Kennewick High 1 win away from baseball title; Pasco boys soccer ranked 2nd in nation

Kennewick’s baseball team clinched a share of the Mid-Columbia Conference baseball title with a doubleheader sweep (12-2 and 4-2) at Richland on Friday.

The Lions are now 13-0 in conference play (16-1 overall), and need just one victory in their final three games this week to keep the crown all to themselves.

Kennewick visits Southridge at 5 p.m., Tuesday, in a single game; then plays host to Chiawana in a twinbill (4 p.m. first pitch) at Roy Johnson Field on Friday. This is the final week of regular-season MCC play.

Kennewick is still the No. 1 ranked Class 3A team in the state (see RPI rankings below).

▪ Pasco won three more games this past week — 1-0 over Walla Walla, 2-0 over Southridge, and 1-0 over Kennewick — to raise its record to 12-0, and maintain control of the MCC boys soccer standings.

In the latest United Soccer Coaches Spring High School Rankings, Pasco is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Only Harrison High of Kennesaw, Ga., is ahead of the Bulldogs.

Now, although the majority of states hold boys high school soccer in the fall, other states have the sport played in the spring. Still, it’s pretty darn impressive that Matt Potter’s Bulldogs are among the best in the nation right now.

▪ Richland’s softball team handed Walla Walla its first loss of the season on Friday, beating the Blue Devils 11-4 in the nightcap to salvage a split in MCC play.

Wa-Hi is still atop the MCC standings at 9-1, and is ranked as the No. 1 Class 3A team in the state. But both Richland and Hermiston are right behind in second with 9-3 conference records.

▪ I plan on releasing Mid-Columbia track and field leaders later this week, but what Walla Walla senior Dash Sirmon did on Saturday at the Oregon Relays in Eugene just cannot wait.

Sirmon, who has already committed to compete next year for the University of Washington, threw the javelin 213 feet, 2 inches.

That gives him the best throw in the nation this year among high school boys. Impressive.

WIAA RPI rankings

Here are the top-ranked high school spring sports teams from our region in the state, as provided by the WIAA through its latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings, through events of this past Saturday:

College Place (10-1) is ranked No. 7 among 1A baseball teams.

Connell (11-0-1) is ranked No. 2 among all 1A boys soccer teams.

DeSales (12-0) is No. 2 in the latest 1B baseball rankings.

DeSales (9-4) is currently ranked No. 6 in 1B softball.

Kamiakin (13-4) is the No. 7-ranked 4A baseball team.

Kennewick (16-1) is ranked No. 1 in 3A baseball.

Kiona-Benton (10-4) is the No. 9 softball team in the 1A ranks.

Liberty Christian (10-3) is the No. 8 ranked 1B softball team in the state.

Othello (11-3-1) holds the No. 10 spot among all 2A boys soccer teams.

Othello (15-0) has the No. 5 girls fastpitch softball team in Class 2A.

Pasco (12-0) has the No. 2-ranked 4A boys soccer team.

Royal (7-0) is ranked No. 6 in Class 1A softball.

Sunnyside Christian (5-5) holds the No. 10 ranking among 1B softball teams.

Tri-Cities Prep (9-3) is No. 6 in the latest 2B baseball rankings.

Wahluke (10-2-2) holds the No. 6 spot among all 1A boys soccer teams in the state.

Walla Walla (12-1) is the No. 1 3A fastpitch softball team in the state.

Warden (11-1) is ranked No. 3 in the 2B softball rankings.

CBC baseball

Columbia Basin College’s baseball team has a great record at 25-13. In fact, the Hawks received votes this past week in the latest NWAC coaches poll.

The problem for CBC lies in its 8-8 East Region record, which puts the Hawks in sixth place in their own region. The good news is there are still 12 conference games remaining in order for the Hawks to make the postseason.

They’ll need to finish fourth to have a chance.

The NWAC baseball playoffs are such in that the first-place teams of each of the four regions in regular-season play automatically qualify for the NWAC championship tournament in late May.

The No. 2 teams in each region will host a three-team Super Regional tournament against the No. 3 and 4 teams from other regions to determine the rest of the eight-team final field.

▪ Lane (27-9-1) is currently the No. 1-ranked team in the latest poll. … CBC has a couple of speedsters in Steven Meier and Isaac Haws. Meier has 28 stolen bases for the Hawks, while Haws has 24. CBC pitchers Josh Aribal and Ian Hughes are ranked 1-2 in the entire NWAC in strikeouts. Aribal has 78, while Hughes is at 77.

NWAC softball

Some MCC softball fans may remember Hermiston High grad Bailee Noland, who was a standout for the Bulldogs her junior season in 2019 before covid wiped out her senior season in 2020.

Noland went on to play her freshman season in college at Salt Lake City Community College, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation at times in 2021.

She was named to the first team of the Region 18 all-star softball squad.

Because the pandemic affected most community college programs, Noland is still considered a freshman this season. Only, she transferred in the offseason to Walla Walla Community College.

Now, we’re not saying that because of her, the Warriors are the top-ranked team in the latest NWAC coaches poll. But she’s a big reason.

WWCC has a 28-2 record, and the Warriors as a team have blasted 81 home runs so far this season —easily the best in the entire NWAC.

Noland herself, a pitcher and catcher, has 23 of those homers. She also has 79 RBIs and a .640 batting average. In the circle, she has a 5-1 record.

Those are all video game numbers.

The Warriors have swept all four contests this spring against CBC. But the Hawks are still pretty good, with a 20-13 record, in third place in the East Region, and getting votes in the most recent NWAC coaches poll that came out April 21.

CBC has its own slugger in shortstop Ashlynn Nixon, who has 18 homes runs, 55 RBIs, and a .535 battling average. She’s also fast, and has 19 stolen bases.

Nixon, in fact, was named the NWAC softball hitter of the week for the period April 11-17.

The Hawks next play on Tuesday, April 26, in a home doubleheader against Big Bend Community College. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.