The Prep Beat

Scoreczar.com’s Washington State softball rankings have put Bainbridge in the fifth spot among Class 3A teams in its latest poll following the district tournaments.

Bainbridge will take on No. 1-ranked University of Spokane in the first round of the state tournament at 9 a.m. Friday at the RAC in Lacey.

In 4A, No. 9 South Kitsap will face Arlington, which is ranked fourth, at 10 a.m. Friday in Spokane at the Merkel Sports Complex.

In the 2A class, Sequim is the highest West Sound team ranked among the top 20. The Wolves are sitting in the No. 3 spot, followed by Port Angeles, 11th, and Kingston, 19th.

Here’s the link for the complete rankings.

Central Kitsap’s Katie Lee is in second place after the first day of the Class 4A state golf tournament. Lee shot a 76 and is three strokes back of Bellarmine’s Alivia Brown.
Bainbridge’s Sam Warkentin is tied for third after shooting a 72 and is two strokes back in the 3A boys.
Klahowya’s Sally Fletcher is in ninth place in the 2A girls, but she’s 11 strokes behind.
Top 40 plus ties make the cut and play on Wednesday, the final day.
You can find complete results here.

The final softball leaders are in and we had nearly full participation this year.

South Kitsap’s Hannah Spohn came in as the area’s top hitter, averaging .620 during the regular season. She also led in RBIs with 26. Port Angeles’ Sarah Steinman had an ERA of 1.50 with 48 innings pitched while Katie Raben of Bainbridge pitched 70.33 innings and had an ERA of 1.69.

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South Kitsap’s Michael Wood was named co-pitcher of the year for the Narrows League. The Wolves had three first-teamers and six second-teamers.

All-Narrows League Baseball
MVP—Leo Valenti, sr., Olympia
Pitchers of the year—Michael Wood, sr., South Kitsap; Elliott Loague, sr., Olympia
Coach of the year—Todd McDougall, Olympia.
First team
Pitchers—Nick Gagliardi, sr., Gig Harbor; Harry Stenberg, jr., Bellarmine.
Catchers—Matt Gunn, jr., Stadium; Justin Polzin, so., Yelm.
Infield—Sterling Brown, jr., Gig Harbor; Michael Fairchild, sr., Olympia; George Foley, sr., Bellarmine; Garrett Gallinger, sr., Gig Harbor; Tyler Ludlow, jr., South Kitsap; Jacob Veith, jr., Stadium.’
Outfield—Nathan Heath, sr., Bellarmine; Joey Knight, sr., Olympic; Brandon Thompson, jr., Bellarmine; Michael Van Orden, jr., Stadium; Cody Wolfe, sr., South Kitsap.
Designated hitters—Tanner Paulson, jr., South Kitsap.
Utility—Haak Wagner, sr., Gig Harbor.
Second team
Pitchers—Leif Hansen, jr., Olympia; Josh Johnston, sr., South Kitsap.
Catchers—Michael Ota, sr., Bellarmine; Riley Paschal, jr., Central Kitsap.
Infield—Jesse Moore, sr., South Kitsap; Alex Morrison, sr., South Kitsap; Gabe Padukiewicz, sr., Olympia; Kevin Whatley, sr., South Kitsap.
Outfield—Alec Anderson, sr., Central Kitsap; Jake Biscay, sr., Olympia; Drew Frame, sr., Gig Harbor; Cameron Frost, sr., Olympia; Tom Simpson, sr., South Kitsap.
Designated hitter—Brandon Hamilton, jr., Stadium.
Utility—Logan Knowles, jr., South Kitsap.
Honorable mention—CK, Griffin McCormick, fr.; Chandler Manson, jr.; Bernt Onarheim, so. SK, Tyler Pinkerton, jr.; Tiler Moore, sr.

Two 400 runners have eclipsed the West Sound record in the event.
North Mason’s CJ Allen, who is better known for his ability in the hurdles, ran a 48.78 seconds. Central Kitsap’s Michael Thomas clocked in at 48.86.
Allen, who run the event just twice this year, has the No. 4 time in the state. Thomas, a standout basketball player, is No. 6.
The West Sound record is a hand-timed 49.0 (49.24 converted) set by Jeff Ellison of East Bremerton in 1977 and Scott Christensen or Port Angeles in 1966.
South Kitsap’s LaForrest Church is 14th in the state at 49.69.
Allen is also second in the state in the 300 hurdles, just .07 behind Steilacoom’s Daniel Zmuda. That time of 37.66 is another West Sound record. Central Kitsap’s Dom Demouchet ran a 37.82 in 1997. Allen was second at the state meet last year at 37.89.

As per usual in April, there hasn’t been much softball the last week due to the rainy weather.

But that trend seems to have changed for this week as the weather is supposed to clear and be nice.

And that means softball. So here’s a breakdown of this week’s games with some meaning.

Monday—The top four teams in the Olympic League take on each other and depending on the outcomes, there could be some shuffling in the standings. Fourth-place Kingston (5-2) travels to league-leader Sequim (7-0), while second-place Port Angeles heads to Olympic (6-2) to face the third-place Trojans. All games are at 4 p.m.

Wednesday—A mid-week showdown between first-place Holy Names (8-0) and second-place Bainbridge (6-0) should be a good one as these rivals meet in Metro League Mountain Division play. These two teams usually meet to decide the ML title and do battle in SeaKing District play as well. If you’re anywhere near the island, I’d suggest catching this game to see two solid programs going head-to-head. The game starts at 4 p.m. at BHS.

In the Narrows League, the second meeting between the two 4A schools, Central Kitsap (2-3) and South Kitsap (4-0) will be at Linder Field in Silverdale. SK won the last meeting as former CK alum and current SK coach Jessica Cabato beat mentor Bruce Welling’s Cougars.

Friday—It looks like the rains might return, but if it holds off you’ll see a repeat battle between Holy Names and Bainbridge, this time at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle. Closer to home an inter-district rivalry game between North Kitsap (3-4) and Kingston is set for 4 p.m.

South Kitsap, Bainbridge and Sequim are ranked in the top 10 in the scoreczar.com softball rankings.

South (3-1) is ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, Bainbridge (7-0) is ranked sixth in 3A and Sequim (6-0) is third in 2A.

Scoreczar.com rankings go deeper than just the top 10. Central Kitsap comes in at 26th in 4A, with Port Angeles 14th in 2A and Kingston 18th.

Here’s the link to the rankings.

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) came out with its first list of national rankings on Tuesday and … no local teams were on there.

But in the NSCAA’s list of regional (Region V) rankings, Central Kitsap’s boys were ranked ninth.

I’m a little bit surprised not seeing defending Class 3A champion Bainbridge ranked anywhere (Metro League rival Lakeside is ranked fifth in Region V).

The 2A boys session is underway at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Klahowya finished eighth in the 200-yard medley relay while Thor Breitbarth, a freshman from North Kitsap won the consolation finals (ninth) of the 200 freestyle in one minute, 57.05 seconds.

For the first time in the 2A class, medals will be given to the top eight finishers.

Kellen Meyers finished third in the 50 freestyle, posting a personal-best time of 22.33 seconds. Meyers was also sixth in the 100 free. Teammate Quaid Williams finished seventh in the 100 with the 100 backstroke coming up.

Also, Austin Clement of Sequim, the defending state diving champ, finished a disappointing ninth.

In the consolation finals of 200 free relay, North Kitsap battled hard with Selah all four legs. The Vikings led by a small margin for three legs before Selah came from behind to out-touch NK at the wall. NK finished 10th. Great swim in 1:37.57. Selah was 1:36.98.

In the backstroke, Williams finished fifth with a best time of 56.85. It was a very fast race with the top three swimmers going 54 seconds or better.

The 2A session is over and Archbishop Murphy won the team title. Klahowya finished just out of the top 10 in 11th, its best finish.

UPDATE: The 3A session has started the Bainbridge 200 medley relay finished fifth in 1:39.73. Spencer Alpaugh, who has dropped an incredible amount of time from yesterday’s prelims and his entry time will be up next in the 200 IM.

Alpaugh finished fifth in 1:56.38 in the IM. He also placed seventh in the 500 free in 4:47.59.

The Spartans’ 200 free relay won the consolation finals in 1:31.08. CJ Waite also won the consol finals of the 100 breast in 1:00.93.

Bainbridge finished eighth in the team standings. Lakeside of Seattle beat Mercer Island 274-271 to end the Islanders six-year stranglehold on the championship.

The 4A session starts at 6:30 p.m.

UPDATE: In the 4A, South Kitsap’s Damien DeRego finished eighth in 22.57 in the 50 free.

In the 100 free, DeRego placed seventh in 49.22.

That’s it from Federal Way. Swimming is done for the year.

Central Kitsap landed a pair of players on the All-Narrows League first team.
Michael Thomas made the boys team. Sophomore Taylor Krouse made the girls team.
South Kitsap had one first-team player, point guard Ryley Callaghan.

All-Narrows League 4A
Boys
MVP—Lucas Meikle, sr., Bellarmine.
Coach of the year—Doug Cocke, Stadium
First team—F: Sefo Liufau, sr., Bellarmine. G: Isaiah Flynn, sr., Bellarmine; Ryley Callaghan, jr., South Kitsap; Eric Anderson-Connelly, sr., Stadium; Michael Thomas, sr., Central Kitsap.
Second team—G: Caulin Bakalarski, jr., South Kitsap; Jordan Powers, sr., Stadium; Michael Naipo, sr., Olympia; Brendan Leonard, sr., Olympia; Jared Anderson, sr., Gig Harbor.
Honorable mention—CK, Ty Luna, sr., F. SK, Devon Newquist, sr., G, Tom Simpson, sr. G.
Girls
MVP—Ionna Price, sr., Bellarmine.
Coach of the year—Bob Boback, Gig Harbor
First team—P: Anushka Maldonado, sr., Yelm. G: Jasmyne Holmes, jr., Bellarmine; Sydney Swofford, sr., Bellarmine; Karli Shaw, sr., Yelm; Taylor Talen, sr., Gig Harbor; Taylor Krouse, so., Central Kitsap.
Second team—G: Samantha Williams, jr., Central Kitsap; Jena Randich, fr., Olympia. W: McKaiela Tyler, jr., Yelm; Sarah Snodgrass, so., Olympia; Claire Martin, so., Bellarmine.
Honorable mention—CK, Carly Hoisington. SK, Haley O’Dell, Gabby Stewart, Kaylee Yergeau.