The reel question for anglers is weather

YAKIMA, Wash. — A stretch of warm, sunny days are welcomed with open arms by anybody anxious to escape the late-winter blahs.

But not by Yakima River anglers.

Those fishermen populating banks and boats on the Yakima are hoping to reel in a hefty spring chinook salmon making its way upriver en route to the Cle Elum hatchery. And several days of sunny weather will create higher, murkier flows that can turn fishing from challenging to darn near impossible.

Or, at least, the latter is what it seemed like last Tuesday and Wednesday, when the previous weekend’s short-lived heat wave got the snowmelt flowing.

“Last week was pretty good for me, but this week stinks,” Yakima angler Bob Russell said on Tuesday, as he was fishing near the Harrison Road bridge in Selah. “I seen a lot of fish caught last week. This week, haven’t seen a fish caught.”

The previous week Russell had been fishing near the confluence of the Yakima and Naches rivers, where he saw “five or six caught there, and a bunch of ’em lost. Then I started coming up here (to Harrison Road). First trip up here, I caught that 15-pounder, the next time I came up I caught a 7-, 8-pounder, and lost a couple.

“And this week I haven’t touched a fish.”

Neal Frank of Yakima was also bank fishing that day, instead of taking one of his two boats (a drift boat and a sled). Like Russell, he too had been fishing farther downriver in previous days.

“Got a couple that weren’t (adipose-fin) clipped” and a couple that were. Nothing real spectacular, but like I say, if I was serious about it I’d have that boat in the water going somewhere else, wouldn’t I?”

The cooling trend that came in toward the end of last week should help keep anglers happy this week, even with the rains that accompanied it.

“Fishing has been good,” said Eric Anderson, a fisheries biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “The flows have been fairly steady. Although we’ve had some rain, it hasn’t wiped everybody out. It’s probably better to have that (rain) than hot weather and high flows.”

Anderson has been supervising steelhead redd counts in the upper Yakima River Basin, and so hasn’t been able to start putting together harvest data until this week. But based on some early creel census reports, it was obvious that the May 15-16 weekend —

before the warm stretch — had the best fishing.

“We checked anglers and saw about 20 fish caught that weekend,” Anderson said. “They were pretty well spread out, from below Roza Dam — downstream of that railroad bridge is a popular area — and also the area over by the Terrace Heights bridge. Another spot is the mouth of the Naches River; it’s just a nice hole in there.

“We were kind of thinking it was going to continue to warm up and that was going to blow us out, but then it cooled off and conditions improved and the water cleared up. It’s still good, compared to what May and June can be like in Yakima. As long as we stay in relatively cool-to-moderate temperatures like this, the snowpack will come off slowly and the river will stay in good shape for fishing.”

The dam counts on the Yakima continue to be strong.

Spring chinook have continued to come through Prosser Dam at a consistently healthy rate. For the first week of May the springers were coming through at roughly 200 to 250 per day. That daily number escalated to 300 to 400 over the second week, vascillated somewhat between 400-plus down to 122 in the third week and then went back up to 300-plus in the fourth week.

As of last Thursday morning, nearly 10,000 chinook — 5,688 hatchery salmon (of which 566 have been jacks) and 4,038 wild (including 356 jacks) — have made it through Prosser Dam, about 1,500 higher than the 10-year average. At Roza, the count through Thursday was 2,342 hatchery salmon and 1,380 wild, meaning the there are still thousands of fish in the legal-to-fish stretch of the river between Union Gap and the railroad bridge below Roza Dam.

The reason for the lower percentage of wild salmon counted at Roza (37 percent) to Prosser (42 percent) is because some of those wild springers — and no hatchery fish — are headed instead to spawning sites in the Naches River.

Local report: Ike track star to sign with NAU

YAKIMA, Wash. — Eisenhower’s Jessica Bush, who won the Class 4A state title in the discus on Friday, has accepted a track and field scholarship from Northern Arizona University.

Bush broke the school record in the discus earlier in May with a throw of 137 feet, 6 inches and also led the Valley in the shot at 42-101/4. She earned a total of five state medals in the two throws and was a three-time regional champion in the shot.

Selected as the CBBN’s field-event athlete of the year, Bush also took recruiting visits to Idaho, Idaho State and Air Force.

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Auto racing

State Fair Raceway

DIRT TRACK RACING

Results, May 28

Modifieds — Heat: 1, Craig Moore; 2, Blair Shoemaker; 3, Duane D’Amico; 4, Pat Merritt; 5, Joe German. Trophy Dash: Duane D’Amico. Main: 1, Duane D’Amico; 2, Blair Shoemake; 3, Joe German; 4, Pat Merritt; 5, Criag Moore.
Pure Stock — Heat: 1, Joe Estep; 2, Monica Howard; 3, Wally; 4, Teresa Scroggins; 5, Sylvia Stahl. Trophy Dash: Eric Zahler. Main: 1, Monica Howard; 2, Phil Vinson; 3, Eric Zahler; 4, Wally.
Bump to Pass — Heat: 1, Frank Stiltner; 2, Merle Stiltner; 3, Mark Mager. Trophy Dash: Frank Stiltner. Main: 1, Frank Stiltner; 2, Mark Mager; 3, Merle Stiltner.
Hobby Stock — Heat 1: 1, Eric Zahler; 2, Steve Latt; 3, Dave Eggers; 4, Larry Tracy; 5, Dylan Dow. Heat 2: 1, Kevin Washington; 2, Daric Shoemaker; 3, Travis McKinney; 4, Bryan Corrigan; 5, Vaile Thompson. Trophy Dash: Steve Latt. Main: 1, Daric Shoemaker; 2, Steve Latt; 3, Dylan Dow; 4, Bryan Corrigan; 5, Danny Howard; 6, Eric Zahler; 7, Larry Tracy; 8, Vaile Thompson; 9, Travis McKinney.

Junior Gap2Gap still gaining popularity

YAKIMA, Wash. — If every child who participates in the Junior Gap2Gap grows up wanting to take part in its grown-up counterpart, the Gap2Gap isn’t going away any time soon. And that should come as welcome news for multi-event racers in this part of the state, because this year it’s pretty much the only game in town.

The adult Ridge to River race from the Mission Ridge ski area to Wenatchee was cancelled for 2010, which would have been its 30th annual event. The race has typically been held about six weeks before the Gap2Gap, and while many competitors have done both races, Gap2Gap organizers at the Yakima Greenway believe a large turnout could be heading for this year’s adult race.

The junior race, though, is a slightly different story. The organizers know the Junior Gap2Gap numbers are going up.

Last month’s Family Field Day at the Greenway — a collaboration of the Central Washington Dietetic Internship Program, the Greenway and FitKids USA — went from between 500 and 600 in 2009 to 930 participants this year.

Greenway deputy director Jeff Brantner believes the Junior Gap2Gap could have a similar uptick, especially if Dan Stadler can find a few more team sponsors.

Stadler oversees “Kids ROCK,” the acronym standing for Reaching Out to City Kids. The nonprofit organization, headquartered just across the street from Barge Lincoln Elementary School, provides mentorship programs, events and activities (such as sports camps) throughout the year for lower-income kids from the southeast and northeast areas of Yakima.

Kids ROCK was out in force at the Family Field Day.

“He must have brought 60 or 70 kids,” Brantner said, adding that Stadler had initially anticipated signing up as many as 17 four- and five-member teams for this Saturday’s Junior Gap2Gap. “That’s really pretty cool. He’s getting a lot of kids involved.”

But the Kids Rock teams come from poorer households, few of which can afford the $15-per-competitor registration fee. Last year, the Greenway itself sponsored three Kids Rock teams, and Stadler came up with sponsors for four others.

“We told them we could do two or three teams every year,” Brantner said, “but this year he said they might have 17. We just can’t afford it.”

Stadler said he’s been able to come up with sponsors for six teams, and is hoping for find another seven or eight more.

“It’s amazing,” Stadler said of the interest level in Junior Gap2Gap participation among the kids who participate in Kids Rock. “A lot of these kids would never get the opportunity to do this, because their parents wouldn’t be able to get them out and afford the cost of doing it, let alone getting the bikes and helmets and knee pads and everything needed to put a team together.

“We’ve collected those over the years. The Lions Club provides all the bikes, and Memorial Hospital provides all the helmets, so we’re basically putting the teams together and a lot of these kids just could not do this otherwise. It’s fun to see them, because they have to learn to work together as a team; they have to understand how teamwork works.”

And not just teamwork, but dedication and desire. In the 2008 Junior Gap2Gap, a 12-year-old Kids Rock participant in the running portion of the five-stage relay was running in shoes that had no laces, and both of his shoes came off during the run. He continued the race in his socks, and upon reaching the end of the run, he learned that the teammate who was supposed to do the kayak portion of the race wasn’t there. So the runner did the kayak leg.

When his teammate doing the obstacle course portion of the race — not quite understanding the rules — took off too early and was disqualified, the shoeless runner finished the obstacle portion as well.

Anyone wishing to help sponsor a Kids ROCK team — all deductions are tax-deductible — can call Stadler at 509-480-2658.

Fishing the Valley’s streams is a great escape

I’ve been fortunate in that I have gotten to fish a lot of different places for a lot of different fish. But when it comes right down to it, there may be nothing more enjoyable to me than grabbing my trout rod and a few spinners and hitting our local streams for trout.

Maybe it’s because fishing the local creeks and rivers was pretty much all of the fishing I did during my formative years. During the summers I would ride my bike down to Cowiche Creek and fish for hours on end. Or friends and I would wade the Naches River, or float the Yakima River in a rubber raft and fish and fish and fish. The next day, we would do it all over again.

We’d fish Ahtanum Creek and Wenas Creek and walk for miles, dropping a small lure or piece of bait in the deeper holes and along the cut banks and catch all kinds of fish.

I’m sure history is part of the reason I enjoy stream fishing so much. But I also still find it incredibly enjoyable to work one of the local streams, reading the water, trying to figure out where a fish or two might be holding and then try to get them to bite.

There is something about standing in a river, listening to the flow of the river, watching what wildlife might be around, and waiting for the tug on the end of the line that makes stream fishing so therapeutic and pleasurable.

While many of the regulations on most of the local rivers and creeks have changed in the 35 years since I learned the finer arts of stream fishing around here, the fishing on these waters actually remains quite good.

Maybe the biggest change in the regulations on our local streams is when they open. Used to be that all the rivers and creeks opened on what was then the statewide opening day of fishing season, normally the last weekend in April.

Now, the streams don’t open for trout fishing until June. This change, which was a good one in my opinion, was made to protect the outgoing salmon and steelhead smolt.

So, while there are other options for stream fishing for trout, including being able to fish the Yakima River above Roza Dam all year long, those of us who like to fish the Naches and Tieton and some of the local creeks, have a little longer to wait. But that time is now upon us.

All of the streams in Central Washington will open for trout fishing this Saturday. And barring more rain in the mountains or a hot spell, they are in pretty good fishing shape.

Most of the local streams fall under some kind of bait and hook restrictions. And most are either catch and release or have very restricted catch and size limits. Check the new fishing rules and regulations book for the specifics for each of the creeks and rivers in the region. Even with these regulations, fishing can be fun and quite good.

My very first trout ever was caught on the Naches River when I was just 6 or 7 years old. The fish hit as I was retrieving a black Rooster Tail along the calm edge of a fairly shallow ripple.

Maybe it is nostalgia, but a black Rooster Tail is still one of my favorite lures for the local streams. A barbless, single-hooked spinner like the Rooster Tail is legal in virtually all of our local streams, including the upper Yakima, and it is a very productive lure.

Other spinners such as the Vibric Rooster Tail or a Mepps are also productive. And other colors of spinners such as brown, white, yellow and green will work. Sometimes it is the spinner blade color that makes a difference. Try silver, or brass or copper bladed spinners during different light and water conditions until you figure out what the fish want.

June is here. That means the local rivers and creeks will be opening soon. There are many great fishing opportunities in our region, but none may be as enjoyable or as productive as fishing one of our local streams.
• Rob Phillips is a freelance outdoor writer and partner in the advertising firm of Smith, Phillips & DiPietro. He can be reached at rwphillips@spdadvertising.com.

6-1 What’s Happening

TWIG meeting will focus on recreation

Bill Gaines, a Wenatchee-based forest biologist with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, is expected to be the featured speaker at tonight’s 7 p.m. meeting of the Trails and Wilderness Interest Group (TWIG) at the Naches Ranger Station.

If Gaines is able to attend, he’ll help lead a discussion on forest recreation strategy.

Hosts for tonight’s meeting will be district ranger Irene Davidson, recreation planner Sue Ranger, assistant forest archeologist (and acting resource assistant) Jacquie Beidl and frontcountry trail-crew co-leader Angie Niebuhr.

Guests should park in the rear parking lot and use the station’s back entrance.

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Boater safety being slowly eased in

For the 2010 boating season, all Washington boaters aged 30 or younger must take a boating safety course and obtain the Washington Boater Education Card, often mistakenly referred to as the Washington Boat License or Washington Boating License.

By the year 2014, all boaters in Washington State who were born after Jan 1, 1955, will need a boat license to operate a watercraft on state waterways. The Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission is phasing in this legislation, adding a new age group every boating season.

You can take the course online (BoaterExam.com) or through any sanctioned course, such as the one periodically run locally through the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

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BIRD ALERT

While neither hawk nor owl, common poorwills and common nighthawks are visiting our area now.

One poorwill calling just outside the window was loud enough to hear from inside the house, according to one Moxee resident, and other poorwills were seen and heard along Audubon Road just north of the intersection with Wenas Road.

Common nighthawks and poorwills have tiny beaks when their mouths are closed, but their mouths have an enormous gape when open. This adaptation is useful during feeding on the wing as they scoop up moths, grasshoppers, flying beetles, flies, winged ants and mosquitoes. They feed primarily at dawn and dusk.

Hawks in name only, nighthawks are closer in behavior to swifts and swallows, hunting on the wing and consuming large numbers of flying insects. Nighthawks were reported this week from the marsh along Lateral “C” Road, from Union Gap and from the Satus Wildlife Area near Mabton.

Believe it or not, American white pelicans, those once-scarce pouched birds, are now appearing in ever-growing numbers in the Yakima Valley. These extremely large and graceful birds with the 9-foot wingspan can be seen cavorting on the thermals along the Yakima River from Prosser to Ellensburg, most notably along the stretch near Zillah.

They can also be observed as they feed in the waters along Pumphouse Road west of the Toppenish National Wildlife refuge where over 100 were noted.

Other arrivals to the Valley this week included eastern kingbirds spotted along Wenas Road, willow flycatcher, and five gray catbirds noted in the Satus area.

Please call your bird sightings into the Yakima Valley Audubon phone line at 509-248-1963

— Kerry L. Turley

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AROUND AND ABOUT

NATIONAL TRAILS DAY: This Saturday is, yes, National Trails Day, and if you’d like to spend some time outdoors helping with a trails project, the Kittitas Environmental Education Network (KEEN) can use your help. KEEN is partnering with Shape-Up Kittitas County, the Cascade Land Conservancy and the city of Ellensburg to help improve the trails at Helen McCabe Park on the north end of the Yakima River Canyon.

Volunteers will be working at the park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, spreading bark mulch at the future home of the Yakima River Canyon Scenic Byway Interpretive Center.

If you want to help, bring along gardening gloves, wear sturdy shoes and clothing and, if you have one, bring along a wheelbarrow. Every extra one helps.

FREE FISHING WEEKEND: Yes, that’s what the weekend after next — June 12-13 — will be at any of the 500 water-access sites maintained by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Over those two days, you’ll be able to fish without a license and without a vehicle-use permit. Of course, you still have to follow the other rules, like gear regulations and daily limits.

NOXIOUS WEED CONTROL: The Cle Elum District will begin spraying approximately 650 acres for noxious weeds, particularly targeting roadside areas. So if you’re out collecting mushrooms or other forest products, be aware that herbicide may be have been sprayed nearby. For more on specific times and locations, call Kim Larned at 509-852-1062.

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ON THE CALENDAR

TODAY: The Cascadians’ burly “Tuesdays” will hike up Nelson’s Butte. The group meets at 7:30 a.m. (that’s right, 7:30, not at the old time of 8 a.m.) at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot and carpools from there to the trailhead. Bring lunch, plenty of water and appropriate footwear and clothing.

WEDNESDAY: The Mount Adams Cycling Club’s weekly 24-mile Naches Loop ride will begin at 6 p.m. — yes, 6; the switch was made from 5:30 because of the longer days — at the Fred Meyer/Key Bank parking lot. For more on the club and its ride schedule, go to www.mountadamscycling.

THURSDAY: The Cascadians’ Pokies group will do a “Rimrock ramble” around Rimrock and Clear lakes. For meeting time and place, call Maia Mittelstaedt at 509-697-8144.

SATURDAY: The Yakima Valley Aududon will do a search of the area of Bethel Ridge in which the Forest Service conducted a large-scale prescribed burn last fall. The controlled fire burned a large area high on the ridge where woodpeckers were seen last fall, and the focus of Saturday’s trip will be to find nesting woodpeckers. Participants should meet trip-leader Jeff at the 40th Avenue Bi-Mart parking lot at 6:45 a.m.

SATURDAY: The Cascadians will host a hike of the Westberg Trail. For meeting time and place, call Ted Gamlem at 509-697-5051.

SUNDAY: The Cascadians will hike up Round Mountain. For meeting time and place, call Ted Gamlem at 509-697-5051.

MONDAY: Mount Adams Cycling Club members and guests will take off at 5:45 p.m. from Yak Fitness (formerly Gold’s Gym, on Keys Road in Terrace Heights) for the first outing on the club’s newest weekly ride. Unlike the Wednesday Naches Loop rides, the Monday routes will vary, typically either a flat, Moxee-area loop ride of 20 to 25 miles or a more rigorous Konnowac Pass loop of about 30 miles. Pace will be 14 to 16 mph. Guests are welcome, but will need to sign a liability waiver.

JUNE 9 (a week from Wednesday): The Yakima Valley Audubon will leading a morning bird walk in Cowiche Canyon, to search for black-headed grosbeak, yellow-breasted chat, Bullock’s oriole and lazuli bunting. The group will meet at 8 a.m. at the Weikel Road entrance to the canyon.

1A, 2B, 1B state track notebook

 

Setting the standard
South-central 1B track and field athletes this year confronted a system that allotted only one state berth per event from their district.
The way around that is to meet a qualifying standard, which is determined by averaging the third-place marks in your event from the past three state meets in your school’s classification. Yep, that’s pretty tough.
In 2010, the pole vaulters at Trout Lake-Glenwood and Bickleton were tough enough.
The boys 1B pole vault standard of 9 feet, 2 inches, proved quite clearable for five — that’s right, five — who made it to state from the district and proceeded to win the top five places.
The athletes and their heights at last weekend’s state meet: Bickleton’s Nic Venema, 11-0; and then four from Trout Lake-Glenwood: Brian Langfield 11-0 (Venema had fewer misses); Harvey Starr, 10-6; Donny Woodruff, 10-0; Tygh Schuster 10-0.
It worked much the same way for the girls. Trout Lake-Glenwood’s
Mckenzie Zoller took the state title with 9-0, and teammates Krissy Yarnell and Katie Yarnell were third and fourth at 8-6 and 8-0 respectively.
The Trout Lake-Glenwood vaulters, always a force at state, are coached by Tom Eldred, a fixture in the school’s track and field program.

Sportswomanship
Juniors Samantha Brewer of Klickitat and Liz Vogt know each other well from three years of track and field competition in the same district.
And they are very well-matched in their head-to-head events, the two horizontal jumps. Brewer qualified for class 1B state with a half-foot advantage over Vogt, but Vogt pulled off a bigtime personal best of 34 feet, 3/4 inches to win by more than a foot.
In the long jump, Brewer had the edge at district, but they jumped exactly the same distance at state, 15-7 1/4, with Vogt winning second place based on their second-best jumps.
Amid the rivalry, there’s immense respect and more.
“She’s my competitor, but she’s also my friend,” said Vogt. “And that’s great.”
Such an attitude doesn’t stop there. At Friday’s class 1A javelin event, Naches sophomore Kelsie Taylor seemingly had a state championship in hand. She was sitting in first and all competitors were totally done except one: Rainier’s Kristen Schoenherr, who had gone off to compete in a running event.
Schoenherr returned for her final three throws and promptly hurled the spear three feet farther than Taylor’s best to snatch the title from the Naches thrower.
Taylor’s reaction? “It was a good throw” by her opponent. No disappointment? “It’s all good,” she said. “I’ve still got two years.”
As stated by Trout Lake-Glenwood’s Vogt: “Track is different.”

Finding a way to the podium
Naches Valley’s Kelsie Taylor found the going a lot easier her second time at state. In 2009 as a freshman, she didn’t make the final round in the javelin. This year, she soared to second with a throw exceeding 129 feet.
How much did last year’s state experience help? “You know how you fit in,” she said. “You’re not as lost.”

The long and short of distance
Zillah sprinter Logan Olney, the class 1A runner-up in the 100 and 200, is the guy you want anchoring the state-placing Leopards’ 4×100 team. Running second amid all that speed is … Johnny Barnes. Johnny Barnes? The cross-country runner? The 800 and 1600 track runner? Why is he hanging with the sprinters?
“He’s the fourth fastest guy on the team,” said matter-of-fact coach Ken Johnson. Barnes won his spot after running the 100 in a regular-season meet. It worked at state, as the team took fifth in class 1A with a windblown time of 44.73.

Shhhh … handoff in progress
Riverside Christian’s champion relay teams make their noise with their results. But as for a commotion during their handoffs, well, they won’t hear of it.
The verbal cue is common among relay teams as the incoming runner signals the next one to take off. That means lots of shouting going on, and at big meets there’s also crowd noise to confuse things.
At RC, the preferred method is what 4×100 anchor Kent Gartrell called the silent handoff. Explained teammate Nate VanTuinen, “We have a spot” that the baton-receiving runner eyes as the incoming runner approaches.
The silent treatment apparently works. The Crusaders have won the state 2B 4×100 in the past two years along with the 4×400 this year. RC’s relays throughout the years, both boys and girls, have gained a reputation for moving the baton smoothly and quickly through the zone.
When you place first as much as these runners have, silence is indeed golden.

Henrik Heldahl came to Bickleton High School as a foreign exchange student from Norway and quickly got caught up in the American athletic scene. “I love doing sports,” said Heldahl, who has played soccer for 11 years.
Bickleton’s track and field coaches loved having him this season. He quickly took to the high jump, clearing 5-11 at district and taking third at state with a 5-8.
Why the high jump? “One of the other guys, Taylor Brown, said I have to do it, and I liked it,” he said.
How could soccer possibly prepare you for the high jump? “I use my feet for both of them,” he quipped.

 

Reds get first win of season

SEATTLE — Abdulwali Aman’s goal in the second minute of the game held up as the Yakima Reds defeated the Washington Crossfire 1-0 at Interbay Stadium for their first victory of the season.

Coach Alex Silva attributed the stout defensive effort to a new formation that allowed the Reds (1-4) to drop a couple of midfielders to help the defenders when necessary, but still be able to assist on the offensive end.

“We changed two center mids up,” Silva said. “Defensively, we were stronger. They didn’t score on us.”

After Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Tacoma Tide, Silva had a meeting with his team.

“We had a big talk after the Tacoma game,” Silva said. “I know we have a good team.

“I told them, ‘I need to figure this out, and no one is leaving until we figure it out.’”

After the meeting that lasted several hours, Silva said he decided a change of tactics was needed.

The new formation — with five defenders, four midfielders and one striker — helped close a gap that would open up between the midfielders and defenders, Silva said.

On Sunday, it worked to perfection.

“We’re happy to get the first win,” Silva said. “It helps the team to get the pressure out. Now we can move on.”

The Reds now begin a three-game Canadian road trip, playing Tuesday in Abbotsford, Thursday in Vancouver and Saturday in Victoria.

Yakima’s next game at Marquette Stadium is scheduled for June 26 against the Tacoma Tide.

First half: 1, Yakima, Abdulwali Aman (Weslen Silva), 1:53.
Second half: No scoring.

Local report: Chaffey sweeps Beetles

SEATTLE — The Yakima Pepsi Beetles found some offense Sunday, but it wasn’t enough as Chaffey of Seattle swept a doubleheader 9-1 and 3-2 at the University of Washington.

Jackson Marquis had a double and scored the lone run in the opener and had an RBI in the second game.

In the second game, Yakima (0-4) was led by Justin Reyes, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Brandon Walton worked 6 2/3 innings and allowed three runs.

The Beetles open Central Washington League play on Tuesday with a doubleheader against Wenatchee at Parker Field. Admission is free.

Game 1

Yakima    100    000    0    —    1    3    1
Chaffey     102    312    x    —    9    9    3
Roddy, Klingele (5), Clements (6) and Lombardi, Reyes (5); Lavelle, Campbell (6) and Ingram, Laboda (6).
Yakima Highlights: Jackson Marquis, 2b, run.

Game 2

Yakima     000    020    0    —    2    5    1
Chaffey     000    100    2    —    3    9    1
Walton, Woodkey (7) and Finn; Tabor, Blockie (7) and Reed.
Highlights: Justin Reyes 2-3, run, RBI; Marquis RBI; Brandon Walton 62/3, 2 Ks, 3 runs allowed.

Youth Baseball

Cadet Club swept by Naches

The Cadet Baseball Club lost twice to Naches in their season-opening doubleheader, falling 5-1 in the first game and 7-2 in the second.

Josh Vickers went 52/3  innings, giving up one earned run.

Brian Griffith went 1-for-2 in the first game for the Cadets.

In the second game, Josh Farnsworth, Griffith, and Mitchell Hidgen all had two hits for the Cadets.

The Cadet Baseball Club will play on Thursday in the Early Bird Tournament at Eisenhower High School.

Fastpitch: WV runs to third

TACOMA, Wash. — Command. Movement. Velocity.

Sedro-Woolley senior Bailey Brewer featured it all.

The University of Nevada-bound starter struck out 11 batters to end West Valley’s state-title aspirations with a 3-0 win Saturday in the Class 3A state fastpitch semifinals at South End Recreation Area.

“I think if we faced more challenging pitchers in the first two games, we would’ve been a little more prepared for her,” West Valley sophomore pitcher Molly Rubidoux said. “The speed and her riseball got to us.”

Rubidoux did her best to match Brewer through three scoreless innings. It might have gone longer, but a one-out throwing error by the shortstop allowed Maddie Lynch-Crumrine to score from first base and give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Sedro-Woolley, which won the championship late Saturday, added two more runs in the fifth inning. With two outs, Cheyenne Best hit an RBI-double and Emmie Moser followed with a run-scoring single.

“I thought that was a turning point when they started to score a little more,” Rubidoux said. “We were a little more nervous.”

The Rams, who finished with a 19-8 record, looked like they might end Brewer’s scoreless innings streak — she shut out each of her first two opponents, 8-0 — as pinch-hitter Brianne Ringer drew a one-out walk and Emily Shepard reached on an error in the sixth inning. But Brewer struck out Rubidoux and Hannah Souers grounded out to end the threat.

“We had some good swings on her and some base runners,” West Valley coach Brad Cramer said. “But with a good pitcher like that, it’s hard to bunch hits together.”

Brewer then retired West Valley in order during the seventh inning to end the game. The Rams were awarded third place at the tournament along with six other teams — Friday’s rainouts resulted in the cancellation of several consolation games. It is their best finish in school history. West Valley, which last advanced to state in 2006, did not place in its previous four state appearances.

Considering that there were no games Friday and no one was certain until Saturday morning that the fields would be playable, Cramer said his players showed maturity with their performances.

“Sitting around all day at the hotel — going to the mall or a movie — the girls could’ve come out flat,” he said. “I’m ecstatic about how it went.”

The Rams guaranteed their placement with a 2-0 win in the first round against Enumclaw, a game that was scoreless until the seventh inning when Danielle Porter’s single allowed Whitney Biehl to cross home plate, and followed that with a 16-7 victory against Bonney Lake in the second round. Nicole Schultz, Hannah Souers, Shepard and Rubidoux each had three hits in that game. Rubidoux also had six RBI.

West Valley graduates just three players — Porter, Ringer and Shepard — this year, and Rubidoux expects the team to be even better in the future.

“It’s a learning experience,” she said. “Because we’re a young team, we should be able to get further next year and the year after that.”

— Chris Chancellor/For the Yakima Herald-Republic

West Valley 2, Enumclaw 0

Enumclaw      000    000    0    —    0    4    3
West Valley    000    000    2    —    2    4    0
Rogers and Cox; Robidoux and Wetzel.
West Valley hightlights: Danielle Porter 2B, RBI.

West Valley 16, Bonney Lake 7

West Valley      302    306    2    —    16    23    2
Bonney Lake    240    000    1    —    7    11    3
Robidoux and Roberts; Johnson, Wells (6) ann Myers.
West Valley highlights: Molly Robidoux 9 Ks, 2 3B, 2 2B, 6 RBI; Porter 2B; Nicole Schultz SB, RBI; Emily Shepard 2B; Hannah Sovers 4 RBI; Maddy Roberts 2B, RBI; Whitney Biehl 2B.

Sedro-Woolley 3, West Valley 0

West Valley          000    000    0    —    0    0    2
Sedro-Woolley    000    120    0    —    3    4    2
Rubidoux and Wetzel; Breuer and Lamphiear.

Track: Record Rams

West Valley finishes by breaking own relay mark ||

TACOMA, Wash. — Their long, twisting journey through the day was filled with every emotion possible, including an oddly contagious frustration, but when they came back together for one final performance there was only one word to describe it.

Brilliant.

West Valley’s Haley Curtis, Chantel Jaeger, Chelsea Nell and Lindsay Burns not only tore up their 4×400 meet record from Thursday’s prelims but won Saturday’s Class 3A state final in a stunning 3 minutes, 51.45 seconds — the fastest in any classification in 32 years and the state’s fastest relay ever at the metric distance.

There was nothing but hugs and joy and gleeful amazement for the foursome, which heard its record time about the same time the sun finally came out during the three-day 4A, 3A and 2A track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School.

At the end of a day that started with the disappointment of not winning the 4×200, and then shaking off some individual setbacks, the Rams still came away with a fourth-place trophy in a battle for hardware that saw the top six teams separated by only eight points.

“We really needed to end the day this way,” said Burns, the freshman who competed in four events Saturday and finished with a dazzling 55.3 anchor on the 4×400. “We wanted to maybe break our record, but the main thing was to run to win. We did that, ran soooo fast and the sun came out — it was perfect.”

That was around 6 p.m. At just after 10 a.m. the feeling was a bit different.

In the 4×200 final, which was considered the table-setter for a possible run at the team title, Curtis, Nell, Burns and Jaeger were unbeaten all season and turned in the best prelim time by two seconds. But Franklin Pierce, with two-time 100 and 200 state champ Germe Poston storming from behind on the anchor, stole the race in 1:43.69. Jaeger outleaned Camas’ anchor for second as both teams timed 1:43.72 in a blanket finish.

“We were all so bummed because we thought that was gold for us,” Curtis said. “It was hard to take that disappointment.”

For a while it showed.

In the individual events that followed, Curtis couldn’t get loose in the 300 hurdles and placed eighth, Jaeger ran fifth in the 100 and Burns struggled with her steps in the long jump and settled for sixth. All came to Tacoma seeded first or second.

“It took some time to shake off that 800 relay,” noted head coach Jamie Nordstrom. “There were some disappointments but they got it turned around with some great races.”

Burns changed the momentum just minutes after finishing the long jump. In the 400 final she finished second to Glacier Peak senior Stephanie Cummings but clocked 56.32, a career best and the state’s fifth-fastest ever for a ninth-grader.

“Having to do the 400 right after the long jump was probably good for me,” she said. “There wasn’t much time to worry about what went wrong with my steps or be upset about it. I just tried to stay composed and run a good race. It’s a new PR and that’s what I wanted.”

Jaeger then did the exact same thing — run a composed, smart race — and finished second in the 200 behind the Arizona-bound Poston. A junior, Jaeger improved one place in both sprints from last year.

“The 200 is really what I was focusing on, that’s my better event,” she said. “Germe ran a great race and good for her, she’s a senior. I’m happy with how I did.”

The tide had clearly turned for the Rams and they really turned it loose in the 4×400.

Curtis subbed in on the first leg for junior Ashley Packard, who ran in Thursday’s prelim, and contributed a solid leadoff with Jaeger settling in just behind Camas at the second baton exchange.

Nell sped around Camas briefly on the third leg but the stubborn Papermakers fought back into the lead at the final exchange. Burns was five meters down when she took over but not for long as a bold dash down the backstretch earned her the lead. It was the kind of move that would make most nervous, but Burns did not wilt down the stretch.

“I wanted to find the right place to jump her and still have enough for the end,” Burns said. “At the end of the backstretch felt like the right place. I just gave it everything I had.”

The remarkable duel pulled Camas under West Valley’s two-day-old meet record as well as Megan Kelley, who was fourth in the open 400, brought her team home in 3:53.23. The winning 4A time was 3:55.94.

“We all pulled together to finish with a victory,” said Curtis, who concluded her long and successful multi-sport career at West Valley and will head to Utah Valley University to play soccer. “The 300 (hurdles) were really disappointing. I mean, I was very happy to be in the top eight but eighth isn’t what I expected. For this relay I just thought, I’m a senior, I’ll never do this again and it’s my last race — just leave it all out there.”

The only times in state history considered better than West Valley’s 3:51.45 were recorded as mile relays in 1978 by Sammamish (3:48.3 converted to metric) and Issaquah (3:49.8).

Sammamish led the nation that year.

Glacier Peak and Columbia River tied for the state team title with 49 points. Camas was third with 43 and West Valley shared fourth with Auburn Mountainview with 42.

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