Gonzaga Promotes Baseball Assistant

Mark Machtolf, a member of the Gonzaga University coaching staff seven of the last 12 years, has been promoted to associate head baseball coach at the school.

Athletic director Mike Roth and head baseball coach Steve Hertz made the announcement.

Machtolf, a Spokane native, graduated from Gonzaga Prep and went on to a two-sport career at Stanford University. He has been a full-time assistant to Hertz the past two seasons.

Machtolf first joined the Bulldogs in 1988 as a full-time graduate assistant under Hertz. He left following the 1990 season to pursue his graduate studies at Whitworth College, where he served as an assistant coach in 1991 while earning his master’s degree and teaching certification. From 1992-95 he taught history and was the head baseball coach at G-Prep, then returned to Hertz’s staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 1996 for two seasons while continuing his high school teaching responsibilities. He was named a full-time assistant in 1997.

“Mark deserves this opportunity and increased responsibility within this program,” Hertz said. “He is a relentless worker and an excellent baseball mind. He relates well to the student-athletes because he has been where we all strive to be.”

Machtolf, who earned four letters in baseball and two in football at Stanford, hit .430 in the 1987 College World Series as the Cardinal won the championship.

Baseball

Four high school players and a junior college transfer have signed letters of intent with the University of Washington, but an earlier signee has been lost to the pros, coach Ken Knutson said.

Jermaine Smiley, who played at Bellevue Community College, chose the Huskies after being picked by Kansas City in the 19th round of the amateur draft this month. Another signee, right-handed pitcher Sean White of Mercer Island, was chosen by Baltimore in the 41st round.

Others signees are infielder Brian Johnson of Ephrata, left-handed pitcher Cam McCoy of Kelso and infielder Steve DeClerck of Medford, Ore.

Right-hander Jason Stumm of Centralia, who signed an early letter last fall, has signed with the Chicago White Sox after being chosen in the first round of the draft.

Basketball

Spokane Regional AAU Club registration is open for the 1999-2000 season for competitive boys and girls teams in grades 4 through 9.

Intent-to-play forms are available at the new AAU office, 10807 E. Montgomery, Suite 2.

Info: 892-4930.

Bowling

Matt Descoteaux got off to a hot start in the Wednesday Junior Scratch League last month at Valley Bowl.

Descoteaux, 15, a student at Northwest Christian, recorded his second perfect game, spinning off the 300 in the second week of the season to highlight a 937 four-game series May 19.

Descoteaux, whose first 300 came during the 1997-98 junior season at Valley Bowl, had games of 193-300-168-276, a 234-plus average.

Golf

The YMCA Partners for Youth campaign will benefit from proceeds at the second annual golf scramble at Downriver Golf Course on July 30.

It’s a four-person team scramble with a shotgun start at 1:30 p.m. Cost is $40 per person and includes greens fees and a dinner, plus prizes. Also, there will be a hole-in-one competition with a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire and Las Vegas vacation among the prizes.

The field is limited to 36 teams.

Info: 838-3577, ext. 131.

In-line hockey

The Spokane Greyhounds defeated the Portland Fury 5-4 for the championship in the 16-and-under division at the Northwest Regional USA/RS Inline Hockey Championships last weekend at Valley Sports Arena.

Spokane went 5-0 in the tournament. The Greyhounds’ Ben Nelson was named MVP of the division and teammate Adam Harding won the goalie award.

Portland Rollerhawks teams won the other two divisions, beating Nampa, Idaho, 6-1 in the 12-U final and the Spokane Sharks 6-4 for the 14U title. Spokane’s Ryan Sims was named best 14-U goalie.

Mountain climbing

Greg Funseth, a 1975 graduate of Shadle Park High School, climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska, reaching the summit on June 18.

Funseth, a nephew of the late golfer Rod Funseth, now lives in Park City, Utah, with his wife, JoAnn.

Skiing

Season tickets for the 1999-2000 season at Schweitzer Mountain are on sale at the Sandpoint resort.

Through Aug. 30, prices are $199 for adults and $149 for youth ages 7 through 17. After Aug. 30, prices go to $599 and $349, respectively.

Info: (208) 263-9555.

Soccer

The Spokane Strikers U-12 girls developmental team made it to the semifinals of a 6-on-6 tournament last weekend at Walt Disney World’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.

The Strikers, members of the River City Steelers Club, lost 2-1 in double overtime to FCA Kumba, the Florida state champion, which won the division at the tournament.

The Strikers have qualified to play at the U-13 select level in statewide competition this fall.

The U-14 Spokane Skyhawks boys team has qualified to play at Level 1 in the eight-team Washington State Youth Soccer Association premier league this fall.

The Skyhawks had a 3-1 record in qualifying competition.

Volleyball

Gonzaga University middle blocker Heather Osberg will play for the Canadian A-2 women’s team July 26-31 at the Colorado Cup in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Osberg, a native of West Vancouver, British Columbia, qualified during a tryout camp in May, then remained with the Canadian Senior National Team for two more weeks of workouts. The A-2 players are groomed to compete with the Senior National Team following the 2000 Olympics.

“This is an excellent opportunity for Heather,” GU coach Eva Windlin-Jansen said. “To play against outstanding international competition will help improve her skills, and will also give her a head start to making the Senior National Team following the Olympics. She was the best player in the A-2 tryouts.”

Miscellany

Washington State athletic director Rick Dickson has been named a vice president of the Pacific-10 Conference for 1999-2000.

Jerry Porras, faculty athletic representative at Stanford, was named president. Betsy Mosher, senior associate athletic director at Arizona State, is another vice president. Officers serve one year.

The Seattle Mariners Women’s Club will accept applications until July 15 for the Bev and Wes Stock Scholarship it awards yearly.

A $1,000 scholarship goes to a high school graduate who will enter college this fall and pursue an athletic-related career. For information, write the Seattle Mariners Women’s Club, P.O. Box 4100, Seattle, WA 98104.