Sports Notebook: Kennewick Lions football team keeps churning out talented linemen

With high school and college sports wrapping up for the year, sports writer Jeff Morrow plans to take a look back at his notebooks over the next few weeks. He’ll be offering some thoughts on the 2021-2022 seasons, and a look at what to expect.

Here’s a start:

▪ One thing the Kennewick Lions football team has been good at producing the last few years under head coach Randy Affholter is quality linemen.

This past season, senior Bronson Childs ended up committing to Weber State University. Childs spent this past football season at tight end and linebacker for the Lions, who ended up making the Class 3A state championship before losing to Bellevue.

But there were times where he’d don a lineman’s number and get into blocking when it was needed.

This past season, senior Ayden Knapik also committed, and signed to play on the line for the University of Idaho.

In April, current junior Ashton Tripp — at 6-foot-7, 285 pounds — verbally committed to playing for Washington State University.

And now, current sophomore Nathan Knapik — Class of 2024 and standing at 6-6 — has received his first Division I offer from Portland State University.

Plenty of talent coming out of Kennewick on the interior line.

The next one? Maybe keep an eye out for senior-to-be Carlos Orozco, who as a sophomore in the 2021 spring-shortened-because-of-covid season was named a first-team All-Mid-Columbia Conference defensive lineman.

This despite having a knee injury. Because of that injury, Orozco was forced to miss his junior season last fall to rehab the knee. This spring, he’s been attending football camps around the Northwest, and he’s been thriving.

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▪ Lewis-Clark State College finished second on Thursday, June 2, in the NAIA College Baseball World Series, losing to Southeastern University of Florida 11-5 in the second championship game.

Kennewick High grad Travis Sellers had a stellar season for LCSC. The starting pitcher set a single-season school record with 140 strikeouts. A senior, Sellers had a 14-0 record, had a 1.98 earned run average, pitched 109 innings, and opposing batters hit .203 off of him.

▪ Some coaching changes are happening up the valley at Sunnyside High School.

Former WSU standout Marshall Lobbestael has taken over the football head coaching reins from his brother, John Lobbestael.

Chris McCallum, who coached the Mabton girls for the past 13 seasons, is now the new girls basketball head coach. He takes over for Rick Puente, who had a 173-93 record over 12 seasons for the Grizzlies.

Camille Tree is the new volleyball head coach.

▪ Former Tri-City American Sergei Drozd, who played a full season for the local team in 2009-10, has signed a one-year contract extension with Yunost Minsk, a team in the Extraliga based in Belarus.

According to the MacBeth Report, Drozd played in 50 games last season for Yunost Minsk, scoring 10 goals and 11 assists. Drozd is also the team’s alternate captain.

▪ Spokane Community College pitcher Daniel Charron, a Chiawana graduate, was named a second-team pitcher for the NWAC East Region all-star team.

Charron is spending his summer pitcher for the Yakima Valley Pippins of the West Coast League.

▪ The Tri-City Dust Devils (and the Los Angeles Angels) released outfielder Francisco Del Valle on May 25.

Del Valle played with the Dust Devils for all of 2021 and this season up until his release, playing in a total of 120 Tri-City contests.

But Del Valle quickly signed a week later with the New York Boulders of the independent Frontier League, on June 2. In four games, Del Valle is batting .333 (5 for 15) with 3 RBIs.

Former Dust Devils catcher Ty Greene, who was released during the 2021 season, has been with the Ottawa Titans in the Frontier League this season. Greene is batting .250 with 7 RBIs in 15 games.

▪ Pasco High soccer standout Claire Potter, who attends Tri-Cities Prep, has signed a letter of intent to play women’s soccer this fall at Western Washington University.

▪ The Cascade Collegiate League has been a summer college baseball league the past few years based out of Hoquiam.

It’s a chance for players who aren’t assigned to say, the bigger West Coast League, to still get a chance to play and hone their skills the next few months.

The league began play this past week, and it will run through July 31.

There are six teams in the league — the Barn Owls, Chinooks, Llamas, Prairie Dogs, Salamanders, and Sea Turtles.

The Prairie Dogs have four players from the Tri-Cities: outfielder/utility man Kyler Bacon (Kamiakin), who has been at Wenatchee Valley Community College; RHP/1B Gaven Mattson (Kennewick), who is at Yakima Valley Community College; middle infielder Alex Swaney (Kamiakin), also from YVC; and outfielder Elijah Tanner (Kennewick), who is at Whitworth.

The Barn Owls boast to Hanford High grads in catcher/outfielder Matt Carlson — who plays at Blue Mountain Community College — and RHP/C Cael McMurdo, who plays at Grays Harbor Community College.

And the Llamas have one guy: 3B/Utility Aidan McMurdo (Hanford), also from Grays Harbor CC.

▪ Two Columbia Basin College baseball players have signed with four-year schools.

Shortstop Isaac Haws — who scored 45 runs, had 29 stolen bases, and 14 extra base hits this spring — has signed with Lewis-Clark State College.

Meanwhile, pitcher Ian Hughes — 6 wins, a 3.61 earned run average, 98 strikeouts in 67 innings — has committed to the University of Nevada.

The Hawks were also well-represented in the NWAC East Region awards.

Haws, pitcher Josh Aribal, infielder Nick Grade and outfielder Brooks Rasmussen were all named first-team All-East Region.

Hughes, DH Payton Kallaher and outfielder Steven Meier were named second team.

CBC catcher Alex Rodriguez, Kallaher at first base, and Grade at third base, were all named to the Gold Glove team.