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Thursday, Mar. 27, 2008

Richland natives help UW win 11 in a row on diamond

By Eric Degerman, Herald staff writer

Sure, it's all about WSU men's basketball right now, but a trio of Tri-Citians have helped the University of Washington baseball team win 11 straight.

The Huskies (16-6) open the Pac-10 portion of their schedule Friday at Oregon State -- the two-time national champions.

Some of the Huskies' success can be attributed to home cooking (they've played 14 in a row at Montlake), but Pasco grad Jorden Merry and Richland's Tyler Cheney and Kyle Conley have chipped in nicely.

Merry, a junior right-hander, is the scheduled starter Saturday vs. the Beavs. He is 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA. Earlier this season, the Lower Columbia College product recorded a string of 22 2/3 scoreless innings. A quick check of his bio shows that Merry was born in Richland.

Conley, a sophomore outfielder, is batting .304 with four homers and 21 RBI. He has three HRs, 11 RBI and 12 runs in the past 10 games. He's started 20 of 22 games so far. Cheney, a junior lefty, is working out of the bullpen (4.22 ERA in 10 innings). He and Conley were teammates on Ben Jacob's club that won the 4A state title in 2005. Cheney was the state MVP.

Here's an interesting note from the school's sports information department: All 38 players on coach Ken Knutson's roster are from the state of Washington.