BASEBALL NOTES - MAY 8, 2009

While the CBBN 3A district playoff seeds were decided about a month ago, the 4A district bracket still isn't set days after the regular season ended.

Kennewick, Southridge and Moses Lake all shared the CBBN Columbia title at 9-3, with none of them able to win a tiebreaker. A number draw determined the order for seeding games today and Saturday.

Kennewick, which swept Southridge during the season and split with Moses Lake, got the low number and plays the Chiefs at 4 p.m. today at Big Bend CC. The loser is the No. 3 seed and will host Cascade No. 4 Walla Walla on Tuesday.

The Kennewick-ML winner will play Southridge at 1 p.m. Saturday at Bomber Field in Richland. The winner will be the Cascade No. 1 and host a double-elimination crossover game next Friday; the loser will be No. 2 and play a loser-out game against the winner of one of the 3-4 games at Richland next Friday.

The 3A District tournament -- all two games of it -- will be Saturday at West Valley in Yakima. Hanford takes on winless Sunnyside at 11 a.m. -- the Grizzlies were outscored 294-11 this season, and the Falcons swept them 11-2 and 24-0 in their season openers -- with the winner playing West Valley. Both teams advance to regional play against the Greater Spokane League.

CBBN Statistical Leaders Through May 7, 2009

CBBN Columbia

Batting (min. 30 ABs)

AB H AVG
Tyler Roberts, SR 63 41 .651
Andrew Mendenhall, SR 62 32 .516
Blaine Myers, ML 53 27 .509
Clayton Homme, SR 61 31 .508
Drew Loftus, Ken 59 28 .475
Seth Lochridge, Pas 51 24 .471
Tim Roddy, Dav 55 25 .455
Dylan Signorelli, ML 61 27 .443
Jay Fox, SR 56 24 .429
Greg Hata, Dav 50 21 .420
Spencer O'Neil, SR 59 24 .407
Brennan Borlaug, SR 67 27 .403
Josh Marintez, ML 67 27 .403
Tyler Morfin, Ken 58 23 .397
Matt Harris, ML 56 22 .393
Gordo Martinez, Pas 36 14 .389
Michael Gordon, Ken 65 25 .385
Kyle Hickman, ML 42 16 .381
Jackson Marquis, Dav 50 19 .380
Kurt Hickman, ML 39 14 .359
Trux French, Ken 53 19 .358
TJ Smith, Dav 45 16 .356

Home runs

Greg Hata (Davis) 5; Andrew Mendenhall (Southridge) 3; Daniel Weiss (Pasco) 2; Drew Loftus (Kennewick) 2; Trux French (Kennewick) 2.

Runs batted in

Tyler Roberts (Southridge) 34; Dylan Signorelli (Moses Lake) 32; Clayton Homme (Southridge) 31; Brennan Borlaug (Southridge) 26; Greg Hata (Davis) 25; Michael Gordon (Kennewick) 24; Blaine Myers (Moses Lake) 24; Spencer O'Neil (Southridge) 23; Drew Loftus (Kennewick) 22; Jay Fox (Southridge) 21; Tyler Morfin (Kennewick) 19; Trux French (Kennewick) 19; Trek Stemp (Kennewick) 16; Matt Harris (Moses Lake) 15; Seth Lochridge (Pasco) 14; Tim Roddy (Davis) 14; Kyle Sani (Southridge) 13; Andrew Mendenhall (Southridge) 13.

Stolen bases

Andrew Mendenhall (Southridge) 17; Jackson Marquis (Davis) 10; Josh Martinez (Moses Lake) 8; Seth Lockridge (Pasco) 6; Trek Stemp (Kennewick) 6; Brennan Borlaug (Southridge) 6; Drew Loftus (Kennewick) 5; Mike Tsoukalas (Southridge) 5.

Pitching (min. 19 IPs)

IP ER ERA
Blaine Myers, ML 28 1/3 5 1.24
Tony Bryant, Ken 27 1/3 5 1.28
Michael Calderon, Dav 55 16 2.04
Brandon Call, SR 26 8 2.15
Spencer O'Neil, SR 19 6 2.21
Brock Lybbert, ML 47 1/3 15 2.22
Anthony Garza, Pas 45 19 2.96
Tyler Roberts, SR 27 2/3 15 3.80
Luc Graf, Pas 22 13 4.14
Dakota Tripp, Ken 29 1/3 18 4.30

Wins

Michael Calderon (Davis) 7-1; Brock Lybbert (Moses Lake) 7-2; Tony Bryant (Kennewick) 5-0; Brandon Call (Southridge) 4-0; Jay Fox (Southridge) 4-1; Blaine Myers (Moses Lake) 4-2; Clayton Homme (Southridge) 3-1; James McKinnis (Kennewick) 3-1; Derk Westermeyer (Kennewick) 2-0; Tyler Roberts (Southridge) 2-1; Dakota Tripp (Kennewick) 2-2; Luc Graf (Pasco) 2-2; Anthony Garza (Pasco) 2-4.

Strikeouts

Michael Calderon (Davis) 55; Brock Lybbert (Moses Lake) 46; Anthony Garza (Pasco) 36; Tyler Roberts (Southridge) 35; Brandon Call (Southridge) 28; Tony Bryant (Kennewick) 27; Jay Fox (Southridge) 27; Spencer O'Neil (Southridge) 20; Chris Jackson (Moses Lake) 15; Blaine Myers (Moses Lake) 15; Derik Briggs (Pasco) 13.

Saves

Dylan Signorelli (Moses Lake) 7.

Not reporting

Wenatchee.

NOTE: The CBBN Cascade leaders have not been updated because too many teams had not reported. Still missing were Eisenhower, Hanford, Walla Walla and West Valley.

BASWBALL NOTES - CBBN OUTLOOK 2009

CBBN Cascade Division

After winning a state title in 2007 and playing in the final four last season, it makes sense that Richland's incredible pool of talent would one day run out.

But it won't be this year. The Bombers feature a lineup that includes four Division I college signees "€" Brett Jacobs (Washington State), Cody Shepherd (Washington), Eric Yardley (Seattle) and Jamison Rowe (Nevada) "€" and another, Josh Rapacz, who is likely headed to Portland.

Jacobs, who was named to the Louisville Slugger preseason All-America team by Collegiate Baseball magazine, hit .508 during the regular season with 10 home runs and 38 RBIs to win the CBL 4A triple crown and earn all-state honors along with Shepherd (.476, 10, 33).

Kamiakin figures to reload rather than rebuild. The Braves will be led by Saint Mary's-bound first baseman Shawn O'Brien (.400, 3 HR, 26 RBI) and pitcher Cody Young, who is drawing Division I interest.

Travis Chalk will be the catalyst for Hanford after being named to the CBL 3A first team as a pitcher and third baseman (.446, 3 HR, 23 RBI; 2.76 ERA, 29 K, 38 IP), though he'll move over to shortstop.

Eastmont and Eisenhower have some big holes to fill, especially in the pitching staff. Walla Walla also will have a lot of new faces and will rely heavily on third baseman Michael Lemke (.317, 13 RBIs) and pitcher Matt Staudenmaier (2.92 ERA). West Valley returns just three starters, but one of those is CBL 3A first-team shortstop Cory Urquhart, who was second in the league in hitting (.486).

CBBN Columbia Division

Southridge would seem to have an advantage over defending 3A state champion Kennewick with 10 starters coming back, including CBL 3A player of the year Jay Fox (.383, 4 HR, 31 RBI; 2.56 ERA), University of Oregon-bound shortstop Andrew Mendenhall (.444, 23 RBI; 7 SB) and do-everything Clayton Homme (.438, 4.70 ERA), all of them first-team all-league players.

Kennewick graduated most of its regulars but has the area's top prospect returning in CBL 3A pitcher of the year and all-state first-teamer Tony Bryant (1.82 ERA, 8-2, 70 K), who already has a scholarship to Oregon State and could be taken in the top five rounds of the amateur draft come June. Also, third baseman Trux French (.456, 4 HR, 25 RBI) was one of the top hitters in the league.

Pasco tied for second at 8-8 in the CBL 4A after going 4-16 overall the previous year and 0-20 before that. The Bulldogs have a solid core of returners, including second-teamers P Anthony Garza (4-4, 3.82 ERA, 51 IP, 31K) and 1B Trevor Brain (.312, 4 HR, 20 RBI), a CWU signee.

The rest of the league "€" Davis, Wenatchee, Moses Lake and Sunnyside "€" may struggle a bit early on replacing the bulk of their lineups in what will be a talent-rich league.