Richland High grad Yardley signs deal to pitch for Chicago Cubs
Richland High School graduate Eric Yardley signed a minor-league contract with the Chicago Cubs this week.
As a minor leaguer, Yardley — a right-handed, submarine relief pitcher — will be able to work with the Cubs during spring training, even if there is still a lockout.
Yardley spent the last two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching for both the big club and the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.
He was released in November by the Brewers.
Before pitching for the Brewers, he was with the San Diego Padres. The 31-year-old made his Major League Baseball debut with the Padres on Aug. 19, 2019.
College baseball
Four of the five Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball coaches have picked Northwest Nazarene University to win this spring’s regular-season title in the GNAC’s preseason poll.
There’s a big Mid-Columbia connection to that NNU roster: senior outfielder Ryan Dearing (Kamiakin and CBC), junior pitcher Nick Irwin (Kamiakin), junior pitcher Shane Martin (Hanford and CBC), and junior pitcher Spencer Schwehr (Walla Walla Community College).
College football
Former Tri-Cities Fever player Thomas Ford has been hired by new University of Idaho head football coach Jason Eck to be special teams coordinator and running backs coach for the Vandals.
Ford was most recently a quality control analyst for the University of Washington football program, and before that, he was the head coach at Simon Fraser University.
Ford was a member of the original Fever indoor team that won the National Indoor Football League title in 2004.
College running
Cannon Angotti (Walla Walla) and Emma Summers (Richland) are both true freshmen competing for the men’s and women’s cross country teams, respectively, at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Angotti finished 19th overall last fall in the Western Athletic Conference men’s cross country championships, then placed 68th overall at the NCAA Division I West Regionals meet.
Both distance runners are prepping for track season for Grand Canyon.
More colleges
▪ LyQualah Kinsey (Pasco) is on the women’s track and field team for Ottawa University (Arizona).
Other athletes at Ottawa include Max Mayer (Kennewick) for football, and Baylei Ozuna (Richland) in softball.
▪ This past fall, Central Washington University welcomed its latest induction into its athletics hall of fame.
It included Lance den Boer, Mike Reilly and Joe Sanford.
Den Boer went to high school at Sunnyside Christian and starred in basketball at Central, averaging 19.9 points a game over three seasons for the Wildcats.
He is now the athletic director at Kona-Benton High School.
We talked about Reilly this week after he retired as a quarterback in the Canadian Football League.
The former Kamiakin standout was a QB at Central.
And Sanford was a national champion wrestler for CWU, winning at 150 pounds in 1978. He’d also coached two seasons at Central, was a competitor for the CWU rodeo team as either a clown or bullfighter.
Sanford would continue with those rodeo roles for years around the region. He became a teacher and wrestling coach in the Tri-Cities before retiring, but he still officiates wrestling matches in the area.
▪ Checking Arizona Christian University, I’ve found four area athletes playing five sports at the school: Eden Blanco (Chiawana) is on the baseball team; Hermiston’s Emma Combs is on the volleyball team as well as women’s golf team; Kamiakin grad Delaney Frame is a member of the volleyball team; and Bernie Garza Jr. (Othello) is a member of the men’s wrestling team.
More notes
▪ Kamiakin shortstop Brady Bean has signed a letter of intent to play for St. Martin’s University in Lacey. Bean can also pitch.
▪ Kamiakin’s Luis Salgado, who starred at running backs and linebacker last fall, has been offered scholarships at three different schools: Carleton College, Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., and Whitworth University.
▪ Not sure if there were many players in the smaller school ranks who were more active on defense than River View’s Zane Hickman.
The 6-foot-4, 211-pounder played on the offensive line, but was listed as a strong safety on defense for the Panthers.
In 11 games, Hickman made 142 tackles (7 for loss), averaging 12.9 tackles per game.
Hickman also had three interceptions and recovered two fumbles.
▪ Richland High senior Deacon Boyce, a wide receiver and defensive back, has received an offer to play at the University of Puget Sound. He also recently took an official visit to Linfield University.
▪ Warden High senior Kiana Rios will be playing women’s basketball next year for St. Martin’s University in Lacey, after she signed a letter of intent.
▪ GNAC coaches selected Western Washington University to win the regular-season title after the preseason poll was released.
True-freshmen Lexi Barcomb (Chiawana) and Amaya Davis (Kennewick) are on the Vikings’ roster. Barcomb is a utility player, while Davis is listed as an infielder.
▪ Walla Walla High School senior Keegan Weston has signed a Letter of Intent to play baseball at Montana State University Billings.