Richland grad dives into international swimming league this weekend

The International Swimming League’s second season has begun, and Richland High graduate Lisa Bratton’s first meet of the six-week season is this weekend with her new team, the Toronto Titans.

Bratton, who swam collegiately at Texas A&M, won the 200-meter backstroke title at the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships in China.

Last season, in the ISL’s first year, Bratton competed for the D.C. Triton. But she signed with the new franchise in Toronto last spring.

The ISL is structured like a team swimming competition, in which a team gets points for a first-place, second-place, etc., finish in each event. It just so happens the ISL has many of the world’s top swimmers competing for one of its 10 teams.

This year, to alleviate as much travel as possible in the pandemic, all ISL meets are being held at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

Bratton and her Toronto Titans teammates take on the Aqua Centurions (Rome), LA Current and the Tokyo Frog Kings in this weekend’s meet.

The Titans will have three more meets over the next few weeks, and the ISL semifinals begin Nov. 14. The finals will be Nov. 21-22.

According to the website SwimSwam, Bratton is pegged as Toronto’s top female 200-meter backstroker. She’s also No. 3 on the team’s depth chart in the 100 back, and No. 4 on the 50 back.

Bratton is also pegged to compete in the women’s 100 IM relay and 200 IM relay.

Motorsports

Kennewick’s Brittney Zamora placed seventh among 24 Pro Late Model drivers Saturday night at Nashville Fairgrounds Raceway in Tennessee.

Zamora signed a two-race deal with Willie Allen Racing Development recently, and in preparation for the 2020 All-American 400 at The Nashville track she’s scheduled to race in on Nov. 1, she competed in a local 100-lap race at the track.

Driving the Rackley Roofing No. 10 car, Zamora started 13th on the grid of the 24-car field.

By lap 50, she had moved up to 12th, and into 11th place by the 83rd lap.

Zamora, 21, had worked herself up into fifth place by the 92nd lap before finishing seventh.

Golf

Brady Sharp is having a year.

The assistant pro at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla has had numerous top-5 finishes this season in a number tournaments.

He won the Oregon Open Invitational, and he teamed with amateur Tyler Daniels to take the Pacific Northwest Pro-Am Championship earlier this month.

Late in September, Sharp also won the Central Washington Chapter of the PGA chapter championship at Wildhorse Resort in Pendleton.

Sharp scored a 67-64 for a 13-under-par 131, taking home a $650 check.

Sharp finished ahead of Yakima Country Club’s Charles Holmes, who was five strokes back at a minus-8 136.

Former Richland High golfer Ryan Dahl — who is the pro at The Golf Course at Birch Creek, which is the old Pendleton Country Club that was purchased last year by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — finished tied for third at at a minus-5 139.

Other top performances by Mid-Columbia pro’s included Clint Ables of Zintel Creek at 140 (minus 4), Mike Schoner of Sun Willows at 143 (minus 1), and Joshua Compher of Meadow Springs Country Club at 143 (minus 1).

Desert Aire’s Jack Eskildsen was the top amateur at 139 (minus 5).

Other top amateur performances included Pasco Golfland’s Brian Barton at 142 (minus 2), Sun Willows’ David Vonghalath at 143 (minus 1), Pasco Golfland’s Art Key at 149 (plus 5), Meadow Spring’s Chris Indall at 157 (plus 13), Canyon Lakes’ Alex Pedroza at 158 (plus 14), and Canyon Lakes’ Lonnie Butterfield at 159 (plus 15).

• Richland’s Connie Presson scored her third career ace on Oct. 4 and Meadow Springs Country Club, using a 9-iron at the 90-yard No. 17 hole.

• Richland’s Jan Gerlitz earned her first-ever hole-in-one on Oct. 14 at Meadow Springs CC, using a 5-wood on the 146-yard No. 8 hole.

• Coming up: The PGA Senior Oregon Open Invitational is set for Oct. 21-22 at both the Wildhorse Resort and Birch Creek in Pendleton. … The 72nd Hudson Cup Matches — pitting the Northwest top professionals against the top amateurs in a Ryder Cup-style event — are set for Oct. 22-23 at Meadow Springs Country Club.

Baseball

Whitworth University in Spokane recently released its all-decade baseball team, and a few Tri-City athletes made the squad.

It all starts with pitching, and Hanford High graduate Dan Scheibe leads the way.

The right-hander had some strong seasons, sporting a 7-3 record in 2012 that also included a 2.66 earned run average.

In 2015, perhaps his best season, Scheibe had a 9-3 record and a 2.10 ERA. He averaged 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, and during the postseason he tossed a 9-inning no-hitter at the Northwest Conference tournament. It was the first no-no fired by a Whitworth pitcher during the metal bat era.

Scheibe was drafted by the Texas Rangers and pitched with the Spokane Indians in the Northwest League.

At third base is former Kennewick High star Landon Scott, who played for the Pirates from 2009-12.

Scott could rake it at the plate, and in 2010 he led the entire Northwest Conference with a .465 batting average.

He left Whitworth with a career batting average of .396, had 237 hits, and drove in 125 runs.

Kevin Valerio, a Kennewick High product, was listed as an honorable mention outfield selection on the Whitworth team.

He was a consistent .300 hitter for the Pirates throughout his career.