Expos Take Gonzaga University Slugger

The Montreal Expos chose Gonza- ga University outfielder Jason Bay in the 22nd round Tuesday as the two-day major league amateur baseball draft concluded.

Bay ended his college career as one of the most prolific power hitters in GU history. In two seasons, he cranked out 35 home runs to rank second on the career list.

In 1999, he hit 20 home runs and set a single-season school record with 74 runs batted in. This spring, he led the WCC with a .388 batting average. Both years, he earned All-West Coast Conference honors.

Bay’s career batting average of .374 ranks sixth on Gonzaga’s career list.

Bay, from Trail, British Columbia, came to Gonzaga from North Idaho College, where he was twice named to the All-Scenic West Athletic Conference team. In 1998, he set school records by hitting .448 and swatting 21 home runs.

He is expected to start the season with Vermont of the Class A short-season New York-Penn League.

Bay’s signing gives Gonzaga seven players in pro ball.

Idaho signings

Three pitchers, a pair of former Coeur d’Alene High standouts and North Idaho College’s ace, were selected as the two-day baseball draft concluded.

Right-handed pitcher Casey Hoorelbeke was the first pick of the 29th round by the Florida Marlins. Lefthander Kirk Gosch of CdA was picked for a second straight year by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was tabbed in the 41st round. Both are Coeur d’Alene grads.

NIC lefty Ryan Lupul of Prince George, British Columbia, was taken by the Texas Rangers in the 48th of the 49 rounds.

Hoorelbeke, an NIC freshman, posted a 5-2 record with a 3.44 ERA. Used primarily as a long reliever, the 6-foot-7 Hoorelbeke had 37 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Gosch, the 1999 Inland Empire League player of the year, was taken in the 28th round last year. He attended Community Colleges of Spokane this year before reportedly being kicked off the team.

Lupul led NIC with a 7-2 record and 3.47 ERA. He was a second team all-Region 18 selection.

UW sports

University of Washington football recruit Grady Sizemore has decided to play professional baseball instead after the Montreal Expos selected him Monday in the third round of the amateur draft.

“I didn’t expect to go this high,” said Sizemore, who was the 75th overall selection as an outfielder. “We told (the Expos) if the deal was there, we’d sign and concentrate on baseball. They gave me everything I wanted.”

Sizemore, a 6-foot-2, 200-pounder, saw his athletic stock rise during his senior year at Cascade High School in Everett. This year, Sizemore, 17, hit .457 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in.

The Huskies have scheduled an eight-day trip to Cuba in September, during which the Huskies will take on teams comprised of Cuban National Team program players in a series of games in Havana.

The Huskies will depart from Seattle on Sept. 2 and return on Sept. 9. During the trip, Washington will play three games against the Cubans, as well as another game in which the two squads will mix, playing with half Huskies and half Cubans.

“This is a terrific opportunity for our team in a number of different ways,” said UW coach Ken Knutson, who just completed his eighth season at the helm. “From a baseball standpoint, it means additional practice and games against the world’s top amateur players. But it is also a wonderful opportunity for the players to travel to a place where not many Americans have been recently. We’re very much looking forward to the trip.”

The Huskies last took a foreign trip in 1981, when the team toured Japan.

American Legion baseball

Shawn Henry struck out seven and Jim Hryniewicz hit a three-run home run to rally the Northstars (2-0) to an 8-5 win over the Silver Lanes Bandits in Senior American Legion play at Jackson Field.

John Dobyns doubled twice, and Ryan VanDoren and Wayne Leyde both went 2 for 3 as the Northstars bounced back from a 3-0 deficit. Jared Vlahovich and Eric Smith both went 2 for 3 for the Bandits (0-3).

In play at Gonzaga University, Ben Sorcinelli scattered four singles over five innings, and Ezra Bocook had a two-run single during a four-run fifth as the Northwest Athletics Blue Devils (3-0) edged the Cannons 9-7.

Patrick Donovan added two RBIs for the Blue Devils. The Cannons (0-2) had a four-run seventh, highlighted by David Marlow’s two-run triple, and brought the potential tying run to the plate.

Boys golf

David Fern of Mead High shot a 3-under-par 68 to tie for the openinground lead at the American Junior Golf Association’s Boise/John Dropping Memorial tournament at Hillcrest Country Club.

Fern, who won the State 4A tournament two weeks ago, is tied with Boise’s Nick Becker. Fern fired a 33 on the front nine.

Five players are two strokes back. Central Valley’s Marty Nauert is tied for 30th place at 76. Alex Prugh of Ferris shot an 81.