16-year NHL veteran Stu Barnes named top WHL coach in U.S. for Tri-City Americans

Tri-City Americans coach Stu Barnes was named the U.S. Division Coach of the Year this past week, after he led the Americans to a 34-26-5-3 record for 76 points in the standings.

That’s 32 points better than the 44 points the Americans compiled last season.

Barnes, who is also a co-owner of the Tri-City franchise, is now eligible to become the Western Hockey League Coach of the Year.

▪ Meanwhile, the Americans and Prince George split games on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Toyota Center.

That means the best-of-7 series is tied 2-2, with Game 5 set for 7:05 p.m., Friday, in Kennewick.

Game 6 will be held in Prince George on Sunday night.

On Tuesday in Game 3, the Americans beat the Cougars 4-2. Parker Bell’s goal at 5:31 of the third period snapped a 2-all tie. Jalen Luypen and Lukas Dragicevic assisted on the goal.

Luypen finished off the scoring with an empty-netter with 51 seconds remaining when the Cougars pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.

Bell finished with a goal and two assists, while Luypen had a goal and assist.

Americans goalie Tomas Suchanek stopped 28 of 30 shots to earn the victory in net.

But if anyone thought Prince George would roll over, they would be wrong.

The Cougars came out firing in Game 4 on Wednesday, winning 6-2 to even the series at 2 games apiece.

Koehn Ziemmer and Jaxsen Wiebe each scored two goals to lead PG to the win. Ty Young stepped in at goalie and stopped 26 of Tri-City’s 28 shots.

Tyson Greenway and Luypen each scored a goal for the Americans.

▪ Top seed Seattle has already finished off No. 8 Kelowna, 4 games to none, as the Thunderbirds await their second-round opponent — most likely the winner of this Prince George-Tri-City series.

In the other Western Conference playoff series, Kamloops leads Vancouver 3-0, while Portland is on top of Everett 3-0.

In the Eastern Conference series, Winnipeg and Moose Jaw have already advanced to the second round. Winnipeg swept Medicine Hat 4-0, and Moose Jaw did the same to Lethbridge.

Red Deer leads Calgary 3-1, while Saskatoon and Regina are tied at 2-2.

Baseball

Former Southridge star Shawn O’Malley, who played in the majors, will be the Arkansas Travelers’ hitting coach for the second consecutive season.

O’Malley was the Everett AquaSox’ hitting coach in 2021. Both Arkansas (Double-A) and Everett (High-A) are minor league affiliates of the Seattle Mariners.

Football

Sunnyside senior Brent Maldonado signed a letter of intent to play football for Carroll College in Montana this coming fall.

Maldonado — at 6-foot, 165 pounds — is going to Carroll as a defensive back.

He’s one of the top defenders in the Big Nine Conference. He also had an outstanding season as a quarterback for the Grizzlies, a year after being one of the top receivers in the conference.

Maldonado will be joined at Carroll by Walla Walla’s Jon Smith. The 6-4, 265-pound Smith signed as a two-way lineman.

▪ Hermiston grad Garrett Walchli made the decision to transfer from Utah State to Montana State after this past college football season.

Walchli is a 5-8, 178-pound wide receiver.

Golf

The Southridge girls golf team is quickly becoming a powerhouse, as the Suns have won the team title in the first two Mid-Columbia Conference pods.

In the first pod, on March 23 at Zintel Creek in Kennewick, the Suns scored a 333 for the win.

Led by Jillian Hui — the medalist with a 34-37–71 — Southridge rolled.

Teammate Riley Brandt placed second with a 10-over-par 76, while Kamiakin’s Grace Gintner was third with a 79.

The second pod took place on March 29 at Canyon Lakes Golf Course (the Suns’ home course). Hui fired a 33 on the front nine, and a 35 on the back nine, for a 4-under par 68, to lead Southridge to the team title with 328 strokes.

Pasco’s Jillian Breedlove, who is committed next season to Austin Play University, was second with a 72.

Three players — Southridge’s Brandt and Abby Hodges, and Hanford’s Rose McCartney — all tied for third with 83s.

▪ Richland’s Emily Nguyen finished tied for fifth in the Masters’ Pitch, Putt and Drive competition on Sunday at Augusta National.

Nguyen competed in the girls 7-9 division with nine other competitors who qualified.

Turns out she was the top putter of the group.

Softball

Defending state champion Liberty Christian (currently 8-0) is the top-ranked 1B softball team this week, according to Scorebook Live Washington’s latest poll, released April 1.

Joining the Patriots in the poll are Sunnyside Christian (7-1) at No. 4, and DeSales (4-3) at No. 6.

In the 4A poll, Richland (6-0) is ranked seventh. Bothell (7-0) is the top-ranked 4A team.

Bonney Lake (5-2) gets the nod as the No. 1 in Class 3A, while Kennewick (5-2) is ranked No. 10.

Ridgefield (5-0) may be the top-ranked 2A team in the state, but Othello (6-2) is right behind at No. 2.

In the 1A rankings, Hoquiam gets the nod at No. 1 with a 6-2 record. Royal (6-1) is ranked No. 4.

And in 2B, Adna (2-2) is the top team. Warden (4-0) is ranked No. 3.

Basketball

Amy Westerfield’s Richland girls basketball team won the WIAA Academic State Title for the second straight season.

The Bombers were the top 4A school this season, with 13 players averaging a grade point average of 3.920.

DeSales, in 1B cheer, was also a state academic champion.

Coach Julie Brinson’s eight-person squad had a GPA of 3.610.

Jeff Morrow is the former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.