• Alex Cate will start at quarterback for Central Washington’s GNAC football opener Saturday night at Dixie State.

Wildcats coach Blaine Bennett said Wednesday that Cate, a senior transfer from Oklahoma State, has been given the nod over redshirt freshman Ryan Robertson.

Both played, but neither was especially effective in Central’s 35-10 loss last Saturday to fourth-ranked Minnesota Duluth in Ellensburg.

“I thought our first two series of the game were our best in terms of execution, tempo and the things we were looking for,” Bennett said Wednesday. “Unfortunately we made some mistakes in the red zone and came out of those drives with only three points, which was very crucial.”

Cate played the first half and also the final series and finished 9 for 15 passing for 67 yards with one interception that led to a Duluth touchdown. Robertson was 21 for 33 for 236 yards and Central’s only touchdown, but also threw two picks — one of which was returned for a touchdown.

“Ryan threw the ball well at times and we were very excited to see that,” Bennett said. “But at this point Alex fits into the offensive package that we think will play to our strength.”

Just two days away now from our annual preseason football section, which will be included in Thursday’s edition. After we take a deep breath, we’ll tackle other fall previews for cross country (Sept. 9), volleyball (Sept. 10), girls swimming (Sept. 11) and girls soccer (Sept. 12).
Pouring over the 48 pages that will comprise our football section, there are three things that are especially compelling to me. In no particular order, here they are:

1) How quickly can Eisenhower rebuild with so much lost to graduation, and how well will Davis carry forward last year’s momentum with so much back.
The Cadets graduated 15 players with all-conference honors from their 11-1 team, and originally looked to have just three offensive starters back and four on defense. But Ike got a big boost this week when RB-LB Issac Sarate and OL-DL Bruce Smith were granted additional eligibility.
The Pirates have tons back, although ‘09 standouts C.J. McCray and Jackson Marquis, at this point, are not turning out. Davis still has eight returning offensive starters, seven on defense and a home game Friday against Eastmont to kick off the season.

2) How jumbled will the hierarchy in the CWAC be compared to last year? Or will the order be the same — Ellensburg, Othello, Selah and Prosser?
The program that appears most likely to rise is Prosser. Last year over the final three games, then-sophomore RB Isaac Anderson was unstoppable and amazingly durable with 96 carries and 564 yards.
All four have highly interesting — and tough — openers on Friday — Archbishop Murphy at Ellensburg, Selah at West Valley, Prosser at Kamiakin and Connell at Othello.

3) How well will La Salle transition into the SCAC West? All the coaches we’ve talked to expect the Lightning to contend immediately given its track record of dominance in the B-11 ranks. Two notes about SCAC West RBs: Zillah’s Chris Castillo has opted to not turn out this fall, and Highland’s Forrest Kopta is appealing at the state level an eligibility issue that has been denied locally.

We’ll begin to get some answers to these questions on Friday when the roller-coaster rumbles out of the gate. Enjoy the ride!

YAKIMA, Wash. — If you drove over Chinook Pass on State Route 410 last weekend, you probably had one of those little out-of-body moments where you feel like you’ve drifted into some kind of alternate universe. Wait a second … isn’t there supposed to be a bridge over the road right here … ?

Well, yes, there is, and right now there … isn’t.

Last week, maintenance crews at Mount Rainier National Park removed the cedar-log crossing — leaving the stone-construction base in place on each side — in order to replace it. The bridge, over which hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail have crossed 410 for decades, is expected to be back in place with new cedar logs sometime next summer.

“It wasn’t unsafe, but it is aging, so the wood is beginning to rot,” explained park trails-crew member Julie Okita.

The bridge span itself was made entirely of three-foot-diameter cedar logs, including the handrails made from split cedar logs. Park crews are trying to obtain and prepare replacement logs “from within the park as much as we can,” Okita said, and then will be trucked to Chinook Pass for bridge assembly next summer.

Until then, hikers parked in the long-term parking lot on the north and west side of Chinook Pass can cross 410 by way of a newly painted crosswalk near the bridge location. Additional signage has been posted to alert motorists to the pedestrian crossing.

The missing bridge has already become a topic of discussion on the Northwest Hikers site, with a photograph of the missing and some imaginative visions of the replacement bridge to come. Check it out.

– Scott Sandsberry

YAKIMA, Wash. — The time and site have been set for the Tuesday organizational meeting of what National Wild Turkey Federation organizers hope will be a new Yakima Valley chapter.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Selah Civic Center, 216 S. First St. in Selah.
A number of federation representatives will be present, including NWTF regional director Barnabas Koka and Washington state chapter president Kurt Beckley.
For more information, call Ross Huffman at 509-961-8093.
– Scott Sandsberry

While in a fog of working on our annual preseason prep football section, there’s big news to report on other fronts. The preseason cross country coaches poll is out and Eisenhower appears poised for a double dose of dominance. The Cadets are ranked No. 1 in 4A boys and No. 2 in girls. The boys, in fact, are ranked 22nd in the Harrier Magazine’s national poll. Here’s the state poll:

BOYS
Class 4A: 1, Eisenhower; 2, Jackson; 3, Lewis & Clark; 4, Mead; 5, Ferris; 6, Auburn Riverside; 7, Walla Walla; 8, Issaquah; 9, Gig Harbor; 10, Skyline. Others: Wenatchee, Olympia, Redmond.
Class 3A: 1, North Central; 2, University; 3, Kamiakin; 4, Seattle Prep; 5, Mt. Spokane; 6, Blanchet; 7, Everett; 8, Bellevue; 9, Shorecrest; 10, Peninsula. Others: Columbia River, Camas.
Class 2A: 1, Sehome; 2, Mark Morris; 3, Lindbergh; 4, Ellensburg; 5, Bellingham; 6, Interlake; 7, Cheney; 8, Chehalis; 9, Lakewood; 10, Cedarcrest. Others: Selah, Kingston, North Kitsap, Squalicum.
Class 1A: 1, Port Townsend; 2, Nooksack Valley; 3, Lakeside; 4, La Center; 5, Riverside; 6, Lynden Christian; 7, Charles Wright; 8, Meridian; 9, Cashmere; 10, Seattle Christian. Others: Royal, Toledo, Freeman.
Class 2B-1B: 1, Northwest Christian (Lacey); 2, Republic; 3, Mossyrock; 4, Mt. Rainier Lutheran; 5, Tri-Cities Prep; 6, North Beach; 7, Northwest Christian (Spokane); 8, White Pass; 9, Waitsburg-Prescott; 10, St. John-Endicott. Others: Bear Creek, St. George’s, Davenport.

GIRLS
Class 4A: 1, Stanwood; 2, Eisenhower; 3, Bellarmine; 4, Eastlake; 5, Gig Harbor; 6, Tahoma; 7, Central Valley; 8, Redmond; 9, Richland; 10, Lewis & Clark. Others: Davis, Stadium, Arlington, Auburn Riverside.
Class 3A: 1, Glacier Peak; 2, Shadle Park; 3, Kamiakin; 4, Peninsula; 5, Lakeside; 6, Mt. Spokane; 7, Prairie; 8, Enumclaw; 9, Camas; 10, Columbia River. Others: Bainbridge, Seattle Prep, Capital.
Class 2A: 1, Sehome; 2, Kingston; 3, Lindbergh; 4, Cedarcrest; 5, Cheney; 6, Ephrata; 7, Bellingham; 8, Interlake; 9, Lakewood; 10, Deer Park. Others: North Kitsap, Squalicum.
Class 1A: 1, Northwest; 2, Riverside; 3, Lakeside; 4, Omak; 5, La Center; 6, Nooksack Valley; 7, King’s; 8, Chelan; 9, Meridian; 10, Cashmere. Others: Seattle Academy, Bellevue Christian, Ilwaco.

Class 2B-1B: 1, Northwest Christian (Lacey); 2, White Pass; 3, Northwest Christian (Spokane); 4, St. George’s; 5, Crosspoint Academy. Others: Asotin, Waitsburg-Prescott.

YAKIMA, Wash. — The Yakima Fly Fishers Association are hosting a fly-fishing outing Saturday at Leech Lake on White Pass, beginning at 9 a.m. Non-club members who want to join the group should call Fred Collier in advance at 969-4985.

– Scott Sandsberry

• Yazy Arbelo’s Northwest League-leading 13th home run of the season, hit Monday night at Eugene, boosted him to fourth on the Bears modern-era single-season home run list.

The leader is Lamont Matthews, who belted 17 long balls in 1999. Jamie D’Antona hit 15 in 2003, a total equaled by Chris Carter a year later.

Carter is Yakima’s RBI leader, with 63 in 2004. Arbelo, with 47, leads the league but is four away from the Bears top 10.

The league’s all-time home run leaders are John Warner, who hit 37 for Tri-City in 1964, a long season, and Central Oregon’s William Darkis, who holds the short-season mark of 25 set in 1980.

• FROM THE QUOTE FILE

Earl Weaver, Baltimore Orioles manager when asked to analyze why the American League had lost another All-Star game:

“Same old crap — they scored more runs than we did.”

• Central Washington’s Wildcats are hurting.

Multiple injuries have hamstrung CWU as it prepares for its Aug. 28 season opener at home against Minnesota Duluth, coach Blaine Bennett reports, thus slowing the team’s preseason development.

“Don’t get me started about injuries,” Bennett said Monday.

While senior offensive lineman James Meeks has possibly been lost for the season with a dislocated kneecap, Bennett said, most of the other problems have been less serious. Nonetheless, they’ve still kept players from much needed practice time.

More details on Central’s preseason camp will appear in Wednesday’s Herald-Republic.

If preseason polls are to be believed, Central’s opener figures to feature two national powers.

While the Wildcats are ranked fifth in the American Football Coaches Association poll and seventh by The Sporting News, Duluth is No. 4 in both polls. The Bulldogs have also been picked to win the North Division of the highly-competitive Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in a preseason poll of NSIC coaches.

The game will be the first of three Central home games to be televised live on SWX, a sports and weather station based in Spokane.

• If you tune your radio to KUTI (1460) Tuesday night and do not hear the dulcet tones of Drew Bontadelli, it doesn’t mean the Bears were rained out of their game at Eugene.

It just means the game is over and that Bontadelli, the team’s radio broadcaster, has retired to a nearby hotel or restaurant with the rest of the Bears and their staff.

Yakima and the Emeralds are scheduled for an 11 a.m. first pitch Tuesday, after which they’ll conclude the five-game series Wednesday with a regular 7:05 p.m. start.

No reason for today’s unusual game time was given on Eugene’s Web site, save for special prices on tickets ($5 for every seat in PK Park) and concessions.

Today’s game will also mark the halfway point of the Northwest League’s second half. Nineteen games will remain, including 11 at Yakima County Stadium.

Following an off day Thursday, the Bears will begin an eight-game home stand — with five against Salem-Keizer followed by three with Spokane.

FROM THE QUOTE FILE

Jim Walden, in summation of most of the recruiting classes during his football coaching tenure at Washington State:

“We didn’t get all the ones we wanted, but we wanted all the ones we got.”

• Kellen Moore wasn’t on the cover this time, but Boise State was ranked third in Sports Illustrated’s college football preview that arrived in my mailbox Thursday.

The theme of SI’s main preview story was defense, so Broncos defensive end Ryan Winterswyk, cornerback Brandyn Thompson and strong safety Jeron Johnson graced the cover of one of four regional issues. Alabama, Ohio State and Texas got the others.

It’s true that defense is a key element for any national power — it always has been and always will be. But also, Boise State would not be worthy of Top 10 talk, let alone the national championship discussion, without Moore.

Thus his appearance on the front page of last weekend’s edition of USA TODAY.

Few among those who witnessed the 2005 Class 3A state championship game in the Tacoma Dome, including the Herald-Republic’s Scott Spruill and myself, would have imagined after Ferndale’s 47-12 victory over Prosser that not only had two standout NCAA Division I quarterbacks performed that night — with the Golden Eagles’ Jake Locker looking like a man among boys — but two Heisman Trophy contenders as well.

• FROM THE QUOTE FILE

Football coach Don James at a Washington booster gathering, when an elderly woman said she couldn’t read the names on a football that had been autographed by his players:
“That’s because they’re all going to be doctors.”

• It’s true that 25 games remain in the Northwest League season, including tonight’s Bears game against Spokane, but just in case the standings stay as they presently are — with the Indians atop the East Division and Yakima second — tiebreakers bear mentioning (pun intended).

If first-half winner Spokane also wins the second, the East’s second-half playoff berth would then go to the team with the next-best winning percentage for the entire season.

At this hour, that’s Yakima.

In the event of a tie for that position, second-half tiebreakers come into play. The first is head-to-head record for the second half, the second is head-to-head record for the full season. And there are others, of course.

The first half winners — Spokane and Everett — get to choose if they want to host Game 1 of their best-of-three division series or Games 2 and 3.

First round dates are Sept. 6, 7 and 9. Championship series dates will be Sept. 10, 11 and 12, with Game 1 to be played in the West winner’s stadium.

So stay tuned.
• Also, a quick thought on the Mariners: In my estimation they’re one trade away from contending in the American League West, but that trade would involve sending execs Howard Lincoln, Chuck Armstrong and an ash tray to be named later to Minnesota for Senior VP-General Manager Bill Smith.

FROM THE QUOTE FILE
NBA guard World B. Free, formerly Lloyd Free, on whether any of the Sonics could do anything to disrupt his jump shot:
“Yeah, it bothers me when Fred Brown runs in front of me and yells, ‘Lloyd.’”

YAKIMA, Wash. — If you missed the front page of Friday’s USA Today, you missed a feature story on Prosser’s Kellen Moore and the Boise State Broncos, who are ranked No. 5 in the newspaper’s preseason coaches poll.

The cover of Friday's USA Today.

The story, mostly an introduction to the history and culture of the BSU program, talks about how Moore was recruited (and initially confused with his taller and younger brother Kirby) and the Broncos’ prospects for the upcoming season.

Moore, who the story says was offered scholarships by BSU, Idaho and Eastern Washington, is quoted as saying:

“A lot of guys just have chips on their shoulders,” Moore said. “For whatever reason, they didn’t get their dream opportunity originally, but of course they’re getting it now.”

Click here to read the story.

• First, some thoughts on the Bears’ recent power surge, and especially that of first baseman Yazy Arbelo.

Through Thursday, Arbelo had homered three times in four games and nine times for the year — a total that led the Northwest League. His next long ball would put him among the top 10 single-season leaders during Yakima’s modern-day history, tying him with Cliff Wren (1999) and Nicolas Alvarez (2000), on the Bears’ most recent league championship team).

The leader is Lamont Matthews, who hit 17 in 1999. Jamie D’Antona and Chris Carter are next with 15 each, in 2003 and 2004, respectively.

Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds, known as much for his major league strikeout records as his 44 long balls last season, hit 12 in 2004.

The last Bear to hit 10 or more homers was Collin Cowgill who went deep 11 times in 2008. He accomplished that feat in a mere 20 games before being promoted by then Diamondbacks’ minor league czar A.J. Hinch despite Cowgill’s comparatively modest batting average of .302.

Presently at Class AA Mobile, Cowgill has hit a team-high 12 homers and has driven in 66 runs while batting .293 in 104 games for the BayBears.

At long-season Class A Visalia of the California League, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt’s 31 homers through Thursday led all of minor league baseball. Rawhide teammate Ryan Wheeler, an NWL all-star last season in Yakima, was hitting .281 with eight long balls and 49 RBI.

As for the Bears’ season-record RBI total — Arbelo had a league-best 37 — Carter holds that mark with 63 in 2004.

• And also some thoughts on Lou Piniella, who will retire after this season.

First, no single player or manager has ever saved baseball — not Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995, not Mark McGwire and/or Sammy Sosa in 1998.

And no one saved baseball in Seattle. Not Ken Griffey Jr., not Randy Johnson.

Baseball will always survive if not thrive, sometimes in spite of itself as it did after the 1994 strike and cancellation of the World Series, and also after the outrage over steroids.

The sport has so long been deeply woven into our national fabric that its fans, even if temporarily angered by slights real or perceived, will always come back.

It’s true that the Mariners might have left Seattle had it not been for the team’s magical drive to the American League Championship Series. But again, it wasn’t Griffey, Johnson or even Joey Cora who was singularly responsible.

If any single person came close to being the person responsible for saving baseball in Seattle that year, it was Piniella.

Was he a perfect manager, then or now? Of course not.

But Lou was the right skipper at the right time, because he taught that team the one thing it most needed to learn — he taught it how to win.

• FROM THE QUOTE FILE

An unknown retired NFL player whose first attempt at skydiving saw a wind gust carry him into a pile of boulders where he broke both legs and fractured multiple ribs while landing:

“It wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.”

After a week of covering the American Legion state baseball tournament, one thing stood out: It was tough on pitchers.
Kelso Pacific Tech gave up nearly 10 runs a game but prevailed in the five-day tournament thanks to an offense that pounded out 71 hits and scored 56 runs.
The Spokane Bandits, who eliminated Kennewick (13-11) and Yakima Valley (17-14) in slugfests, averaged 12.2 runs in six games but could not get by Kelso in the championship final, falling 17-14.
Over the final three days, 158 runs were scored in seven games and three teams were eliminated despite scoring 11 runs or more.
Kelso, which opens Northwest Region play Thursday against Missoula, averaged 11.2 runs scored and 9.2 runs allowed. For comparson, Lakeside Recovery won last year’s state title with 9.6 runs scored and 2.0 runs allowed.

For the Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak, leadoff hitter J.R. Weigel posted a team-best .467 batting average over six postseason games. He and Cory Urquhart tied for the team lead in runs with 10.
Thomas Wilcox hit .464 with 10 RBI, nine runs, four doubles and three home runs (12 for the season), and Urquhart batted .462.
Ethan Flory paced the team with 11 RBI, five of which came against Kelso with a grand slam. Kurt Lindemann homered twice and hit for the cycle in the postseason.

2010 AMERICAN LEGION STATE TOURNAMENT

WEDNESDAY
Game 1: Kelso Pacific Tech 14, Centralia Sobe-Toyota Lizards 3.
Game 2: Twin City Titans 9, Kennewick Bandits 0.
Game 3: Spokane Bandits 8, Lakeside Recovery 6.
Game 4: Yakima Valley Pepsi Pak 9, Yakima Pepsi Beetles 8.

THURSDAY
Game 5: Centralia 10, Lakeside Recovery 6 (loser out).
Game 6: Kennewick 8, Yakima 3 (loser out).
Game 7: Kelso 8, Spokane 6.
Game 8: Yakima Valley 6, Twin City 4.

FRIDAY
Game 9: Spokane 13, Kennewick 11 (loser out).
Game 10: Twin City 10, Centralia 6 (loser out).
Game 11: Kelso 15, Yakima Valley 12.

SATURDAY
Game 12: Spokane 17, Yakima Valley 14 (loser out).
Game 13: Twin City 11, Kelso 1.

SUNDAY
Game 14: Spokane 14, Twin City 2 (loser out).
Game 15: Kelso, 17, Spokane 14,  championship, winner to regional in Spokane.