Richland Bombers clinch MCC title after perfect season. District play begins
The Richland Bombers rolled through their conference schedule this spring without a loss, going 16-0 to take another Mid-Columbia Conference regular-season title.
Richland has done it with a first-year coach in Joel Evans, who had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of the legendary Casey Emery. The long-time Bombers coach who consistently led his team to numerous MCC titles and state tournament appearances stepped down after the 2024 season.
And 2024 didn’t end well for the Bombers, who while winning the MCC title, went 0-2 in the state tournament that was held in their back yard.
The good news is that there were a number of veteran players returning to the Richland lineup this spring, and that group is not interested in repeating last year’s performance.
This postseason begins on Tuesday, May 6, with first-round games in the District 8 tournaments against the Greater Spokane League schools.
The Bombers lead a tough MCC contingent into the 4A district tournament, as the top four MCC teams in the standings (Richland, Hanford, Kamiakin and Chiawana) are all Class 4A schools.
Richland and Hanford will each have games on Tuesday, and the top two teams in the tournament advance to state.
Southridge is the top 3A team in the MCC standings, and the Suns and Kennewick will host first-round games on Tuesday. The top three teams in this tournament advance to the 3A state tournament.
Here are the final MCC softball standings, as well as the first-round district tournament matchups:
MCC SOFTBALL
Richland (4A) 16-0 MCC, 20-1 overall
Hanford (4A) 13-3, 16-4
Kamiakin (4A) 12-4, 15-5
Chiawana (4A) 10-6, 13-6
Southridge (3A) 8-8, 11-10
Kennewick (3A) 6-10, 7-13
Hermiston (3A) 5-11, 8-12
Walla Walla (3A) 2-14, 4-16
Pasco (4A) 0-16, 2-18
May 2 — Hanford 6, Southridge 0; Hanford 7, Southridge 0; Kamiakin 10, Hermiston 9; Kamiakin 9, Hermiston 4; Kennewick 14, Walla Walla 3; Kennewick 12, Walla Walla 6; Richland 17, Chiawana 5; Richland 9, Chiawana 0; Sunnyside 17, Pasco 0; Sunnyside 21, Pasco 4.
4A District 8 tournament
Tuesday, May 6 — Game 1, Gonzaga Prep at Richland, 5 p.m.; Game 2, Kamiakin at Ferris, 5 p.m.; Game 3, Lewis & Clark at Hanford, 5 p.m.; Game 4, Chiawana at Mead, 5 p.m.
3A District 8 tournament
Tuesday, May 6 — Game 1, Cheney at Mt. Spokane, 5 p.m.; Game 2, Ridgeline at Kennewick, Civic Softball Fields, 4 p.m.; Game 3, Hermiston at University, 5 p.m.; Game 4, Central Valley at Southridge, 5 p.m.
Hockey
The NHL Central Scouting Bureau recently came out with its final rankings for the upcoming NHL Draft, set for June 27-28 in Los Angeles.
Tri-City Americans defenseman Jackson Smith is listed No. 13 among all North American skaters — meaning there is a good potential he could go somewhere in the first round.
Other Americans in the top rankings include forward Savin Virk at No. 121, forward Cash Koch at 181, and forward Gavin Garland at 201.
Virk had a strong finish to the season for the Ams, scoring 16 goals and 18 assists over the team’s final 27 games.
College basketball
Bobbi Hazeltine led her Walla Walla Community College women’s basketball team to an NWAC championship in March, with a 65-58 victory in the title game over Lane Community College.
For her efforts, Hazeltine was named the NWAC Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year by the NWAC.
Besides the title in March, Hazeltine has led the Warrior women to NWAC championships also in 2001, 2010 and 2018.
College soccer
Shelby Geiger, who played for the Columbia Basin College women’s soccer team last fall, recently signed a letter of intent to play for Oregon Institute of Technology.
Geiger — a sophomore defender who hails from Twin Falls, Idaho — started in 13 of 15 matches last fall for the Hawks, who played in the NWAC final four.
Prep baseball
Liberty Christian of Richland and DeSales of Walla Walla finished the Southeast 1B Grape Division regular season as co-champions, as both teams went 9-1 in conference play and split their twinbill with each other.
But LC earned the No. 1 seed into the SE 1B tournament, which is held at two sites on Tuesday, May 6.
At Dayton, LC will take on the host Bulldogs (the No. 1 seed out of the SE 1B Wheat Division) at 10 a.m. to determine the top seed to district play.
Also at Dayton at 1 p.m., the No. 2 seeds — DeSales and Garfield-Palouse — will play each other. The loser automatically becomes the No. 4 seed to the district tournament.
Then, at 4 p.m., the loser of the first game will play the winner of the second contest to determine the 3 and 4 seeds.
Meanwhile, host Sunnyside Christian will host Waitsburg, Riverside Christian and Pomeroy to determine which school gets the fifth and sixth seeds to the district tournament.
Here are the final 1B Southeast Conference, Grape Division standings:
1B SOUTHEAST GRAPE BASEBALL
Liberty Christian 9-1 SE Grape, 14-2 overall
DeSales 9-1, 16-4
Sunnyside Christian 6-4, 11-9
Riverside Christian 4-6, 5-10
WWVA 1-9, 4-12
Touchet 1-9, 3-14