Pullman, Chewelah storm ahead to State 2A baseball semifinals

The State 2A baseball semifinals will contain 50 percent Great Northern League teams.

Pullman and Chewelah both won a pair of state games Saturday to qualify for Friday’s semifinals at Parker Field at Yakima Community College.

Sam Tennant hit a two-run homer during a four-run sixth inning, and reliever Ryan Druffel struck out five in three innings as Pullman (22-2) posted an 8-2 win over Elma (14-8) in a state quarterfinal at Whitworth College.

Kiel Smith went 4 for 5 and Michael McCanna struck out nine and homered as Chewelah (19-6) blasted East Valley-Yakima 14-6 in a state quarterfinal at Parker Field. Kirk Kubik, Russ Chartney and A.J. Proszek combined for seven runs batted in to guide the Cougars’ 18-hit attack.

Pullman will meet Blaine at 4 p.m. and Chewelah will take on Lakewood at 7 in semifinals.

Pullman opened the day with a 4-0 win over Ephrata (20-5). Justin Cooper pitched a three-hitter, striking out nine, and Justin Krieger and J.T. Levenseller had RBI doubles in the second for the Greyhounds.

Smith went 3 for 3 with an RBI and Proszek pitched a four-hitter as Chewelah opened with a 2-1 win over Omak.

•Nick Collison struck out 12 and Myles Melendez went 3 for 5 with two RBIs as Newport (24-0) defeated Columbia-Burbank 10-4 in a State 1A quarterfinal at Moses Lake. The Grizzlies will play Kalama at 7 p.m. Friday in a semifinal at Yakima County Stadium. Chad Hunt had an RBI double in Newport’s six-run seventh, which was aided by four Columbia errors. Newport opened the day with a 3-0 win over Royal, as Collison, Ajay Miltner and Josh Tiede combined on a three-hitter. Tiede and Melendez had RBIs. … Freeman (12-11) lost to Brewster 15-3 in a State 1A quarterfinal at Wenatchee. Freeman walked five and hit three batters during the Bears’ seven-run third. Brewster will meet University Prep in Friday’s other semifinal. Freeman began the day with a 7-5 win over Warden. Miles Tollett had three RBIs, including a two-run single in the third, and Josh Altmeyer earned the save after coming in with one out and two on in the sixth.

•Lind-Ritzville and Northport qualified for the State B semifinals by winning twice during state openers. Tucker Guglielmino’s two-out triple on a 0-2 pitch in the eighth gave Northport (19-3) a 10-9 win over Reardan (17-9) in a quarterfinal at Spokane Falls Community College. Reardan had tied the game in the seventh on Brad Alberts’ two-out RBI single. … Northport opened with a 5-1 win over Kittitas. Sam Burke (11-1) struck out 14, including seven of the first eight batters, and Steven Prince had a two-run triple during the Mustangs’ three-run seventh. … L-R (22-2) qualified by scoring five runs in the sixth to defeat Waterville 10-8 at Davis High in Yakima. Nate Bucher had the go-ahead single for the Broncos, and Nick Ashley struck out the side in the seventh for a save. The Broncos began the day with a 6-2 win over Rainier Christian, with Ashley providing the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth and Jake Kragt adding a two-run triple. … In Friday’s semifinals at Yakima County Stadium, L-R will play DeSales at 10 a.m. and Northport will meet Wahkiakum at 1 p.m. … Reardan started its day at SFCC with a 6-2 win over Colton (14-5). Alberts had two of the Indians’ six hits. … Seth Pleger’s two-run single in the fourth led La Salle to a 6-2 win over Almira/Coulee-Hartline (12-10) in an opener at Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla. La Salle then lost to DeSales 6-2.

Softball

Melissa Rice (19-1) struck out 11 and threw a two-hitter as Colville (21-1) defeated Medical Lake 2-0 in the District 7 2A tournament title game at Medical Lake. The Indians qualified as the No. 1 seed to the state tournament, Friday and Saturday in Wenatchee. Colville scored both runs in the fourth. Freshman Emilee Lepp led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball. Whitney Loan singled home Nikki Bardwell with the insurance run. … Lakeside (12-12) earned the other state berth with a 4-2 win over ML (12-9) to complete the day. The Eagles scored three runs in the first off throwing errors. … Colville opened the day with a 17-0 win over Chewelah. Bardwell hit a three-run homer and had six RBIs, and Jordan Emmil hit a two-run homer during a 13-run first. … ML opened the day with a 7-6 win over Lakeside.

•Laura Nooner (10-2) pitched a one-hitter, striking out 11 and walking none, as Freeman (17-5) qualified for state with a 10-0 win over Oroville in 1A regional play at Brewster. Freeman will advance as District 7’s top seed to state play, Friday and Saturday at Moses Lake. … Also at Brewster, Colfax (15-8) earned a state berth as Lynnea Vantrease struck out 10 and pitched a two-hitter during a 12-0 win over Okanogan. Michelle Gylling went 3 for 4 for the Bulldogs, and Kristyn Pearson, Jill Solbrack and Sadie Lazzarini combined for seven RBIs. Colfax earned the No. 3 seed from District 6.

•Amanda Grumbach (19-1) pitched a one-hitter, striking out nine and walking three, to lead Curlew (24-2) to a 6-1 win over Liberty in the District 7 B title game at Kettle Falls. Jessica Mangis of the Lancers (19-6) struck out 14 and was working on a shutout until Rachel Hahn’s two-out, two-run single in the fourth. Both teams advance to the state tournament, Friday and Saturday in Yakima. … Also at KF, Jen Ostrom had a two-run triple in the sixth as Selkirk (20-4) defeated Inchelium 6-4 in the game for third and fourth seeds to state. … Odessa (17-10) earned the fifth and final state berth with a 4-3 win over Republic (14-14). Jennie Harp (17-9) struck out eight, and Sami Palmer had an RBI triple and Sara Fink an RBI single during a three-run first. … Selkirk opened the day with a 4-0 win over Odessa. Molly Larson had a two-run double and Heather Pope a two-run single during the Rangers’ first. … Inchelium (21-6) began the day with an 8-2 win over Republic. Destiny Christianson pitched a one-hitter, striking out eight, and Carly Seastrom tripled, homered and had three RBIs for the Hornets.

•Kim Weber scattered eight hits as Colton defeated Touchet 7-5 in the title game of the District 9 B tournament at Walla Walla. Both teams advance to state play at Yakima, as does No. 3 DeSales, which earned the spot with a 6-0 win over LaCrosse-Washtucna (14-10).

Track and field

Newport’s boys won the team title during the 1A regional meet at Central Valley. Newport scored 162 points for a 59-point gap over Freeman. Liberty Bell’s girls scored 126 points to hold off Lake Roosevelt (97.5) and Newport (92.5). Earning double wins for Newport were Tony Yeaw in the 100 (11.26 seconds) and 200 meters (22.98), and Tony Thelin in the 1,600 (4:38.4) and 3,200 (10:19.03). Justin Emel of the Grizzlies won the 300 hurdles in 39.8 and placed second in the 110 hurdles (15.00) to teammate Ian Weber, who ran 14.99. Freeman’s Kevin Hatch won the boys long jump (22 feet, 3 inches), high jump (6-0) and pole vault (15-3). Leading Newport’s girls to third were champions Terese Hahn, 3,200, 12:14.9; Megan Stanley, pole vault, 9-4 1/2 ; and Vanessa Curry, shot put, 36-1.

•Freshman Ashley Stabl added wins in the 200 (27.5) and 400 (1:00.70) to the 300 hurdles she won Friday, leading Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia’s girls to the team title at the District 9 B meet at Washington State’s Mooberry Track. The Nighthawks also won the 1,600 relay while totaling 110 points, 11 more than runner-up DeSales. St. John-Endicott’s Katie Corder, who won the shot put on Friday, took the discus at 110-9. Waitsburg (106 points) won the boys title by 10 points over Pomeroy. Gar-Pal’s Jesse Cole tied the meet record while winning the 100 in 11.0, and added the 200 title in 23.0.