Mid-Columbia sends 12 teams to WA softball tournaments. State golf starts

Jeff Morrow
·5 min read

Twelve squads from the Mid-Columbia region made it out of their districts last weekend to qualify for the various state fastpitch softball tournaments that will be held this coming weekend.

Just like Mid-Columbia Conference baseball, MCC softball qualified five of its nine teams for the state tourneys: Richland, Hanford and Kamiakin in Class 4A; and Walla Walla and Kennewick in 3A.

Here’s a quick roundup of which teams are going where:

Class 4A

Richland pounded Kamiakin 12-2 in the District 8 championship game last Saturday, with both teams qualifying for state.

The final two teams alive for third place (and the state tournament berth for the winner) were Hanford and Chiawana. The Falcons beat the Riverhawks 8-6 on Saturday for that last state berth.

So now everyone moves over to Columbia Playfield in Richland beginning this coming Friday and concluding on Saturday.

First-round matchups in the midfield double-elimination tournament will include No. 4 seed Richland playing No. 13 Moses Lake at 11 a.m. Friday; No. 15 Hanford taking on No. 2 Bothell at 9 a.m. Friday; and No. 16 Kamiakin playing top-ranked Jackson of Everett at 11 a.m.

Class 3A

Last Friday, Walla Walla — a No. 5 seed — came to life and knocked off No. 2 Mt. Spokane 4-2 in the District 8 title game, earning the Blue Devils a state-tournament berth.

Meanwhile, the top district seed, Kennewick, had to bounce back from a 10-3 loss to Wa-Hi in the district semifinals on May 12 to earn the other state berth.

The Lions did so by eliminating Southridge 5-3, then stopping University 3-1.

That means that both Wa-Hi and Kennewick head to the Lacey Regional Athletic Complex for the 3A state tourney, which actually starts May 25 and runs through the 27th.

The Blue Devils are an 11 seed, and they’ll open play against No. 6 Bishop Blanchet at 9 a.m. Friday.

Kennewick is seeded 12th, and the Lions will take on No. 5 Roosevelt at 11 a.m. Friday.

Class 2A

Top Central Washington Athletic Conference seed Othello had to bounce back from the district title loss (11-1 to Selah) to win a crossover play-in game 9-0 over Clarkston on Saturday.

The Huskies head to Selah’s Carlon Park, where they’ll open state tournament play at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 26.

Othello, seeded No. 5, plays No. 12 Olympic.

Class 1A

Royal and Kiona-Benton got through the District 5 tournament last weekend in Connell.

The Knights beat Naches Valley 18-1 in the district title game; while the Bears had to get through the losers bracket, beating Zillah 10-1 and then College Place 7-6 to earn a state berth.

So Ki-Be, seeded 12th, meets No. 5 Riverside at 3 p.m. Thursday at Richland’s Columbia Playfield in an opening-round, loser-out contest.

Meanwhile, Royal is the No. 2 seed, and the Knights must await the winner of No. 10 Lynden Christian and No. 7 Columbia (White Salmon) in a quarterfinal game set for 1 p.m. Friday.

Class 2B

Warden, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, will be the area’s lone representative at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.

The Cougars will take on the winner of No. 10 Brewster vs. No. 7 Forks, at 2 p.m. Friday.

Class 1B

Also at the Gateway Sports Complex in Yakima.

Top-seed Liberty Christian of Richland (also the defending state champion) opens the tournament against No. 8 Darrington.

No. 3 Sunnyside Christian will face No. 6 Mossyrock; and No. 4 DeSales will play No. 5 Almira-Coulee-Hartline.

All contests will start at 12 p.m. Friday.

State golf

The fields are set for the 10 state high school golf tournaments, which run Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

The Mid-Columbia will have 49 athletes represented. Here’s a breakdown:

  • Class 4A boys, Qualchan Golf Course, Spokane — Kobey Bates, Kamiakin; Jackson Cazier, Pasco; Drew Frei, Richland; Wyatt Hansen, Kamiakin; Eli Harrell, Kamiakin; Derek Heiman, Kamiakin; Joel Martinez, Chiawana; Grason Mitchell, Kamiakin; Max Schuster, Richland; Davis Sheets, Richland.

  • Class 4A girls, Indian Canyon Golf Course, Spokane — Jillian Breedlove, Pasco; Grace Gintner, Kamiakin; Riley Heidigger, Richland; Emmi Morgan, Sunnyside; Sydney Stenson, Chiawana.

  • Class 3A boys, Indian Summer Golf & Country Club, Olympia — Nile Dumser, Walla Walla.

  • Class 3A girls, The Golf Club at Hawks Prairie — Woodland, Lacey — Nadalie Cannell, Hermiston; Reese Carlson, Walla Walla; Jillian Hui, Southridge; Piper Kubrick, Walla Walla; Emerson Schulke, Walla Walla; Allison Scruggs, Walla Walla; Kyra Tolan, Hermiston; Jaiden Williams, Walla Walla.

  • Class 2A boys, Liberty Lake Golf Course — Travis Hoffard, Grandview; TJ Murdock, Othello; Will Parrish, Othello.

  • Class 2A girls, MeadowWood Golf Course, Liberty Lake — Mariah Murdock, Othello; Sami Shade, Othello.

  • Class 1A boys, Riverside Golf Club, Chehalis — Caden Allred, Royal; Ezra Jenks, Royal.

  • Class 1A girls, Riverside Golf Club, Chehalis — Iby Soliz, Royal.

  • Class 1B/2B boys, Tumwater Valley Golf Club, Tumwater — Ryan Bachmeier, Tri-Cities Prep; Matt Beck, DeSales; Delton Bonds, Tri-Cities Prep; Jake Buratto, DeSales; Hunter Dinkins, Lind-Ritzville; Jaden Hernandez, Warden; James Koskinen, Tri-Cities Prep; Jack Lesko, DeSales; Alex Martinez, Warden; Ivan Spence, Liberty Christian of Walla Walla; Lance Williamson, Lind-Ritzville.

  • Class 1B/2B girls, Tumwater Valley Golf Club, Tumwater — Nell Dodds, Walla Walla Valley Academy; Kennedy Douglas, Tri-Cities Prep; Eily Castillo, Warden; Reagan Golliday, Warden; Lauryn Madisen, Warden; Lauren Williams, DeSales.

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