marci Kison (101) and Robyn Telecky (103).
Also, Ritzville’s Emily Ulleland (108) finished sixth.
Ritzville ran away with the team title with a 297 score. St. JohnEndicott was the nearest competitor at 349.
The top 14 golfers advanced to the District 7-9 Bi-County Tournament, to be held Monday at The Fairways at 10 a.m. The top eight from the district tournament advance to the state tournament.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo