Locally: Sam Brasch headlines NWAC Hall of Fame class

Sam Brasch, who had successful careers as a basketball player and coach, leads a quartet of former Community Colleges of Spokane standouts who will be inducted into the Northwest Athletic Conference Hall of Fame on Thursday in Pasco.

Joining him at the head table will be former athletes Vic Wallace, football and track, 1979-81; Mike Rice, football and tennis, 1983-85; and Anthony Davis, football, 1987-89.

Also being inducted are former Columbia Basin standouts Curt Didier (football) and Mike Fitzpatrick (wrestling), and the 1983 Wenatchee Valley and 1986 Walla Walla football teams. Wenatchee was coached by North Central graduate Sandy Cooprider with two former Whitworth Pirates, Gene Baker and John Murio, among his assistants.

Ceremonies at the Red Lion Inn begin at 6 p.m.

Brasch, an all-regional standout at Central Valley his senior year in 1970, was a double-figure scorer on the first CCS men’s team in 1971-72, which won the Eastern Region championship.

He went on to play two All-Northwest Conference seasons at Whitworth before getting into coaching at Whitworth. He became CCS men’s coach in 1981, coaching the Sasquatch for 21 seasons, winning four Eastern Region titles and Coach of the Year honors. His 1984 team set a still-standing Eastern Region record of 15-0.

Wallace, a two-sport All-City star at North Central, continued on that path at CCS. He was a record-setting wide receiver in football, selected second-team all-conference his sophomore year. In track, he won six NWAACC championships in two years. After finishing his college career at Idaho, he went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL and the Spokane Fury. He is now the track and field coach at West Valley High School.

Rice, from Twin Falls, Idaho, was a first-team All-NWAACC wide receiver and all-purpose rusher. He led the NWAACC in scoring in 1984 with 11 touchdowns and was Offensive Player of the Year. After finishing his college career at Montana, he was drafted into the NFL by the New York Jets as a wide receiver and punter. He also played No. 1 singles on the CCS men’s tennis team.

Davis, from Pasco, was the NWAACC Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. He went on to the University of Utah, where he was twice All-WAC, before being drafted into the NFL. He played eight professional seasons, including time with the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens, with whom he earned a Super Bowl ring after the 2000 season.

College scene

Megan John became the first Whitworth softball player to earn Academic All-America honors when the junior from Beaverton, Oregon, was named to the 2015 Capital One Academic All-America Division III second team as a designated hitter. John has a 3.97 grade-point average as a health science major.

• Geremy McKay , who is transferring to Eastern Washington from the University of Albany to play men’s basketball, has been selected to the Australia Under-19 National Team that will play this summer at the Under-19 World Championships in Greece. In 2013, he was a member of the U18 national team.

McKay, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward from Melbourne, Australia, red-shirted as a freshman last season at Albany and will have to sit out the 2015-16 season under NCAA transfer rules. He will join three other Australians at EWU, returnees Venky Jois and Felix Von Hofe, and signee Michael Wearne.

• Michael Stralser , a senior decathlete from Cheney, was the men’s inspirational award winner at the Western Washington track and field awards ceremony last week.

• Mark Seely , a junior jumper from Central Valley, was named one of four Western men’s team captains for the 2015-16 track and field season.

• Kane Ulrich , a sophomore catcher/infielder from Gonzaga Prep, helped Lower Columbia win the school’s 11th Northwest Athletic Conference baseball championship last week with a 6-1 victory over Mt. Hood in the championship game on its home field in Longview, Washington.

Ulrich, who hit .350 in conference play, had a run-scoring double for the Red Devils’ run in a 2-1 loss to Mt. Hood in the game that forced the if-necessary title game.

Letter of intent

Wenatchee Valley men’s basketball – Colton Magers, Wilbur-Creston, three-sport standout was second-team All-Northeast 2B as a senior after being first-team All-NE 1B South as a sophomore and junior.

Softball

Josie Schultz, a Freeman senior, has been selected as the 13th recipient of the Doug “Pops” Bender Scholarship Award by the Inland Empire Softball Hall of Fame.

Schultz, a three-time All-Northeast A League first-team selection after earning second-team honors as a freshman, will be recognized at the 2015 Inland Empire Softball Hall of Fame induction on July 11 at the Shriners Event Center, 7217 W. Westbow Ave. The award carries $1,000 that Schultz plans to use to attend and play at Community Colleges of Spokane.

The infielder hit above .500 this season with a career batting average nearing .500 and carries a 4.0 grade-point average.

Selected for induction into the hall of fame are Todd Ulrich as a sponsor, coach and modified fastpitch player; Brian Reid and Rick Laughlin, modified fastpitch players; and Len Pupo, men’s fastpitch.

Mike Murphey, in fastpitch and modified fastpitch, and Morris Clark, in slowpitch, whose multi-faceted careers included playing, coaching and sponsoring, are going into the Hall of Honor.

The 1970s Big Foot Tavern men’s slowpitch team is being inducted as a Team of the Decade and Joe Henderson and Ron Wardrop, hall of fame members who continue to support the shrine, will receive the Hank Coplen Spotlite Award.

Info: Doug Bender, 990-1894, or Dan Fry, 624-5842.

• Seven Spokane Softball Umpires Association officials were assigned to state tournaments:

State 4A, Spokane – Kathleen Burns, umpire in chief; Marty Boles; Bryan Raschka. State 3A, Lacey – Jeff Olson. State 2A, Selah – Brian Hall. State 1A, Richland – Chuck DeBruin. State 1B/2B, Yakima – Tammy Doffek.

Volleyball

Payton Douglass, a two-time first-team All-Greater Spokane League libero who will be a senior at Mead in the fall, has verbally committed to play at the University of San Diego, her family announced.

By selecting San Diego, a West Coast Conference school, Douglass will be able to play against her sister, Morgan, who will be a senior at Gonzaga in Payton’s freshman year.