Locally: Rich Hobson voted into USA Softball Northwest Mountain Region 9 Hall of Fame
Rich Hobson of Spokane, who has spent more than one-third of his 40-year softball umpiring career in leadership positions, has been voted into the USA Softball Northwest Mountain Region 9 Hall of Fame.
A member of the Class of 2022, he has umpired and instructed at the highest amateur levels. He will be inducted in January.
“Rich has all the qualities a hall-of-famer should have,” said longtime friend and colleague Malcolm Boyles of Bothell, Washington, a former Amateur Softball Association Western Deputy Director of Umpires. He has “the ability to demonstrate excellence on the field and leadership abilities that are known and respected nationally.
“He was a change-maker and visionary,” Boyles added. “He changed the long-held practice of top-down leadership” in the region “to a collaborative approach by state and metro associations to encourage working together to make the whole region stronger on the national stage.”
Hobson started umpiring in 1980 and almost immediately was sought out to serve or lead in several areas. He has held multiple positions on the Spokane Softball Umpires Association board of directors, including twice as president, and is currently the association treasurer.
He was selected the Spokane Amateur Softball Association umpire in chief in 1989, a position he held until he was named to the ASA National Umpire Staff in 1994. He was one of the most sought-after instructors on the staff, leading training schools and clinics around the country, and even was sent to Germany in 1998 to teach a school. He retired from the NUS in 2004.
During that period, he was UIC for 19 ASA national championship tournaments, including the top-of-the line men’s and women’s major modified and men’s and coed major slowpitch.
He umpired men’s and women’s major fastpitch and men’s and women’s major slowpitch, and twice umpired Olympic-bound U.S. Women’s National Team exhibitions, one in Spokane, one in Seattle. He was a charter member of the Pac-10 umpire staff in 1993.
Hobson was inducted into the Inland Empire Softball Hall of Fame in 2001, the USA Softball of Idaho Hall of Fame in 2018, received the Washington Officials Association Meritorious Service Award in 1998, the Inland Empire Sports Writers and Broadcasters’ 25-Year Award in 2016 and was named an ASA Elite Umpire in fastpitch in 2011.
Baseball
The eighth edition of the Spokane Indians’ community update, Home Base, is available on the team website at milb.com/spokane/community/homebase. It includes a tribute to the late former Indians manager and Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, some inspirational quotes, a feature on Home Town hero Rick Clark and a visit with a couple of mascot Otto’s Best Pals.
College scene
After a historic campaign during which the Washington State women’s soccer team advance to its first College Cup in 2019, the 2021 edition of the Cougars was selected to finish fourth in conference play in the Pac-12 coaches’ preseason poll.
It marks the second consecutive season WSU was picked fourth, tying its highest preseason prediction. Defending conference and national champion Stanford was picked first for a record sixth consecutive season, followed by UCLA and USC ahead of WSU.
While the Cougars have some big shoes to fill, they are led by a senior class that has put together the most successful three-year run in program history, including forward Makamae Gomera-Stevens and defender Brianna Alger, who were selected in the 2021 NWSL draft.
WSU has one of the top-ranked freshman classes in the country, including Elite Clubs league player of the year Marin Whieldon, a midfielder, and also added veteran goalie Marissa Zucchetto, who transferred from Texas Tech. The fourth-year keeper led the nation in shutouts as a sophomore and led the Red Raiders into the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons.
• Demitrius Kigeya, a junior forward who helped ignite the Gonzaga offense last season, has been named to the preseason All-West Coast Conference men’s soccer team and the Bulldogs were picked to finish fifth in the coaches’ preseason poll.
Kiegya was selected to the All-WCC second team in 2019 after being named to the all-freshman team in 2018.
Loyola Marymount edged defending champion Saint Mary’s in the coaches’ voting.
• Washington State sophomore Magda Jehlářová was named the Pac-12 Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 25-31 for her performance in a road sweep of Arizona State that went a combined nine sets.
It was the second conference defensive award for the middle from Prerov, Czech Republic. She earned her first award during the spring.
Jehlářová had two solo blocks, five block assists, 11 kills on 20 attacks (a .400 hitting percentage), one service ace and two digs in the five-set first match. In the four-set second, she had two solo blocks, five block assists, 11 kills on 19 attacks (.526 hitting percentage) and two aces.
• Kennedy Warren, a junior middle blocker at Idaho, was the Big Sky Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 2 after she average 5.8 kills per set and hit. .445 while leading the Vandals to two victories.
Her 41 total kills included a career-high 25 in the first match in which she had a double-double with 14 digs. In the second match, she hit .417 with 16 kills and a career-high three service aces.
• Whitworth junior Ryan Grady broke the schools’ Megan Thompson Aquatic Center record in the men’s 200-yard individual medley on Jan. 30, clocking 1:51.66 to top the mark of 1:53.75. It was Grady’s fourth victory of the day in the Pirates’ 143.5-83.5 Northwest Conference dual meet win over Pacific Lutheran.
• Idaho swept the Western Athletic Conference swimmer and diver of the week honors for the last week of January. Junior Katie Hale earned WAC swimmer honors after four wins Jan. 30 against conference rival Dixie State. Allison Shimp took diver honors after sweeping both boards during the weekend.
• Saint Martin’s junior forward Claire Dingus from University High was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball player of the week Feb. 1 after she put together a career week that included two 20-plus point performances and 27 rebounds as the Saints split two games at Northwest Nazarene.
Dingus had career highs of 28 points and 16 rebounds in a Jan. 29 win, adding five assists, and followed with 28 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal in a Jan. 30 loss. For the week, she shot 75.9% from the field and 50% from 3-point range.
• The Gonzaga men (fifth) and women (13th) are both ranked in the USTFCCCA West Region preseason cross country polls. Fifth is the school’s best preseason ranking. Last season the men started seventh, their previous best, and wound up the season ranked sixth. Stride Report, a national publication, has GU ranked No. 20 in its national preseason poll.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference announced its 2020 cross country championship, which was postponed until March 26, will be relocated to Lewiston because of pandemic restrictions in Oregon. It was originally scheduled for Klamath Falls, Oregon.
• Fifth-year student Jessica Mangrobang and junior Quynn Duong of Gonzaga were named to the preseason All-West Coast Conference women’s golf team and the Bulldogs were selected by the coaches to finish fourth.
Duong, the 2018-19 WCC Freshman of the Year and All-WCC first team that year, led the Zags with a 72.60 stroke average as a sophomore. Mangrobang had two top-five finishes last season and a 74.78 stroke average.
• Gonzaga was selected to finish ninth in the WCC men’s golf coaches’ preseason poll as Pepperdine, the No. 1 team in the nation at the end of the 2019-20 season, was the unanimous pick to retain its title. No Zags were named to the preseason All-WCC team.
Golf
Derek Bayley of Rathdrum and Mitchel Carlson of Tempe, Arizona, were in a five-way tie for 15th at 18-under-par 124 (59-65) in the Outlaw Tour’s Pard’ner Shootout 3 fun team event last week at the Grand Canyon University Golf Club in Phoenix.
• With the annual Spokane Golf & Travel Show falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic, sponsors are substituting a virtual presentation – the Great Northwest Online Golf Show – to get you prepared for the golf season.
The monthlong event started last week, but there are still 21 days left of presentations and giveaways.
Check it out by visiting visionmarketing.regfox.com/nw-online-golf-show.