Category Archives: Alumni
River Ridge grad is back in baseball…in Croatia
Sam Mirkovich, a 1998 River Ridge graduate who went on to play baseball at Centralia College and Central Washington, recently moved with his wife and dog to teach at an American school in Zagreb, Croatia. And not only does Sam get to enjoy an absolutely beautiful city and country, but he is once again playing baseball, now for Baseball klub Zagreb.
And in his first start for the klub, Mirkovich pitched a complete, nine inning shutout striking out ten batters while giving up just five hits and walking just one.
Mirkovich remarked on his Facebook page, “Somebody pinch me. If you asked me after college if I ever pitch a complete game again I tell you “no way”, on top of that in Croatia. Unbelievable experience. I’m having the time of my life here.”
Sam has agreed to write a diary of his experiences as the only American on a Croatian baseball team for Oly Sports, at least when he has time. Teaching, playing ball and enjoying his beautiful new home with his wife and dog are first and foremost and I’d hate to take him away from that, but it is truly a unique experience and I look forward to his dispatches soon.
You can watch a video of highlights from his first start here…
Brodin hits “waddle-off” homer, gets Clemens next
It is a big couple of days for North Thurston graduate Joash Brodin. On Wednesday, Brodin hit a three run “waddle-off” home run for the Long Island Ducks in their 6-5 win over the Somerset Patriots. Brodin also had a two run single in the seventh inning driving in five runs total for the Ducks in game one of a doubleheader. And in the nightcap, Brodin went 1-for-2 and drove in the Ducks only run in a 5-1 loss. You can see all of Brodin’s highlights in the video above from the team.
You can also see Brodin play on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN3 Friday night when the Ducks travel to Texas to take on the Sugar Land Skeeters and seven time Cy Young Award winner. Clemens will be making his second start for the independent Skeeters as he explores the possibility of a comeback at 50 years-old. The game starts at 5:05 PM local time and SportsCenter and ESPNEWS will be cutting into their programming to show every inning that Clemens pitches.
It has been a wild ride of a season for Brodin who is with his second independent club this season after the London Rippers of the Frontier League folded on July 24th in the middle of their inaugural season. Brodin was hitting .370 and leading the Frontier League in batting when he became a free agent following the team’s dissolution.
He quickly had offers from other independent clubs and was on his way to Wichita of the American Association when he received a call from the Atlantic League’s Ducks, arguably the most successful team in the best league in the independent ladder. Brodin went from a league where no player is older than 28 years-old to a team that features former Major Leaguers Armando Benitez and Timo Perez. Adjusting to a higher level of play, Brodin started off slowly but quickly adjusted and is now hitting .283 with three home runs and 20 RBI in 35 games with the Ducks.
The level of play is not the only thing Brodin has had to adjust to. He went from playing in all red pajamas in front of just a handful of fans in a horrible situation in London to a beautiful ballpark on Long Island where they pack in over 5,000 fans a game. And no more road trips to Normal to face the Cornbelters. Instead, he hits the road for an opportunity to take his hacks against Roger Clemens in a game televised worldwide on ESPN.
Today (8/29): Saints face PLU in volleyball opener
The Saint Martin’s volleyball team gets their season underway tonight with a scrimmage against PLU at Marcus Pavilion.
The Saints were picked to finish eighth in the GNAC this season after finishing seventh last season with a 5-13 league record and a 7-18 overall record. The Saints are led by two seniors, middle blockers Katy Ferguson and Teilissa Tua and freshman-of-the-year outside hitter and Capital graduate Kristyn Ross.
This is an extremely young Saints squad with 13 of 17 roster spots taken up by freshmen or sophomores including Northwest Christian’s Kelsey Minton, Tumwater’s Nicole Grisham, North Thurston’s Julia Wabinga and River Ridge’s Halee Hernandez.
Game time tonight at Marcus Pavilion is at 6:00 PM.
Stewart inks $36.5 million extension
Over the weekend, 2004 Timberline High School graduate Jonathan Stewart signed a five year, $36.5 million contract extension with the Carolina Panthers. The contract comes with $22.5 million worth of guaranteed money and could be worth up to $42.5 million.
Stewart, the Panthers’ first round draft pick in 2008, has rushed for over 3,500 yards for the Panthers teaming up with DeAngelo Williams in the Carolina backyard. According to the Charlotte News & Observer, since Stewart’s rookie year, the Panthers have rushed for a league best 9,189 yards.
For more on Stewart’s signing, see the News & Observer’s story.
Olympia area alumni list – Update
Baseball
Minor League Baseball
Jared Sandberg (Capital HS) – Manager, Hudson Valley Renegades
Adam Conley (Olympia HS) – Jupiter Hammerheads
Seth Harvey (River Ridge HS) – Brevard County Manatees
Kramer Champlin (Olympia HS) – Lansing Lugnuts
Alex Phillips (Tenino HS) – Connecticut Tigers
Jacob Pettit (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Bowie Baysox
Cody Hebner (Olympia Athletics – PSCL) – Fort Wayne Tincaps
Chris Scholl (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Arkansas Travelers
Jake Shadle (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Giants extended spring training
Independent Baseball
Joash Brodin (North Thurston HS) – Long Island Ducks
Collegiate wood bat summer baseball
Jason Monda (Capital HS) – Brewster Whitecaps
Kellen Camus (Capital HS) – Waterloo Bucks
Jourdan Weiks (Capital HS) – Herndon Braves
Tanner Nielsen (North Thurston HS) – Klamath Falls Gems
Cabe Reiten (Olympia HS) – Wenatchee Applesox
Basketball
German Pro-B
Blake Poole (Saint Martin’s) – BG Topstar Leitershofen Stadtbergen
Football
National Football League
Jonathan Stewart (Timberline HS) – Carolina Panthers
Matt Johnson (Tumwater HS) – Dallas Cowboys
Rugby
French National Rugby League Top 14
Scott LaValla (North Thurston HS) – Stade Francais
Buckland finishes fifth at Olympics
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his teammate James Marburg finished fifth in the Olympics men’s pairs rowing final at the Eton Dorney Rowing Centre outside of London this morning. The Australian pair fell well behind the pack halfway through the race but rallied near the end to finish with a time of 6:29.28, just ahead of the Canadian team of David Calder and Scott Frandsen.
New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond led almost from start to finish and won the gold medal by nearly five seconds over silver medalists Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette of France. The hometown favorites George Nash and William Satch of Great Britain took the bronze medal.
Oly Sports would like to congratulate Brodie Buckland on his run through the Olympics. It was fun having a local to cheer for and we hope to see you again in Brazil in four years. Now go enjoy that athlete’s village.
Buckland qualifies for finals with third place finish in semis
Olympia’s Brodie Buckland and partner James Marburg will row for a medal on Friday
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his partner James Marburg took third place in their semifinal race this morning at Eton Dorney outside of London at the 2012 Olympics. The third place finish was good enough to qualify them for the finals and the Australian pair will race for a medal on Friday.
The team had a time of 7:02:12, well behind Great Britain and France in the second semifinal race. Buckland and Marburg were the slowest boat to make the finals. In the first semifinal race, New Zealand, Italy and Canada qualified for the finals with the USA boat fourth with a better time than Buckland and Marburg. But the top three from each race get the chance to row for a medal regardless of overall time.
The finals will be run at 2:20 3:50 AM on Friday morning.
Buckland takes second in first heat at Olympics
James Marburg and Olympia’s Brodie Buckland prepare to row in the Men’s Pairs first heat at the 2012 Olympics
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his partner James Marburg took second place for Australia in their Men’s Pairs rowing heat this morning at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Buckland and Marburg trailed the pack for much of the heat as Canada took a commanding lead but the Canadians faded and the Aussies turned it on in the end and finished just three tenths of a second behind the Canadians and ahead of the Netherlands and United States teams.
The second place finish qualifies Buckland for the semifinals on Wednesday, August 1st starting at 3:00 AM Olympia time.
You can watch Buckland’s heat and all the rowing action on the NBC website here. Buckland’s heat starts at the 2:44:00 mark in the video.
From Olympia to Olympian
Need somebody to root for in the upcoming London Olympics? Well Tom Rohrer of ThurstonTalk.com last week and Meg Wochnick of The Olympian yesterday each tell the tale of Capital High School alum Brodie Buckland and his journey from Olympia to Australia to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Buckland will compete for Australia in the men’s pairs rowing competition starting Saturday with Beijing silver medalist James Marburg. The men’s pairs results page can be found here.
Photo credit: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
Puget Sound Collegiate League leaders: Pitching
Earlier we took a look at the hitting leaders through all but the last week of the regular season of the Puget Sound Collegiate League. Now we take a look at the pitching leaders.
Without question, the top pitcher in the league this season has been Black Hills High School alum Ryan Smith. The current Chemeketa College pitcher leads the league in innings pitched (45), wins (5), strkeouts (41) and is first among starters in earned run average (1.33) and WHIP (0.76) for the Olympia Athletics.
Kegan Duz-Aguilar has been solid in relief for the Tumwater Brewers leading the league in both ERA (0.66) and WHIP (.053). The Centralia College pitcher has two saves on the season. Capital High School product Eli Fulton leads the league with four saves.
Oly Sports 
