Aaron Neary goes, Dust Devils likely to stay, and Ams are back on ice

The life of a pro football player means being flexible.

Hanford High graduate Aaron Neary learned that on Sunday.

Neary, who played collegiately at Eastern Washington University, spent the 2017 NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams. He even made a start on the offensive line in Week 17 when the Rams, preparing for the playoffs, rested a number of starters.

But last Saturday, he didn’t make the team on cutdown day.

Yet 24 hours later, Neary (listed at center) was picked up by the Cleveland Browns. He’ll start the season on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers as the Browns’ backup center.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Southridge grad Brenden Kelly had another monster game at receiver for Eastern Oregon on Saturday.

Kelly caught six passes for 175 yards, the longest being an 83-yard play. He didn’t score on that play, but he did have a 2-yard TD catch. Unfortunately, Kelly and the Mountaineers lost their second straight game, this time falling to Southern Oregon 32-13.

In a 24-21 loss to College of Idaho on Aug. 25, Kelly had 10 catches for 129 yards.

In the game against SOU, Liberty Christian grad John Lesser had two catches for 35 yards.

Pasco High grad Kolby Killoy, now a redshirt sophomore at Carroll College in Montana, got his first start at quarterback Saturday, Sept. 1, against Montana Western.

Carroll lost 16-10, as Killoy was 13-for-21 for 152 yards with two interceptions and no TD passes. But Carroll’s offense improved from the first week of the season, a 19-0 loss to Rocky Mountain College.

“I felt like there were a lot more ups for me than there were downs, but I definitely need to work on the downs,” said Killoy.

DUST DEVILS, AMERICANS: The Tri-City Dust Devils’ current working agreement with the San Diego Padres has expired, but Dust Devils president Brent Miles expects to have a new agreement soon.

“We have a great relationship with the Padres and are currently in the renewal discussion and process,” said Miles.

The Dust Devils, whose season concluded on Monday, had 86,283 fans come through the turnstiles this summer at Gesa Stadium.

Meanwhile, you been missing hockey? Go to the Toyota Center this weekend for the 2018 Red Lion Preseason tournament.

There are two games a day.

It started on Thursday, with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Spokane Chiefs playing at 3 p.m., while the Kootenay Ice took on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m.

On Friday, it’s Seattle and Kootenay playing at 3, and the Portland Winter Hawks play the Americans at 7:05.

Finally, on Saturday, Kootenay and Portland play at 3, while the Spokane Chiefs and Americans battle at 7:05.

COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: Walla Walla grad Reece Carman got a late start to the season for the Idaho Vandals due to injury. But on Saturday, Carman had 14 kills and six blocks for the Vandals in her season debut in a 3-2 win over Cal State Northridge. On Sunday, Carman added 10 kills in a 3-0 sweep of North Texas as Idaho goes to 4-2 on the season.

COLLEGE SOCCER: Anyone with doubts that Chiawana grad Summer Yates could play in the Pac-12, relax. Yates has already scored two goals in the span of a week for the Huskies. She scored in a 3-0 win over Cal State Fullerton on Aug. 24, then again in a 2-1 overtime loss to Wisconsin on Aug. 30. The Huskies are 2-2-1 so far this season. … Southridge grad Emily Russell, now a sophomore at Central Washington University, picked up the assist in a 1-1 tie against Fresno Pacific last Thursday, Aug. 30. … Sam Heilman, a Richland High grad, assisted on all three goals as the Gonzaga women defeated Oregon State 3-1 on Friday. … Guess who’s back in the state? That’s right. Pasco High grad Emilio Meraz-Rodriguez, who has been at Upper Iowa University. However, for his senior year, he’s playing for Evergreen State University. In a 1-0 win over University of Fraser Valley, he had the assist. In a 2-0 win over Pacific of Forest Grove, he had the first goal.

SAVE THE DATE: The H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Series will hold its 2018 banquet on Oct. 13 in Kennewick at a place yet to be named. Andrew Tate, the driver of the U-9 Les Schwab Tires, has wrapped up the national high points title.

Tate has a 1,803-point lead over Jimmy Shane and the U-1 HomeStreet Bank with just the race in San Diego left on Sept. 14-16.

Tate has won four of five races this season.

COLLEGE BASEBALL SUMMER ROUNDUP: Looks like Columbia Basin College product Tanner Roundy may have had the best summer among all locals.

Roundy hit .321 with 12 RBIs and 16 stolen bases to lead the Chico Heat to a 43-14 record in the Great West League.

Richland High grad Hunter French was 5-3 as a starting pitcher for the Yakima Valley Pippins in the West Coast League. French, who was at CBC the last two seasons, struck out 52 batters in 65 2/3 innings and had a 3.70 earned run average for the 27-25 Pippins.

Other Pippins teammates included Kennewick High grad and pitcher Matt Driver, who was 2-2 with a 3.37 ERA and struck out 26 batters in as many innings; and CBC pitcher Kaleb Strawn, who was 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA.

Driver played at Yakima Valley College the past few seasons and is headed this fall to Lewis-Clark State College.

Pitcher Brayde Hirai, who prepped at Chiawana and has played at Walla Walla Community College, went 4-1 on the mound for the Walla Walla Sweets, who were 28-26 in the West Coast League. Hirai fanned 30 batters in 40 innings and had a 3.79 ERA.

WSU infielder Dillon Plew spent his summer playing for the Newport Gulls, who went 21-23 in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. The Kennewick High grad hit .240, had two home runs and 12 RBIs.

CBC’s Alexander Orejudos, an Ellensburg High grad, hit .265 with a homer and 19 RBIs while playing for the 20-34 Klamath Falls Gems of the Great West League. Teammate Kyle Harvey, a Southridge High grad who spent the past two seasons at YVC, hit .256 and had three RBIs. Jashaun Simon, also a Southridge grad and YVC player, hit .198, but had 14 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

Infielder Brady Heid, a Hanford High grad who plays for Liberty University, hit .164 for the West Coast League’s Port Angeles Lefties. But Heid also had three homers and 10 RBIs.

GIRLS SOCCER: Big 2-1 win by Kamiakin over Richland on Tuesday in MCC play. These two teams, along with Chiawana, should be near the top of the standings all fall.

Kamiakin has five returning first-team all-conference players back, led by forwards Maddie Morgan and Izzy Conover. Midfielder Kaeri Ward, and defenders Emma Johnson and Rylie Clark are also back.

Richland will be led by returning first-teamer Lauren Moore, while Chiawana has Macey Morales back at midfield.

Key games: Sept. 18, Chiawana at Kamiakin; Sept. 27, Richland at Kamiakin; Oct. 16, Kamiakin at Chiawana; Oct. 23, Richland at Chiawana.

PREP VOLLEYBALL: Save the date Oct. 23. That’s when Richland and Chiawana play each other in MCC play. These have to be the two favorites in the MCC.

Lindsay Rosenthal, Jordanne Bauder and Alaina Lacey were all first-team MCC all-stars last season for the Bombers, while Sage Brustad was a second-teamer.

Chiawana had four second-team all-conference players in Yaneli Garcia, Mareesa Hill, McKenna Kaelber and Marissa Logozo. The Riverhawks also had an honorable mention selection in Kylie Thorne.