This Richland grad was nearly cut in college. He struck out 19 MLB batters this year
Before we get deep into the offseason, let’s take a minute to admire the outstanding season Richland High grad Eric Yardley had with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Yardley is a 30-year-old submarine right-handed relief pitcher for the Brewers.
But before that, Yardley was almost cut from his Seattle University team because there wasn’t any room for him. He developed that side-arm delivery in the offseason that kept him on the squad.
Yardley had earned his first-ever Major League Baseball call-up in August of 2019 when the San Diego Padres made the call.
This, of course, is after toiling in the minor leagues for seven long years — during a time that others may have felt it was time for him to give up and perhaps think of a new line of work.
In his short, late-season stint with the Padres, Yardley appeared in 10 games, pitching in 11.2 innings and finishing with a respectable 2.31 earned run average.
Yet he parted ways last offseason with San Diego, and Milwaukee swooped in to sign him.
Just before the pandemic stopped everything back in March, Yardley was sent down to Triple-A.
Of course, everything stopped and no one played. When MLB got back up and running in July, Yardley made the Opening Day roster for the Brewers and became a key part of Milwaukee’s bullpen for the short, two-month season.
As a situation reliever, Yardley made 24 appearances, pitching in 23.1 innings, surrendering just 4 earned runs for a stellar 1.54 ERA.
He finished with a 2-0 won-loss record, gave up just 19 hits, and struck out 19 batters.
Pretty outstanding for a guy who almost got cut by his college team.
Swimming
Thanks to Richland’s Wes Bratton, who sent me an update on his daughter, Lisa, who is swimming in the professional International Swimming League.
Lisa Bratton graduated from Delta High School as salutatorian in 2014.
The ISL features many of the world’s top swimmers, competing for teams around the world. The meet’s are scored just like a regular swim meet.
Bratton swims for the expansion Toronto Titans.
All competition the past month has been in a bubble in Budapest, Hungary.
“The match rounds are done and the top 8 teams are advancing to the semifinals,” Wes Bratton said. “That includes the Titans. Lisa has managed three (first-place finishes) in the 200 Back and one second and maintains the season’s fastest time in the women’s 200 Back. She has also scored points in the 100 back, 50 back, and 400 Free Relay as needed for the team.”
The semifinals are this coming weekend.
Semifinal 1 includes Energy Standard, New York Breakers, Tokyo Frog Kings and London Roar.
Semifinal 2 includes the undefeated Cali Condors, the Toronto Titans, Iron and LA Current.
In fact, it looks like day 2 of the Titans semifinal event will be Sunday 9 a.m., to 11 a.m. PDT on CBS Sports Network.
College basketball
• Chiawana senior Talia von Oelhoffen made things official on Wednesday when she signed a national letter of intent to play women’s basketball for Oregon State University beginning next fall.
• The Cascade Collegiate Conference was ready to go Dec. 4 for conference play in men’s and women’s basketball.
However, on Monday, the CCC’s Council of Presidents voted to delay the start until Jan. 8, thanks to the rising numbers of coronavirus cases throughout the Northwest.
The CCC will reconstruct a new schedule and release it in the near future.
College football
Utah State lost another Mountain West Conference game last week, this one 34-9 to Nevada.
But that didn’t stop Chiawana grad AJ Vongphachanh from having an outstanding game for the Aggies in the loss.
A sophomore inside linebacker, Vongphachanh sacked the Nevada quarterback in the end zone to give Utah State an early 2-0 lead.
He finished the game with 17 — that’s right, 17 — tackles, including 10 solo stops.
Indoor football rumblings
Rage Sports LLC, which owns the semi-pro Tri-City Rage football team, is hoping to form an indoor football team too.
If it happens, the Rage could be a part of the American West Football Conference for the 2021 season.
Before the pandemic started, the Rage had planned to step in for some AWFC road games after the Tri-City Fire folded just one week before the 2020 season was scheduled to begin.
The question becomes what happens to those Fire fans who paid for two seasons and lost out on season No. 2; and what becomes of the contract that former team had with the Toyota Center?
Legitimate questions, since the Rage organization had nothing to do with the Fire’s situation.
Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, the AWFC currently has four teams again on its conference roster: the defending champion Idaho Horseman, the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks, and expansion teams Oregon High Desert Storm and the Yakima Canines.
Golf
It’s starting to get too cold around here for me to golf, but others fight on through.
That includes Brad Elzie and Brady Sharp.
The two qualified for this week’s 44th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Elzie is an assistant pro at Zintel Creek Golf Club in Kennewick, while Sharp is an assistant at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla.
They are just two of 142 assistant professionals from around the nation who have qualified for this tournament.