Pasco boys soccer team beats Bothell, advances to state 4A quarterfinals

Matt Potter couldn’t think of a better place to be inducted into the Pasco High School Hall of Fame on Tuesday night than on the floor at Edgar Brown Stadium.

While the rest of this year’s induction class were being honored over at the Pasco High Auditorium, Potter was busy coaching his No. 1-ranked boys soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Bothell in the first round of the WIAA Class 4A state tournament.

After the contest, Pasco High athletic director Gregg Huisingh grabbed a microphone and inducted Potter — a Bulldogs alum who was a standout soccer player for Pasco and then Seattle University before coming back to run the Bulldogs boys soccer program — right there on the spot.

“That was nice,” said Potter after the game. “We got to do it out here with (his players). That’s better than doing it in an auditorium.”

The only goal of Tuesday’s game came at the 23-minute mark of the first half, when senior midfielder Hector Rodriguez found a pass from freshman midfielder Jayden Barajas to the right of the net, where he blasted it into the net.

Barajas came in from the left side and drove the ball through a number of players gathered in front of the net.

It bounced off at least one player and came out on the right side, where Rodriguez was ready and waiting.“I was anticipating the the ball would get through,” said Rodriguez. “I think this team has been very professional this year. We know we have to work hard to get the job done. But we know how to have fun, too.”

Turned out, that goal by Rodriguez was all Pasco needed.

The much bigger Cougars tried desperately to score the remainder of the game — and they had their chances — but it was to no avail.

There was just too much of a swarming purple wall to get through.

That wall — the Pasco defense — has been this team’s biggest strength this season. Of the 19 games the 18-1 Bulldogs have played, 16 of them have been defensive shutouts.

With great defensive work from senior midfielder Jonas Olvera, senior defender Julian Ramirez and sophomore midfielder Julio Andrade, Pasco continually thwarted any Bothell scoring attempt on Tuesday.

Asked if this might be his best team at Pasco yet, Potter said it’s right up there with the best of them.

“It’s pretty high,” said Potter, who has a 201-58 record at Pasco. “This whole team is disciplined and deep. (This many shutouts) does not happen without the hard work by everyone. We’ve never had this many shutouts in a season before.”

Now the Bulldogs must wait for their quarterfinal opponent. Camas takes on Lewis & Clark on Wednesday night. After that, the date (either Friday or Saturday) and time will be set.

And it’ll be at Edgar Brown Stadium again.

GIG HARBOR 3, KENNEWICK 0: The visiting Kennewick Lions saw their boys soccer season end in a Class 3A play-in game.

OTHELLO 2, CLOVER PARK 0: Jose Cabrera and Juan Lauriano each scored a goal as No. 8 seed Othello won its Class 2A first-round state match on the road. With the win, the Huskies will take on top seed Columbia River, with time and date not yet set.

Prep baseball

Eastside Catholic, a 14 seed, defeated No. 19 Silas 6-3 in a Class 3A play-in game on Tuesday. That means EC will play No. 3 Kennewick at 10 a.m., Saturday, at Parker Field in Yakima in a first-round state tournament game.

No. 5 seed Liberty Christian of Richland defeated No. 12 Sunnyside Christian 5-3 on Tuesday in the 1B state tournament. Liberty Christian now advances to the quarterfinals, and will take on No. 4 Crosspoint at 1 p.m. Saturday at Borleske Stadium in Walla Walla.

In another 1B game, No. 8 Odessa beat No. 9 Riverside Christian 9-4. Odessa now meets top-seeded DeSales in a state quarterfinal game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Borleske Stadium.

NWAC softball

Columbia Basin College’s softball team finished the regular season with a 21-11 East Region record, good enough to place third in the division, and was 30-17 overall.

The Hawks are seeded 11th in the NWAC softball championship tournament, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday in Spokane.

The tournament, which consists of 16 teams, is a true double-elimination format. CBC will open tournament play at 10 a.m. Thursday against No. 6-seeded Lower Columbia.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Walla Walla will open at 10 a.m. Thursday against No. 15 Centralia.

The Hawks are led by Ashlynn Nixon, who led the team in the big three offensive categories: a .529 batting average, 23 home runs, and 69 RBIs.

Against Lower Columbia, the Hawks will face first baseman Angela Sullivan, a Chiawana grad. Walla Walla Community College’s Cristina McHie (Walla Walla High School) and Bailee Noland (Hermiston) will lead the Warriors — ranked No. 1 in the latest NWAC Coaches Poll — into battle.

WWCC enters the tournament with a 42-2 record, riding a 32-game win streak, and the team hit 119 home runs. Noland had the most home runs with 26, and she had 98 RBIs.

Other players in the tournament with local connections include Bellevue College outfielder Isabella Qunell (Kamiakin); Big Bend has infielder Jocelyn Chagoya (Warden); Edmonds has outfielder Raylie Wardenaar (Royal) on its roster; while Mt. Hood boasts utility player Janelle Almaguer (Hermiston).

▪ Here are the final NWAC East Region standings: 1. WWCC 32-0 East Region, 42-2 overall; 2. North Idaho 24-8, 29-15; 3. CBC 21-11, 30-17; 4. Big Bend 18-14, 19-21; 5. Treasure Valley 16-16, 19-27; 6 (tie). Spokane 11-21, 12-23; 6 (tie). Yakima Valley 11-21, 14-31; 8. Wenatchee Valley 6-26, 8-31; 9. Blue Mountain 5-27, 5-33.

NAIA baseball

Lewis-Clark State College is 2-0 in the regional tournament it’s hosting, and the Warriors are just one win away from qualifying for another NAIA World Series — which is good, since the team is hosting that event again on the Lewiston campus.

In the regional opener, LCSC defeated University of British Columbia 9-7 on Monday night to raise its season record to 52-4.

In that game, Kennewick High graduate Trent Sellers pitched 6 innings and struck out 6 batters. He also won the game, raising his season record to 12-0. Sellers has been named Cascade Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Week four times this season.

This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 12:59 PM.