Colleges snapping up Tri-Cities athletes despite coronavirus sports worries

College sports programs, soccer leagues, hydroplane races and other events are making adjustments or canceling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are some sports tidbits from the last week:

Basketball standouts

• Chiawana’s Cooper DeWitt announced over the weekend that he’s going to play men’s basketball at North Idaho Community College.

DeWitt ran the table on the Mid-Columbia Conference boys basketball major awards this past season, being named the MCC Player of the Year and the MCC Defensive Player of the Year.

By going with North Idaho, DeWitt joins a strong program that went 28-1 last season but was unable to compete for the postseason title.

The Cardinals, due to numerous violations, are banned by the Northwest Athletic Conference from competing in the championships for the next two seasons.

But what DeWitt does get is a chance to play for a strong program that sends athletes on to outstanding four-year programs.

“I’m excited,” DeWitt said. “As far as not playing in the postseason, you’ve got to make some sacrifices.”

DeWitt said he loved everything about North Idaho.

“It was more than just about basketball,” he said. “Talking to (head coach Corey Symons), most of our conversations were about me succeeding off of the court.”

There is a chance DeWitt could see good playing time his freshman season.

“Obviously no one is promised anything,” DeWitt said. “But they’re only bringing one player back from last season, and three other guys who redshirted. So there is at least one position open to competition.”

DeWitt said he also considered the College of Southern Idaho, Columbia Basin College and Central Washington University.

• The Columbia Basin College men’s basketball team had a few newsy items in the past week.

The Hawks have signed Southridge senior Tristan Smith to a letter of intent.

Smith averaged 22.4 points a game for the Suns this past season, and he has a strong inside-outside game who could play the 1 through 4 positions.

Meanwhile, two current Hawks are moving on to the four-year level.

Forward Grayson Nelson, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Firth, Idaho, signed a letter of intent to play for Montana Western.

Teammate Matthew Sundling, a 6-6 sophomore forward out of Gresham, Ore., is headed to Presentation College in South Dakota.

• CBC women’s basketball standout Ali Martineau is headed to Canada.

Martineau, a graduate from Columbia-Burbank High School, will play for Okanogan College in British Columbia.

Martineau just completed her sophomore season at CBC for head coach Roosevelt Smith, and she led the 8-20 Hawks in scoring (14.6 points) and rebounding (8.6) this past season.

Martineau also was a second-team All-NWAC East selection, and she was named to the East all-defensive team.

Soccer, HydroFest cancel

• The Evergreen Premier League, the top-caliber men’s soccer league in the state, announced last Wednesday that the 11 clubs agreed to cancel the 2020 season due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The EPL said it looked forward to playing the 2021 season.

• The coronavirus also claimed its first race site for the 2020 H1 Unlimited season when Guntersville Lake HydroFest officials announced that their event was canceled.

It was set as the season opener for June 27-28 in Guntersville, Ala. Race officials announced that the Alabama race would be run in 2021.

Officials from Madison, Ind., site for the season race — the APBA Gold Cup — have yet to make a decision for the July 3-5 event.

Meanwhile, the HAPO Columbia Cup, set for July 24-26 in the Tri-Cities, still is on at this point.

• Scorebook Live Washington, an online site that covers state high school sports, went ahead and put together all-state softball teams — even though it’s unlikely any games will be played this spring.

Richland first baseman Addison Pettit, who will play collegiately next year at Bradley University, was named to Scorebook Live’s first-team, all-state squad.

Richland senior Kaylie Northrop, who is headed to UNLV next year, was named a second-team, all-state pitcher.

Scorebook Live Washington also had named the Bombers as the top Class 4A team in the state.

Letters of intent and more

• Walla Walla runner Ryan Moore has signed a letter of intent to run men’s cross country and track and field for Johns Hopkins University.

• Walla Walla senior Mia Huxoll will play women’s basketball for Walla Walla Community College.

• Central Washington University’s football team has extended scholarship offers to Chiawana’s Kobe Young and Kamiakin’s Woodley Downard.

• Gia Sorn (Richland) finished her senior season playing for the University of Puget Sound women’s basketball team, which had a 13-13 record.

Sorn averaged 7.1 points and 3.7 rebounds, as well as 1.7 blocked shots, for the Loggers.

• Sophomore Garrett Paxton (Kamiakin) played in 28 games for the 23-6 Whitworth University men’s basketball team.

Paxton, who started one game, averaged 5.8 points and 1.9 rebounds for the Pirates.

• Redshirt freshman Payton Flynn (Kamiakin) played in three contests for the Washington State University baseball team before the season was stopped last month.

Flynn went 2-for-6 (.333) for the 9-7 Cougars.

• Dylan Sullivan (Walla Walla) came off the bench in 11 games for the 5-23 men’s basketball team at Concordia University in Portland. Sullivan, a freshman, averaged 1.5 points a game.

Sullivan and other Concordia athletes will have to find a new school this fall, after the board of trustees voted in February to shut the school down due to financial problems.

Besides Sullivan, that decision also affects women’s soccer player Aaliyah Valladares, a redshirt freshman from Kennewick; and volleyball player Abbey Schwager, a junior from Walla Walla Community College.

• Junior Scott Blakney (Prosser) finished the season for the University of Idaho men’s basketball team averaging 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds for the 8-24 Vandals.

Blakney, at 6-foot-8, started in 31 games for Idaho, and he was second on the team in blocked shots with 18.

Teammate Dame Thacker (Walla Walla CC) averaged 6.0 points and 2.5 rebounds for Idaho.

• Christian Flannery (Kennewick) was 1-1 in doubles play for the 2-5 Whitworth University men’s tennis team before the season was stopped.

For the 4-3 Pirates women’s tennis team, Chelsea Li (Richland) was 2-0 in singles play.

Teammate Kyndal Locati (Walla Walla) was 5-1 in singles play, and 4-2 in doubles play.

• Richland High grad Leon Rice led his Boise State University men’s basketball team to another 20-win season.

The Broncos were 20-12, and made it to the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals before falling to nationally ranked San Diego State.

• Ashtin Olin (Chiawana), a sophomore for the Sacramento State University women’s volleyball program, was 2-4 in No. 1 doubles play for the Hornets’ beach volleyball team this spring before the season was shut down..