Mid-Columbia sports replay for May 11

On this day in ...

2007: Richland’s Tyler Thompson slugged a pair of home runs on his first two trips to the plate, including a second-inning grand slam that blew the doors off an 11-1 win over Moses Lake in the CBL 4A district baseball semifinal. “He’s the player of the year in this league for a reason,” said Bombers coach Ben Jacobs. “We kind of expect it at this point.”

1985: Rick Hitchcock of Yakima edged his father and cousin to win the street stocks main event at Tri-City Raceways. John Eynon of Richland posted the fastest time in super stocks (19.45 seconds) and Brent Gerry of Kennewick clocked a 22.5-second fastest time in the street stock.

1983: Kamiakin swept Walla Walla 6-1 and 12-5 in a Big Nine softball doubleheader. The wins gave the Braves (20-0 overall) a 16-0 league record and the Southern Division crown. ”It was a team effort,” Kamiakin coach Greg Wishkoski said.

1973: Kiona-Benton High School completed a triple crown sweep with a baseball doubleheader victory over Thorp. Ki-Be won 10-1 and 5-0 to nab the Tri-Valley Conference baseball title to go with its share of the football and basketball titles.

1967: Aptly named John Hoops, who averaged 17 points a game for the Kennewick basketball team, signed to play at Oklahoma City University. Wrote sports editor Charlie Van Sickel, “(OCU coach Abe) Lemons reportedly wasn’t too impressed with Hoops’ defense, but it’s been so long since OCU, which habitually hits in three figures, played any defense that it’s possible the coach wouldn’t recognize it anyway.”

1964: The Tri-City Power Boat Association was awarded the Western Divisional Championship for the first time in its history and would highlight the weekend of July 18-19 at the Fifth Annual Tri-City Water Follies Hydroplanes Regatta on Lake Wallula at Columbia Park. With a record number of boats expected, the races for the first time were expanded into a two-day event and the classifications of crackerbox and ski-racing runabout inboards added to the existing 48, 145, 150, 225, 266 and 280 cubic-inch and seven-litre classes. It was also announced that veteran Harry Woods would return to referee the regatta.

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Mid-Columbia sports replay for May 11."