CBC men’s soccer sends 7 players onto 4-year ranks + Latest on local grads

Columbia Basin College’s men’s soccer team finished last season with an 11-1-3 record, and that lone loss occurred in the postseason quarterfinals.

The Hawks had a lot of talent, and seven players will continue playing at the four-year level.

Leading the way will be Julio Andrade and Rafael Lucio.

Andrade was the East Region Co-Defensive MVP. Just a freshman, Andrade (Pasco) is headed to Western Oregon University.

Lucio (Las Vegas), a midfielder who led CBC offensively with 13 goals and 5 assists for 31 points, was named East Region MVP. He will be playing this fall for Seattle Pacific University.

Other Hawks moving on include midfielder Carlos Camacho (Boise) to College of Idaho; freshman forward Daniel Farias (Sunnyside) to Western Oregon; goalkeeper Dylan Isasi (San Jose, Calif.) to Gonzaga University; midfielder Kairos Joaquin (Hawaii) to Evergreen State; and midfielder Eric Martinez (Grandview) to Pacific Lutheran University.

Both Farias and Isasi were first-team East Region selections.

Prep track and field

Miguel Cruz, a junior from River View, won the 2B boys shot put state title in late May with a mark of 59 feet and 4.75 inches.

The shot put mark is a Class 2B boys state record.

Cruz also finished second in the 2B discus with a distance of 164 feet, 8 inches.

▪ College Place senior Andrei Smith earned a second-place finish in the discus and finished fourth in the shot put at the Class 1A boys track and field state championships in Yakima in late May.

Smith’s discus throw was 161 feet and 8 inches; his shot put distance was 50-7.

Connell senior Carson Lloyd finished third in the javelin with a toss of 190 feet, 7 inches; while Royal City’s Santana Luna finished third in the long jump at 22 feet and 0.5 inches.

Pro baseball

Mason Martin, a Southridge High School graduate, is hitting a scalding .359 in 59 games for the Lancaster Stormers of the independent Atlantic League this season.

Martin, who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and spent some time in the Los Angeles Angels organization last season in Tri-City, has 20 home runs for the Stormers as well as 53 RBIs.

At 26, Martin plays first base or DH’s for Lancaster.

College softball

Western Washington University’s Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez (Connell) was named a first-team Greater Northwest Athletic Conference selection following the end of the softball regular season.

Andrewjeski-Ramirez, who previously had played for BYU, was named as a catcher to the team.

She hit .357 this season, with 6 home runs and 47 RBIs.

The senior also helped WWU to return to the NCAA DivisionII for the second consecutive year.

The Vikings went 2-2 at the World Series, and the team finished with a 47-13 record.

Also on the team were senior outfielders Lexi Barcomb (Chiawana) and Lexi Crum (Southridge).

Women’s basketball

Ashlee Maldonado (Sunnyside) was named an All-American honorable mention selection recently by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Maldonado — a graduate student at the University of Providence in Montana — was also named first-team All-Frontier Conference this season. She averaged 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.

She was also named an NAIA first team All-American in the 2023-24 season.

Joining Maldonado on the Frontier Conference all-star team was Montana Western junior Trinidie Nichols, who spent two seasons playing for Columbia Basin College.

Nichols, who averaged 10.4 points a game this past season, was named the Conference’s 6th Woman Player of the Year by the league’s coaches.

▪ Two members of Columbia Basin College’s women’s basketball team will continue on to four-year schools this fall.

Sophomore guard Analyssa Maldonado — who is from Sunnyside and played at Yakima’s Eisenhower High School before coming to CBC — is headed to the University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy. It’s an NAIA school in St. Louis.

Maldonado scored 11.4 points and grabbed 5.6 rebounds last season for the Hawks.

Teammate Baylee Voile (New Plymouth, Idaho) is moving on to Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore. Voile averaged 7.6 points last season for the 15-12 Hawks.

Prep softball

Richland dominated the major awards when the Mid-Columbia Conference all-conference softball team was announced recently.

Senior Sophia Sams was named Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Emmalee Mohr was named Pitcher of the Year. The Bombers’ Joel Evans was named MCC Coach of the Year.

Richland had three first-team players: Sams in the outfield, Mohr at pitcher, and senior Payton Chacon in the outfield.

Chiawana also had three first-team selections in Alyssa Melendez in the outfield, Jessica Melendez at shortstop, and Chase Wirt at catcher. All three are seniors.

Kennewick and Southridge each had two picks. For the Lions, it was junior first baseman Rylee Bendewald and senior DH Addi Fielder.

For the Suns, the picks were senior utility play Avery Garvey and senior third baseman Jadyn Holdren.

Also on the first team are Hanford junior pitcher Heidi Sweet, and Kamiakin sophomore second baseman Analise Thomasson.