Kennewick grad off to strong start for N.Y. Yankees’ Double-A affiliate

Kennewick High grad Trent Sellers has had four starts for the Somerset Patriots, the New York Yankees’ Double-A affiliate, this season.

Sellers, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound 25-year-old right-handed pitcher, has struck out 24 batters in 18.2 innings as of work. He has a 3.86 earned run average.

Last season was Sellers’ first in the Yankees’ farm system. At High-A Hudson Valley, he had a 7-3 record, a 2.51 ERA, and he struck out 117 batters in 96.2 innings.

Ironically, Sellers’ teammate at Somerset this season is Kamiakin grad Trystan Vrieling, another right-handed pitcher. Vrieling, however, has been on the injured list.

Vrieling, 24, went 13-7 last season as a starter at Somerset. He had a 4.58 ERA, striking out 132 batters in 147.1 innings of work.

College basketball

Kylee Fox, a Richland High grad, entered the transfer portal a few weeks ago and came out on the other side by signing to play women’s basketball for Santa Clara University.

Fox played the past two seasons for Fresno State University, starting in 65 of 67 contests.

This past season, Fox averaged 9.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.1 steals for the Bulldogs in 33 games.

She’ll have two seasons of eligibility remaining at Santa Clara, a member of the West Coast Conference.

Signings

Chiawana senior Taylor Mills finished her Riverhawks girls soccer career by being named first-team All-Mid-Columbia Conference in both her junior and senior seasons. Mills was also the team captain as a senior.

Now, she’s headed to play for the women’s soccer team at Central Washington University starting this fall after she signed a letter of intent with the Wildcats.

▪ Jonathan Lopez, a senior midfielder at Riverside High School in Boardman, Ore., signed a letter of intent in late February to play this fall for the Corban University’s men’s soccer team.

▪ Aaron Villa, a sophomore defender for Walla Walla Community College, signed a letter of intent on March 22 to play for the Bushnell University men’s soccer team.

College tennis

Freshman Matthew Morrison (Richland) was named second-team all-Northwest Conference for men’s tennis.

Morrison was Whitworth University’s No. 1 men’s singles player, and he also played No. 1 doubles for the Pirates. He finished the regular season with a combined 7-12 record in singles and doubles.

College baseball

Central Washington University beat Montana State University Billings 6-4 on May 1 to clinch the third and final Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball championship tournament berth.

In that game, incidentally, Kellen Berg (Kamiakin) got the final out for the Wildcats to earn his third save of the season.

CWU is 23-23, and two Mid-Columbia pitchers are the team’s top starters.

Daniel Charron (Chiawana) has a 3-5 record, and he’s struck out 49 batters over 70.2 innings of work.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Garza II (Othello/CBC) has a 4-3 record, and he’s fanned 58 batters over 63.1 innings.

Both pitchers have started 12 games, and both are seniors.

Junior hockey

Richland product Caleb Elfering is finishing up his junior hockey career by leading the Chilliwack Chiefs in the BCHL playoffs.

Elfering is a 20-year-old right wing, and as of May 1, the Chiefs will begin a best-of-7 Coastal Conference finals series against the Victoria Grizzlies.

In 51 regular-season games this season, Elfering scored 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points, as the Chiefs finished the season in first place of the Coastal Conference with a 37-12-5-0 record.

Elfering also has committed to play this fall for the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in NCAA Division I play.

Prep soccer

Grandview and Quincy finished the Class 2A Central Washington Athletic Conference boys soccer regular season as co-champions, as both teams finished with 6-2 CWAC records.

However, Grandview earned the No. 1 seed into the district tournament by beating Quincy in their CWAC matchup. The Greyhounds open postseason play with a 12 p.m. home match on Saturday, May 3, against No. 4-seed Ellensburg.

Othello is the No. 3 seed in the district tournament, and the Huskies visit No. 2 Quincy at 12 p.m. Saturday in their first-round match.

The tournament champion will earn the CWAC’s automatic state tournament berth. But two more teams will have a shot at a state berth with regional crossover contests.

2A CWAC BOYS SOCCER

Quincy 6-2 CWAC, 10-6-1 overall

Grandview 6-2, 8-4-1

Othello 5-3, 10-5-1

Selah 4-4, 9-5-1

East Valley 4-4, 11-5

Ellensburg 4-4, 7-8-1

Toppenish 4-4, 8-7-1

Ephrata 2-6, 3-11-1

Prosser 1-7, 3-11

April 29 — Ellensburg 1, East Valley 0; Grandview 4, Ephrata 1; Quincy 9, Tonasket 0; Toppenish 2, Selah 1.

May 1 — Selah 3, Grandview 1

End of regular season

District 5 tournament

May 3 — Game 1 play-in, (8) Ephrata at (5) Toppenish, loser out, 11 a.m.; Game 2 play-in, (7) East Valley at (6) Selah, loser out, 12 p.m.; Game 3, (4) Ellensburg at (1) Grandview, 12 p.m.; Game 4, (3) Othello at (2) Quincy, 12 p.m.

May 6 — Game 5, winner 1 at loser 3, loser out, 5 p.m.; Game 6, winner 2 at loser 4, loser out, 5 p.m.