Tri-Cities high school football set to kick off 2023 season. These 6 teams look the best
We’re less than two weeks away from the high school football season openers, in what promises to be another exciting season.
There are plenty of outstanding teams in the Mid-Columbia Conference. Chiawana, Hermiston, Kamiakin, Kennewick, Richland and Southridge all could make some noise come postseason.
But there are strong squads at the lower classifications too.
Othello and Prosser could do some damage in the 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference; Royal is a huge favorite to defend its state title in 1A, but Connell and College Place could field strong teams; River View is getting some looks as a top 2B state team, and Tri-Cities Prep and Columbia-Burbank could also makes waves in the 2B Eastern Washington Athletic Conference; and don’t forget about 8-man powerhouses Liberty Christian of Richland, and DeSales of Walla Walla.
If you’re looking for a game to watch that first week of the prep season, here’s the menu (all games are 7 p.m. kickoffs, unless otherwise noted):
Thursday, Aug. 31 — Hermiston at Hanford, Hanford High School; Pasco at Kennewick, Lampson Stadium.
Friday, Sept. 1 — Connell at Othello; Kamiakin vs. Chiawana, Edgar Brown Stadium; Kiona-Benton at River View; Mac-Hi at College Place; Okanogan at Columbia-Burbank; Pomeroy vs. Liberty Christian, at Hanford High; Richland vs. Southridge, Lampson Stadium; Sunnyside at Prosser, Fiker Stadium; Toppenish at Royal; Tri-Cities Prep at Umatilla; Wahluke at Grandview; Warden at White Swan; West Valley-Yakima at Walla Walla, Borleske Stadium.
College soccer
The Northwest Athletic Conference’s men’s soccer coaches see Columbia Basin College as the team to beat this fall.
The Hawks, led by head coach Martin Ramirez, won the NWAC championship last December and seem to have enough returning talent — as well as incoming standouts — to possibly pull a repeat.
Coaches gave CBC a unanimous 9 first-place votes to easily snare the No. 1 preseason ranking with 118 points. East Region rival Walla Walla finished second in the poll with 78 points.
The Hawks open the season Tuesday and Wednesday with the annual friendlies in Tukwila.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, CBC plays Rogue; and at 10 a.m. Wednesday, it takes on Southwestern Oregon.
▪ Two former CBC athletes — Alan Barragan and Raymundo Curiel — are on the Evergreen State men’s soccer roster this fall. Barragan also played at Pasco High.
Isaiah Luna, a junior who spent the last two seasons on the Walla Walla Community College team, is also on the Evergreen roster.
Youth baseball
Kennewick National’s 12-year-old Cal Ripken team ended up going 3-3 at the Cal Ripken Major70 World Series in Branson, Mo., a few weeks ago.
KN lost 3-1 to Florence, Ala., in the second round of the consolation Iron Man bracket play tournament.
That was after going 3-2 in pool play before entering bracket play.
College volleyball
New CBC volleyball coach Taylor Stewart takes over the reins as head coach this fall, and the Hawks have a No. 4 ranking in the NWAC preseason coaches poll that came out Aug. 16.
CBC was led last season by head coach DiShondra Goree, who unexpectedly passed away late in the regular season.
The Hawks hired Stewart, the former head coach at Spokane Community College, to take over this season.
CBC made it to the NWAC finals last season, losing to Linn-Benton in the championship. Linn-Benton earned the No. 1 preseason ranking with 15 first-place votes and 195 total points.
Bellevue is second with two first-place votes and 146 total points.
Lane is ranked third, and CBC and North Idaho are tied for fourth.
The Hawks open the season this week with four matches at the North Challenge Invitational.
On Friday in Bellevue, CBC plays South Puget Sound at 10 a.m., then takes on host Bellevue at 7 p.m.
On Saturday in Lynnwood, the Hawks take on Edmonds at 1 p.m., and Olympic at 4 p.m.
Books
Sometimes it takes me awhile to get around to finishing things. Even though I’m retired, my wife still has a long list of items for me to get done. Other projects get pushed aside.
I wouldn’t exactly call reading Bruce Blizard’s latest book, “Man of the Oval: The International Legacy of John Chaplin and WSU Track & Field,” a project, though.
Blizard — who is the Richland High girls cross country head coach, an assistant coach for the track and field team, a former teacher, and a former Herald sports writer — does a great job of highlighting the legacy of Chaplin, who is still alive and snappy with his remarks and opinions today.
The former Cougars coach was a great recruiter and coach for the Cougars, as well as an important coach and official in international track and field involving many Olympics.
I knew of Chaplin for decades. Heck, everyone knew who Chaplin was back then during those great Cougar days when Wazzu track had one of the best programs in the country.
So it should come as no surprise that Blizard’s book is enjoyable to read, reliving some of those great moments.
It’s a great read.
College baseball
Great summer for Hanford High grad Hudson Shupe playing for the Victoria HarbourCats in the West Coast League.
Shupe finished third in batting average in the regular season among all WCL players, batting .353. Shupe also had one home run, 21 RBIs and 10 stolen bases to help lead Victoria to a league-best 38-15 regulars-season record.
Shupe was named second-team All-WCL for his efforts.
The HarbourCats also finished second in the WCL playoffs, falling to the Corvallis Knights in the championship game.
Shupe completed his true freshman season with Seattle University in May, where he was one of the team’s best hitters.
This summer, he entered the transfer portal and wasn’t in it very long when he got picked up by Gonzaga University.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
