Good Friday morning. We will have diamond cuts on deck this morning but we want to start off with a little volleyball. While the overall result perhaps wasn’t the best, it was a fantastic finish for one Puget Sound area team coached by a lower Valley native this week at a national tournament in Orlando.
Lynnwood’s Washington Volleyball Academy 15U White team took second in their playoff bracket after what was a mixed showing at the Amateur Athletic Union’s national event, taking place at the Orange County Convention Center. The squad, coached by Duvall native and Cedarcrest High School alum Taeler Acree, finished 140th out of 163 teams in the 15U Club division, but they went 4-7 beating teams from Florida and North Carolina during the course of the week. In all, Acree was pleased with the team’s efforts.
“I am so proud of WVBA 15u White,” Acree tells us via Facebook. “(The tournament) brought us together as a team and I am so proud of how the team persevered in the face of adversity. This was the most rewarding experience of my life and I’m looking forward to continuing my coaching career.” This was Acree’s first season coaching at the club level, coaching for a program which in recent years has had a solid Cedarcrest flavor. Top Red Wolve players such as Cait Hawkins have played club with that WVBA program in recent seasons, and former head coach Kristine Nielsen is also a coach within that organization, although her team was not at this week’s tournament.
The off-season is now here with tryouts for this and other teams set to take place over the next several weeks.
Elsewhere:
Could the daughter of a former Mount Si coaching figure be in line to win it all at her national tournament?: Today starts the USA Volleyball nationals for 12U teams down in Dallas, and one Texas team with a tie to the Valley could be in line to win it all.
1United Volleyball’s 12U Blue team, based out of the north Dallas suburb of Frisco, was seeded fourth in the 12U National division for the tournament, making them a contender perhaps to win the title when all is said and done this weekend. One of the top players on the team has a Mount Si connection. Paige McCormick has been solid all season for the 1United squad; her mom is former longtime Wildcat coach and educator Renee McCormick. The family, former Valley residents, relocated to Texas around 10 years ago and live in the north Dallas suburbs. 1United will play twice today then three more times tomorrow. All five matches they are likely favored in due to the seedings for the other teams, so 1United should be in prime position to contend for the title on Sunday if things go well.
We wish Paige and her teammates good luck this weekend. Go 1United!
Softball
Despite efforts of CHS grad, Puyallup team falls short twice on opening day of Georgia event: Cedarcrest High School grad Peyton Hayes did her best to steal the show for her Puyallup-based AI Bandits 18U softball ladies, but despite her best efforts – and that of her teammates – the Bandits went winless on the opening day of their tournament down in Georgia.
The Bandits dropped a 9-4 result at the Scenic City tournament in Dalton, north of Atlanta near the Georgia-Tennessee state line, to Virginia’s Starz Gold, then fell 6-4 in their nightcap last night to the Tampa Mustangs from Florida. Hayes, who walked the aisle at Cedarcrest’s class of 2024 graduation just last Friday, doubled and drove in two runs in the game with the Starz, but the Bandits saw that Virginia team unload for seven runs in the fifth to rally from a late deficit to get the win. Things were a little different in the game with the Mustangs – Tampa took a 6-0 lead out of the gate before the Bandits rallied but came up short. Hayes in that game was 0-1.
The team plays again today with the tournament wrapping up this weekend.
Mount Si’s Brand plays in intrasquad game: Woodinville’s Elevate Northwest program held an intrasquad game between two of their softball squads last night, and a Mount Si High School player participated.
Soon-to-be sophomore pitcher Madi Brand competed for Elevate’s 14U Bowman team in the game against their 16U counterparts up in Woodinville, a game won by the 14U ladies 8-6. Brand pitched two innings allowing three runs on three hits walking five and striking out one. She was 0-3. The game was a tuneup for upcoming tournaments for Elevate, which likely will include a trip to the Colorado Fourth of July events next week.
Baseball: Mount Si alum Anderson achieves something special in WCL summer action
A Mount Si High School alum pocketed a special accomplishment last night in college summer baseball.
Pitcher Logan Anderson picked up his first-ever win in the West Coast League, working five solid innings for the Ridgefield Raptors in a wild 11-7 win over the Port Angeles Lefties up at Civic Field in Port Angeles. Anderson went five innings allowing three runs on four hits walking three and striking out one taking the win and dropping his ERA down to 9.72 in limited action this summer for Ridgefield. Anderson, who redshirted this spring at the University of Portland, is from North Bend and a 2023 Mount Si High School alum. He is one of four MSHS alums this summer competing in the league, which has established itself as one of the more prominent college summer leagues nationally.
The Raptors after the game got on the bus and made the long trek south, down to Bend, OR, where they will meet the Bend Elks beginning tonight at Vince Genna Stadium in downtown Bend. Tonight’s first pitch is at 6:30 p.m.
In other college summer action:
Dougherty aids Wenatchee: 2022 Mount Si alum Aidan Dougherty, from Snoqualmie, doubled, scored a run and drove in a second last night for the Wenatchee AppleSox, but the host Yakima Valley Pippins held off the Sox 7-6 to take the rubber match of round one of the annual Highway 97 derby between the two central Washington WCL squads over in Yakima. Dougherty is hitting .304 on the summer. He played this spring for Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon and will be playing this fall for the University of Connecticut. The Sox host Walla Walla at Wenatchee Valley College while Yakima Valley, featuring Dougherty’s fellow Mount Si alum Tyler Disch, who pitched earlier this week in the series opener, hops across White Pass to go meet the Cowlitz Black Bears down in Longview tonight. Both games are 6:30 p.m. starts.
Honkers fall on road: Snoqualmie’s Northwest Honkers fell in a wild 8-7 result in Pacific International League action to the DubSea Fish Sticks down in south Seattle last night. Duvall’s Cameron Padron, a Cedarcrest HS alum, was 0-3 for the Honkers, who are home tonight at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie hosting the Redmond Dudes. This is a 6:30 p.m. first pitch this evening.
Time for the youth baseball.
Youth Baseball: Dirtbags, despite Valleyites’ efforts, drop roadie to Eastside rival
It was not a good night at Liberty High School in Renton last night for Duvall’s Washington Dirtbags, as despite the efforts of several Valley players, the 18U team fell to an area rival.
Cedarcrest’s Quinn Larson doubled, scored a run and drove in a second, but it proved not enough as the Dirtbags fell 7-5 to Michael’s Toyota 18U Bears Premier, based in Preston. Fellow Red Wolve Luke Thompson went 1-4 in this one for the Dirtbags, while CHS’s Tyler Questad went 2-3 with a run scored. Mount Si’s Cody Morse was 1-4 with a run scored while CHS alum Cooper Ayers was 0-3 with a walk. Fellow 2024 Red Wolve Jackson Rees started on the hill for the Dirtbags and worked 2 1/3 innings allowing three unearned runs without the benefit of a hit. He walked four and struck out one with no decision for the Dirtbags, who are set to play again this weekend.
Elsewhere last night in youth baseball, powered by our friends at GameChanger and their apps, available on phones and tablets in their app stores:
FCA 11, Kirkland Merchants 16U 3: Despite a strong night from Mount Si’s J.D. Tenhulzen, the Merchants fell at home in downtown Kirkland to the Woodinville-based visitors. Tenhulzen was 2-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Washington Rush Prep 4, Washington A’s 18U Showcase 0: Rush pitchers held the Sammamish-based A’s to four hits in the shutout result last night up in Edmonds. Three of those hits were by Mount Si players – Taylor Davis had two of them while Kenny Russell had the other. Fellow Wildcat Owen Krasowski was 0-2 in this one for the A’s.
Toyota Bears 15’s 25, FM Sports Conover 4: This score is not a misprint, this was the actual score up at Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish as the Bears poured it on in this one against the Redmond-based FM. Mount Si’s Jackson Barter pitched two innings for the Preston-based Bears allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits walking three and striking out one with no decision. He had one plate appearance and walked, scoring a run and driving in a second.
Lake Stevens Riptide 6, Boys of Summer 15U 0: BoS was held to three hits in the shutout loss last night in their GSL weekend tourney opener in Auburn. Mount Si’s Blake Helman and Kainoa Keith went a combined 0-5 in the game for Bellevue-based Boys.
Narrows Baseball 6, Washington A’s 18U Premier 4: At Interlake High School in Bellevue, the Sammamish-based A’s dropped one to the Tacoma-based opposition. Recent Mount Si grads Clay Crooks and Colin Fraser went a combined 0-7 with an RBI in this one for the A’s. Both guys walked the 2024 MSHS graduation aisle last Friday down at ShoWare Center in Kent.
Woodbury 15U White 5, Forest Lake 4: This game in suburban Minneapolis last night had one of the weirder walk-offs you will ever see. White’s James Befroui walked to put the winning run on base in the final inning for the Woodbury team, then stole both second and third bases putting pressure on the Forest Lake pitcher, who then balked allowing Befroui to score the walk-off winner for the home side in this one. Mason Getchell was 1-2 with a run scored and RBI for Woodbury while brother Cam was 0-2. Their mom, Corianne, is originally from North Bend and like your editor a graduate of Mount Si’s Class of 1997.
Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal 