Category Archives: Baseball
Oly Sports road trip: Yakima County Stadium
The Oly Sports road trip took me to Yakima last night to see the Yakima Bears top the Spokane Indians 7-3. My reason for making a long trip to Yakima is simple, I had never been to a Bears game and wanted to see one before the team relocates to Hillsboro, Oregon next season.
And after seeing Yakima County Stadium, I can understand why the Bears ownership feels that the stadium is no longer a viable MiLB park. It certainly is past it’s prime and hasn’t been well maintained. That’s both the fault of the county, who have been resistant to putting big money into the facility, and an ownership group that doesn’t want to put money into the stadium because the county won’t make the big changes necessary to keep the Bears in town.
So what does this have to do with Olympia? Well, once the Bears move from Yakima, the West Coast League will probably move to town and Yakima County Stadium will be one of the nicest facilities in the league. A new ownership group that wants to be there will come in and work with the county to put a fresh coat of paint on things, spiff it up and make it look pretty and probably add some features that it has been lacking. A new beginning that doesn’t have the pressure of MiLB standards is just what Yakima County Stadium needs.
For Olympia, the West Coast League is the only option we will ever have for spectator baseball and it is a good option. But we lack a proper facility and with Yakima County Stadium becoming a part of the league and possibly Gesa Stadium in the Tri-Cities if Milwaukie, Oregon gets their wish of building a second stadium in the Portland area for a Northwest League team, the stadiums of the WCL will only get bigger and better and a new ballpark in Olympia only gets costlier and costlier and less likely.
Today (7/3): Reign wrap it up; PSCL doubleheader
Good morning from beautiful downtown Yakima and Northtown Coffee’s working WiFi. While I’m sitting in this nice coffee shop, I’m staring at what I can only assume is a very large jail, a great addition to any downtown scene. Anyway, we now return you to your regularly scheduled Olympia sports scene…
The Olympia Reign’s regular season comes to an end tonight when they host the Edmonton Energy at the Skookum Events Center at Little Creek Casino at 7:00 PM. Both teams are bound for the IBL playoffs in Bellingham starting on Thursday. With a win the Energy would secure a first round bye (don’t quote me on that, though, as the seeding process is a bit of a mystery). Win or lose, the Reign are bound for a first round game on Thursday. The Energy dropped the Reign to their worst loss of the season on June 1st in Edmonton, 126-69. The Reign rallied the next night and only lost 138-104. Tip-off tonight is at 7:00 PM. Tickets are just $7 or $5 with a Little Creek players club card.
Meanwhile, the Puget Sound Collegiate League features two games tonight at the RAC. The Hawks Prairie Cardinals take on the Olympia Athletics at 5:00 PM and the West Olympia Linx face the Nisqually Silvers in the nightcap at 7:30.
Monday scoreboard: Senators take 3rd; Brewers, Cardinals split
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Seattle Studs 6, Thurston County Senators 3
Thurston County Senators 12, Kamloops Blaze 1
The Thurston County Senators dropped their first game 6-3 to the Seattle Studs in the semifinals of the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast but came back and took third place with a 12-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers.
Hawks Prairie Cardinals 10, Tumwater Brewers 9
Tumwater Brewers 7, Hawks Prairie Cardinals 4
Today (7/2): Brewers, Cardinals kick of PSCL second half
The Puget Sound Collegiate League second half gets underway this evening with a doubleheader between the Tumwater Brewers and Hawks Prairie Cardinals at the RAC. The two teams have met three times already this season and the Cardinals took two of the three from the Brewers in a series that started on June 20th. Both teams sit at 4-4 in the league portion of the schedule, two games behind the Lacey Saints for first place.
First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
Sunday scoreboard: Senators move on
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Chandler Tracy (Saint Martin’s) and Derek Voigt (Peru State Univeristy) drove in a run each in the first inning and Nate O’Bryan (Saint Martin’s, Olympia HS) held the Langley Blaze to just one run over seven innings to lead the Thurston County Senators to a 2-1 win an elimination game of the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast in Kelowna, British Columbia.
The Senators face the Seattle Studs in the semifinals on Monday morning at 10:30 AM. The Senators and Studs have already played three times this season with the Senators taking two of the three games.
Saturday scoreboard: Donnas dominate; Senators fall in Canada
Roller Derby
The Sac City Capital Punishers struck first winning the first jam to take a 1-0 lead but the Derbytron #2 ranked Cosa Nostra Donnas quickly took control and behind adept jamming by Heffer 2Ton and Snickerbrutal easily beat took the bout, 273-61. The Donnas held the Punishers to just 18 first half points.
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Kamloops Sun Devils 5, Thurston County Senators 3
Mario Sanelli (Saint Martin’s) went 3-for-4 with an RBI and Kyle Doucette (Olympic College) drove in a run on two hits for the Thurston County Senators but it wasn’t enough as the Kamloops Sun Devils dropped the Senators 5-3 in the final game of pool play of the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast in Kelowna, British Columbia. Dustin Dhanani, who is coached by the Senators’ Spencer Stark at Olympic College, went 2-for-3 with a two run home run in the fifth inning for the Sun Devils.
Even with the loss, the Senators will play in the elimination portion of the tournament starting tomorrow.
Friday scoreboard: I should have posted this 12 hours ago
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Thurston County Senators 7, Coquitlam Angels 2
The Thurston County Senators continued their hot start to the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast tournament with a 7-2 win over the Coquitlam Angels early this morning. Shane Schoeneberg went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and another RBI and Kyle Leady (Lower Columbia CC) went 2-for-3 with a double, triple and an RBI. The win guarantees the Senators a spot in the elimination portion of the tournament starting on Sunday.
The Senators return to action tomorrow at 11:00 AM against the Kamloops Sun Devils.
Thursday scoreboard: Senators and Reign victorious
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Thurston County Senators 13, Okanogan A’s 0
Chandler Tracy (Saint Martin’s ) hit a second inning grand slam to lead the Thurston County Senators to a day one 13-0 win over the Okanogan A’s in the Canada Weekend Baseball Blast tournament in Kelowna, British Columbia. Max Dickinson (Lower Columbia CC) picked up the win.
The Senators have an early morning game tomorrow when they face the Coquitlam A’s at 8:00 AM.
International Basketball League
Olympia Reign 108, Oregon Waves 106
Mike Ward scored 21 points, pulled down nine boards and had seven assists and Nate Menefee’s double-double – 18 points and 10 rebounds – led the Olympia Reign to a 108-106 defeat of the patchwork Oregon Waves at Little Creek Casino. Gjio Bain, a seven foot center from Southern Miss that the Reign brought back with them from their Orlando trip, scored 12 points and had 18 rebounds.
Former Saint Martin’s forward Jeremy Green scored 19 points for the Waves in the loss. Andre Murray, who usually plays for the Vancouver Volcanoes but was picked up by the Waves for this game, scored 36 points and Rashaad Powell added another 25.
Tonight (6/28): Reign or Rainiers?
The Olympia Reign return to the Slookum Creek Events Center at Little Creek Casino tonight when they square off against Los Angeles USBA China the Oregon Waves. The Waves are the third opponent that have been scheduled for this game and are playing in just their fourth game as a traveling IBL squad. The Waves are 0-3 on the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Now, I hate to go against my Olympia teams, but let’s be honest, the most intriguing sporting event happening in the South Sound tonight is the Tacoma Rainiers hosting the Las Vegas 51s at Cheney Stadium.
The historic pitching match-up couldn’t be more fascinating if you are a Seattle Mariners fan. The Mariners first round draft pick last year, 22 year-old Danny Hultzen, gets the start for the Rainiers against 49 year-old former Mariner star Jamie Moyer, who just signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this week.
And since it is also Thirsty Thursday, the Rainiers are going to have a HUGE crowd. Get your tickets printed out online and leave Olympia early. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
Wednesday scoreboard: Silvers and Saints Split
Puget Sound Collegiate League baseball
Lacey Saints 2, Nisqually Silvers 1
Nisqually Silvers 6, Lacey Saints 2
Oly Sports 