 |
  Have a question for Rene Ferran? He'll answer it in his weekly mailbag every Tuesday. Ask your question by voice mail (509-582-1526) or send an e-mail. |
Print
E-Mail
tool name
close
tool goes here
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008
Flotsam and jetsam
Sorry I didn't blog right away after Saturday's action. Wanted to pretend I have a semblance of a life away from the TCH.
As it is, these next couple of weeks, that semblance goes flying out the window. State championship time leaves little time to rest -- or think about the myriad Strat-o-Matic baseball leagues I'm in.
Speaking of baseball, I bought a copy of The Sporting News' annual baseball preview magazine. TSN combined with Street & Smith's, which means it has a pretty decent section on high school baseball.
The Bombers will be seeking their fourth 4A state title in 10 seasons with six starters among 11 lettermen back from the defending champions. Two juniors who earned all-state honors anchor the veterans. They are shortstop/pitcher Brett Jacobs, who batted .480 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs last season, and outfielder Jamison Rowe, a .356 hitter with 33 runs and 23 stolen bases as a sophomore. Junior pitcher/first baseman Cody Shepherd was MVP for last summer's state American Legion champions.
Jacobs, by the way, was among TSN's 50 Juniors to Watch nationwide. No other Mid-Columbia player made the preseason All-American team, although Eastmont pitcher Seth Haehl did make the "Other Seniors to Watch" list.
What impressed me the most while covering the final day of the 4A Eastern Regional tournament? How about the way the Moses Lake girls bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to Pasco the night before to win a pair of loser-out games to claim their first-ever state berth.
The Chiefs rode their dynamic backcourt duo of junior Kelly Sutherland and freshman Jordan Loera to the Tacoma Dome. Yes, junior Carly Noyes finally showed why she was the CBL 4A MVP in the win over Shadle Park that earned the berth, but without Sutherland and Loera carrying the water in the earlier win over Mead (and again having big games against the Highlanders), ML is "getting ready for softball," as the P.A. announcer put it during the ML-Shadle game.
They didn't get any favors in their first-round draw of Jackson on Wednesday. But I'd say the same things for the Timberwolves. This should be one of the better Day 1 matchups on the girls side.
As for Pasco, the news was as bad as feared for senior Kelsie Ramsey. She tore the ACL in her right knee and also suffered a deep bone bruise during her celebratory leap following her game-winning shot vs. Moses Lake.
Yes, we reporters are supposed to be objective, but there are certain athletes you get to know that you just like as a person. Ramsey is one of those people, and you can't help but feel bad for her, having persevered as coach Steve Davis' whipping girl for the first couple of years of her career to become the emotional leader of the team. Her presence will be missed.
Still, she was all smiles as she walked into practice with her mom to deliver the news to her teammates. She could even crack a joke at her expense.
"I should have just stood still. I would be fine then," she said. "At least it wasn't after a bad thing that it happened, like missing the last shot. It's OK. Now it's on to state and have fun."
Pasco got a great draw under the circumstances. Instead of getting a Skyview or another of the dangerous floaters in the draw, the Bulldogs got a Graham-Kapowsin team making its state debut. It's a winnable game for a team that definitely wants to "win one for Kelsie," although looming in the quarterfinals would be KingCo champion Ballard.
And Richland definitely received no favors in the draw, getting a Bellarmine Prep team with perhaps the state's top backcourt tandem of juniors Avery Bradley and Abdul Gaddy. But the Bombers' Thursday game looks winnable (either Foss or Prairie), so at least they shouldn't have to return to class until next week.
Here's some news that makes the Kennewick schools' decision to opt up even more curious -- Shadle Park found out Friday that its appeal to the WIAA was upheld and it will be a 3A school next year. The appeal had to do with alternative school students and to which school they should be assigned.
Rogers also remained in the 3A ranks, giving the eastside eight 3A schools -- Shadle, Rogers, North Central, East Valley and Mount Spokane from the GSL, and Hanford, West Valley and Sunnyside in the CBL.
If the KSD schools had stayed 3A, that would have given the eastside 11 schools -- and probably a third berth every other year, just as it got this year. Instead, in 4A, they'll battle 14 (15 in 2009) other schools for three or four berths, at a severe numerical disadvantage.
Finally, I got a chance to look at the minutes from the most recent CBL ADs' scheduling meeting. It looks as though the division names will be Cascade and Columbia.
The Cascade Division will be Eisenhower, Eastmont, West Valley, Walla Walla, Richland, Kamiakin and Hanford (Chiawana joins in 2009). The Columbia will be Davis, Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Sunnyside, Pasco, Kennewick and Southridge.
They also discussed the regional tournament and whether to play first-round games at home sites or at larger venues such as Toyota Center, the SunDome or Wenatchee's new Event Center. That will be part of the negotiations next year when the regional formats for both the 4As and 3As get figured out. Now that there will be 11 CBL and six GSL 4A schools, and three CBL and five GSL 3A schools, the number of qualifiers per league will have to change.
Til next time ...
