Wenatchee gets WHL team; local athletes to play in all-star football game Saturday

It appears the Tri-City Americans have gained another rival.

The Western Hockey League announced last Friday morning that David and Lisa White of Wenatchee had purchased the Winnipeg Ice franchise, and the couple is moving the team to Wenatchee.

The team will be called the Wenatchee Wild, and it will replace the BCHL team the Whites have owned.

It was just a matter of time, as the previous Ice ownership group — which had purchased the Cranbrook Ice in 2019 and moved the team to Winnipeg — failed to live up to an obligation to build a major junior-sized arena in the Winnipeg area.

So the league forced the sale — although it surprised many people that it was the White family in Wenatchee.

What does it mean for the Tri-City Americans? A sixth team in the US Division, and less travel for the Ams, since Wenatchee is not that far away.

Wenatchee joins Tri-City, the Everett Silvertips, Seattle Thunderbirds, Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winterhawks in the US Division.

Wenatchee looks like it will be getting a good squad. A number of players should be returning for the Ice, which made it to the WHL finals before falling to Seattle.

Signings

Chiawana graduate Alexa Fabian has signed a letter of intent to wrestle for the Evergreen State College women’s team this coming fall.

▪ Liberty Christian’s Keegan Bishop, who just graduated from the school, is headed to North Dakota this fall to play football for the North Dakota State College of Science.

Bishop was an outstanding quarterback for the Patriots these past four years, leading the Patriots into the 8-man state playoffs.

▪ Columbia Basin College’s Maya Torrez will play for the College of Idaho softball team next season, after she recently signed a letter of intent.

▪ RiaJo Schwartz, who helped lead the Columbia Basin College women’s soccer team to the NWAC Final Four last fall, will continue her playing career this fall at Northwest University in Kirkland.

▪ Richland senior defender Kendal Smith will continue to play women’s soccer this fall after signing a letter of intent for Sonoma State.

▪ Defender Maya Wunschel (Hanford) has agreed to play women’s soccer this fall at Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota.

▪ Harley Rogan, who played last fall for Walla Walla Community College, will be playing women’s soccer this fall at Eastern Oregon University.

▪ CBC softball pitcher Macao Jackson has signed a letter of intent to play next spring at Eastern Oregon University.

Prep football

Saturday marks the return of the Earl Barden Classic, the annual all-state football game for seniors in the 2A, 1A and 2B levels.

The game will be held at 1 p.m. at East Valley High School in Yakima.

Featured on the East roster will be 10 players from Mid-Columbia region schools.

Included in that is a trio from 1A state champion Royal: quarterback/linebacker Dylan Allred; wide receiver/defensive back Edgar Delarosa; and running back/linebacker Kaleb Hernandez.

Other are athletes playing in the game will be Othello’s Julian Alegria (FB-DE) and Sonny Asu (RB-FS), River View’s Anthony Chavez (OL-DL) and Miguel Farias (RB-LB), Connell defensive end Cade Clyde, Columbia-Burbank’s Michael Lenke (QB-LB), and Prosser’s Nehemiah Medrano (RB-LB).

Indoor football

Many Tri-Citians remember the glory days of indoor football that involved the Tri-Cities Fever — from the National Indoor Football League championship the team won in its inaugural season of 2004, to the Indoor football League title games the team played in during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Well, it’s time for voting in the induction class of the IFL Hall of Fame for the Class of 2023, and there are two Fever connections in this year’s nominees.

First, there is quarterback Houston Lillard, who was All-IFL in both 2011 and 2012.

Lillard led the Fever to both of those title game appearances — of which Sioux Falls won them both.

Lillard also had 208 career touchdown passes, which puts him at No. 3 on the all-time list. In addition, Lillard is ranked fourth all-time in passing yards, with 9,102.

The other nominee is former Fever head coach Adam Shackleford, who led the team from 2010 through 2015.

In those six seasons, the Fever made the playoffs five times.

Shackleford led the Fever to Intense Conference titles, and two United Bowl Championship appearances in 2011 and 2012.

In 2013, while with the Fever, Shackleford earned his 100th career IFL victory.

People can vote for both candidates by going to IFL.com.

Summer college baseball

Looking at the four teams in the summer baseball league called the Cascade Collegiate League, based out of Hoquiam, there are four players from our area listed on the rosters.

Richland High grad Carson Craig, who has been playing for Paradise Valley Community College in Arizona, is on the Salamanders team.

Three players are on the Sea Turtles roster: CBC’s Christian Jarocki and Gage Keene; and outfielder Joey Weissenfels, a Richland High grad who plays with Spokane Community College.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.