Coronavirus sidelines CBC baseball season — but not before they had a strong start

The Columbia Basin College baseball team was off to a strong 7-5 start this spring before the season was stopped.

First-year head coach Stefan McGovern, hired last summer to take over the CBC program, looked to have a tough team.

Starting pitcher Shane Martin (Hanford) was the top player come out of the gate.

Martin, heads to Northwest Nazarene this fall, led all CBC pitchers with a 3-0 record and 24 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched, and his 1.17 earned run average was second best on the team.

Offensively, Hunter Tiffany (West Valley-Spokane) led the Hawks with two home runs and six stolen bases. He was also among the team leaders with 8 RBIs and 7 runs scored.

Cooper Shelby (Kennewick) was tied for the team lead in RBIs (9) and runs scored (8). He also had the second best batting average at .355 (11 for 31).

Cody Kehl (Quincy) led the team in batting average at .444 (12 for 27), and was tied with Shelby with 8 runs scored.

Trent Sellers (Kennewick) was a two-way threat for the Hawks. He shared the lead with most RBIs at 9; and he was second among pitchers with 19 strikeouts.

Pitcher Riley Harrison (Meridian, Idaho) led CBC in ERA at 1.00, while Nick Solomon (Mount Si) was third at 1.59.

Fellow pitcher Jon Garza (Othello) was third in strikeouts with 15.

Finally, Payton Kallaher (Pullman) was among the team’s top hitters, ranking third in batting average at .316 (6 for 19).

Notes

• Shane Lemieux, a West Valley of Yakima graduate who starred at the University of Oregon, was drafted by the New York Giants this past weekend.

The Giants grabbed the offensive lineman in the fifth round on Saturday.

• The Walla Walla Community College women’s basketball team finished with a 26-2 record this season before the NWAC Championship tournament was stopped last month.

Sophomore Sailor Liefke (Sunnyside Christian) was the Warriors’ top player this season, averaging a team-best 16.7 points a game. Liefke – who just signed to play next season at Eastern Oregon University -- also was second on the team in rebounds, withy 6.3 per game; she was also second in assists at 3.2 a contest.

Holly Golenor (Meridian, Idaho) was the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.9 points, but she was the top rebounder at 7.5 per game.

Jessica Cheney (White Swan) was the third top scorer at 11.0 points, and she also had 2.3 assists a game.

Prosser freshman Marissa Cortes led the Warriors in assists with 3.8 a game, and was tied with Liefke atop the steals leaders at 1.5 a game. Cortes averaged 5.9 points en route to being named the East Region Freshman of the Year.

• The Columbia Basin College softball team got off to a 4-8 start this season when it was called off.

Clarissa Lopez (Richland) seemed to be the team’s early leader, scoring a team-best 22 runs and stealing a Hawks-best 8 bases while driving in 14 runs.

Jaslyn Pryor (Kittitas) led CBC with three home runs and 19 RBIs.

Amanda Brown (Richland) was the Hawks’ best pitcher, going 3-4 and striking out 15 batters.

Other standouts include Samantha Cissne (Chiawana), who was batting .474 (18 for 38), scored 20 runs, and stole 5 bases; Bailee Bunger (Chiawana), who was hitting .514 (18 for 35) and drove in 18 runs; and Ebany Guzman (Othello), who was hitting a scathing .600 (12 for 20).

• Freshman Ashlee Maldonado (Sunnyside) played in 13 games this season for the Santa Clara University women’s basketball team, which finished 12-19.

Maldonado played in 13 games and averaged 1.5 points.

• Jenna Mendoza (College Place) was 2-for-5 at the plate with an RBI for the Clark Community College women’s softball team this spring.

The Penguins were just 2-3 when the season was stopped. Mendoza is also a pitcher, and she started twice, going 0-1. She struck out one batter in 3 innings of work.

• Scorebook Live Washington listed its top high school baseball pitchers from around the state last week.

Tri-Cities Prep senior Logan Mercado was the only area hurler who made the main list. Mercado will be playing next spring for the University of Oregon.

Four other Mid-Columbia residents made the honorable mention list: Warden’s Ryan Arredondo, who just signed a letter of intent to pitch next year for the University of the Pacific in California; Richland sophomore Joey Pearson; Kiona-Benton senior Isaac Rheinschmidt; and Kamiakin senior Niko Wiltz.

• Michaela Morris (Walla Walla) was the St. Martin’s University women’s golf team’s No. 2 golfer this season.

Morris averaged 86.5 strokes per round through eight events (16 rounds). Her highest finish was being tied for 14th.

• Jake Poulton (Nampa, Idaho) seemed to be the top player for the 13-16 Walla Walla Community College men’s basketball team this season, averaging 18.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

But Garrett Streufert (Richland) had a strong freshman season for the Warriors too, averaging 6.5 points, leading the team in rebounds at 6.7 per game, and dishing off a second-best 3.0 assists a game.

Jander Cline (Heritage of Vancouver) led WWCC in scoring at 19.3 points, while grabbing 6.5 rebounds.

Other highlights included Ryan Wagar (Richland) shooting 49.5 percent from the floor; Gabe Gallegos (Caldwell, Idaho) leading the team with 1.5 steals per game; and Faust Ystueta (Twin Falls, Idaho) averaging 12.4 points per contest.

• Senior Samantha Raines (Kamiakin) cleared 13 feet, 5.25 inches for Eastern Washington University in the women’s pole vault, giving her the top mark in the winter indoor track season for the Eagles.

• Yakima Valley Community College’s Trey Sanchez (Sunnyside) was the men’s basketball team’s second leading scorer this season, averaging 13.9 points a game.

Sanchez, a sophomore, was the 11-17 Yaks’ leading 3-point shooter, sinking 45.8 percent (44 for 96) of his trey attempts.

• Katie Skramstad (Touchet) was the top player this past season for the Blue Mountain Community College women’s basketball team, which struggled at 3-24.

Skramstad led the Timberwolves in scoring at 12.0 points a game. She also averaged 5.1 rebounds, and led the team in assists (1.8) and steals (1.6).

Teammate Brooke Wheeler (Prosser) averaged 9.5 points and 7.0 rebounds for BMCC.

• Sophomore Lexie Skyles (Sunnyside) averaged 4.3 points and 1.6 rebounds this season for the 21-8 Yakima Valley Community College women’s basketball team.

• Junior Ellie Smith (Southridge) was a starter this season for the 18-13 Idaho State women’s basketball team.

Smith averaged 5.6 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Bengals. She was the team’s top blocked shots leader, with 53.