Hermiston cowboy No. 1 steer wrestler heading into National Finals Rodeo + More local sports

With the 2024 National Finals Rodeo coming up next week in Las Vegas, local readers should try to keep an eye on Hermiston’s Dalton Massey.

The 31-year-old enters the 10-day event as the No. 1 steer wrestler.

This is Massey’s second consecutive NFR, and he’s earned nearly $200,000 so far this calendar year.

Last year — in his NFR debut — Massey finished second in the overall standings with earnings of about $284,000.

The NFR starts Thursday, Dec. 5, and ends Saturday, Dec. 14. Fans can watch it on The Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV.

Massey isn’t the only area competitor. Well, he is the lone human. But Don Hutsell and Sonny Riley own Flying 5 Rodeo Inc., & Big Bend Rodeo Company, and they have a bull qualified in the stock department for bullriding by the name of Bangarang.

As an added bonus, local youngster Kinsley Murray, 8, will be singing the national anthem to open the go-round on Friday, Dec. 6.

Slowpitch softball

Winning a state championship never gets old, says Chiawana slowpitch softball coach Brian Thomas.

Thomas’ Riverhawks squad edged Mead 5-4 in the Class 4A title game on Oct. 26 in Yakima — making the achievement one of the highlights for Mid-Columbia fall sports.

“That 5-4 win, we scored one run in each of the first four innings,” said Thomas. “From there it was all defense.”

The championship is Chiawana’s fourth consecutive state crown, as the Riverhawks finished with a 22-3 record.

Thomas said he wasn’t sure about mid-season of whether this squad had a shot at repeating.

“We played Eastmont, Moses Lake and Walla Walla earlier this year and suffered a loss to each one of them,” Thomas said. “That made me realize we were gonna have to work harder.”

But after that, the Riverhawks dug in and reversed directions.

“This team had a little bit of fight in it. It never quit,” said Thomas. “In one game playing Walla Walla, we were down 18-2. But we came to win 33-25.”

That sounds like a high score. It is. But believe it or not, the key to being good in slowpitch softball is defense.

That’s what Chiawana has been blessed with.

“The last four years, our outfield has been a blessing,” said Thomas. “This team was lights out. It had a good core of players.”

The cupboard, Thomas added, is hardly bare.

“We have 11 seniors graduating. But we’ve got some good younger kids in the program,” he said. “So our base is still solid. We had 43 players turn out for JV and varsity. We had to make a few cuts. Last year we had 40 kids.”

Time to go for state title No. 5 in 2025.

Team members of this year’s state championship for Chiawana are seniors Aracely Garcia, Gabriella Garza, Haylee Gillespie, Lillyona Hernandez, Alyssa Melendez, Jessica Melendez, Samantha Melendez, Makayla Trevino, Megan Vela, Chase Wirt, and Sofia Yanez; junior Amelia Smith; sophomores Aleeah Andersen and Lakin Wilson, and freshmen Leah Andrus and Avigail Rojas.

Besides Thomas at head coach, assistants are Eli Garza and Aaron Cantu.

Prep basketball

This coming weekend offers the first full high school basketball schedule in the area.

Earl Streufert and his Richland boys basketball team are hosting the Second Bomber Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s schedule at Art Dawald Gymnasium includes Davis taking on Port Falls at 6 p.m.; followed by Richland hosting Mt. Spokane at 8 p.m.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., Davis plays Mt. Spokane; and at 3 p.m., Richland will take on Central Valley.

Other games to keep an eye on around here include:

• Hermiston’s boys and girls playing at Sunnyside on Friday; girls at 5:30 p.m. and boys at 7 p.m.
• Friday, Kamiakin will host Eastmont in a girls-boys twinbill at 5:45-7:30 p.m., respectively.
• Tri-Cities Prep hosts Kittitas on Friday, with the girls playing at 6 p.m., and boys at 7:30 p.m.
• Up in the Yakima Valley, Zillah visits Grandview on Friday. Girls tip off at 5:30 p.m., and boys start at 7 p.m. The boys game will be pretty interesting, with the host Greyhounds expected to be one of the state’s top 2A teams, and Zillah the same in 1A.
• Saturday, Columbia-Burbank’s boys play host to LaSalle at 7 p.m. If you can get a chance to see Burbank play this season, do so. The Coyotes placed second at 2B state in March, and they have almost everyone returning.
• Tri-Cities Prep will host Goldendale on Saturday with a girls (6 p.m.) and boys (7:30 p.m.) twinbill.
• At 3 p.m., Saturday, the Walla Walla girls will host Central Valley. The visiting Bears have added Brynn McGaughy to their team. McGaughy is a 5-star recruit who spent her first three seasons at Colfax High School. The 6-foot-3 power forward has already committed to the University of Washington.

Prep basketball schedule change

Because the football team played through the 4A state semifinals, Chiawana’s boys basketball team reschedule its road game at Ferris from this past Tuesday night to Wednesday, Dec. 11.

But a really good matchup will happen at Chiawana on Tuesday, Dec. 10, when Prosser’s boys and girls visit. It will be the season openers for Chiawana.

Chiawana’s girls — featuring seniors Malia Ruud (signed with WSU) and Kaia Foster (signed with New Mexico) — are expected to be one of the top Class 4A teams in the state.

Prosser’s girls, which include standouts Lei’lee Dixon, Deidra Phillips and Herbie Wright, are expected to be one of the top Class 2A teams in the state.

Chad Herron’s Chiawana boys team has everyone back from last season, and Mid-Columbia Conference coaches picked the Riverhawks to place second this season in the MCC.

Prosser, led by Koby McClure (last season’s CWAC MVP), are among the top 2A boys teams in the state.

Tipoffs are 5:45 p.m. for girls, and 7:30 p.m. for boys.