Bombers banded together to pull in girls soccer titles with just 1 loss

What could have been.

That’s what Justin Almquist thinks when he thinks about his Richland High School girls soccer team.

“I believe this team could have made a run deep into the state tournament if we had that opportunity, given how well we were playing by the end of the season,” said Almquist, whose 11-1 Bombers ran through the Mid-Columbia Conference quite easily.

Almquist felt he had a strong team coming into this season.

“I knew after the 2019 season, where we were 20 minutes away from going to state, that we would have a strong team since we were pretty young,” Almquist said. “Unfortunately, we lost (midfielder) Ashley Tonthat to Gonzaga, but we received a big boost when Hayden Crowley and Hannah Hagler decided to return to the program after focusing on club soccer the last few seasons.”

Tonthat decided to graduate from high school early in December, and is now attending Gonzaga University, where she plays for the Bulldogs women’s soccer team.

Only a 2-1 loss to Kamiakin in the second game of the short season blemished Richland’s record.

“I knew we had talent,” Almquist said. “But wasn’t sure how it would mesh and I was concerned we weren’t competitive enough in some of our early practices. However, once the season got going — and especially after we lost to Kamiakin on penalties in the second game — the leaders stepped up to make sure we practiced and played up to our potential.”

Those leaders included Hagler, the senior keeper who is headed to Whitman College in the fall to play there.

“She has been the undisputed vocal leader and honorary assistant coach,” Almquist said. “However, we pride ourselves on having 20-plus leaders on the team. With that said, (seniors) Hayden Crowley and McKenna Martinez definitely lead by example and set the tone for play on the field. Likewise, we have a group of juniors led by Kaylie Pearson, Maggie Perryman, Makenna Muller, Kylie Hay and Brookelyn Peterson that really stepped up this year as well.”

The Bombers’ aggressive offensive attack was just too much for opponents to overcome.

“It took a while to find the best positions and combinations of players, but our attack really blossomed,” Almquist said. “We have some talented individuals, but it was when we learned to trust each other and combine that, that we became incredibly difficult to keep off the board. With that said, our defending and goalkeeping was incredibly strong as well and showed in our overall stats.”

This was a talented team. Besides Hagler, three others are headed off to play college soccer.

Martinez will compete for Oregon State University in the fall, while Crowley — just a junior — already is verbally committed to the University of Washington to play for the Huskies.

Ellie Marsh will compete for LeTourneau University.

The members of Richland’s title team are: freshman forward Bella Bunnage, sophomore defender Savannah Crithfield, junior forward Hayden Crowley, sophomore midfielder Kelsey Fulton, senior keeper Hannah Hagler, junior defender Kylie Hay, sophomore defender Riley Heidegger, sophomore midfielder Cienna Landram, sophomore forward Jasmine Liddicoat, sophomore forward Taylor Lindstrom, senior midfielder Kaitlin Maddison, freshman keeper Alyssa Marsh, junior forward Ellie Marsh, senior forward McKenna Martinez, junior midfielder Hannah McKay, junior midfielder Makenna Muller, junior defender Kaylie Pearson, sophomore defender Maggie Perryman, junior defender Brookelyn Peterson, sophomore defender Kendal Smith, and sophomore midfielder Sorrel Stratford.

Head coach is Justin Almquist. Assistant coaches are Brian LaMarche and Michael Sakamoto.

Notes

▪ Prosser High grad Scott Blakney had a strong season for a struggling Idaho men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 10.7 points — second most for the Vandals — for an Idaho team that went 1-21.

Blakney has one year of eligibility left, and announced last week that he would be transferring to Big Sky Conference rival Montana.

▪ Senior wide receiver Jalen Webber had an outstanding season for Chiawana, catching 16 passes for 414 yards and 7 touchdowns. That averages out to 25 yards a catch.

Webber has received an offer from the University of Puget Sound to go along with his offer from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.

▪ Apparently I missed a few former Tri-City Dust Devils who are with Major League Baseball teams this season. But thanks to the Dust Devils’ radio play-by-play man, Chris King, I am straightened out.

Those ex-Dust Devils with big-league clubs that I missed: LHP Logan Allen, Cleveland; LHP Tyler Anderson, Pittsburgh; LHP Rex Brothers, Cubs; RHP Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland; RHP Carlos Estevez, Colorado; INF Josh Fuentes, Colorado; RHP Will Harris, Washington; INF Tucupita Marcano, San Diego; C Tom Murphy, Seattle; RHP Joel Payamps, Toronto; RHP Jose Ruiz, White Sox; INF Trevor Story, Colorado.

Altogether, there are 25 former Dust Devils in the big leagues.

▪ The Runner WA, a high school track and cross country website that covers our state, named Kamiakin junior Isaac Teeples as the boys cross country runner of the year last week.

The site also named Kennewick junior Macy Marquardt as the girls most improved cross country runner of the year.

Sunnyside’s Reid Weaver was the boys most improved runner of the year, sharing the honor with Lakes’ Cruize Corvin.

▪ The Vancouver Canadians, the Dust Devils’ rival in the old Northwest League which will now play in the High-A West league this summer with the Tri-City franchise, announced last week that, for now, the team will be playing its home games in Hillsboro, Oregon.

With the Canadian border still closed, Vancouver officials had to make a decision with the season starting next month. If things improve and the border re-opens, Vancouver could move home games back to Nat Bailey Stadium.

▪ Connell’s Ashton Riner just keeps getting better at throwing the javelin.

Last week, Riner tossed the javelin 188-0. That set a new BYU school record.

▪ Royal’s football team completed its season last Friday night with a 41-16 win on the road at Class 4A Moses Lake.

The Knights, who are Class 1A, compiled 501 yards of offense.

Caleb Christensen had 398 yards passing and 5 TD passes — three of those went to fellow senior Cooper Christensen (no relation) in their final game together.

The TD passes between the two were 16, 47 and 44 yards.

Cooper Christensen caught 10 passes for 200 yards in his final game for the Knights, who went 5-0 and easily beat three Class 4A schools in Moses Lake, Eastmont and Wenatchee.