Against the odds, Tri-City Rush heads into championship as top seed

When Brandon Tate made the decision to have a franchise in the indoor American West Football Conference, there was a lot going against him.

Mostly, Tate was starting up the Tri-City Rush team right after the Tri-City Fire folded, taking fans’ money with it.

Tate couldn’t get into the Toyota Center, which was left high and dry by the Fire’s departure. And there was no field.

But Tate got a field and a venue — the HAPO Center (formerly TRAC) in Pasco.

Covid-19 delayed the start of the 2021 season, but when it did get going in late May, Tate’s Rush did some damage.

In fact, following a 47-40 win over the Idaho Horsemen last Saturday, the Rush earned the top seed into the playoffs — finishing with an 8-2 record.

Because of that, Tri-City is guaranteed to host the championship game Sept. 4. The Rush will play the winner of the No. 3 seed, Idaho (6-4 record), at No. 2 Oregon High Desert Storm (7-3) semifinal (set for Aug. 28).

The Rush had the AWFC’s top offense this season (averaging 62 points a game), as well as the best defense (surrendering 22 points per game).

Tri-City quarterback Les Obie has dominated this season running the Rush offense. Through nine games, Obie has passed for 1,648 yards and 41 touchdowns, against just 12 interceptions.

Rush wide receiver Dashun Salgado has 43 catches for 511 yards and 13 TDs.

And running back Keithon Fleming — who played back a few years ago with the Tri-Cities Fever — has rushed for 350 yards and scored 18 touchdowns.

On the defensive side, Tyler Merkel has compiled 40 total tackles and had five interceptions.

Marcellus Pippins has an astounding 12 interceptions this season.

Tickets for the Sept. 4 title game will go on sale beginning Wednesday, Aug. 18.

Baseball

The Tri-City Dust Devils were recently assigned the Los Angeles Angels’ No. 1 pick of the 2021 MLB Draft, right-handed pitcher Sam Bachman.

Bachman was the No. 9 overall pick this year, and he signed with the Angels on July 19 before coming to the Dust Devils on Aug. 8.

Bachman, who played college ball at Miami of Ohio, has made two starting appearances for Tri-City. He’s been limited to a pitch count, and has gone just 4 innings total, striking out five batters.

The 21-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.50 earned run average.

As of Monday, The Dust Devils are 34-56 and in sixth place out of six teams in the High-A West League.

The top two teams in the league will have a playoff series after the season ends Sept. 19. Right now, those top two teams are Everett and Eugene.

By the way, the Dust Devils are getting to host one extra week of baseball in September.

Tri-City was supposed to play at Eugene the final week of the season Sept. 14-19. But the University of Oregon, which allows the Emeralds to play games on its campus, asked the team to be out of a the facility before this scheduled series.

So Tri-City gets to hold the games that week at Gesa Stadium.

▪ Payton Flynn, a Kamiakin grad, has decided to transfer from Washington State University after two seasons as a member of the Cougars baseball team.

Flynn announced in June that he will play next spring for the Montana State University Billings.

Notes

▪ Kamiakin has a new athletic director this fall.

Kyle Cowan comes from the Portland region to be the Braves’ AD and assistant principal. Cowan takes over for Casey Gant, who will be the principal at Desert Hills Middle School this coming school year.

▪ Pasco High grad Armani Reyes will be attending Lewis-Clark State College this fall. Reyes will be throwing the javelin next spring for the Warriors’ men’s track and field team.

NWAC

The Northwest Athletic Conference, which is the organization that runs community college sports in the Northwest, has been putting together all-decade teams for each sport in the 2010s.

Some of the region’s athletes have gotten mentions.

Here are a few:

▪ Of the 18 athletes making the Volleyball squad, three were from the Mid-Columbia.

Pasco High grad Sierra Linke, who played at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, was a first-team selection.

Hermiston High grad Crystal Schmidt, who also attended Blue Mountain, was a second-teamer. Walla Walla CC’s Tory Wegdahl was a third-team selection.

▪ CBC baseball outfielder Mac Acker was the lone area choice among the 40 baseball players mentioned.

Acker was listed as a starter on the team.

Cornhole

▪ There was no county fair last year, thanks to the pandemic.

But there was one in 2019, and one event that went over well was the Washington State Outdoor Cornhole Championships.

It’s going to happen again, but it’ll be two days’ worth of beanbag tossing at the Benton Franklin County Fair — Aug. 27-28.

Sponsored by the Tri-Cities Cornhole Association, the event will run from 1 to 6 p.m. each day, with the Amateur Division taking place Aug. 27.

The Open Division tournament runs Aug. 28.

Each event will consist of two-person teams in a double-elimination tournament format.

Entry fee is $50 for either division, and includes two t-shirts, two participant passes, two drink tickets and one parking pass.

Prize money: first place gets you $1,000 and a trophy; second is worth $500 and a trophy; and third is $250 and a trophy.

To register, go to Bentonfranklinfair.com. Each tournament will be limited to the first 64 teams.