Tri-City softball teams win big in early-round WA tournament games

All three Tri-City teams playing in the WIAA Class 4A state softball championships won their opening-round games on Friday at Columbia Playfields in Richland.

Richland pounded Eastmont 20-0 in 5 innings. No stats were available yet.

Meanwhile, Hanford scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning and then held on to beat North Creek of Bothell 4-2.

Falcons pitcher Heidi Sweet, headed this fall to pitch for Montana State University Billings, struck out 18 batters while surrendering just 4 hits.

And Kamiakin took down Skyview of Vancouver 3-1.

Braves pitcher Lizzie O’Leary, headed to Central Washington University to pitcher, fanned 9 Skyview batters while scattering 4 hits in the victory.

Teammate Jordynn Marquez, who will play collegiately at Eastern Oregon University, went 2 for 3 for the Braves.

All three teams now advance to the quarterfinals, set for 5 p.m. at Columbia Playfields: Richland plays Rogers of Puyallup; Hanford takes on Skyline of Sammamish; and Kamiakin faces Issaquah.

3A softball

Kennewick is already 2-0 in the 3A state tournament in Lacey.

The Lions, seeded 14th in the 20-team tournament, were forced to play a loser-out, play-in game on Thursday night against No. 19 Shelton.

They ended up winning 7-1, as Kennewick pitcher Addie Logan struck out 9 while scattering 6 hits.

On Friday morning, Kennewick took down No. 3 seed Peninsula of Gig Harbor by a 13-7 score.

The Lions took control of the game by scoring seven runs in the fourth inning.

Rylee Bendewald had two hits for the Lions with 4 RBIs, including a three-run home run.

Kennewick plays in the state quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. today against No. 6 Stanwood.

No. 18 Southridge made the tournament proper by beating No. 15 Gig Harbor 9-0 on Thursday night.

Orian Hagen pitched the complete-game shutout, scattering 4 hits and striking out 3. On offense, Hagen went 3 for 4, hitting two home runs, scoring three runs and driving in 3 more.

The Suns then lost 9-2 to No. 2 Mt. Spokane on Friday morning.

Senior Aryn Sloot led Southridge with a solo home run.

The Suns were set to play No. 10 Everett in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m. today.

Prep baseball

The Mid-Columbia has 12 teams ready for the WIAA state tournament.

That includes three No. 1 seeds heading into Saturday, when for most classifications will include both the first round and quarterfinals contests.

Those three tops seeds are Richland (4A), Tri-Cities Prep (2B) and Richland’s Liberty Christian School (1B).

All three will host games on Saturday.

Here’s what the Saturday schedule looks like for the 12 teams:

Class 4A

At Richland High School

10 a.m. — (16) Issaquah-Skyline vs. (1) Richland

1 p.m. — (9) Woodinville vs. (8) Olympia

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

At Tahoma High School

10 a.m. — (14) Lake Washington vs. (3) Tahoma

1 p.m. — (11) Eastlake vs. (6) Kamiakin

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Class 3A

Roy Johnson Field, Kennewick

10 a.m. — (15) Monroe vs. (2) Kennewick

1 p.m. — (10) Mountain View vs. (7) O’Dea

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Lincoln High School, Tacoma

10 a.m. — (14) Liberty (Issaquah) vs. (3) Gig Harbor

1 p.m. — (11) Southridge vs. (6) Kentlake

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Class 2A

Othello High School

10 a.m. — (14) Chief Sealth vs. (3) Othello

1 p.m. — (11) Selah vs. (6) Columbia River

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Class 1A

Olympic Stadium, Hoquiam

10 a.m. — (9) Charles Wright/Life Christian vs. (8) Cedar Park Christian

1 p.m. (16) Royal vs. (1) Montesano

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Class 2B

LaPierre Field, Kennewick

10 a.m. — (9) Ilwaco vs. (8) Asotin

1 p.m. — (16) Orcas Island vs. (1) Tri-Cities Prep

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Northwest Christian, Colbert

10 a.m. — (12) River View vs. (5) Adna

1 p.m. — (13) Pe Ell/Willapa Valley vs. (4) Northwest Christian (Colbert)

Winners play quarterfinal following 1 p.m. game

Class 1B

All quarterfinal games

1 p.m. — (11) DeSales at (3) Almira-Coulee-Hartline

12 p.m. — (7) Sunnyside Christian at (2) Naselle

2 p.m. — (5) Oroville vs. (4) Dayton, Murr Sports Park, Walla Walla

11 a.m. — (9) Wahkiakum vs. (1) Liberty Christian, Southridge High School

Boys lacrosse

Richland High School boys lacrosse team saw its magical season end when the Bombers lost to Eastlake 19-7 in the Class 4A state semifinals on May 20.

Nolynd Cook scored a goal and two assists to lead Richland.

The Bombers finished the season with a 16-3 record, and it was the farthest Richland had ever advanced into the state tournament.

To get to the state semifinals, Richland beat Juanita 18-4 in the first round, then took down Mercer Island 8-5.

Cook, a midfielder, was named first-team all-conference. So were two other Bombers in attack Lance Johnson and defender Gavin Walther.

College baseball

Richland High graduate Landon Webb was named to the Cascade Collegiate Conference’s first team on its all-conference baseball team.

Webb, who also starred at Columbia Basin College, made the squad as a starting pitcher for Lewis-Clark State College.

A senior right-hander, Webb is 5-2 with a 2.49 earned run average. Opposing batters are hitting a meager .191 off of him.

More importantly, Webb’s team begins play tonight in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston.

The Warriors (44-7) play Tennessee Wesleyan at 7 p.m. in a first-round game in the 10-team tournament.

Also on LCSC’s roster is catcher Kooper Jones, a junior transfer from WSU who prepped at Richland High; and junior pitcher and designated hitter Ryan Prescott, who transferred in from Walla Walla Community College.

Jones is hitting .333 with a homer and 20 RBIs in 26 games. Prescott is batting .246, with 3 home runs and 18 RBIs through 28 games.

The World Series runs through May 29 or 30, depending on whether a second championship game is needed.

College basketball

Kamiakin graduate Tyler Bilodeau finished up his men’s college basketball career by being named third-team All-Big Ten for UCLA.

Bilodeau, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Bruins. He shot 51 percent from the floor, and 46 percent from the 3-point line.

He sprained his knee in a Big Ten tournament game, and he missed UCLA’s NCAA Tournament games because of that.

Bilodeau attended the NBA Draft Combine from May 10-17. The forward is hoping to be selected in the June 23-24 NBA Draft.

College softball

Camryn McDonald (Othello) was the starting shortstop for the Idaho State University softball team this season, and the junior was recently named second-team All-Big Sky Conference.

McDonald led the Bengals (37-20) with a .419 batting average.

She also scored 44 runs, had 5 home runs and 22 RBIs.

The Bengals won the Big Sky Conference regular-season title, and the conference tournament.

They then played in the NCAA Tournament in a regional in Eugene, Ore., where they lost 5-1 to Oregon, then fell 3-1 to St. Mary’s on May 16 to see their season end.

• Carah Sweet, a sophomore at Montana, was recently named the Big Sky Conference’s Co-Newcomer of the Year, along with Sacramento State’s Madi Mendoza.

Sweet, who transferred to Montana after one season at Sacred Heart, was also a second-team selection on the Big Sky Conference all-conference softball team.

Sweet was 9-7 with a 4.13 ERA as the Grizzlies’ top pitcher. In 100 innings of work, she had 50 strikeouts.

College golf

Junior Jillian Breedlove (Pasco) led her golf team this season at Austin Peay University.

Breedlove averaged 75.30 strokes a round in her 11 tournaments, with a low score of 68 and a high of 86.

Her highest finish this season was third place, and she did that twice.

College hockey

Richland product Caleb Elfering finished his first season with Rochester Institute of Technology’s men’s hockey team by scoring 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists).

Elfering — a 5-9, 170-pound freshman forward — played the last few seasons in the BCHL with the Chilliwack Chiefs.

This season, RIT was 17-17-2 overall and 13-11-2 in the NCAA Atlantic Hockey Association.

Signings

Amelia Smith (Chiawana) will start her collegiate softball career this fall when she attends Walla Walla Community College. Smith was named the MCC slowpitch softball MVP last fall.

• Richland senior Martin Rivera Jr. has committed to playing for the Columbia Basin College men’s soccer team this coming fall. Rivera was a first-team All-Mid-Columbia Conference selection as a midfielder both his junior and senior seasons.

• Chiawana senior Cashis Castillo, a tough left-handed pitcher, has committed to playing baseball at Tacoma Community College beginning in the 2026-27 season. Castillo ate up 43.1 innings this spring for the Riverhawks, and he had a 2.39 earned run average, and struck out 57 batters.

-Jeff Morrow if former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.