ESPN to feature Tri-Cities NBA great + Kennewick grad in College World Series

There are a couple of ESPN shows local sports fans may want to watch this weekend.

The first one involves Kennewick High graduate Danny Dickinson and the College Baseball World Series.

The second one involves former Kamiakin High basketball standout Scot Pollard, who went on to play 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association.

First, Dickinson.

The junior second baseman has had a wonderful season for the Louisiana State University baseball team.

Dickinson has started and played in every one of LSU’s 63 baseball games to this point, almost all at second base.

Dickinson’s story has been well-documented.

After helping lead his Kennewick Lions teammates to a second-place finish in the 3A state tournament in 2022, the senior didn’t have many offers. He was set to go to an NAIA school in Arizona when he got an offer to play at NCAA Division I school Utah Valley.

He worked his way into the starting lineup, and for the next two seasons was an NCAA All-American.

He also played in the prestigious summer Cape Cod League and with Team USA last summer.

Dickinson entered the NCAA transfer portal and came out on the other side with LSU. The Tigers have a 48-15 record and qualified for the CWS, which starts in Omaha on Friday.

LSU, after winning their regional tournament a few weeks ago, took down West Virginia in the Super Regionals this past weekend, going 2-0 in the best-of-3 series and winning by scores of 16-9 and 12-5.

Now, LSU opens CWS play with a 4 p.m. game Saturday against Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas.

It will be televised on ESPN. In fact, all CWS games for the coming week will be televised on ESPN.

Dickinson is one of the Tigers’ top offensive players. He has a .312 batting average, and he leads the team in runs scored (65), stolen bases (9) and being hit by a pitch (23). His 12 home runs ranked third on the powerhouse team.

Pollard’s health journey

Now, about Pollard. ESPN’s E60 news magazine is doing a show on Pollard, called “Heart of Pearl,” which will air at 10 a.m. Sunday on ESPN.

Jeremy Schaap is the host of the show.

ESPN was able to follow Pollard (who allowed the access) throughout his journey on getting a heart replacement, which happened on Feb. 16, 2024.

Now this is how the Pollard story connects locally.

When Scot was about ready to begin his senior year at Torrey Pines High School in California, Pollard’s father Pearl died from a heart attack.

Scot Pollard was the baby of a large family with a number of siblings. One of his older brothers is Alan Pollard, who was a member of the Tri-City Chinook — a Continental Basketball Association team.

It was Alan who told his mother and Scot to come up to the Tri-Cities to be with family.

So they did. Alan needed to find Scot a school to play basketball. Alan cold called Kamiakin coach Don Schumacher, whose Braves had finished second in the state tournament the season before, losing to Kentridge in the finals 65-55.

Schumacher had a number of veterans returning from the state championship game squad for the upcoming 1992-93 season, and he was a bit skeptical as Alan said Scot was good.

Finally, Schumacher told Alan to bring Scot to practice the next day — this was summer — so he could meet him.

Now, Scot Pollard is 7 feet tall (Alan is 6-10). Don looked up at Scot and told Alan, “Yes, I think he can play with us.”

I remember his first game with the Braves that season. I was the Chinook beat writer, and our preps writer was in Tacoma covering the state high school football playoffs. My sports editor at the time asked me to go out and cover Kamiakin against Terry Irwin’s Central Valley Bears — always a tough team to play — in the season opener.

But one thing stands out to me. Early in the game, maybe 3 minutes in, senior Tony Schumacher stole the ball at the top of the key and was off to the other end for what looked to be a breakaway layup. But he slowed down, and I thought, “What is he doing?” When all of a sudden out of nowhere came Pollard.

In a full sprint, he took off from the free throw line as the young Schumacher tossed the ball straight up in the air.

Pollard caught it with one hand and slammed it home for a dunk.

There is that moment where everyone is not sure what they just saw and there is a temporary moment of silence. And then the full capacity crowd just went berserk.

Better yet, Tony Schumacher went running along the sidelines with his arms stretched out in the air, looking at the fans, as if to say “Look at my new toy!”

From that moment on, I have followed Pollard. The Braves finished fourth at state that season, as they lost 37-35 in the quarterfinals to Federal Way and eventual NBA player Michael Dickerson. Back then, there was no shot clock in high school basketball in Washington state, and the Eagles stalled to keep the ball as much as they could out of Kamiakin’s hands.

Pollard ended up playing for the University of Kansas men’s basketball team, and then with five NBA teams — the Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.

He retired in 2008.

Scot Pollard ended up having a bad heart like his father did. It took a while, but Scot and his wife Dawn were able to find a donor.

E60’s story on Sunday follows their journey.

Hydroplane races

The first H1 Unlimited race of the 2025 season was blown out in Alabama this past weekend, thanks to wind as well as thunderstorms.

So the Guntersville Lake Hydrofest was canceled.

The big boats did get out on the water for a preliminary heat race, but even that was stopped when Dave Villwock, driver of the U-27 Miss Apollo, got caught in a roller, and with the wind, flipped the boat on the first lap.

Villwock was OK, but the boat was destroyed.

Kennewick’s Bruce Ratchford, who owns the U-27 under BWR Racing, told H1 that he believes the U-27 will be ready for the next race, the 75th Madison Regatta in Indiana, set for July 4-6.

If not, Plan B is the team’s backup boat, nicknamed Sharky, that won a number of races with Steve David and then Jimmy Shane as drivers.

The American Power Boat Association’s Gold Cup — unlimited hydroplane racing’s answer to the NFL’s Super Bowl — is set for July 25-27 in the Tri-Cities.

Track and field

Eastern Washington University’s track and field program announced the signing of 31 athletes for the 2025-26 season — including seven from the Mid-Columbia region.

On the women’s side are Walla Walla’s Kirsten Anderson (pole vault) and Richland’s Lenah Martin (high jump, long jump and triple jump).

Joining the men’s team are Hermiston’s Hunter Allen (hammer throw and weight throw), Chiawana’s Tristan Breier (200 and 400 meters), Sunnyside’s Andrew Garcia (1600 and 3200 meters, and cross country), Walla Walla’s Ian Lash (3200 meters and cross country), and Royal’s Santana Luna (long jump and triple jump).

This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 9:46 AM.