SPORTS

by Neil MacDonald

Top athletes honored
Blaine’s outstanding athletes in soccer, golf, track and fastpitch for 2001 were honored with an assemblage of intra-team awards during the past weeks.
Most Valuable Player honors went to Joe Button (boys’ soccer), Haily Braumberger (girls’ golf), Kevin Farmer (boys’ golf), Steve Burden (boys’ track), Becky Riddle (girls’ track) and was shared by Kristina Francis and Krista Walter in Lady B fastpitch.
The Most Improved Player award was won by Andrew Crane (boys’ soccer), Jessica Freeman (girls’ tennis), Erica Johnson (girls’ golf), Andrew Martin (boys’ track), Candice Chambers (girls’ track) and was shared by Anna Dean and Lacy Cheatwood in girls’ fastpitch.
Most Inspirational award recipients were Linsey Taylor (girls’ tennis), Tamara Allen (girls’ golf), Nathan Haslip (boys’ track), Grace Coulter (girls’ track) and Kristina Beljean (girls’ fastpitch).
The 2001 Coach’s Award winners were Alden Walcon (boys’ soccer), Alisa Burk (fastpitch) and Elizabeth Sipers (fastpitch).
Coach Mike Grambo’s 100 points-plus awards, which go to track team members amassing 100 or more points during the season (e.g. 1st place equals 5 points) were Steve Burden, Nathan Haslip, Andrew Martin, Becky Riddle and Cory Crews.
Leading scorer honors in boys’ soccer went to Pat Corcorran. Kate Lawrenson won the captain’s award in girls’ tennis. Coach Scott Ellis’ Clutch/Short Game laurels went to Adam Dolan and Matt Wiens was selected Mr. Consistent in boys’ golf.
Besides her MVP award, Kristina Francis won Batter of the Year honors and the Clutch Player award in girls’ fastpitch.

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Neil's Notes
Soccer Classic
Blaine’s Joe Button played forward for the red team, joining Borderite teammate Pat Corcoran, who played midfield for the navy side, as the 2A/3A boys’ Soccer Classic for high school seniors at Civic Stadium ended in a 4-4 tie on May 30.

Jorgy Finishes Fourth
Blaine’s Chris Jorgensen shot a three-under 71-69 – 140 to finish fourth in a Cascade Tour event at Spanaway. Jorgensen, who ended six strokes behind winner Chris Ming of Fife, earned $1,200 for his two days work.

Coston Misses Cut
Semiahmoo’s Jeff Coston missed a fourth trip to the U.S. Open by four strokes, shooting 72-67 – 139 on June 5-6 to finish in a tie for fourth in the 36-hole U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier at the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge. Coston, the PGA Northwest Section player of the year for five of the last six years, shot 73-68-68 – 209 to win the Washington Open Invitational by three strokes on May 30 at Lakewood’s Oakbrook Golf and Country Club.

Tennis Deadline Nears
The deadline is June 18 for the HarborFest/Skywater Tennis Tournament, which goes June 22-24 in Blaine. Entry fees are $16 for singles and $25 for doubles. For further info, call Eric at 650-9139 or Joyce at 332-1169.

Red Cross Golf Tourney
Alcoa Intalco Works’ American Red Cross Golf Tournament at Dakota Creek to support local disaster and emergency preparedness services tees off at 1 p.m. June 20. Pam Foster, Dakota Creek owner, Red Cross disaster volunteer and tourney host, hopes to have a sponsor for each of the 18 holes.
The cost to be a Hole Sponsor is $350. To date, Hole Sponsors are Alcoa Intalco Works, Larson Gross PLLC, Bellingham Police Association, Key Private Bank, RSSI, Whatcom County Association of Fire Chiefs, Anvil Corporation, Langabeer, Tull & Lee, Tenaska Washington Partners (2 holes), Tosco, Automated Mailing Services, Bellingham Cold Storage and KGMI.
Registration fee for individuals or foursomes is $50 a person. This covers 18 holes of golf, a BBQ dinner and the chance to win a number of skill and door prizes. There’s a 2001 Passat from Frontier Ford sponsored by Qwest Dex for the Hole-In-One prize and TrendWest resort has donated two weekend getaways.
For further info call the American Red Cross at 733-3290 or Dakota Creek at 366-3131.

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Borderites earn NCC honors
Eight Borderites earned 2001 All-North Cascades Conference honors this spring, two being named to an All-NCC first team, four to a second team and two getting honorable mentions.
In golf, highly touted sophomore Kevin Farmer was named to the All-NCC golf first team. The Borderite sophomore shot an 86 at Bi-District on May 9 at Bellingham Golf and Country Club to miss going to State by a single shot. Farmer’s best day this spring may have been either the 6-over 81 he shot at Kayak on May 2 in a seven-team NCC tourney or the 39 he shot in 9-hole event at Raspberry Ridge on April 3.
In soccer, Pat Corcorran, Blaine’s top scorer in 2001, was named to the All-NCC second team. The versatile Corcorran played mid-field for the navy in the Senior Soccer Classic on May 30 at Civic Stadium.
In baseball, junior Craig Anderson was selected to the All-NCC first team at second base. Sophomore Grant Sanders was named to the second team outfield and senior Josh McDonald was the second team catcher. McDonald caught for the Nationals and went 2-for-2 in the first of a pair of 1A/2A senior all-star feeder games at Bellingham’s Joe Martin Stadium on June 2. McD hit .360 during the regular NCC season.
In fastpitch, Blaine’s freshman catcher Kristina Francis was named to the 2001 All-NCC fastpitch second team. Sophomore pitcher Krista Walter and freshman shortstop Alisa Burk earned honorable mentions.
Francis had a phenomenal season, setting team records for highest batting average, on-base percentage and RBIs during 2001. She hit .393 to eclipse Heather Woods’ 1998 record of .367, and got 15 RBIs to surpass Woods and Missy Holton’s 1998 record of 11.
Walter tied Wood’s record of six wins in a single season and struck out a team record 77 batters, eclipsing her own record of 44 strikeouts in 2000. Walter posted a .321 BA and .465 on-base percentage and tied Angela Tetrick’s 1998 team record of 20 runs scored in a single season.
Burk, who drew a team record 22 walks, posted a .472 on-base percentage, drove in 10 runs and led the Borderites in least strikeouts (4 in 50 trips) for batters with 15 or more plate appearances.

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Force opens summer season
Blaine’s Force opens the summer fastpitch season with a two-day visit on June 16-17 to Ilwaco for the Long Beach tournament.
Coach Mike Dodd, every member of the team and local fastpitch fans hope there is nothing symbolic in the fact Ilwaco is a nudge north of Cape Disappointment.
The Force’s regular season begins June 20 with a pair of games at Bender Fields against Meridian Tire at 7 p.m. on Field 3 and Mt. Vernon at 8:45 p.m. on Field 1. This twin bill is the first two of 20 games packed into nine doubleheaders and two solo games in 44 days. All Force home games go at Bender Fields.
The Force, summer’s extension course for the non-graduating Borderites of 2001, presents the opportunity for the youngsters to develop the team into a 2002 contender for District.
Split the 19-game 2001 Borderite season into halves with Blaine’s 21-20 loss to Meridian in game 10 in neutral mathematical limbo, and the data shows Blaine being outscored 72-44 in the first half of the season and 63-53 in the second half. That translates into the Borderites tallying 46 percent (53/116) of the all runs scored in their last nine games as opposed to totaling 38 percent (44/116) in their first nine games.
Analysis of differences in for-and-against scores reveals that 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) Blaine games were decided by one run, 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) by one or two runs, and 12-of-19 (63.2) ended with a six-or-more-runs scored edge for the winner.
Blaine won only one of those seven close contests. You don’t have to be an Al Einstein to figure out that any team that wins the majority of those close games goes to District. Setting the stage for such reversals is the essence of the games of summer.

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Post 86 comes third in tourney
Blaine Post 86 placed third in the Spooner Creek Baseball USA State Championship Tournament at the Pipe on June 10, edging the Olympia Bears 4-3 in the consolation round game.
Grant Sanders got the win, finishing up for Bobby Francis, who pitched a fine 4 and 2/3rds innings. Alex Ganschow, on loan from Sehome, drove in Sam Henley with the winning run for Post 86. Steve Dember and Jordan Snow both went 3-for-3 for Blaine.
Kirkland Rebels defeated the Langley, B.C. All-Stars 9-2 in the championship game to win the tourney. Post 86’s Josh Melum won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player Award for infielders.
Blaine opened the three-day affair on June 8, dropping an 8-7 decision to Mercer Island in a game that was called after five innings due to the two-hour playing time rule. Ganschow went 2-for-3 and Sanders, 2-for-4, to pace Blaine at the plate.
The locals came back on June 9 to defeat North Lake Washington of Bothell 8-7. Ganschow, who hit a solo homer in the first inning, went the distance, scattering eight hits for the win. Ryan Sortor singled home the winning run.
Post 86 won its second game of the day, stopping Redmond Selects 11-8. Francis picked up the win, Nick Miller got three RBIs and Melum hit 3-for-4, including two doubles and a single.
In earlier action, Post 86 edged Ferndale 7-6 on June 4. Laird Dickey got the win. Melum, who went 2-for-4, lined a single off the opposing pitcher’s foot with two out in the seventh to score Kyle Green with the winning run.
Post 86 defeated Ferndale 4-2 at the Pipe on May 29 and 14-3 at Ferndale on May 31 in Legion baseball action. Dickie was the winner in the 4-2 fray. Chris Kleman’s RBI single proved the difference. Francis got the win in the 14-3 affair as Kleman went 3-for-5; Green, 2-2 and Dember,
2-for-4.

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