Legion playoffs kick off this week

The Spokane American Legion baseball playoffs are in full swing tonight in all three divisions.

The first-place Spokane Bandits, who won the Senior (AAA) division by five games over the second-place Spokane Cannons, are the only team not playing tonight in the Senior tournament at A.K. Jackson Field. They will play Wednesday night against the winner of today’s 4 p.m. loser-out contest between the No. 4 seed Pullman Patriots and No. 5 seed Spokane Blue Devils.

A four-team, double-elimination tournament will follow the Patriots-Blue Devils contest, starting tonight at 7 p.m. between the Cannons and the No. 3 seed Spokane Northstars.

All games will be nine innings, and the 10-run rule will be enforced. One game will be played each night at 7 p.m., leading up to Sunday’s championship at 5 p.m.

The winner will advance to the state Senior tourney in Yakima, starting July 30.

The Junior (AA) division tournaments kicked off Monday night with four loser-out contests, as six teams each from North and South compete for berths into this weekend’s four-team district tourney.

Mt. Spokane and North Central finished 1-2 in the North, earning byes into the two best-of-three North championship series, which begin tonight at their home sites. University and Lewis and Clark earned the top two South seeds and will also play at home tonight.

The two remaining teams from each division will square off in best-of-three series Friday and Saturday as part of the district tournament. The winners will play Sunday for the top two seeds to next weekend’s state tournament in Centralia, while the losers will play a loser-out game for the third seed.

The Colt (A) tournament also kicked off Monday in the same format as the Junior tournament. Three teams will advance to state at a site on the West side.

“In Legion action last week, the Northstars defeated Cranbrook 8-0 to win the Trail (B.C.) Home Hardware Tournament on Sunday. Michael McCanna went 4 for 4, including two doubles and a home run, with three runs and four RBIs in the championship. … Three of Cameron Joslyn‘s four hits went for doubles, as the Northstars beat the Blue Devils 10-6 on July 12. … Andrew Kittredge provided the top Junior performance of the week, throwing a five-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts and no walks as Ferris beat LC 6-0 on July 11.

“The Spokane Pony 10U All-Star team will battle for this year’s 10U state title Saturday and Sunday in Enumclaw.

If Spokane wins state, they would earn a regional berth and travel to California for a shot at next month’s Mustang League World Series in Irvine, Texas.

The players are: Matt Adams, Cole Arthur, Hayden Brooks, Connor Cantu, Sean Collins, Payton Gray, Tyler Huck, David Krause, Gus Lorge, Jordan McGowan, Ryan Peterson, Josh Tower and Ryan True. Spokane is coached by Mark McGowan, Dan Cantu and Dan Peterson.

Basketball

The Spokane Stars Elite Blue girls basketball team will play locally for the last time this weekend at The Warehouse Summer Classic.

The NCAA-sanctioned Classic, which begins Thursday, features 26 teams in four pools from three states and Canada. Also included are teams from Mead and Ferris.

The Stars will play Friday against teams from Montana and San Jose at 12:20 and 3:50 p.m. in pool play on the Jazz Court. Saturday they play at 10:10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. against Emerald City and Puget Sound.

The top two teams in each pool advance to the single elimination championship tournament which begins at 5:10 p.m. Saturday and concludes Sunday with the semifinals at 10:10 a.m. and the championship game at 12:30 p.m.

Other pool teams compete in a consolation loser-out tourney.

“Last week, the Stars improved to 34-1 and defended their Seattle Mid-Summer Night’s Madness Nationals championship, defeating the Pacific Pistols of California 66-48 in the championship game.

The Stars won eight straight games, none of them close. In the semifinals, they defeated their travel partners, Spokane Stars Elite Red, 59-37. Elite Red finished third. Heather Bowman of Lewis and Clark averaged 11.8 points per game and Angie Bjorklund of University averaged 11.3. Bjorklund scored a combined 35 points in the final two games.

The Stars are gearing up to participate in the Nike National Championships in Augusta, Ga., July 25-30.

“Spokane area high schools won three of four divisions at last weekend’s Fire and Fall Back tournament at the Warehouse Athletic Facility. Ferris defeated Tahoma of Seattle in the men’s large varsity championship, while University defeated Lewis and Clark in the women’s large varsity and Deer Park won the women’s small varsity. Friday Harbor took the men’s small varsity crown.

Softball

Spokane Storm lived dangerously in Saturday pool play but had a more comfortable time on Sunday to win the championship of the Washington State Games 18U B tournament last weekend in Yakima.

Storm, a 16U A team, won six of seven games. They were involved in four Saturday pool games that were decided either in the seventh inning or by international tiebreaker.

Once in Sunday’s tournament, Spokane beat Olympia Storm 8-0, Seattle Spice 5-3 in the semifinals and Walla Walla Nitro 6-1 in the title game.

Mt. Spokane’s Angel Urann was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs in the title game, and Gonzaga Prep’s Katie Antich was 2 for 4 and scored twice. Timberlake’s Kala Allred pitched four wins, including a one-hitter over Olympia and the title win on Sunday.

Tennis

Twelve-year-old Audrionna Farr finished second in the Girls 16s singles division Sunday at the Inland Empire Junior Championships held by the Spokane Racquet Club.

Farr defeated No. 2 seed Molly Knox 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinal before falling to 2005 Washington State 4A sixth-place finisher Natalia Agarycheva 4-6, 4-6 in the championship.

Soccer

The River City SC Thunder U-12 team is leaving Spokane today for the U.S Club Soccer National Championships, starting Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla.

The Thunder are the youngest soccer team from the Spokane area to ever reach a national championship tournament. They qualified by finishing 4-1 at regionals in Boise July 2-5, including wins over Washington powerhouse NW Nationals and Oregon State champion Eastside Chelsea.

Volleyball

The Players Volleyball U-14 club team won the Contest Division and finished 45th overall in the 179-team U-14 division of the Volleyball Festival in Reno, Nev. June 26-July 1.

The Festival brought in over 1,000 teams in seven division from the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Italy.

The team, coached by Jeri Self-Merritt, consists of: Madison Dahlstrom, Alexis Olgard, Hilary Koenigs, Kylie McCluskey, Kiley Kamitomo, Katie Bagdon, Emily Barber and Kayla Clausen.

Golf

Clarkston’s Joel Dahmen earned a berth into the Trusted Choice Big “I” Junior Classic, held July 31-August 4 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Dahmen nailed a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to defeat 4A state champion Nick Grigsby of Central Valley and Tyler Lynn by one stroke to win the Washington State Qualifier July 12 at The Creek at Qualchan.

Stephanie Corey of Seattle earned the girls’ berth to nationals, defeating Annie Brophy of Gonzaga Prep by six shots.

“Erick Henderson of Spokane finished second in the 15-17 boys division of the Banner Bank Junior Invitational on Friday at Walla Walla Country Club.

Henderson shot a two-day total of 3-under 141, finishing three shots behind Kevin Tucker of Kennewick, who won his second straight title.

Also finishing in the top 10 from Spokane were Sean Bulger (T-3rd; 150), Ryan Jones and Jordan Lee (T-9th; 153).

Monika Graf of Wenatchee took the 15-17 girls division with a two-day score of 151, winning by eight strokes over Kaitlin Parsons, also from Wenatchee.

Locals in the top 10 include Katie Sorenson of Liberty Lake (3rd; 162), Sarah Villalovoz of Spokane (T-4th; 164), Krystal Pitkonen of Colbert (6th; 166) and Lauren Kato of Spokane (9th; 180).