By my count, I have 14 teams from 3 different schools I have to cover just for Redmond, on top of that as most you may know I also write sports for the Bothell-Kenmore Reporter as well… and they have a pretty darn good football program over there!

If it seems like too much for just one person, it is.  I do my best to make sure every team is included in our previews though, at least with our special “At a glance” sections which profile each team with top returning players and other useful info.

I’m going to stop by Redmond High’s football practice tomorrow evening and meet the new coach Jeff Chandler for the first time and get his thoughts on the new gig and what lays in store for the 2010 Mustangs, and in the upcoming week look for the scoop on local soccer squads from Redmond, Bear Creek and Overlake.

During the season, and even the playoffs at least is more organized in my opinion and you aren’t relying on coaches to return questionnaires and arranging interviews around practice times which is quite a hassle… but that’s part of my job.

READY, SET, HIKE!

This is a great opportunity for him, and hopefully he’ll get a chance to shine on the mound and at the plate.

This was actually quite a hectic week for me here as our usual editor, Bill Christianson, was on vacation and I had to lay out the entire 24-page paper in his absence – hopefully nobody could tell the difference!  This was my 5th paper I’ve done completely myself in the over 2 years I’ve been here so it’s getting old hat for me

And I had bylines all over the paper too – if you’d like a change of pace read this story about a local costume-making business that creates animal mascot costumes, like sports mascots with a personal touch:

Anthropaws brings “furry” characters to life

And I also wrote a story on the First Friday Coffee Chats at the Redmond Senior Center, where presenters from the Redmond Historical Society talked about their organization:

Coffee Chat celebrates Redmond’s unique history

Never a dull moment here at the ol’ Reporter!

On that note, it’s almost time to start fall season previews!  Just a couple more weeks of filler stories and then it’ll be back to the gridiron, soccer field, swimming pool, volleyball court and cross-country trails (yep, lots of fall sports to follow!).  Enjoy the summer while it lasts!

Who do I like this week?

It’s hard to root against local favorite Fred Couples, who has played this course more than anyone in the field, and will have the entire gallery behind him.  But there is so much talent on the Champions Tour now with names like Tom Lehman, Mark Calcavecchia (who can forget his implosion at St. Andrews a few weeks ago after being in contention), defending champion Fred Funk, 39-time titleist Tom Watson… the list goes on.

I also think Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will have a very good week. For one, he’s coming off a runner-up finish at the Senior British Open at Carnoustie last weekend, and secondly, length is not needed to score well at Sahalee, which is the epitome of a shotmaker’s course.  Pavin is towards the bottom of the list in driving distance on Tour and has been his whole career, but his ability to hit the fairway and great short game have won him 15 PGA titles including the memorable 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.

If you’re not one of the 140,000 expected to head out to Sahalee and watch the action live, everyone be sure to watch the coverage, which gets underway on Thursday and Friday on ESPN2 from 2pm-6pm local time, and will get picked up by NBC for 3rd and final round coverage from 1pm-4pm.

Tim’s Picks to Click (top 5)

1. Fred Funk – I believe he can win back-to-back Senior Opens, though on a wildly different course. Been playing better than ever since knee surgery.

2. Fred Couples – Has experience, and knows his way around Sahalee. Will be overwhelming crowd favorite, will be in contention if he can get putts to drop on the fast and tricky greens.

3. Corey Pavin – His accurate tee ball and solid putting is a huge advantage at Sahalee.

4. Tom Watson – He may be advancing in years, but can still hang with the big boys.  If you watched the 2009 British Open, you know what I mean.

5. Loren Roberts – My outside pick. “Boss of the Moss” will have his putting skills tested at Sahalee, and he’s a shotmaker. Don’t be surprised to see a top-10 from him this week.

Winning Score:  -8, 272.  There’s no way we will see a repeat of -20 (Fred Funk at Crooked Stick) last year.  This course is just too punishing and the greens are too difficult… and there are just two par 5s in the layout (4 last year) and neither are gimme birdies.

I’ll be doing a feature story on this next week so you can learn a little more about this.

And best of luck to our local EBC AAU team playing in Vegas right now.  With guys like Jason Harrington, Ryan Strandin, Lucas Peterson and Inglemoor standout Andy Nwaelele they have the talent to hang with anybody.

Male Athlete of the Year – Jamie Meyer, Bear Creek School

Female Athlete of the Year – Jessica Elliott, The Overlake School

Team of the Year – Girls’ Golf, Redmond High School

Coach of the Year – Bob Bristol, The Overlake School

I really enjoy doing these stories and think they’re a unique part of our coverage here at the Redmond Reporter.

But now it’s the dreaded down time… summer!  No high school sports to write about, so what’s a sports writer to do in order to stay local?

Now is when I rely heavily on submitted ideas for story material, so if you have something newsworthy that has to do with SPORTS in REDMOND (not just one or the other, must have both) run it by me via e-mail and we’ll see what we can do.

Everyone enjoy the weather, stay hydrated and take the time to enjoy some of Redmond’s fine parks while the sun is shining, as we all know it will not last forever!

Coming up next is our Female Athlete of the Year – this one was more of a no-brainer to me, and after talking with her coaches and the athletic directors for this particular school, I know I made the right choice.  Who is it?  Read Friday’s Redmond Reporter to learn all about this amazing young lady…

First, how about the Owls bringing home FOUR state trophies from 1B/2B/1A state tennis?

Both of the girls entrants, Lana Robins in singles and the sister team of Stephanie and Caroline Roush in doubles, ended up as champions and on the boys’ side, Trym Torvund placed second and the doubles team of Trevor Partington and Marcus Munoz battled to a sixth-place finish, even as their soccer team was soon to get underway in their own championship match 150 miles away.

Speaking of soccer, too bad for the Owls as they just got outmatched by Wahluke in the finals 3-0… and a tough break for Bear Creek tennis as Jamie Meyer and Jake Imam came just short of their goal of a state doubles title, falling in the final as Imam’s back evidently started to flare up and Jamie suffering an injury of his own late in the mach after falling backwards and hitting his head.

Bear Creek did well in track, with Madelyn Magee earning a state title in the high jump (clearing 5-5), and unfortunately the Mustangs didn’t fare as well as hoped with Mack Young feeling ill going into Star Track, but still battled to fourth in the 1600, Devin McMahon placing seventh in the 3200 and Katie Lord 10th in the high jump at 5 feet even.

It was quite a ride for local teams this year with a number of storylines emerging, so if you happen to see any athletes or coaches around be sure to thank and/or congratulate them for their hard work and efforts this year.

Now… this is the hard part… the end-of-year awards for the Redmond Reporter!  As always it’s a brutally difficult call, but the series will start next week, so stay tuned for that.

TRACK AND FIELD

Mack Young has to be one of the favorites to win the 1600 this weekend at Star Track, which will be held at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma this weekend through Saturday.

Bear Creek’s Maddie Magee has crushed fields all season in the high jump, and her and her teammates will be over at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

BOYS SOCCER

The Overlake Owls are two games away from a state title and will play the 1A semis this afternoon at what will probably be a very wet and wild Sunset Chevrolet Stadium in Sumner, start time 4pm.  If they win they will play in the championship game tomorrow at 2pm, or if they fall today they’ll be in the 3/4th place final at 10 a.m.

Either way, I’ll  be there, so don’t be afraid to say hi and/or buy me a latte! 

TENNIS

Jake Imam and Jamie Meyer will be playing Doubles for Bear Creek, in fact they’re probably playing right now as I type this, at the 1B/2B/1A state tournament in Yakima.  The Overlake Doubles teams of Trevor Partington and Marcus Munoz (both soccer players missing out on action in Sumner this weekend) and Stephanie and Caroline Roush both have already won their first round matches, the boys  winning 6-2, 6-3 and the girls 6-4, 6-2.

In singles, Overlake’s Trym Torvund is scheduled to play this afternoon, and Lana Robins just swept her first round match 6-0, 6-0.

And if anyone picked up a Redmond Reporter today and flipped to the sports section, it’s obviously been a busy week here at the sports desk as I racked up FOUR bylines this week for all of our great teams wrapping up great seasons and those still to play.  Yeah it’s a lot more work this time of year, but we have to give our hard-working athletes the coverage they deserve.

Good luck to everyone at state!

The Mustangs will need to bring their whooping sticks and ride their golden arms of staff aces Zach Abbruzza (1.11 ERA) and Dylan Davis (winner in championship game) to come away with two wins on Saturday which will send them to Safeco Field for the first time in school history and their first trip to the semifinals since 1993, when they won it all.

Can they do it?  I believe they can, and I’m not saying that just because I love this school and this program.  Gig Harbor has a tremendous pitching staff, led by an unflappable junior Michael McCall, who will certainly put the Mustangs’ year-long mantra of waiting for the right pitch to hit to the ultimate test, but this year the green & gold have proven themselves in big-game situations over and over again, and now it’s time for them to shine and punch their ticket to the Safe.

Good luck Mustangs!!!

And let’s not forget aobut Track, which runs the District II/IV Championships this Friday at Southwest Athletic Complex, where state berths will be earned.  Redmond has a number of hopefuls, particularly in the distance categories as seniors Mack Young and Devin McMahon look to go out with a bang.

The sweet swing of lefty infielder Michael Conforto launched a two-run homer to right on Thursday night, propelling the Mustangs to a 6-2 victory over Skyline to claim the Kingco Championship and a No. 1 seed to state

When I talked with Redmond head coach Dan Pudwill at the beginning of the year, he was cautiously optimistic of his powerful lineup this season, saying that it kind of goes away from Redmond High’s tradition of focusing on defense and pitching, but he added that they might just have to rely on those big bats should the time come.

The Mustangs did just that last night in the biggest game the program has seen since 2008, punching their ticket to state witha 6-2 victory over the Skyline Spartans.

Redmond’s super sophs turned jammin’ juniors, Michael Conforto and Dylan Davis, each went deep and sophomore Peter Hendron hit one out as well in the 2nd to start the scoring.

Davis battled back from a tough 1st inning, giving up 2 runs and four walks, to earn the victory.  Last year, a start like that may have snowballed into a lopsided loss but the Mustangs have learned from going “one-two-barbecue” last year and did what it took to move one step closer to their goal of Cracking the Safe(co Field) in a couple weeks.

They next play against the No. 5 seed from the South Puget Sound/Narrows League which will be determined by the end of the weekend, at Memorial Stadium in Kent on May 22 at 10 am.

Monday night’s 4-1 win over red-hot Bothell (riding 7 straight before the loss) sets up the unlikliest of matchups, #4 seed Skyline, tied for LW with the worst record of all eight tournament teams at 7-9, have had unbelievable starting pitching as of late to vault them into the state mix.

And even more shocking is Inglemoor, at 13-2, befalling the exact same fate as Redmond last year, having a phenomenal regular season only to get knocked out in the third round.

Both Skyline and Redmond will have two chances to crash the Big Dance.  Obviously, the easiest way would be to win on Thursday in the Kingco Championship game at 7pm and earn the coveted No. 1 seed to state, but the loser will host the No. 2 team from the Greater St. Helens League in a winner-to-state, loser out game.

I’ve attended a couple of tournament games so far and Woodinville High’s beautiful turf field and deep dimensions make it a great venue.  I won’t name any names here… but unlike some parks in the league, when a player hits a home run (325 down the lines and 400 to straightaway center), they’ve earned it.  And the excitement in the air is electric, and it will be more than ever Thursday night.  Come out and support your Stangs as they continue their march to Safeco Field.

Also, the floundering Mustang fastpitch team is hanging on to the fourth and final spot in the playoffs at 6-8 in league play.  I’m going to talk with coach Mamon soon and catch up with him a bit on the team and their playoff hopes coming down the stretch.

League championships are this week for most sports including Redmond girls’ golf (who are tearing up Snohomish as I write this) who may send  as many as 5 or 6 girls to state at the end of the month.

In the end, the Mustangs simply outplayed the Eagles, banging out 11 hits against one of the league’s top arms, and finally pushed some runs across in the 7th to win in dramatic fashion.

If you’re reading this post you’ve probably read my story on the game, but if you haven’t and would like to read about what happened, here it is… but this kind of hard-fought win has to give the Mustangs a great shot in the arm heading into the weekend, where they will play either LW or Woodinville pending the results of tonight’s seeding game.

I’ll be tracking the Mustangs’ progress in the tournament next week and also keep tabs on fastpitch as well as are well in the playoff hunt despite being only at .500 (7-7) this season.

Best of luck to all our local schools and teams as they wind up their regular seasons and start the “second season,” with the hopes of sending their athletes to State.

At stake will be the all-important No. 1 seed to the 4A Kingco tournament which begins this Saturday. Should the Mustangs win, they will be tied with Issaquah at 11-5 record-wise, but they will win the tiebreak because of having a better head-to-head record against the Eagles.

But if the Mustangs lose and Newport wins, the Knights will leapfrog Redmond and take the No. 2 seed, leaving Redmond at No. 3, which would force them to play Bothell (No. 2 in Crown Division) in the first round.

The game looks to be a pitcher’s duel as both teams will in all likelihood have their aces going, Spencer Rogers for Issaquah (tossed a no-hitter against volatile Newport last outing) and Dylan Davis, who has been lights-out this year on the mound and at the plate.

If you want to see a great high school baseball game, with two potent lineups that have players that can actually hit the ball OUT of the ballpark (unlike ANOTHER local baseball team, but I won’t name any names), head on out to Issaquah and root the ‘Stangs on to victory!

At stake during this stretch termed “The Gauntlet” by head coach Jake Crowley… just a 7-year Kingco winning streak going 74 matches and dating back to May of 2003.  That’s all.

Well Newport threw all they had at the Mustangs on their home course, The golf club at Newcastle, and the Mustangs escaped with a one-shot victory 214-215.

Things would not get any easier against Eastlake at Sahalee, and to make matters worse nobody on the team had played the nine (Sahalee is a 27-hole facility) that was chosen for the match, outside of the Tiger Woods 07 video game where Sahalee is a playable course.

The Wolves’ top players knew the lay of the land, and where to optimally place their tee shots for the clearest approach into the greens, and the Mustangs, to quote Crowley, were “scrambling all day.”

When the dust settled, Makayla Walker had a four-footer on the home hole that would have ended the Mustangs 74-match win streak had she missed, but she drained it to preserve a tie at 235… broken by the Kingco rule that states that the team with the fewest “pick-ups” on the card for the 5 counted rounds will be declared the winner.

(A “pick-up” is when a player has reached a score of double the par for a hole and must pick the ball up without finishing… for example, after hitting their 8th shot on a par 4)

Eastlake had two such scores, and Mustangs played pickup-free for the exciting win.

Now that’s cutting it close!

We’ll catch up with the Mustangs at Snohomish in a couple weeks for Districts.

I was fortunate to get to play Sahalee once many years ago as a guest when I was still in high school myself, and I remember bringing sleeves upon sleeves of golf balls and losing so many of them I nearly ran out. I salvaged the whole day by draining a double-breaking 50 footer on the 18th hole to shoot something in the low-to-mid 100-something range. I think that was my only good shot that day!

And if you like non-stop action, high-school tennis is your sport!  With four to six courts all going at once, it was hard to keep track of all the matches simultaneously but I saw a lot of gritty performances, great shots and fist pounds and high-fives from the doubles teams.

A great story also became apparent as last year’s reigning 2B state singles champion, Jake Imam, is playing doubles this year with his best friend, a guy that you *might* have heard of before, a kid named Jamie Meyer.  Yeah, that same Jamie Meyer that you could pencil in for 20-something points per game for the Grizzlies, leading them to two state tournament appearances in the last four years and 80-something wins.

Meyer, who had never as much picked up a tennis racket before last summer when Imam coerced him to try the sport, caught on like a true athlete and they looked really solid together – with their smiles and gritty determination telling the story in a 6-0, 6-1 win.

But Overlake’s got probably the deepest team in the 1A-1B-2B combined league, led by No. 1 singles star Grant Munoz, and No. 2 Trym Torvund, who proved that worldwide disasters can strike close to home as he is stuck in Spain due to the Icelandic volcano eruption on April 15, stalling air travel to and from Western Europe.

Both of the Owls’ doubles teams look very solid as well.

And the thing that struck me the most was that the coaches, Bill Armstrong and Dennis Sherrer, both really appreciated our coverage of their teams. It’s tough with 14 different teams to cover in the springtime across three schools, and just one of me, but I really enjoy highlighting the smaller sports from time to time and it’s obviously well-deserved coverage for two good programs.

I’m pretty sure this won’t be the last time you hear the names of those aforementioned athletes this season, so forward march to Yakima!

Speaking about playing deep into May, how about the Mustangs spoiling Inglemoor’s bid for a perfect league season!  9-0 heading into the game against the Mustangs, and they hold them to just 2 runs, and Dylan Davis launches yet another home run in the process.

The Mustangs seem to be getting production from many different spots in the lineup, and with their pitching staff, that’s a pretty lethal combination.

But as with any contact sport, they are just a fact of life, seen first hand by the Redmond High soccer team, who was missing two key starters, Elliott Wyse and Preston Horner, due to injuries in their 3-0 shutout loss to Bothell.

With those two guys, as well as goal-scoring machine, senior forward Victor Martinez (academic ineligiblity), unable to play the Mustangs were just not able to capitalize when they had the ball upfield in scoring territory. It’s been lean times for the RHS soccer program (1-6-1 this year) as of late, and longtime head coach Pat Scheibe is a class act and taking everything in stride, knowing better times are ahead as his current players develop their bodies and skills.

Big surprise for the Mustang baseball squad as they were beaten by Ballard, the “giant killers” of the league, as the Beavers downed Newport last week as well – incredible how two of their three wins (against FIVE losses) have come against two of the top 10 teams in the state.  But I seem the cream rising to the top and the Mustangs coasting to the postseason along with the Vikings of Inglemoor (who looked really good in their 11-2 win over Juanita last Friday) and hopefully on a big win streak like last year, except in 2010 they’ll carry the Mustang torch all the way to state.

Lots of action coming up next week as all schools are back from break and now into the heart of the spring season… and, knock on wood, the weather’s getting gorgeous!

This set the stage for Eastlake and senior sensation Nicole Guptil to host the Mustangs last Tuesday in their league opener, and Guptil simply shut down the Mustangs in a 9-0 shutout.

Although he admitted that his team didn’t swing the bats well, to new Mustang head coach Parris Mamon’s defense, it was a difficult task to come out after practicing indoors over Spring Break into extremely windy and chilly conditions, and also without one of their most productive bats as Louise Chouinard, an Overlake School attendee, was in France for Spring Break. Chouinard has torn the cover off the ball this season, batting .667 (6-for-9) through three games.

So come next week the Mustangs need to put the nose to the grindstone in what could be three games in three days for them (against Garfield, LW and Newport, with another game on Friday).

As we’re heading into the heart of the Spring sports season in the next couple weeks it will be fun to watch the teams develop and see who has a legitimate shot of making it to state. Now everyone go out and support your local schools’ athletic programs!

Mark Buerhle has pitched a perfect game, but he has never made a play like this – a hard grounder off his shin that deflected into foul territory on the first base-side, and facing the Cleveland dugout he makes a scoop with his glove between his legs to just get Indians catcher Lou Marson.  If he fields the ball any other way Marson is safe. And the most amazing part is that Konerko, the first baseman, barehanded the ball, and he did not even appear to move a muscle, the ball was pretty much flipped right in there with a perfect arc.

Wow!

And after the Mustangs’ Fastpitch league opener getting rained out yesterday… the skies look awfully ominous today as it looks like they’ll open up at any moment.  For now their game at Eastlake is still on, and I’ll be there, if not we’ll try again tomorrow for the postponed LW game.

And congrats to Michael Conforto (4-for-8, two HRs, 4 RBIs) and Zach Abbruzza (shut down Issaquah offense that had put up 12 runs per game, 1 hit, 5Ks) as being selected as players of the week by the 4A Kingco baseball blog!  Great job guys and keep it up Stangs!

Last year, Dylan Davis pitched a complete-game gem, shutting down a potent Bothell team and allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out five.

Last night, Davis again got the call against an unbelievably experienced Eastlake team with ELEVEN rostered seniors (may be a record) and pitched a one-hit shutout through six innings, while striking out 8 Wolves.

Oh yeah – and Michael Conforto went deep in both games too.

The Mustangs look REALLY good this year. I doubt second baseman Josh Bircher will ever get thrown out this season trying to swipe a base. Maybe picked off if he leaves early, but never thrown out on a steal attempt.  He swiped three bags against Garfield last week and two more last night against Eastlake, and with his jump and speed, neither of the relays were even somewhat close.  Speed on the basepaths definitely can rile up an opposing pitcher, which was shown last night when Eastlake starter Alex Dean balked in the third inning trying to keep Bircher and first baseman Josh Abbruzza near the bags, and then promptly gave up a three-run shot to Conforto.

The Mustangs look solid up and down the lineup and I definitely like their chances even against an incredibly tough crop of teams this year in 4A Kingco.

For all those hard-working prep athletes out there, enjoy the rest of your spring break!

I’ll be attending the Mustangs’ matchup against rival Eastlake on Monday afternoon which is at the Wolves’ home field. Despite having an unbelievable amount of returning seniors, 11 I think, Eastlake has struggled so far this season and we’ll see if they can somehow score some runs off of the Mustangs’ dominant pitching and potent offense.

And nice run for the Huskies, but clearly they just didn’t have their heads in the game yesterday with all the uncharacteristic mistakes they made. And I thought I was on the edge of my seat during the BYU-Florida State game in Round 1… wow!  Turns out my Kansas St. Pullen-Clemente prognosis was correct as they combined for 53 points in that thriller.

We’ll be finishing up our previews next week with Track and Field, so I hope everyone’s been enjoying what we’ve been putting out so far and getting everyone excited for spring sports. We take great pride in our previews and think it’s a unique part of our sports coverage that you can’t get anywhere else.

Speaking of chances, how about the offense displayed by our Redmond High baseball and fastpitch teams?  Under new coach Parris Mamon, his team has outscored their opponents 26-4 this season, and get to play a game against Port Angeles on the GRANDEST of all stages, the beautiful UW fastpitch field this Saturday. What a great opportunity for these girls!

And Redmond baseball’s offensive forecast looks to be coming true, as I’ve already lost track of the number of homeruns that Michael Conforto and Dylan Davis have hit (I know they’ve gone back-to-back at least twice in three games this season already) and the regular season hasn’t even begun yet.  They even took the defending 3A state champions, O’Dea, to extra innings in a hard-fought loss.

Yes, I know, it’s the preseason, but if there’s any doubt as to whether the Mustangs are ready for battle I think those are settled just by looking at their box scores.

I have Kansas State and their dynamic duo of Jake Pullen and Denis Clemente “upsetting” Syracuse and going to the final four, so go Wildcats.

But, as you may have read in my most recent story, it wasn’t all easy, especially for League MVP and senior stud Jamie Meyer, who has anchored this team from day one.  He got hit in the head and required stitches on Thursday, and got violently ill that night and got almost no sleep.  Running on fumes, he poured in 24 points and nailed four of five threes in an unbelievable game against Life Christian that went to OT, and then with Meyer running on empty the next day it was junior guard Lucas Peterson who stepped up and had the game of his life, 28 points, to lead the Grizzlies to a 63-33 rout of Colfax.

Great season for the Grizzlies and yet another trophy for the case there at the school, great work.

But now the fun winter season is over, and now spring awaits with my personal favorite sport, baseball.  And Redmond looks to bring back a solid team this year with a good balance of offense, pitching and defense and should be very fun to watch this year as they look to get out of the Kingco playoffs.

We’ll start running previews of all our local teams this week, so stay tuned for that and let’s get excited for some spring sports!

While I don’t profess the broadest knowledge of 2B boys’ basketball teams across the state, I’d have to say yes.

It may be easy to say that since they’re ranked No. 1, but the Grizzlies truly have the complete package.  Last year’s run was marred by not having that dominant post player to be a presence in the paint, and this year with 6-6 junior Ryan Strandin back they have filled that hole, and pure shooters Jamie Meyer and Lucas Peterson have come into their own as of late. Kyle Blankenbeckler has been a do-it-all, assisting machine and superb on defense.  This team has simply been unbeatable this season, as it took a state-caliber 4A team to hand them their only defeat this season (Lake Washington, 61-51 back in December).

Most importantly, this group has a sense of brotherhood of cohesiveness that holds them together unlike any other squad I’ve seen. They are all unselfish, know their roles and will do whatever it takes to put a “W” in the column.

Although this year is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese Zodiac, I think it just may be more aptly named the “Year of the Grizzly” come Saturday night.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… you gotta take them one at a time… starting with tomorrow night against Pe Ell, a small town of 657 people in Lewis County.

Here are the brackets.

Bring it home guys!

I’ll be there – unfortunately as much as I’d love to go to Spokane next week for the 2B state tournament, working for a small weekly newspaper makes it tough to justify getting that expensed, but hopefully Moe and crew can take care of business down in Puyallup.

The only time I go to that city is for the fair, so I hope I find the school okay!

And also tonight at the same school the lady Grizzlies have a do-or-die winner to state, loser-out game against Evergreen Lutheran – good luck to them as well!

Redmond's Catherine Kelly celebrates after pinning Sedro-Wooley sophomore Andrea Iversen in just one minute, 44 seconds. Kelly went on to place fourth in the state at the 112-pound weight class.

After winning only one match last year as a sophomore wrestling in the double-elimination Mat Classic, Redmond’s Catherine Kelly, the first female wrestler in school history, was determined to make it to the podium at state this time around.

“I really wanted to finish fourth or above,” she said.

The odds were clearly stacked against her. In order to do that, she had to beat Stanwood’s Casey Mather, who had beaten Kelly twice already in the postseason.  Just like she’s been doing all season, Kelly and her coach Paul Mullen knew Mather’s tendencies, learned from her past mistakes, formulated a game plan and pulled off a 3-0 victory to seal no worse than fourth place.

Congratulations to her for making history for the Mustangs!

And it was my first time at the Mat Classic and oh my what a spectacle with mats everywhere and thousands of screaming fans.

And after watching what happened next doorat the 4A state gymnastics meet, there has got to be a better way to run the event. Redmond’s star gymnasts Akari Matsumoto and Cristal Spinrad were unlucky enough to get drawn DEAD LAST out of everyone in 4A and were forced to sit around for over FOUR HOURS after they completed their warm-ups before they had a chance to compete for real.  How would the local basketball team do if they had a four-hour delay after pre-game shootaround and all of a sudden were thrust into the action?

If it doesn’t seem fair, it isn’t.  But it’s a by-product of the sheer number of athletes in the competition and the fact that they not only combined the 2A and 3A heats (64 athletes total) but they only had one set of equipment for each event so everyone just rotated and it went sooooooo slowly.

My fix?  Hold 2A and 3A in a separate location, I mean there are tons of gymnastics clubs around that will lend their equipment for the state meet.  If this is not possible, do it kind of like Swimming, do ALL the 2A, and then after they’re done, give the 3A ample time to warm up and then go through that division, and end with 4A.  This way the longest anyone will be sitting around will be about an hour instead of four, and I’d also give athletes more than the obligatory 30 seconds to warm up before their heat starts. 30 seconds isn’t even long enough to loosen up your muscles and take a few deep breaths.

For swimming, diver Phillip Klassen, younger brother of last year’s state champion Max Klassen, finished third at Districts and will be the lone representative from head coach Julie Barashkoff’s Mustang Swim and Dive team.

Wrestling will send two, senior team captain Tyler Black, wrestling at 215, and junior Catherine Kelly, wrestling on the girls’ side at 112, with both of them finishing runner-up at Districts. Kelly is making state in back to back years.

Finally Gymnastics will send two as well, a very talented club gymnast named Akari Matsumoto who really came alive late in the season, culminating in a monster score of 9.325 on the bars and a Districts win.  Fellow Mustang Cristal Spinrad also nabbed the fifth and final spot to state on the bars with an 8.4.

I’ll be at the Tacoma Dome all day Saturday following our local athletes (and a number from Bothell and Inglemoor High School, as well) and if you’d like to come down and cheer them on here is some information:

Class 4A state gymnastics meet
• When: Qualifying on Friday, Feb. 19, 6 p.m.; finals on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 11 a.m.
• Where: Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall
• Tickets: $14 adults, $10 students and seniors

Class 4A state wrestling meet
• When: Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m. both days, championship matches at 5pm
• Where: Tacoma Dome
• Tickets: $14 adult, $10 students and seniors

Class 4A state swimming and diving meet
• When: Saturday, Feb. 20, finals begin at 5:45 p.m.
• Where: King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way
• Tickets: $9 adults, $7 students and seniors

But although Moe and his Grizzlies have been blowing the league out of the water lately, scoring 80+ points for 5 of their last 6 games while winning by at least 28 each time, he is very humble when he talks about his teams successes and doesn’t put the proverbial cart before the horse as far as postseason goals go.

And speaking of classy, I think Jamie Meyer (TBCS guard and 2-time reigning league MVP) is probably the classiest high school athlete I have ever met.  He reached an incredible milestone late in Tuesday’s game, scoring his 1,500th point during his career at the school, a mark that no one has even come close to, and when asked about it he gave all the credit to his teammates:

“For me, this is an indicator of where my whole team has come. Anything that shows up in the paper, I can’t do that without my teammates. I’m just so grateful, the things that we’ve been able to accomplish together.”

This kid is one of the top guards in the state at the 2B level, if not THE best, but he’s got a solid head on his shoulders.

And how about Chandler Jones tying a CAREER HIGH with 33 points against Ballard on Tuesday!  You go, girl!

This must be a crushing blow for him with all the hard work he’s put in to rehab and get ready for this moment, but I know everyone in the community is pulling for him to make a full recovery and be a threat in 2014. Even the U.S. Men’s ski team coach, Chris Brigham, said, “He’s as fast as any guy in the world.”

Things will get back to normal here (12-hour day yesterday laying out the newspaper, FUN!) starting next week as our editor gets back from a two-week cruise in the Caribbean. On tap for next week will be the RED-HOT Bear Creek Grizzlies, who have outscored their opponents 248-92 in their last three games, all blowout wins, against a legitimate threat Seattle Lutheran (7-2, 12-4) which has won five of its last six.

And you gotta tip your cap to the Redmond boys who ended their skid of eight games with a 63-52 win over Roosevelt on Tuesday.  Hopefully they can add some credibility in the upcoming weeks and close out with a few more “W”s on the board.

Kinda like a bench warmer being asked to step up and perform late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line, so to speak.

But we have a tremendous staff here, albeit small, and I was able to get the job done.  Hope everyone enjoyed today’s Redmond Reporter – and also hope that everyone that read the paper couldn’t tell that our usual editor is 3,500 miles away!

Looking forward to next week – I’ll feature the Overlake Girls basketball team as they challege the Northwest School on Tuesday night at home. The Owls have really come into their own as of late, playing a number of tight matches including their 61-60 double-overtime thriller last Tuesday against Cedar Park and are sitting in a tie for 3rd in the 1A Emerald City League at 4-2 (6-3 overall).

And congrats to both Bear Creek teams as they steamroll through league play (they’re a combined 11-1, with the boys undefeated). Keep it up Grizzlies!

Everyone try and get out to some high school hoops games and cheer on your local teams!

It was a competitive game that the Mustangs definitely had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars made a plethora of mistakes, from bad passing to missing shots (they were scoreless for the first five+ minutes of the quarter) but the Mustangs were unable to close the deal and were handed their fourth straight loss and seventh of their last eight games.

You could just see the pain on Larson’s face after the game, I know how much the game of basketball and coaching at Redmond means to him and he’s doing the very best he can and not getting the return in the win/loss column.  But it’s a tremendous learning experience for his young team about what it takes, and the work ethic need to succeed in one of the toughest leagues in the state.

———

And I’m sure some of you have seen a lot of Matt Campbell’s work – he’s our freelance photographer and owns and operates his own Web site, www.sportspixs.com where you can purchase prints of his fine work.

Matt’s been very graciously donating his time and effort to attend games and capture some of the most memorable moments of any athlete’s prep career to print in our newspaper so please if you see a shot or two that you like, take a moment and buy them from him as a way of saying “thank you” for his support of our local schools’ athletics.

Here’s a shot he took of last night’s game – sophomore guard Jason Harrington posting up for a jumper.

Photo Courtesy of Matt Campbell

Click the following links to browse galleries of our local teams’ most recent hoops games:

Redmond High School boys (vs. Bothell)

Redmond High School girls (vs. Skyline)

Overlake School boys (vs. Auburn Adventist)

Overlake School girls (vs. Auburn Adventist)

Bear Creek boys (vs. Eastside Catholic)

6-foot-6 forward Ryan Strandin goes to the hoop for two of his 13 points during Saturday's game against Eastside Catholic. The Grizzlies, led by the 27 points of Jamie Meyer, won a nail-biter 57-53.

I normally don’t work weekends, but when I got a personal invite from Bear Creek coach Scott Moe to attend the Grizzlies’ highly anticipated matchup with 3A Eastside Catholic, I couldn’t pass it up.

It was a packed house, standing room only, and every person in the building got what they paid for in this battle. The Grizzlies fell behind early and were down by as many as 13 at one point, but the Crusaders’s shooting got cold as the beleaguered home squad started to claw their way back into contention in the second half, setting up a fourth quarter for the ages.

With both teams trading blows, the Grizzlies found the answer in clutch three-point shooting by junior guard Lucas Peterson and their go-to guy Jamie Meyer, the reigning league MVP, to just edge out the Crusaders.

Since I’ve been bogged down with previews, this was my first basketball game since I covered the most exciting game in the history of high school basketball last spring and it definitely reminded me how exciting high school hoops can be.

This was our featured game for this Friday’s issue of the Redmond Reporter so if you missed the game look for the full recap there!

Although I can’t possibly pick one, there were certainly a handful that stood out as moments that I will never forget from what was quite an exciting year.

Who can forget Redmond’s version of March Madness when the senior-laden boys’ squad made it into the 4A state tournament and overcame a first-round loss to post three straight wins and take 5th place in front of a Tacoma Dome jam-packed with Superfans every single day? I will never forget Chris Harrington’s two free throws with no time left on the clock that he drained to send the 5th/8th place trophy game into overtime, and I doubt he or any of his teammates will either.

Or Redmond senior Sarah Lord finally winning gold at the state track meet after finishing close time and time again…. and the Mustangs’ incredible upset of No. 6-ranked Eastlake this fall at Walter L. Seabloom stadium.  I was on the field getting ready to interview head coach Mike Pluschke and nearly got soaked by the traditional water cooler drenching as what seemed like the entire student body ran out on to the field to celebrate.

Memorable moments were not just limited to Redmond High either…

This fall we witnessed incredible runs by both small schools, 1A Overlake, whose boys were unbeaten for the first time in the program’s history, and the girls’ team whose “super six” seniors led the team all the way to the state finals, and the 2B Bear Creek School boys did the same, overachieving in a big way after losing a crop of senior talent.

Other big topics of discussion off the field was the controversial new $275 per sport athletic fee imposed by the Lake Washington School District due to lack of funding, and we have already seen its unfortunate impact.

All in all, economic recession notwithstanding, 2009 was a memorable year and I can only wonder what excitement and amazing sports stories 2010 will bring.

We’ll get the year started off on the right foot this New Year’s Day with a feature on Overlake senior Trent Halvorson, who overcame the death of his mother and a myriad of injuries last year to come back and lead the boys’ basketball team.  Having gotten the opportunity to meet him in person, Halvorson is an incredible kid and is an inspiration to anyone dealing with tough times in their life.

Everyone have a HAPPY NEW YEAR and I’ll see you in 2010!

On tap for Christmas Day are our final two previews, the Redmond High Swimming and Wrestling teams, and our New Year’s Day edition will be one to remember as I feature one of the most extraordinary stories I’ve ever encountered in my career thus far in Trent Halvorson of Overlake.  I’m still writing the story but will provide a teaser in my blog early next week.

As we round out 2009, we have the Bear Creek School girls, (Sea-Tac 2B League) under the experience of Alan Dickson, who had an amazing story in his own right, at 7-2 so far this year (1-0 in their only league game) and one team on the outside looking in, the 0-5 Redmond High girls who had one of the toughest December schedules ever, hope to rebound in 2010, and their trip to Phoenix over the break for the Cactus Jam Tournament should help improve team bonding and relax them after a tough start under new coach Sara Goldie.

Good luck to all our teams playing in holiday tournaments (as profiled in this Friday’s Reporter) and Happy Holidays!!!

Although I obviously love getting paid to attend basketball games, I really do enjoy this chance I have at the beginning of each season to get the community excited about the upcoming year, which represents a fresh start for some teams and the continuation of great things for others.  No one ever knows exactly how a season will turn out with so many intangibles involved (player development, injury, etc) but it should be great fun to watch our basketball teams into the new year, as well as boys’ swimming, wrestling and gymnastics at Redmond.

After today all teams will take a well-deserved hiatus for the holiday break, with some even getting the opportunity to travel (many out-of-state) to tournaments to gain some vital experience and team bonding heading into the heart of the season.  I was fortunate enough to be able to go on similar trips while bowling for the University of Washington team, and some of my greatest memories stem from these events.

On tap for next week we’ll wrap up previews by showcasing two Mustang teams, wrestling and boys swimming (of course on Christmas morning the FIRST thing you’ll do is pick up the Redmond Reporter and grab a cup of coffee, right?  RIGHT???)

The story belongs to Detroit native Thomas Smallwood, who less than a year ago got laid off from General Motors as an autoworker due to the souring economy. Smallwood, who is married with a wife and a young daughter, didn’t know how he would provide for his family after getting his notice.

An avid bowler who had done well competing at the amateur level, his wife let him pursue his dream of playing the sport professionally. He shined during the PBA Tour trials, finishing third out of 97 players, and earned an exemption on the tour for the 09-10 season. From there, he made the TV finals of the biggest tournament of the year, the PBA World Championship, which carried a $50,000 winner’s check, a two-year exemption on the tour and a berth into the prestigious Tournament of Champions. He handily won his first match and was pitted against reigning PBA player of the year and one of the best bowlers on the planet, 6-foot-5, 250-pound Wes Malott, for the title. At 5-foot-6, Smallwood was in for a true David vs. Goliath battle in front of a packed house and the bright TV lights at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kansas.

Smallwood, who had only been on TV once before that, kept the match close, and even came back from a big split in the 7th frame with two consecutive strikes. Smallwood got up in the 10th frame needing a strike to win the tournament, but if he didn’t strike, he would lose.  After coming so far in the past year from losing his job to having a chance at bowling immortality, he was somehow able to overcome the nerves, and threw a picture-perfect shot to seal a 244-228 victory and change his life forever.

And the funny part was, earlier in the week the GM jobs bank called and asked if he wanted his old job back. His reply in a nutshell: “No thanks, I’m bowling professionally now, and actually I’ll be on ESPN this Sunday if you want to watch.”

Let’s hope they did, and like the rest of the bowling world, were inspired by an amazing story of perseverance through tough times, hard work, and pursuing your dreams.

Congratulations to Tom Smallwood!

Watch the exciting conclusion to this match here!

I actually played too, for one season, in my seventh-grade year. I don’t know what coerced me to try out, as I was not the picture of athleticism with my bulky frame and glasses, but I definitely performed my role as a bench-warmer to perfection.  I finished my prep career with a total of two points, and I vividly remember the bucket, it was from the top of the key on the left side, I had been dished the ball from the wing due to a double team and I had to either take the shot or pass it off as I had done just about every time I had the ball so far that season.

I was open so I posted up and let the ball fly… nothing but net!  The crowd, consisting of about 6 parents and someone’s dog, went wild as I got rained with back-pats and high-fives.  My moment of glory.  Not quite like Chris Harrington draining a pair of free throws with no time left to force overtime in front of a packed house at the Dome, though.

But I digress… the Overlake boys’ team looks solid again this year even without stud Danny Poplawski, they have a TON of speed and will find a way to win. Even in practice I noticed that they would dive after loose balls like the state championship was on the line, and knowing John Wiley’s repuation as the Owls’ respected longtime coach, he would have it no other way.

Bear Creek boys look solid too with Jamie Meyer returning, actually EVERYONE returns from last year and they were 12-1 so the sky looks to be the limit for them this season.

Coach Jeff Larson is in a tough spot after graduating one of the most heralded senior classes in Redmond High history last year with 8 graduates that led the program to 5th at state, but I think that program is deep enough that once the kids that mostly sat last year get their feet wet they’ll be competitive.

Next week look for our Girls’ basketball preview when I’ll feature new head coach at Redmond Sara Goldie!

Huge news this morning in my inbox as Redmond AD John Appelgate sent out a press release stating that Mike Pluschke resigned as head football coach for the Mustangs.

Knowing Mike back from my days as a student at Juanita High School (where he taught Health and P.E. as he now does at Redmond) and knowing his dedication and passion for the game and the program, it does not surprise me that he took the initiative and stepped down.  Compared to the programs of the Bothells and Skylines and Issaquahs that turn out 100+ every season, Pluschke and the Stangs were really struggling to get Mustang football off the ground, and none more evident this year with a turnout of a little more than 50 including 34 sophomores.

With that kind of turnout disparity in the league, even if you had Mike Holmgren running the show at Redmond I doubt the Stangs’ could be competitive to the level of those football dynasties. Obviously Pluschke was really in a tough position with a demand for results but not having the means by which to get there.

Pluschke is a class act and one heck of a guy (he still is tops in my “best quote from a coach” category during my postgame interviews, with basketball coach Jeff Larson a close second) and I’m terribly sorry to see him go, but I guess after going 5-13 in the last two seasons something had to change.

I knew going in that both of the opponents had a loaded offensive arsenal with a key player that our home teams would have to stop, and unfortunately that proved to be the undoing of both squads.

Sierra Keeler for Seattle Academy is quite possibly the most dominant player to come out of 1A in quite some time, with her extremely strong and accurate shots that always seem to elude the opposing goalie.  Not surprisingly, the Cardinals fed the ball to her no fewer than 7 times in the first half, with Overlake goalie Ceci Votta making save after save before Keeler finally scored a pair. If it wasn’t for Votta’s spectacular defense the game could have easily been 4-1 or 5-1… one save featured in my video here (at the 2:00 mark) was shot by Keeler from point-blank range.

Speaking of league dominance, how about Tacoma Baptist’s Joshua Peters.  This man is a goal-scoring machine.  33 on the year, with the next closest to him being teammate Dakinah Palmquist and Bear Creek’s Mark Phillips with 17.  Peters took advantage of a missed clear by the Grizzlies and put one in, and then scored another to put the game away as the Grizzlies didn’t get many good looks the entire game, with a perfectly read penalty kick by the Crusader’s goalie sealing the fate of Bear Creek.

Both teams certainly played their hearts out and had a FANTASTIC year so nothing to hang any heads about there.

We’ll be starting our Winter Sports previews next issue so stay tuned for that and have a happy Thanksgiving everybody!

But looking forward to this Saturday, two local soccer teams stand just two wins away from being crowned state champion.

The Overlake girls’ team will head down to Sparks Stadium in Puyallup on Friday for the state semifinals against Connell, with the winner advancing to play Saturday at 2pm against the winner of Bush/Seattle Academy for the title.

The Bear Creek Boys team had no problem taking care of Mount Vernon Christian last week and will now face La Conner in the semis at Sunset Chevrolet Stadium in Sumner with the winner facing either Tacoma Baptist (who have a striker, Joshua Peters, who has notched an unthinkable 29 goals this season) or Northwest Christian at 4pm in the championship.

While the Bear Creek Boys won it all in 2006, the Overlake girls may sense that now is their time. They have made a total of 13 appearances at the state tournament but have never won – and have only made it to the title game once, when they placed second back in 2001.

Congrats also goes out to the Bear Creek volleyball team that placed 8th in Yakima and took home a trophy in its very first state appearance.

Good luck to both teams this weekend… as well as to hydroplane crew chief and Redmond native Tom Anderson as he heads off to Qatar for the Oryx World Cup, the first overseas hydroplane race in the sport’s history.

That sealed the Owls’ second-straight trip to the 1A State Tournament in the spring… yes that’s right… a nice little 6-month layoff.  It doesn’t seem fair, in fact it’s not at all, for a dominant team like that to essentially go step onstage at the Big Dance ice-cold against a team that may have just won a District Title and has 20+ games under it’s belt. The Owls get 20 days of practice, but keep in mind a lot of those athletes will be involved with other sports and have to make scheduling adjustments to get back on the pitch together.

But regardless, they’re in, as are three other teams: Bear Creek Boys and Girls’ soccer as well as Bear Creek Volleyball.

The soccer matches will take place at Sammamish High School at 6pm (boys) and 8pm (girls) on Saturday night, so please come down and cheer for the Grizzlies as they seek to make a run for 2B soccer glory!

The Grizzlies’ volleyball team will be in Yakima this Saturday enjoying their first state berth ever with a young, energetic squad that defied the odds this season. Coach Sherrie Brown has been around the sport for a very long time and this is a well-deserved achievement for her and the program.

Last but certainly not least, the 1A Owl girls team (15-1-3) handily defeated Lakeside 5-1 on Wednesday to earn a spot in the state quarterfinals at Okanagan this Saturday at 11 a.m. Should they win, they will play the semifinals and finals at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup Nov. 20 and 21.

Enjoy the fall sports action left because sooner than you know it’ll be time to start all over again, lace up those Nikes and hit the basketball court!

And knock on wood, but there’s a great chance at making it a perfect four as the Overlake boys meet up with division rivals Cedar Park Christian Tuesday night at 7pm at Sammamish High School in a winner-to-state game, with the loser going to another winner-to-state (loser out) game against the loser of the Seattle Academy/Seattle Christian game which also takes place tomorrow.

And HUGE congrats to coach Sherrie Wilson and the Bear Creek School volleyball team that made the State Tournament for the first time in school history!  They came so close last year, one game away if I remember right, and I know this is a big moment for the program.  Let’s root for them to bring home a trophy!

Hope everyone enjoyed my feature on local Olympic hopeful Scott Macartney in last Friday’s issue (front page).  He’s definitely going to be one to watch in Vancouver in a few months.  I’ll be covering tomorrow’s Overlake boys soccer game and am also planning to cover Bear Creek soccer this weekend at Sammamish High School as they play the first round of their state tournament. I just got off the phone with Bear Creek A.D. and boys’ coach Chad Pohlman and he has some really insightful words to say about his team’s success this year and his hopes for the state tournament.

Macartney’s lifeblood has been skiing and he’s had great success coming up through the junior ranks and on the international World Cup circuit, which has enabled him to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team in both 2002 and 2006, while earning a spot on the U.S. Ski Team for 12 straight years.

He is perhaps best known, unfortunately, for his horrific crash at Kitzbuehel in Austria on one of the most dangerous downhill courses in the world, which has over nearly 1 million views combined on Youtube.  Watch it here at your own risk.

He’s really a great guy and had a very busy media schedule today so big thanks for him to take some time for the ol’ Reporter.  Look for the story in this Friday’s issue!

On the high school side, I’m just about to leave for the Overlake Owls’ girls soccer team’s Tri-District Opener against Charles Wright Academy at Sammamish High School.  It’s a loser-out game, but with a win tonight the Owls will be just one win away from a state berth.

Starting at 4A, Redmond’s soccer team finished fifth in the league and will face off against Woodinville on Halloween at 4pm at the Falcons’ home field in a loser out game.  Mustangs’ volleyball and football both narrowly missed the postseason this year, while Cross Country will be having its Bi-districts also on Saturday in Kelso, with the top 15 getting an automatic invite to run as individuals.

1A features the high-flying Overlake Owls, with the boys team locking up the #1 seed for Tri-Districts by virtue of going undefeated at 13-0-1, putting them into the state tournament this spring. The girls’ path, although they had a fantastic year at 12-1-3, will be much tougher as they have to go through the brackets at the Tri-District Tournament at Sammamish High School starting on the 4th.

The Owls and Bear Creek Grizzlies’ volleyball team each finished strong and earned postseason berths – the latter will be playing in the Sea-Tac 2B league tournament Saturday at Chief Leschi in Puyallup, with the Owls in the Emerald City League playoffs.

It can get confusing with so many playoffs and scenarios all going at once, but I’ll do my best to keep the community abreast of how our local teams are doing as the postseason progresses.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

In the league’s normal “round-robin” play, both the Spartans and Eagles have defeated every division foe that has come their way, and with the Mustangs’ upset of Eastlake in week 4, caused a three-way tie for the third and final playoff spot with Newport, Eastlake and Redmond all at 2-3 records.

To resolve the tie, the Mustangs will play tonight at LW in the first of two “mini games”consisting of two 12-minute quarters.  They will play Newport in the first round, and if they beat the Knights, they will have a re-match against the Wolves, who got a first-round bye, for their postseason life.

Being that Newport had the Mustangs’ number during their matchup earlier this season, a 21-7 Knights victory, and a very hungry Wolves team that will be looking to exact some revenge over the upset, it won’t be any stretch of the imagination to rule the Mustangs’ postseason hopes a longshot at this point in time. They will have to fire on all cylinders and avoid costly penalties which may prove deadly in a 24-minute game.

Nevertheless, this is an exciting time compared to last year, when the cellar-dwelling Mustangs were 1-7 heading into week 9.  Best of luck to the Mustangs tonight as they look to defy the odds against two very good football teams.

Here are the scenarios:

The loser of game one will finish fifth in the league and play Lake Washington in the week nine crossover game, with the loser of game two finishing fourth and playing Roosevelt.
The winner of the playoff will be the No. 3 seed and match up with Inglemoor at Pop Keeney Stadium in Bothell this Saturday, Oct. 31, at 12:30 p.m.

And speaking of crazy playoff scenarios, check out this scenario sheet I prepared for 4A Kingco girls’ soccer based on the outcome of league games tonight:

Team

Issaquah          9      1      0      27
Eastlake         8     2     0     24
Skyline         8     2     0     24
Woodinville     7     2     1     22
Redmond     5     3     2     17
Newport         3     4     3     12
Roosevelt     4     6     0     12
Inglemoor     3     6     1     10
Ballard         2     5     3     9
LW             2     6     2     8
Bothell         1     7     2     5
Garfield         1     9     0     3

Scenarios (assuming Woodinville beats Garfield and goes to 25 pts)

IF Redmond Beats Eastlake….
and Skyline wins OR ties, Redmond will re-match with Eastlake in the first round of the Kingco playoffs.

If Redmond ties Eastlake…
and Skyline loses, Redmond will play Skyline in the first round
and Skyline wins, Redmond will play either Woodinville or Eastlake in the first round
and Skyline ties, Redmond will play either Woodinville or Eastlake or Skyline in the first round

If Redmond loses to Eastlake…
And Skyline loses, Redmond will play Skyline in the first round
And Skyline ties, Redmond will play either Skyline or Woodinville in the first round
And Skyline wins, Redmond will play Woodinville in the first round.

I’ll be covering Mustang soccer tonight and follow up with Coach Pluschke tomorrow with how things went on the gridiron.

But there’s a number of teams out there vying for a postseason spot so let’s highlight them here:

Both of the Overlake soccer teams have continued their strong starts, as the boys are still undefeated, now at 11-0-0 (Save a natural disaster they’ll be 12-0-0 tonight after their game against 1-7 Bellevue Christian) and the girls have lost just one to Seattle Academy and have a very important re-match with the Cardinals (11-0-0, 11-1-0) on Thursday which will likely determine seeding for the playoffs.

In Volleyball, both Overlake (4th, Emerald City League) and Bear Creek (3rd, Sea-Tac 2B North) have a good shot at the playoffs… and they had a pretty good match last night with Overlake squeaking out a game 1 win and then using that momentum to power past the Grizzlies.  Bear Creek lost a few notable players last year (Katie Wolfram anyone?) and made some untimely mistakes but they will be very strong in the upcoming years… while the Owls’ six seniors are ready to crash the State Tournament.  It is extremely hard to make state coming out of the 1A Emerald City League with the Tri-District tournament they have to get past but I think the Owls have a good chance to get there.

The Bear Creek boys’ soccer has also been extremely solid under the tutelage of Grizzlies’ AD Chad Pohlman at 6-1-1 and second place in the league behind Tacoma Baptist, Chad said at the beginning of the year that he’d have to change some things up and “play a different style” with the young squad he has this year and I guess it’s working!

Kingco Cross Country Championships are coming up this Thursday too at Lake Sammamish State Park, and that will be a good indicator of where front runners Mack Young and Devon McMahon stand in relation to their competition, as both have been putting up great times so far this season.

Good luck to our local athletes as they enter the tail end of the fall sports season!

And they just took down defending league champions Seattle Academy last night to go 10-0-0 (11-0-0) on the year.  The amazing thing is that scoring isn’t limited to a few, or at most four or five kids like on most teams, so far this season Bristol estimates that 14 of his 20 or so rostered players have scored a goal, which is incredible.

Of course, they still have to deal with playing their league season in the fall and the State tournament in the spring… but I do think we’ll be following them for a deep run when the time comes.

Congrats to the Mustangs for their 27-0 football victory at Garfield, Andrew Rohrbach with three field goals of 34 yards or more!

Coming up next week I will be covering some volleyball, which is one of my favorite sports to cover.  And it will be a Monday-night, all-Redmond battle between the Overlake Owls and the Bear Creek Grizzlies (non-league, of course) but should be a great match!

A number of those 9 that he missed were right on the money as well but slipped out of the hands of the talented Eagles’ receivers, who were quite busy the whole game.  I mean Bergman was in the zone all night… throwing touchdown passes of 4, 11, 21, 29, 54, and a mammoth 79-yard bomb into the outstretched arms of Evan Peterson in a third-and-long situation, who caught three of the scores.

I had heard this kid was the real deal, but the Redmond stands and myself were left stunned at this kid’s accuracy and poise.  And once the Eagles get Grant Gellatly back and healthy, you can almost count on them being back at the Dome come November… they’re just that good.

Still waiting on word of whether his numbers from Friday are a school record, but it must be very close.

Meanwhile, the Mustangs look to rebound against Garfield during a Thursday night game in Seattle, as the Bulldogs are 1-17 for the last two seasons combined and have started out their league schedule 0-3 this year.

Featured game this week will be the Overlake boys’ soccer team (8-0-0, 9-0-0) as they look to stay perfect at home against Northwest School tomorrow night.

Briefly, he uses the sport of basketball to enrich the lives of homeless children in rural Asia, while teaching them valuable life skills such as teamwork, self-confidence and leadership that can are attained by participating in team sports. Hilf, using money donated through the organization’s Web site, www.highfivehope.org, will soon be embarking on a trip to Manila, Philippines to conduct the second-annual Hope Sports Fest where he will work with approximately 300 homeless children and provide basketball instruction, shoes, jerseys, basketballs and food to as many as possible.  While I will encourage you to read the story here, I will say that Hilf is a phenomenal example of how people can make a difference and change the lives of those less fortunate.  This was without a doubt one of the most memorable pieces I have done in my (short) career so far and just hearing about the work that Hilf has done really inspired me, as I hope his story will do for you.

Also, while Hilf will be helping locals recover from the disastrous tropical storms that have battered Pacific Rim islands in southeast Asia lately, a couple of big-name Seahawks are doing the same.

Prior to this Saturday’s Seahawks game at home against the Jaguars, Medical Teams International will be teaming up with the Hawks to raise money for disaster survivors, and Seahawks linebacker Lofa Tatupu will generously match the first $10,000 worth of donations collected out of his own pocket. Marques Tuiasosopo, former University of Washington quarterback, will also be on hand to help with the effort. Both have family in the Samoan Islands, which has been affected by the storms.

Great examples of charitable giving for worthy causes like these are great and set a wonderful example for today’s youth on the importance of helping those in need. Let’s give them a high five!

The Seahawks got dismembered by Peyton Manning and the Colts, UW suffered a heartbreaker at the hands of Notre Dame… and you can add the Mustangs’ 21-7 loss to Newport last Friday to that list.

The Knights came ready and successfully contained quarterback Michael Conforto – to the tune of just 26 yards on 18 carries (1.4 average… ouch) with Cole Hardwick running for 96 yards, 81 of which came on a huge run leading to the Mustangs’ first and only score.

Although I didn’t attend the game, it’s clear that the Mustangs need to come up with something to prevent teams from ganging up on Conforto. I don’t know what the answer is, but we will see what Coach Pluschke has in store this Friday.

Speaking of which, that game against Issaquah is almost a must-win for the Mustangs, against one of the best teams in the league. Granted Eastlake, who lost to Redmond 24-21, nearly upset the Eagles 14-13 last Friday, Issaquah has a tremendous quarterback in Ross Quarre who has racked up an insane 756 yards passing (54 of 93, 10 touchdowns) through his first four games of the season.

And oh-so-clutch of Devin Schmidt during a tough Overlake boys soccer battle against University Prep which was knotted 2-2 at the end of regulation – Schmidt’s goal in overtime pushed the Owls to a perfect 6-0 in front of the home crowd. Unfortunately the girls lost to Seattle Academy (6-0-0 in league play) to break their unbeaten streak, and they greatly look forward to October 22 when they get a chance to re-match with the Cardinals.

Hey there, Tim Watanabe here – the sports writer for the Redmond Reporter. We’re starting up a new blog initiative here at the paper and mine will be all about the high-school sports scene at the three schools I cover: Redmond High School (4A Kingco), The Overlake School (1A Emerald City) and The Bear Creek School (Sea-Tac 2B).

To get the ball rolling, how about those Mustangs last Friday night???

I’ve gotten to know head coach Mike Pluschke pretty well over the past year or so and I’m so happy for him and his team to get the win over the Mustangs’ bitter rivals Eastlake, who had a 5-year winning streak going against Redmond.

Anyone that saw the game knows that Michael Conforto is the real deal. This kid can flat-out run the football, and with a supporting cast of guys like Nico Shewey, Cole Hardwick and Clement Signoretty, the Mustangs’ running game looks to be one of the best in the league, more than enough to catch Eastlake off-guard. Everything clicked for the Mustangs last week, and yes they did get a few big breaks (in the form of badly-timed penalties by the Wolves) when they needed them, but the Mustangs really played a solid game.

Having such a great running game enables the Mustangs to chew time off the clock to protect a lead, which they executed to perfection, and have drives like they did when they methodically worked their way 82 yards from their own 18 on an 18-play drive (7 first downs!) which last year likely would have ended in a three-and-out.

Of course, the big test will be a little later in the season when Redmond plays at home against Issaquah, and (gasp) Skyline in the season finale.  In order to Redmond to vie for a coveted 4A Kingco playoff spot, they will have to win the games that they can/should win on paper (meaning this Friday against Newport… but I will be perfectly honest when I said that I had just about wrote the Mustangs off against 3-0 Eastlake coming into Friday’s game) and if they are successful, should be able to sneak in with a winning league record.

And not to overshadow the accomplishments of other teams – BOTH the boys (4-0-0, 5-0-0) and girls (4-0-0, 6-0-0) soccer teams at Overlake are undefeated so far!  The girls look especially good with a crop of experienced seniors and will look to better their state-quarterfinal appearance from last season.