Champion Panthers Roar At Plate

Perhaps they should be called “Meaderer’s Row.”

Champion Mead ended up hitting .410 against Greater Spokane League baseball opponents.

First baseman/pitcher Grant Reeves led the way, with 30 hits in 55 at-bats (.545). Evan Thomas, whose season ended when he was hit in the face by a line drive, hit .560 in six games.

Reeves’ 46 RBIs shattered the league-record 31 set by Shadle Park’s Matt Howard in 1989. Reeves also had eight game-winning RBIs and seven home runs.

Also swinging away for the Panthers: Brandon Muzatko, .421 with nine doubles and 26 RBIs; Adam Strate, .463; Sam Hess, .460 with 28 runs; and Joe Chimienti, .442.

Rob Elmer was 7-0, second-best record for a GSL pitcher. North Central’s Dave Frigaard went 8-0 in 1978.

Mead lost three GSL games, all by one run.

Ferris catcher Brian Munhall finished strong, compiling a .640 batting average and .960 slugging percentage in the Saxons’ final six GSL games.

Munhall, who finished at .423 and .710, also threw out 46 percent of the baserunners attempting to steal. His 30 hits tie him with Reeves for third place all-time in the league, while his 26 RBIs leave him tied for eighth.

NEA signees

Chewelah standout Hayden Kristiansen, the defending State A champion in the 800 meters, will continue her track career at University of New Mexico. Another Northeast A standout, Newport’s Michele Carrara, will play basketball at St. Martin’s in Lacey, Wash.

Long shot at Seafirst

The buzz out at Seafirst Stadium is that Northwest Christian’s Abe Nisbet hit a homer over the center-field fence on May 12.

Tom Nisbet, Abe’s father, estimated the shot at 430 feet or more. Nisbet hit .763 for the Crusaders (23-1), a favorite for Saturday’s Region III-B tournament at Spokane Falls Community College.

State B basketball allocations

District 9 (Whitman County/Blue Mountain), limited to one boys State B basketball allocation last year, is expected to receive two each for 1998 and ‘99.

District 1-2-3 (Northwest) will likely receive five boys and five girls bids during the next two years. In District 7 (Bi-County/Panorama), boys will receive four in ‘98 and three in ‘99; girls get three in ‘98 and four in ‘99.

Teams to join Great Northern League

To avoid being stuck in a three-team 1A softball league next year, Colfax, Kettle Falls and Freeman will play in the eight-team 2A Great Northern League. All three schools qualified for this year’s District AA/A tournament.

Around the state

Oroville football coach Rick Guenther has resigned. He led the Hornets to the 1995 B-11 semifinals and ‘96 quarterfinals. Reportedly, Guenther also quit his teaching job. … After making its first appearance at the boys State B basketball tournament last March, Trout Lake looks like a strong candidate for two straight. Mark Gottschalk, a 6-11 post from White Salmon, has transferred to Trout Lake to join eight underclassmen.

, DataTimes