Strong start for spring sports + 5 Tri-City area baseball teams battling for 1st

It’s still early in the Mid-Columbia Conference baseball wars, but it’s still impressive to see five of the league’s 10 teams tied for first place with 3-1 records.

This is a wide open MCC this season, and any team can win any game.

On Tuesday, four of the five contests were all decided by 1 run.

Here’s what the standings look like after Tuesday’s contests:

1, Kamiakin (4A) 3-1 MCC, 6-1 overall

1, Southridge (3A) 3-1, 6-1

1, Richland (4A) 3-1, 6-1

1, Kennewick (3A) 3-1, 5-2

1, Chiawana (4A) 3-1, 5-2

6, Hanford (4A) 2-2, 3-3

7, Pasco (4A) 1-3, 4-3

7, Hermiston (3A) 1-3, 3-3

7, Walla Walla (3A) 1-3, 2-4

10, Sageview (3A) 0-4, 1-5

Tuesday, March 31 — Chiawana 2, Southridge 1; Hermiston 3, Kamiakin 2; Kennewick 15, Sageview 2; Pasco 1, Walla Walla 0; Richland 3, Hanford 2.

Friday, April 3 (all doubleheaders; first pitch at 4 p.m.) — Hermiston at Walla Walla; Kamiakin at Chiawana; Pasco at Kennewick; Sageview at Richland; Southridge at Hanford.

• Thanks to Richland High’s Tait Meyer, we have MCC baseball statistics.

Here is a look at the MCC leaders in a few categories, through games of March 31:

Batting average: 1, Zachary Vega, Kamiakin, .571; 2, RJ Lopez, Pasco, .478; 3, Asa Perkes, Hanford, .474.

Home runs: 1 (tie), Taron Carlson, Kamiakin, 2; and Coppin Hunkapillar, Southridge, 2.

RBIs: 1 (tie), Gabe Swanson, Walla Walla, 11; and Vega, Kamiakin, 11; 3, Coppin Hunkapillar, Southridge, 9.

Stolen bases: 1, Lopez, Pasco, 10; 2, Trey McCauley, Walla Walla, 8; 3, Dylan Mamiya, Kennewick, 6.

Pitching strikeouts: 1 (tie), Cashis Castillo, Chiawana, 28; and Max Garcia, Pasco, 28; 3, Michael Revell, Richland, 25.

Earned run average: 1 (tie), Castillo, Chiawana, 0.00 (16.1 innings); and Tayten Cissne, Chiawana, 0.00 (12 IP); 3, Revell, Richland, 0.50 (14.1 IP).

Wins: 1 (tie), M. Garcia, Pasco, 3; and Deegan Quesenberry, Richland, 3.

Track and field

There have already been some great performances in high school track and field meets before April competition begins — including three state leaders from the Tri-Cities: Hanford’s Jonathan Allen, and Emaunii Smith and Gunner Smith, both from Kamiakin.

Allen, a sophomore from Hanford, cleared 16 feet, 5 inches in the boys pole vault event on March 21 at the Richland High jamboree.

Emaunii Smith, a senior for the Braves, has already cleared 5-5 in the girls high jump event. She did that March 28 at the 7th Clay Lewis Invite at Hanford.

Kamiakin junior Gunner Smith is the boys 400 state leader, clocking a 49.21 seconds time at the Clay Lewis Invite.

Other early area standouts include:

• Connell sophomore Benjamin Naef tossed the boys javelin 179 feet, 2 inches at the Ray Cross Invitational in Ephrata on March 28. That’s No. 2 in the state.

• The Chiawana boys 4x100 relay team of Gabe Barajas, Athen Lewis, Sean Ramin, and Angel Colon, which had a 42.88 seconds time in the Clay Lewis meet. That’s third-best among state boys.

• Chiawana junior Sawyer Chubb finished the girls 400 meters in 56.81 seconds at the Clay Lewis meet. She’s the fourth fastest statewide in this event.

• Chubb and Riverhawks teammates Baylie Anderson, Leanne Arbogas, and Mylie Anderson combined for a 49.37 seconds time in the 4x100 relay at the Clay Lewis meet. That ranks fourth among 4x100 relay teams in the state.

• Columbia-Burbank senior Mia Leahy tossed the javelin 130 feet, 4 inches at the Clay Lewis meet. The 2B standout ranks fourth among all girls javelin throwers in the state.

• Here are some key dates for some of the region’s bigger prep track and field meets this spring:

April 10, Connell Invitational; April 18, Pasco Invitational; April 25, Prosser Rotary Invite; May 15-16, MCC Championships; May 21-22, District 5 4A-3A meet, Central Valley High School, Spokane; May 28-30, State meets — 2A/3A/4A, Mount Tahoma; 1B/2B/1A, Eisenhower High.

Soccer, softball

• MCC boys soccer games get going in earnest on Friday, April 3, with a key matchup at Chiawana High School. Walla Walla (5-2) visits the Riverhawks (5-0-1) at 7 p.m.

• Orlando Farias scored the game’s only goal, leading host Othello over East Valley-Yakima 1-0 in a 2A CWAC boys soccer game on Tuesday, March 31. The win gives the Huskies a 1-0 record in CWAC play.

• Here’s a big 1A SCAC softball matchup on Saturday: College Place (6-0 SCAC, 7-0 overall) visits Connell (6-0, 6-0). It’s a twinbill that starts at 11 a.m.

• The highly anticipated 1B softball matchup featuring DeSales (7-2) and Liberty Christian (5-1) was set for Wednesday in Richland. But Mother Nature in the form of rain washed the twinbill out.

Now the games are rescheduled for April 29, still in Richland, starting at 2 p.m.

The two teams have won a combined four 1B state titles over these past four years: LC winning in 2022 and 2023; DeSales taking the 2024 and 2025 crowns.

“Our rivalry with Liberty Christian is intense,” said Irish coach Pat Wahl. “(Last year), we were both evenly matched teams. It looks like it’s going to be the same again this year.”

CBC baseball

Reliever Jason Schuler (Chiawana) struck out 7 batters over 6.1 innings on Wednesday, but the CBC baseball team still fell short, losing 6-4 to visiting Wenatchee Valley in the first game of an NWAC East doubleheader.

Schuler scattered three hits, walked one and gave up just one earned run.

The second game was halted in the top of the fifth inning when rain stopped play. The two teams were tied 2-2.

The two teams meet in Wenatchee on Saturday in a twinbill that begins at 1 p.m.

Here are the NWAC East Region standings through Wednesday, April 1: 1, Yakima Valley 5-1 East, 21-7 overall; 2, WVC 4-1, 14-11; 3, CBC 3-2, 14-13; 4, Treasure Valley 3-3, 12-16; 5 (tie), Spokane 2-4, 14-9; Blue Mountain 2-4, 11-14; Big Bend 2-4, 9-15; Walla Walla 2-4, 6-15.

This story was originally published April 3, 2026 at 11:14 AM.