Quick hits
LOOKING AHEAD
Of course it’s freezing. Spring sports have started.
The busiest prep season of the year also starts out – usually – as the coldest. But the action is warm. Although at those 7 p.m. boys soccer matches, even sizzling action isn’t as important as a good blanket.
The Greater Spokane League softball season gets off on a blistering start, with defending champ Mead facing league favorites University and Shadle Park in the first week. The soccer season got under way Wednesday, and Monday one of the key matches is one of those cold ones, when U-Hi hosts Lewis and Clark at 7 p.m. The baseball battles begin Tuesday with seven games. The league’s first Avista Stadium game pits recent league powers North Central and U-Hi.
GSL games of interest
Softball
Friday, Mead at University, 3:30 p.m.
The GSL gets off to fast start this week with the three teams predicted to finish on top playing somewhat of a round-robin. Friday’s game will match last year’s two state participants and pits last year’s MVP, Kim Watson, against state standout Linse Vlahovich in the circle. Mead, the defending league champ, turns around and hosts this year’s favorite, Shadle, on Tuesday. The Highlanders, led by senior pitcher Stephanie Trudeau, open the season today at Central Valley against a Bears team that is expected to make the playoffs.
Baseball
Last year nine of 14 GSL teams finished their league seasons with .500 records or better and two others had eight wins. So every game is important in a league that begins Tuesday. Among the key 3 p.m. opening games are Ferris at Mead and LC at Shadle.
Soccer
LC, Mt. Spokane and Ferris jump from yesterday’s GSL frying pans into Monday’s fires, with Ferris hosting East Valley and Mt. Spokane hosting Cheney in 4 p.m. matches, and LC traveling to U-Hi at 7 p.m. Then on Wednesday, Mt. Spokane is at district rival Mead.
LOOKING AROUND
Locals will enter Hall of Fame
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will honor its second Hall of Fame class next month, and three of the 13 honorees have Inland Northwest ties.
The most famous name is Ron Cey, the 1966 Mt. Tahoma High graduate who played baseball for Bobo Brayton at Washington State University. Cey, known in baseball circles as the “Penguin,” made a name for himself as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ third baseman in the 1970s, earning All-Star honors six times and hitting 316 career home runs.
Clyde (Chic) Sale didn’t use a bat to gain fame – his tool was a whistle. Sale officiated football in the Spokane area for more than 50 years and basketball for 35. He also served as the assigning secretary for the two local organizations.
Clayton Dunn was a long-time principal and superintendent at area schools. He also served the WIAA for almost 25 years as an Executive Board member and eligibility hearing officer. Dunn has also been involved in running that most Spokane of high school institutions, the State B Tournament, serving as the director for five years in the mid-1990s.
Notes from around the state
Spokane’s girls have garnered many statewide honors since the end of basketball season, including U-Hi sophomore Angie Bjorklund being named the Tacoma News Tribune’s Player of the Year. She was joined on the TNT’s first team by LC’s Briann January, a senior headed to Arizona State. Jami Bjorklund, Angie’s senior sister who will play at Gonzaga University next year, earned second-team honors. The Seattle Times named Malia O’Neal of state champ Garfield as its Player of the Year, but Angie and January were named to the first team, while Jami and LC’s Heather Bowman were second-team selections. The Times also names Players of the Year and Coach of the Year at all levels for boys and girls. Republic’s Zach Gianukakis earned the boys’ B player honors and Medical Lake’s Arnold Brown, who guided the Cardinals to the state title, the 2A coach of the year award. On the girls’ side, Freeman’s Jessie DePell was the 1A player, while Colfax’s Corey Baerlocher and Cusick’s J.R. Bluff earned 1A and B coach honors, respectively. … District 8 ruled that former CV softball player Heather Jackson is ineligible for varsity competition at Shadle after transferring. Jackson, who is allowed to play on the junior varsity level, started last year as a freshman for the Bears and is considered one of the league’s better hitters.