Before getting into the week of action that was Blaine spring sports, a couple fall sports stars earned recognition for their stellar seasons on the gridiron.
Jaiden Paez, Blaine’s dominant running back that led the Borderites to one of its best seasons in recent memory, was honored by the Washington State Football Coaches Association as a First Team All-State selection at running back.
Paez had one of the best single seasons of any Blaine running back, amassing 1,815 rushing yards on 213 carries, scoring a whopping 23 rushing touchdowns, along with 115 receiving yards on 10 receptions, according to WhatcomPreps.com.
In other Blaine football news, Logan Villarreal, the senior do-it-all player who performed at wide receiver, defensive back and kicker for the Borderites last season, committed to play collegiate football at Pacific Lutheran University.
Blaine baseball was stymied on offense facing Lynden ace pitcher Matthew Carroll, who struck out 12 Borderites and only allowed a single hit en route to a complete game shutout on April 1. With that 4-0 loss to Lynden, the Borderites dropped to 3-3 on the season, and are still searching for its first Northwest Conference win.
After starting the season off with a hot 3-0 start, defeating its first three opponents – Orcas Island, Coupeville and Mt. Vernon Christian – by a combined score of 35-3, the Borderites haven’t had the same offensive success in conference play.
In the last three games, Blaine has scored only one run, but were still able to keep games close, allowing just four runs in each of the three losses.
Senior catcher Evan Yates has had as good of a start to the season as the Borderites could hope for, with the backstop producing as one of the best sluggers in the conference. As of March 30, Yates was top three in batting average (.600), on-base percentage (.667), slugging percentage (.600) and hits (9).
He was the only Borderite to get a hit off Lynden’s Carroll on April 1, a ground ball single followed by a stolen base, and produced Blaine’s only run with a RBI against Meridian on March 28. Yates will surely need to keep producing to give Blaine a chance at a deep playoff run this season.
Despite the losses, the Borderites’ pitching staff has looked solid to start the year, with sophomore Josh Cochran pitching a full seven innings against Meridian, striking out seven, and Connor Brown giving up just three earned runs over six innings against Lynden.
The Borderites will look to get back in the win column and earn its first conference win of the season on Thursday, April 3 at 4:30 p.m., hosting Lynden Christian at Pipeline Field. The Borderites play at home again on Monday, April 7 at 4:30 p.m. against Nooksack Valley.
Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com
After starting the season with as hot of bats as possible, Blaine softball has cooled down, dropping a pair of losses in back-to-back days against Ferndale and Oak Harbor.
Blaine won its first two games of the season by a combined score of 42-7, defeating Orcas Island and Bellingham with ease. In the two games since, the Borderites haven’t been able to keep runners from scoring, losing 15-5 to Ferndale on March 26, then 13-3 against Oak Harbor on March 27.
That offensive explosion at the start of the season earned Blaine batters some of the highest statistical rankings in the conference as of March 30, with Shaylie Daniels, Mesa Puls, Kaelin Blakely and Courtney Roff all ranked in the top-10 in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
Against conference rival Ferndale, Blaine wasn’t able to fend off the Golden Eagle’s big fifth inning, allowing a grand slam to change the Borderites’ 5-3 lead to a 7-3 deficit. Ferndale went on to score six runs in the sixth inning, handing Blaine it’s first loss of the season.
Against Oak Harbor, the Blaine defense struggled to find its footing, committing six errors en route to allowing 14 runs. Puls was tagged with her first loss as a pitcher after starting the year 2-0, and now holds a solid 2-1 record as one of the Borderites’ main pitchers.
Blaine softball sits at 2-2 on the young season, and now begins a stretch of nine straight NWC matchups. The Borderites will host Squalicum at Pipeline Field on Thursday, April 3 at 4:30 p.m. before a weeklong spring break.
Stats provided by WhatcomPreps.com
The Blaine track and field team competed at the Bedlington Invitational at Lynden Christian on March 28, with the boys team earning seventh place and the girls team earning eighth in the nine-team meet.
On the boys side, the sprinters had a solid performance, with senior Beckum Bleazard finishing tied for second in the 100-meter finals with a time of 11.78. Junior Dylan Johnson was just a hundredth of a second behind, placing fourth with a time of 11.79.
Johnson and Bleazard also performed well in the 200-meter final, this time with Johnson earning the best time for a Borderite at 23.89, good for third, and Bleazard earning fourth with a time of 24.11.
Josiah Weeda earned first place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.00, and earned second place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.71, just .06 seconds from first place. Blaine’s sprinters combined for another solid performance in the 4x100 relay, winning third with a time of 45.20 from senior Colby Shipp, senior Jaiden Paez, Bleazard and Johnson at the anchor.
The boys team, despite dominating in the sprints, couldn’t gain points in the long distance races and field events, and topped out at 50 points on the day.
On the girls side, senior sprinter Juliana Zuzarte earned seventh place in the 100-meter final with a time of 13.79. Sophomore Livia Weeda represented Blaine in the 200-meter final, earning 12th place with a time of 30.24. Senior Brietta Sandell had a fifth place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 18.06.
The highest placement for the girls track and field team came from Sophomore Teia Dube, who earned first place in the high jump with a 5’2” jump, the only girl to break the five-foot barrier at the meet.
Blaine will host its first home meet of the season on Wednesday, April 2 (after press time), hosting multiple Northwest Conference schools.
Times and placements provided by Athletic.net
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