Tri-City Americans win 3 straight as Western Hockey League playoffs near

There is still one weekend of Western Hockey League regular-season play left, but the Tri-City Americans already have their first-round playoff series set, with times and dates.

The Ams went 3-for-3 last weekend — beating Spokane 3-1 on the road Friday; beating Spokane 8-2 at home on Saturday; and taking down Vancouver 5-2 in Kennewick on Sunday.

That last win clinched fifth place for Tri-City in the Western Conference standings, setting the Americans up with a first-round, best-of-7 series against the fourth-place Prince George Cougars.

Here is the schedule for the series between the Americans and the Cougars:

• Game 1, at Prince George, 7 p.m., Friday, March 31

• Game 2, at Prince George, 6 p.m., Saturday, April 1

• Game 3, at Toyota Center, 7:05 p.m., Tuesday, April 4

• Game 4, at Toyota Center, 7:05 p.m., Wednesday, April 5

• Game 5 (if necessary), at Toyota Center, 7:05 p.m., Friday, April 7

• Game 6 (if necessary), at Prince George, 6 p.m., Sunday, April 9

• Game 7 (if necessary), at Prince George, 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 11

WHL Western conference standings

1. Seattle, 52 wins-9 losses-1 overtime loss-2 shootout losses, 107 points

2. Kamloops, 47-11-4-2, 100 points

3. Portland, 39-19-4-3, 85 points

4. Prince George, 35-24-6-1, 77 points

5. Tri-City, 32-26-5-3, 72 points

6. Everett, 32-31-2-1, 67 points

7. Vancouver, 26-31-5-3, 60 points

8. Kelowna, 26-36-4-0, 56 points

For Tri-City, the Americans have two remaining games on the regular-season schedule: Friday, March 24, at home against Spokane; and Saturday, March 25, at Spokane. Both games start at 7:05 p.m.

Americans team awards

After Sunday’s win, the Americans held their season-ending party and awards show (even though they have two games remaining).

It should come as no surprise, but goalie Tomas Suchanek was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Ethan Ernst was named the team’s Offensive Player of the Year, while Lukas Dragicevic was honored as the Defenseman of the Year.

Other awards:

• Rookie of the Year: Jordan Gavin.

• Most Sportsmanlike: Jake Sloan.

• Todd Klassen Co-Humanitarian of the Year: Chase Friedt-Mohl, and Alex Serraglio.

• Scholastic Player of the Year: Carter Savage.

• Hardest Working Player of the Year: Carter Savage.

More World Baseball Classic

I knew if I wanted some Tri-City Dust Devils baseball history, I should have gone to someone who is an expert.

Last week, I mentioned six former (and perhaps current) Dust Devils who were playing in the WBC.

They were pitcher Glenn Albanese (2022 as a Dust Devil) with Italy; pitcher David Bednar (2016) with Team USA; pitcher Kyle Molnar (2022) with Israel; pitcher Cal Quantrill (2016), with Team Canada; Pedro Strop (2005) with the Netherlands; and outfielder D’Shawn Knowles (2022) was with Great Britain.

On another note, former Hanford High star Isaac Benard saw some action with the Nicaraguan team as an outfielder.

But Theresa Bergman, who is involved with the Dust Devils booster club, sent me an email noting there were many other people with Dust Devils connections in the WBC.

Ten more, in fact. They are:

• Sam Holland (2016) and Robbie Perkins (2014), playing with Australia;

• Carlos Estevez (2013) with the Dominican Republic;

• Ryan Castellini (2014) and Braxton Lorenzini (2016) with Italy;

• Adrian Martinez (2018) and Luis Urias (2015) with Mexico;

• Jose Ruiz (2016) with Venezuela.

• Former assistant coach Jack Santora and Dust Devils trainer Dylan Culwell were with Team Italy.

Thank you, Theresa, for keeping me honest.

More baseball

Kamiakin grad Trystan Vrieling got a chance to pitch in a spring training game earlier this month for the New York Yankees.

Vrieling, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound right-hander, was drafted last summer by the Yankees in the third round of the MLB draft. Before that, he was a standout pitcher for Gonzaga.

Just 22, Vrieling spent the rest of last summer at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Fla.

He’s expected to start this season at either Low-A or High-A level.

On March 4, in a game against Tampa Bay, Vrieling was brought in to record the final out in the ninth inning.

He gave up one hit and then got the out.

▪ Southridge High grad Mason Martin hasn’t spent much time in spring training camp with the parent club Pittsburgh Pirates.

But most recently, he’s seen some action in camp, playing in three games, and going 1-for-3 in four plate appearances.

That one hit? It came last Friday against Tampa Bay, when he smashed a ball over the batter’s eye in deep centerfield — well over 400 feet — for a solo home run.

Martin is pegged to start the season at first base with the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. It will be his second consecutive season with Indianapolis.

▪ Richland High grad Eric Yardley has pitched in one game this spring for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The right-handed reliever faced four batters, gave up two hits, but got through the inning without either base runner scoring.

Yardley signed with Arizona back in January.

Prep golf

Jillian Hui of Southridge tied the Rock Island Golf Course record last Friday, shooting a 68, to lead the Suns to the team title at the Wenatchee Valley Girls Invite.

Hui tied the record with former teammate Angela Park, who shot a 68 at last year’s event. Park now golfs for the University of Washington.

Five other local golfers finished among the top 10 in Friday’s event.

Kamiakin’s Grace Gintner placed second with an 82, while teammate Rose McCartney was third with an 83. Southridge’s Riley Brandt placed fifth with an 89, while Richland’s Riley Heidegger finished sixth at 90, and Kamiakin’s Liv Davenport was eighth with a 91.

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