Mid-Columbia sports briefs: Trek Stemp, Jamie Weisner and a young bass master
Trek Stemp named to All-Pac-12 team
Washington State second baseman Trek Stemp (Kennewick) was named All-Pac-12, an honor voted on by the conference’s baseball coaches.
Stemp, a redshirt-junior, finished the regular season fifth in the conference with a .355 batting average and tied for second with 12 stolen bases. He earned his first career all-conference accolade after posting team-highs with 65 hits and 32 runs scored despite missing the final nine games with a lower-body injury.
Stemp also led the Cougars with 17 multiple-hit games including a three four-hit games and recorded three different hitting streaks of 10-plus games throughout the season. In Pac-12 play, he hit .324 and tied for second with six stolen bases while fielding at a .982 clip in 25 games.
WSU teammates Ian Hamilton and Ryan Walker were honorable mentions.
▪ Dixie State junior pitcher Mason Hilty (Richland) wrapped up his record-breaking 2016 season by earning three postseason awards, earning spots on the NCAA Division II all-D2CCA West Region and Pacific West Conference second teams, and garnering PacWest Newcomer of the Year honors.
Hilty set a school record for single-season wins (10) and won his first nine decisions, also a school record in the NCAA era. He finished with 72 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings and recorded six or more strikeouts in seven of 14 appearances.
▪ Angelo State (Texas) junior Nate Ruane (Richland) capped a strong season by going 7-for-11 in the postseason for the Rams, who won their third NCAA regional title before going 0-2 in the World Series in Cary, N.C.
Angelo State was eliminated Monday after suffering their second 1-0 loss in as many games.
Ruane started 34 of the 41 games he played in, batting .272 with three doubles, a triple, 19 RBIs and 22 runs scored.
▪ Trinity’s Drew Butler continued his hot hitting to lay claim to Most Outstanding Player and led Trinity (Texas) to a 10-7 win over Keystone in Game 2 and the NCAA Division III national championship Tuesday at Fox Cities Stadium in Grande Chute, Wis.
The Tigers won the first game of the series 14-6.
Colin Serkowski (Hanford) went 1-for-4 with a single and two runs scored in the second game for Trinity (44-7), which won its first national title.
In the opener, Serkowski, the Tigers’ second baseman, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored.
Weisner goes from OSU to WNBA’s Mystics
Former Oregon State star Jamie Weisner (Walla Walla) was signed May 24 by the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
Weisner, an All-American and the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2015-16, was originally drafted by the Connecticut Sun (second round, 17th overall) in May, but was cut just before the season began.
As a senior, Weisner averaged 17.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. She helped lead the Beavers to their first Final Four after capturing their second consecutive Pac-12 regular-season title and set a program record for wins (32).
Fishing
Blake Williams of Pasco, a seventh grader at McLaughlin Middle School, finished on top this past weekend at Washington’s Junior Bass Fishing Championship on Moses Lake.
Williams finished the day with 12.30 pounds of fish, with his biggest catch of the day being a 3.25-pound small-mouth bass.
Williams led by two pounds over his nearest competitor to win the opportunity to attend the Junior World Bass Fishing Championship in August in Florence, Ala., on Lake Guntersville.
He also finished fourth the following day in a high school bass fishing team challenge where 16 high school teams from throughout state. The big fish award went to Williams and his partner Nolan Vandine, with a 5.94-pound large-mouth bass.
This story was originally published June 2, 2016 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Mid-Columbia sports briefs: Trek Stemp, Jamie Weisner and a young bass master."