Tri-Cities grad starts strong as relief pitcher for Washington State University baseball

Chiawana High School graduate Caden Kaelber has got off to a great start with the Washington State University baseball team this year.

The Cougars took three out of four at UC Davis this past weekend, and Kaelber pitched pretty much perfectly in two of those contests.

The 6-foot-7, 185-pound redshirt sophomore reliever has given up just one hit in two innings, surrendering no runs while striking out three batters.

Kaelber spent a season pitching for Spokane Community College before transferring to Pullman.

Kamiakin grad Payton Flynn is also with the Cougs. The 6-3, 204-pound outfielder is a redshirt sophomore, but has yet to play in a game.

WSU begins a four-game set at Dixie State starting Feb. 25.

▪ Northwest Nazarene got off to a 2-0 start this season with a doubleheader sweep of host College of Idaho this past Saturday.

The Nampa, Idaho, team has four players on its baseball roster from the Mid-Columbia — senior outfielder Ryan Dearing (Kamiakin/CBC), sophomore pitcher Nick Irwin (Kamiakin), sophomore pitcher Spencer Schwehr (Walla Walla CC), and sophomore pitcher Shane Martin (Hanford/CBC).

In Saturday’s 8-6 win in the opener, Dearing — the team’s leadoff hitter — went 1-for-4, scored two runs, drove in two runs, and had two stolen bases.

In the team’s 5-1 nightcap win, Dearing went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.

Schwehr tossed 2 innings of scoreless relief, surrendering one hit while striking out two.

Prep football

Robert Gomez tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Diamond Carrasco, giving the visiting Grandview Greyhounds their only points in a 34-7 Central Washington Athletic Conference football loss to East Valley of Yakima on Monday night.

East Valley quarterback Aiden Estill rallied the Red Devils to victory, going 22 for 32 for 239 yards passing and four TD passes.

Grandview running back Jadrien Chavez rushed for 54 yards on 17 carries.

College softball

▪ Twin sisters Lauren and Faith Hoe are ranked the second and third hitters, respectively, for the Weber State University softball team (4-6). Both are Walla Walla High School graduates and sophomores at the Utah school.

Lauren Hoe is the team’s catcher, and is hitting .321 with three home runs and 7 RBIs.

Faith Hoe is a middle infielder, and she’s batting .296 and has scored 6 runs.

▪ Richland High grad Kaylie Northrop is one of five pitchers that the 7-3 UNLV softball team has used so far this season.

Northrop, a freshman, has made three appearances for the Rebels, striking out 7 batters over 5.2 innings.

College indoor track

Hermiston graduate Ebony Wilson had a good weekend at the Polar Vortex Classic in Nampa, Idaho, walking away with two first-place medals.

Wilson, a senior competing for Eastern Oregon University, finished first in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 35 feet, 10 inches.

She also tied for first with the College of Idaho’s Charlotte Wilson in the women’s long jump. Both had a leap of 17 feet, 9.5 inches.

To finish her weekend, Ebony Wilson had a fifth-place finish in the women’s 60 meters, crossing the finish line in 8.29 seconds.

Lewis-Clark State College freshman Geraldin Correa (a Kennewick High grad) placed second in both the women’s 600 meters and 800 meters events.

Correa clocked 1:40.76 in the 600, and then did a 2:24.51 in the 800.

Finally, Eastern Oregon sophomore Abby Winstead (Kamiakin grad) cleared 9-9 in the women’s pole vault to place fourth.

Ams alumni

▪ Joel Broda, a 31-year-old center who played all or parts of four seasons with the Tri-City Americans from 2004-08, has 10 goals and 13 assists in 36 games playing with Graz EC in Austria.

Broda is in his sixth season playing in Austria, and Graz has a 13-19-4-4 record and sits in seventh of the 11-team ICE Hockey League.

Broda played 126 games for the Americans, scoring 21 goals and 30 assists in his time here.

▪ Former Ams defenseman Justin Hamonic has scored five assists while playing in 26 games this season for the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.

Hamonic, now 27, played four seasons with the Americans – from 2011-12 to 2014-15 – scoring 3 goals and 43 assists in 255 games.

▪ Two former Ams have been playing in Germany’s DEL.

Justin Feser plays for ERC Ingolstadt, and has 4 goals and 6 assists in 16 games, while his team is third in the South Group standings at 8-2-2-4.

Brendan Shinnimin is with Adler Mannheim, which sits first in the South Group standings at 10-4-1-2.

Shinnimin has 6 goals and 2 assists so far.

▪ Dylan Stanley, 37, is playing for Feldkirch VEU in the Alps Hockey League, where he’s scored 10 goals and 34 assists in 28 games played.

Feldkirch is 7-11-2-2 and stands ninth out of 16 teams in the standings.

Stanley played 339 games for Tri-City for all or parts of five seasons from 2000 to 2005, and he scored 113 goals and 167 assists.