Walla Walla dominates Mid-Columbia Conference all-star softball team, coach honored
Walla Walla dominated the Mid-Columbia Conference all-league team, as voted on by the conference coaches.
Wa-Hi senior pitcher Tallulah Stickels was named the MCC Player of the Year, while the Blue Devils’ Arch McHie was named MCC Coach of the Year.
The Blue Devils finished second last month in the Class 3A state tournament.
Seven of the 12 first-team positions went to Wa-Hi players: Stickels at pitcher, junior shortstop Lauryn Bergevin, senior first baseman Kaitline Chapman, junior catcher Raquelle Justice, sophomore outfielder Sara Justice, junior third baseman Sidney McCauley, and senior designated hitter Alizaeya Salcedo.
Chiawana had two first-team era in freshman second baseman Jessica Melendez, and senior outfielder Maliyah Twitty.
Three schools had one player each on the first team: Hanford senior utility player Graci Brady, Richland freshman outfielder Payton Chacon, and Kamiakin senior pitcher Maggie O’Leary.
▪ Scorebook Live Washington released its all-state high school softball team last week, and two Mid-Columbia athletes were on the squad.
Othello junior Camryn McDonald was named as a middle infielder.
McDonald hit a staggering .667 at the plate, with 10 home runs and 51 RBIs.
Meanwhile, Walla Walla senior Tallulah Sickels— headed for Lewis & Clark College in Portland — was named a utility player.
Sickels was 17-2 with a 1.98 earned run average as a pitcher. But she also dominated with a bat, hitting .438, with 12 homers and 35 RBIs.
▪ Pasco High senior Destiny Moreno has signed a letter of intent to play for the Shoreline Community College softball team next spring.
Baseball
The region will be represented by eight area players at the All-State Baseball Series, set for June 25-26 in Yakima.
There are four teams, with two semifinal games set for 11:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Losers will meet at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, while the two winners will meet for the championship at 1:45 p.m. Sunday.
All games will be 8 innings, and all players are seniors.
Playing for Team Adams will be Pasco catcher/outfielder Justice Huels, and College Place third baseman/pitcher Riley Moyer.
Royal catcher/pitcher Derek Bergeson and Grandview third baseman Matthew Sauve will be part of the Team Baker squad.
Richland head coach Grant Richardson and two of his assistants, Charlie Moody and Jason Martinez, will lead Team Rainier.
Two Richland players, pitcher Cam Kallsen and outfielder Joey Weissenfels, will play for Team Rainier.
Finally, Tri-Cities Prep pitcher Tyler Harper, and Kiona-Benton catcher/pitcher Ty Messner, are members of the Team St. Helens squad.
▪ Aidan McMurdo (Hanford) was the team leader in runs scored (23) and stolen bases (10), and was second in RBIs (14) for the 11-29 Grays Harbor Community College baseball team this spring.
College awards
Three area athletes were named their respective sports’ MVPs at the recent 15th annual Mountie Awards show at Eastern Oregon University.
Sailor Liefke (Sunnyside Christian/Walla Walla CC) was named women’s basketball player of the year, while Elliott Marks (WWCC) was named baseball player of the year, and Amanda Smith (WWCC) was named softball player of the year.
Men’s soccer
Othello’s Juan Manuel Arechiga signed a letter of intent on May 16 to play for the Spokane Community College men’s soccer team this fall. Othello teammate Anthony Ontiveros will also attend SCC to play soccer.
Women’s basketball
Recent Lind-Ritzville grad Dakota Killion has agreed to play this fall for the Big Bend Community College women’s basketball team this winter.
▪ River View High School graduate Skyln Munson will play for the Clark College (Vancouver, Wash.) women’s basketball team this fall after she signed a letter of intent on May 20.
College volleyball
Grandview High grad Kelly Casarez has signed to play volleyball this fall for Centralia Community College.
Television
There have been some changes at two of the local television stations in their sports departments.
Jamie Council has left her sports director position at KNDU/SWX, and has no plans for the immediate future.
Well, maybe she’s got something going right now. Council, a former soccer player in college, signed with the Tri-City Rush indoor football team last month as the team’s kicker.
The left-footed kicker has been pretty accurate for the Rush, who finished the American West Football Conference regular season with a perfect 9-0 record.
The defending AWFC champs now just have to wait for the rest of the league to get through the playoffs. Whoever survives those playoffs — the Idaho Horsemen, the Wenatchee Valley Skyhawks, or the Oregon High Desert Storm — will play the Rush for the AWFC championship.
That game will be held at 7 p.m., Saturday, July 9, at the HAPO Center in Pasco.
Meanwhile, KEPR’s Myck Miller recently resigned, and he’s now at KDVR and KWGN in Denver, where he’ll help cover all of the Denver area professional sports teams.