>A busy Tuesday..

>A lot on this Tuesday to get to so let’s get to it.

First, we have some tough news to tell you from Colorado. The three local softball teams with Mount Si players competing at the Colorado tournaments have finished for the day and it was not a good one for the group as a whole. There was only one win out of six games involving the three teams, and that was by the U-14 Ladysharks Faist (Maura Murphy, Mount Si so.) as they rolled over the Kansas Renegades from Wichita 8-2. It was a struggle in the other games. Faist fell 3-1 to a good Deer Park TPS team from Houston, while Ladysharks Mako (Wingsness and Co.) took two losses in slugfests, 7-4 to the Pearland Phantomz from Houston and 6-4 to the Nebraska Nemesis from Lincoln, NE. Eastside Invasion’s U-16 (Carly Weidenbach/Kimber Behrends, Mount Si jrs.) had it especially bad against the Indiana Inferno. The Inferno, from Anderson, IN, outside of Indianapolis, blasted the Invasion 11-1. EI had a better time against the Prairie Village Dominators from Kansas City, but still fell 3-1.

More action tomorrow.

Now to the links. A nice-sized group of Valley youth golfers competed at the second WJGA subdistrict tournament at Echo Falls Golf Club outside of Woodinville yesterday.

The local contingent was led by North Bend’s Jack Kelly. Kelly, one of the stars of Mount Si’s boys state title team, finished in a tie for 3rd in the boys 16/17 division with a round of 71. Kelly tied with Charlie Mroz of Woodinville. Mroz’s brother Alex won the division with a 69. Both Mroz’s were stars on the 4A scene this spring as the top golfers from Woodinville HS. Mike Rutledge of Fall City finished ninth in the age group with a 75, while Snoqualmie’s Bradley Harrelson finished 11th with a 77.

Also, in the girls 8/11 group, another nice showing by Snoqualmie’s Caitlin Maralack, who carded a 51 for a tie for third in her age class.

The full board, and there are a couple of new names of note – North Bend’s Matt Prewett, who also competed with Mount Si this spring, and Snoqualmie’s Mitchel Gardunia, in the 13/14 boys age group.

Boys 16/17
Jack Kelly, North Bend, 71, t-3rd
Mike Rutledge, Fall City, 75, 9th
Bradley Harrelson, Snoqualmie, 77, 11th
Brandon Snyder, North Bend, 80
Matt Prewett, North Bend, 84
Bryce Karalus, North Bend, 85

Boys 14/15
Sean Ballsmith, Snoqualmie, 83
Mitchel Garduina, Snoqualmie, 107

Boys 12/13
James Grice, North Bend, 105

Girls 8/11
Caitlin Maralack, Snoqualmie, 51, t-3rd

Next Monday, the golfers travel to the Nile Golf & Country Club up at Lake Ballinger near Mountlake Terrace for their third tournament of the summer.

We’ll have a lot of volleyball, softball, and more golf tomorrow.

>Down in South Florida….

>Sudden Impact Storm (Mount Si’s Shelagh Macaulay) closed out pool play with a win over NFVB from Buffalo, NY, coming from behind to take it 18-25, 25-19, 17-15. Rick Jeanneret, where were you when we needed you? Nice job ladies. Storm fell earlier in the day to two teams from Texas.

Jeanneret for those who don’t know is the longtime, and rather entertaining, TV/radio play-by-play voice of the local NHL team in Buffalo, the Sabres. Wonder how he would have called this volleyball match……

Storm has a pair of games this evening. They open with a team from Memphis, TN, then their nightcap is against a team from the Chicagoland, IL, area.

WJGA scores later when they are posted.

>Some news and comment….

>First, the news is from Miami at the JOVC nationals, where Mount Si senior-to-be Shelagh Macaulay’s Sudden Impact 17 Storm volleyball team fell again, 21-25, 11-25 to the TAV Molten team from Dallas-Fort Worth. As of now, Storm has only won one game out of seven they have played in the three matches which have been contested thus far involving the local team.

Now to our comment for the day. This has to do with the all-state football game which was played over the weekend, but it also applies to the all-state senior volleyball game as well.

It’s time to make some changes to how both of these games are run. Just so you know, both Mount Si reps, Sean Snead and Alex Hiebert, saw playing time, but as we mentioned already, their contributions really didn’t amount to much – between the two of them Snead only had one big play of note, an eight yard run for first down. Snead’s dad, Dave, who regularly reads this blog, was less than thrilled at what transpired, so much so he made his feelings known to us in his game report.

And we both agreed that part of the problem was that they played this game now after school gets out as opposed to right after the football season, which is when something like this SHOULD be played. Same for the volleyball games, which are set to be held next month in Fife. The media coverage for the football game, outside of the Everett Herald, was next to nonexistent, it almost was one where the papers won’t go cover it because no one really cares worth a rip about this game. Same for the NFL’s Pro Bowl. And the coverage of the volleyball games is much less. Newspaper editors in this economy are shutting the high school coverage down after the spring season ends and won’t start it up again until the first week of the football season at the end of August. Case in point – our colleague and competitor Tom Wyrwich at the Times got the cushy assignment of working the Seattle Sounders soccer game yesterday. And in the past, IIRC, King County Journal prep guys, when the Journal was still in business, got the opportunity to work Mariners games.

So how does this get fixed? Simple. Encourage the coaches associations and the WIAA to schedule these games in December, two weeks after the state championship games on Thanksgiving weekend. Do them both on a Saturday, and if you have to hold the football game indoors, there is the Tacoma Dome or Yakima you can do it at. Do 4As vs 3As, and 2As vs 1As. And the volleyball can stay at Fife, or you can do that at the exhibition hall if you want to do it in Tacoma. Same setup for the volleyball as football. And to answer the question about conflicts with winter sports, well, you work around it as schools and athletes.

Making these changes can help to enhance the quality of these two games, and also maybe increase media coverage as well, which is always good for kids.

Comments?

>Invasion gets the job done in Colorado and a Monday preview

>Eastside Invasion U-16 (Mount Si’s Carly Weidenbach and Kimber Behrends) takes care of business in the final two games of the Colorado Classic to finish 3-2. We had told you yesterday that wasn’t going to be the case but we were looking at the wrong score and for that we apologize and have removed the incorrect info.

Anyway, Invasion doubled up the Colorado Chaos from Bloomfield 4-2, then shut out the Colorado Wrath from Denver 2-0. They ended up third in pool play at 3-2. As for Ladysharks Mako (Anisa Wingsness and friends), they finished in a tie for 9th at the U-14 event. Good job girls. Also, we should mention that the Northern Colorado Xplosion, who the Sharks fell to on Saturday 8-3, ended up winning the whole thing, and we congratulate those girls as well for doing well on their home turf; they hail from the Fort Collins area, which hosted this event.

It will be a busy Monday. In addition to the volleyball from Miami, we have WJGA golf up at Echo Falls Golf Club outside of Woodinville. All of the Valley golfers who competed at West Seattle last week with the exception of Claire Lucas from North Bend (14/15 girls) are competing today. North Bend’s Jack Kelly gets everyone underway at 7:00 this morning, then right after, Snoqualmie’s Bradley Harrelson and North Bend’s Brandon Snyder tee off at 7:09. Then the remainder of the group tees off throughout the day with Caitlin Maralack, the youngster from Snoqualmie, finishing things off with a tee time at around 1:30 this afternoon.

Scores tomorrow then we’ll keep an eye on the links on Wednesday as well, as Kelly heads to Tumwater to compete in the Junior World regional golf championships.

With volleyball and softball all week as well, keep it here and we’ll keep you covered with all the action. It will be a busy one as we approach a big holiday weekend.

Also, we’ll have a couple of editorial columns this week, one on the new Mount Si girls’ hoops coach and one on the All-State games for football and volleyball.

>From Miami…..

>Sudden Impact Storm fell to the Legacy 17 from Detroit in two, 17-25, 18-15. At least the Detroit area is known for something other than being “Hockeytown.” Gotta love the Wings.

>Sunday scoreboard update and Fireworks preview

>We’ll get the rest of the scores in the morning for you, but we have a few for you now.

First from football where the All-State game took place yesterday. Mount Si rep’s Sean Snead and Alex Hiebert didn’t play much of a factor in the game yesterday, according to Dave Snead, Sean’s dad and the man who runs the Mount Si football website which is linked in our news links page. 13-12 the final, I think it was the East who won the game.

Now to softball, where we have a couple of tough losses from the Colorado Classic. First in the U-14 playoffs, Ladysharks Mako gave the Colorado Cougars from Longmont all they could handle, but it was the home team Cougs who took the tight 4-3 victory. Wingsness and Co. now out of the event and will await the Fireworks coming up later in the week.

From Denver to Miami where the JOVC volleyball nationals are underway, and for Sudden Impact Storm, they fell in a tight one to the Force Blue from Sacramento in three games earlier today. Shelagh Macaulay, Mount Si senior-to-be, and her teammates go down 22-25, 28-26, 13-15. A good score against a team from California should be a good sign for Storm. They had a game this afternoon against a Buffalo team. More later on that.

Back to the Rockies. Here’s a schedule for both Ladysharks teams (Faist/Mako) at Fireworks this week: (All times Seattle time, add an hour for Denver times)

LSF:
Tuesday @ 10:30am- LSF vs Deer Park TPS (Pasadena, TX/Houston)
Tuesday @ 12:15pm-LSF vs Kansas Renegades (Clearwater, KS/Wichita)
Wed @ 10:30am-LSF vs Texas Bombers (Schertz, TX/San Antonio)
Wed @ 12:15pm-LSF vs Arizona Storm (Mesa, AZ/Phoenix)

Looks like a pretty tough group, but LSF (Mount Si so. Maura Murphy) should do fine against this pool. Here’s where playing up against 16s could pay dividends one more time.

LSM:
Tuesday @ 10:30am- LSM vs Pearland Phantomz (Pearland, TX/Houston)
Tuesday @ 12:15pm-LSM vs Nebraska Nemesis (Lincoln, NE)
Wed @ 8:45am-LSM vs Arizona Outlaws (Peoria, AZ/Phoenix)
Wed @ 10:30am-LSM vs Pearland Phantomz (Pearland, TX/Houston)

LSM (Wingsness and Co.), unlike LSF, is in a four-team pool, meaning they play one team twice, the Phantomz. The Phantomz, from Houston, look to be the favorites in this pool in our view.

Also one for Invasion, who will be playing in the competing Sparkler event:
Tuesday @ 8:45am-EI vs Dominators (Prairie Village, KS/Kansas City)
Tuesday @ 10:30am-EI vs Indiana Inferno (Anderson, IN)
Wed @ 10:30am-EI vs Marin Blue Angels (Corte Madera, CA/San Francisco)
Wed @ 12:15pm-EI vs Colorado Bruins (Lakewood, CO/Denver)

Should be an interesting pool for Invasion, with a good mix of teams from around the country.

It will be an interesting time for sure for all three of these teams. We wish them all luck.

>Saturday board

>Softball on the main plate from Saturday although there was a little basketball as well.

First on the diamond where the two local teams in the Colorado Classic with Mount Si players had a mixed showing. In the U-14s, Ladysharks Mako (Anisa Wingsness and Co.) came back after a loss against a team from Fort Collins, CO, to post a blowout 8-1 win against the Colorado Wildfire from Denver. As we told you yesterday, they also fell to a team from the Twin Cities (MN). They are in the playoffs later as the #3 seed from their pool.

In the U-16’s, same story for Eastside Invasion (Mount Si’s Kimber Behernds and Carly Weidenbach). They fell in their first two games yesterday, to teams from Davis, CA, and Knoxville, TN, by a combined two runs, very tight losses indeed. So what did Invasion do, obviously quite frustrated at this point? Well, they took it out on the Dirt Devils from Fort Collins, CO, rolling over that team 11-3. Invasion plays two more today, so they have a chance to come out above .500.

Now to hoops and the End of the Trail down in Oregon City, where a pair of teams, Kittitas Valley Hoops (Kassidy Maddux?) and ECBA Pioneers (Molly Sellers) both made it deep into their consolation brackets after opening round defeats on Friday. The two teams play today.

Soon – we should have info on the all-state football in Everett yesterday, Messrs. Snead and Hiebert were on hand representing Mount Si.

>Our first update from a mile high….and we had to turn it into a hockey update. Rats.

>…and probably our only one for today. In Colorado this morning, Ladysharks Mako (Wingsness and Co.) opened their U-14 pool play at the Colorado Classic by being shut out 6-0 by the Minnesota Sting from the Twin Cities area. They must have some good softball back there in that part of the country. We thought the state was called the “State of Hockey.”

Speaking of Minnesota being the “State of Hockey,” the Vancouver Canucks drafted a guy from the U of Minnesota, Jordan Schroeder, with their first pick in the NHL Draft last night, 22nd overall. In the draft, which finished today, there were a total of just five guys taken from Washington-based junior teams, two from the Spokane Chiefs, two from the Everett Silvertips and one from the Wenatchee Wild, who play in a different league than the Chiefs and Tips. Also only two big deals of note, one involving Chris Pronger, the tough veteran D was shipped from Anaheim’s Ducks to the Philadelphia Flyers in a salary cap-induced move; and another veteran D, Florida Panther Jay Bouwmeester, was shipped to Calgary for fellow veteran D Jordan Leopold. Both will become free agents next week.

>Our coverage schedule

>A lot of stuff coming up this weekend. We’ll try to give you an update on some local baseball with Toyota and Chaffey and the Mount Si representatives on those clubs. But our focus is on the girls, with softball and volleyball.

First, on the diamond, where local softball players have trekked a mile high to play in Colorado this weekend. Ladysharks Mako U-14 (Mount Si’s Anisa Wingsness and a host of other locals) and Eastside Invasion U-16 (Mount Si’s Carly Weidenbach and Kimber Behrends) are playing in the Colorado Classic being sponsored by the Triple Crown Sports organization. LSM is about set to go against a team from Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, then later they get a couple of local teams from the Denver area. Invasion is playing this afternoon and tonight against teams from California, Tennessee, and a local crew from Fort Collins.

Tomorrow, Invasion wraps up pool play against another pair of teams from the Denver area. LSM will be in playoffs, and are the only team from Washington in the event, so they have a lot to play for to be sure. We wish all the teams luck.

From Denver down to Miami, where Mount Si volleyball players past and present play top competition from around the country at the Junior Olympic Nationals. Our colleague Kevin Endejan, who handles the sports coverage for our sister papers in Issaquah and Sammamish, wrote this article in this week’s edition of our sister paper in Bellevue previewing the event and the other locals in it from around the Eastside. He forgot to mention that three players with Mount Si ties are playing – ex-Cats Miranda Pratt and Summer Nash with the KJ 18s, and Mount Si senior-to-be Shelagh Macaulay with Sudden Impact 17 Storm. The 18’s are in the Open division, and 17’s are in the National division.

Storm begins play tomorrow. Here’s their schedule:
Storm vs Force Blue (Sacramento), 10am Sun
Storm vs Legacy 17 (Rochester Hills, MI/Detroit), 12n Sun
Storm vs TAV Molten (Dallas-Fort Worth), 12n Mon
Storm vs BrazosValley Mizuno (College Station, TX), 2:00 Mon
Storm vs NFVB 17-1 (Buffalo, NY), 4:00 Mon

KJ won’t start until next week. They have a pretty tough schedule with four California teams in their pool.

vs WaveBrenn (Encinitas, CA/San Diego), Wed 5:00am
vs SWI Smack (Belleville, IL/St. Louis) Wed 1:00pm
vs TCA SC Black (Newport Beach, CA/Anaheim)Thu 5:00am
vs Colorado Juniors Peer (Monument, CO/Colorado Springs) Thu 1:00pm
vs NCVC Moxie (Sacramento), Fri 5:00am
vs Coast Ozhan (San Diego), Fri 1:00pm

All times Seattle time, add three hours for actual Miami start times.

We should also add that also in Miami this weekend is the Eddings clan. The North Bend family is celebrating the birthday of twins Tara (UMiami women’s rowing) and Chelsie (Gonzaga women’s rowing). We would like to wish those two a happy birthday.

And there’s more, but we’ll write about that later………

>All-state awards for spring sports

>The Tri-City Herald, with the help of media around the state, has announced the all-state selections for spring sports.

Baseball

Softball

Boys Soccer

No one from Mount Si made the cut this year.

Before we go, a full disclosure: Among the media representatives who voted for these awards was this reporter. First time infact in nearly eight years of covering high school sports that I got to do this, and for that I am honored and would like to thank Rene Ferran, the writer over at the Herald who put this together, for giving me this opportunity. I voted primarily for the 2A-4A awards in all sports, and did not vote for any Mount Si nominees on the ballot. This was intended to maintain my objectivity as a reporter in voting for these ballots since we primarily cover the Wildcats. In the future, if I vote on this again, that same rule will apply.

Today’s preview on tap.