By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

NWAC Sports / College Signings

A fleet-footed standout, along with a State champion and a top-notch pitcher in softball, along with a pair of baseball stars have all inked letters of intent to bring their talents to Lower Columbia College.

Utility player Kiley Griggs of Utah, third baseman Madelyn Hancock from St. Helens High, and pitcher Alli Hayzlett from Canby will join the NWAC runner-up softball team.

Meanwhile, catcher Nolan Foglio from Clackamas High and middle infielder Kanata Barber from Shorewood High near Seattle will join the defending NWAC champion baseball squad.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

NWAC Sports / College Signings

A standout men’s basketball guard from Las Vegas, along with a pair of baseball players from Oregon and softball players from Idaho and Hawaii have agreed to bring their athletic talents to Lower Columbia College.

Curtis Coleman from Mojave High in Las Vegas has inked to play men’s hoops for the Red Devils next winter at Myklebust Gymnasium.

The defending NWAC champion LCC baseball team found a pair of prospects on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. Those new Devils include third baseman/right-handed pitcher Landon Brown from Sherwood, and outfielder Cameron Hyder from McMinnville.

And the NWAC runner-up LCC softball team also picked up a set of skilled players from out of state. Catcher Azlinn Bullock of Idaho, and shortstop Dahlia Gangano from Hawaii will be enrolled at LCC and working on the diamond when classes begin this fall.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

College Track & Field

Kelso’s Erin Tack earned All-American status with a top-20 finish in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.

Tack, a grad student at the University of Arizona, finished 16th in the women’s javelin with a throw of 163-feet-7. The performance earned her second-team All-American kudos.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

NWAC Sports / College Signings

A two-time top-three state placer in basketball, along with a hoopster who reached the 1,000-point club and a highly-ranked player by Baseball Northwest are among the latest student-athletes to ink letters of intent to play sports at Lower Columbia College.

R.A. Long guard Landon Irwin has agreed to play men's basketball with the Red Devils, and guard Lainey Dean of Toutle Lake will join the LCC women's basketball team.

The defending NWAC champion baseball team has added several new pieces for next year. Included in that crop is pitcher Arlo Copony from Portland's Cleveland High, and first baseman Spencer Gillespie of North Kitsap High in Poulsbo.

And the NWAC runner-up LCC softball team has added pitchers Lynzee Reid of Port Angeles, and Charlie Naylor from Pocatello, Idaho.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

NWAC Sports / College Signings

A two-time state champion softball player, along with talented women's soccer, volleyball and baseball players have inked letters of intent to bring their talents to Lower Columbia College beginning this fall.

Pitcher Grace Gooding of Montesano will be coming to Longview in an effort to help get the Red Devils back to the NWAC title game for a third (and maybe a fourth) straight season.

Midfielder Ashley Hermenegildo of Shelton will roster with the LCC women's soccer team in the fall.

Meanwhile, middle blockers Kennedy Purvis of Napavine and Lauretta Taylor of Ogden, Utah, are set to bring their size to the Lower Columbia volleyball team at Myklebust Gymnasium.

And catcher Joe Giles of Curtis High in University Place south of Tacoma, along with lefty pitcher Aiden Jones of Arlington, Wash., will compete with the NWAC champion Red Devils baseball team.

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Luke Roth (Mid-Major Media) special to BlastZoneMedia.com

OSAA Softball — Baseball / Roundup

EUGENE, OR – In another edition of the South Side 7-Mile War, St. Helens and Scappoose met at Jane Sanders Stadium on the campus of the University of Oregon, with an OSAA softball championship on the line.

This time, it was the Lions who came out on top of the rivalry with all the marbles on the line.

St. Helens defeated Scappoose 5-3 in the Class 4A state championship game Saturday, capturing the program’s first state title since 1996 and closing its 4A chapter in storybook fashion before moving back up to 5A next season.

For St. Helens (23-6), the win also served as redemption.

After falling to Astoria in last year’s 4A State Championship game, the Lions put those demons behind them and delivered on the biggest stage.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Collegiate Athletics / Alumni Radar

Kelso grad Erin Tack parlayed one of her best javelin throws of the season into a berth at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships.

Tack, a grad student at the University of Arizona, tossed the spear 165-feet to place 12th in the event at the NCAA West Regional Championships held in Fayetteville, Ark. She will compete for a national title in the championships during June 10-14 at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Already in the school record-book for her 178-feet-4 effort at the Big 12 Championships in 2025, Tack will get to compete at NCAA Championships for the first time in her career.

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By Rick McCorkle for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

NWAC Sports / College Signings

All-league student-athletes from around the greater Blast Zone area have always had a tendency to gravitate to Lower Columbia College, and this year is no different.

A pair of all-leaguers in women's soccer, volleyball and baseball have all agreed to bring their talents and have inked letters of intent to attend classes beginning this fall.

In women’s sports, joining LCC soccer are Delanie Zueger of R.A. Long and Ada Labowitz of Peninsula High in Gig Harbor. The LCC volleyball team will be adding Kendal Dean of Toutle Lake. And the NWAC runner-up Red Devils of the softball diamond will have Keegan Castro of Hazen High of Renton in the mix for the redemption tour.

And in men’s athletics, the NWAC champion LCC baseball team has added Bradley Dinelt of Curtis of University Place, along with Liam Rhoads of Kennedy Catholic in Burien.

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BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Softball

• Heppner/Ione 12, Clatskanie 8 (State semifinals)

In Case You Missed It

Skyler Smith for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

WIAA Prep Baseball / All-Star Report

STORY FIELD — The uniforms were familiar. The dugouts were not.

For one final evening at Story Field, some of Southwest Washington’s top senior baseball players traded rivalries for friendships, sharing the field with teammates and opponents who had helped define their high school careers.

Players from Naselle, R.A. Long, Mark Morris, Ilwaco, Castle Rock, Toledo, Kalama and Wahkiakum gathered for the 48th annual Southwest Washington Senior All-Star Game, an event that gave graduating seniors one last opportunity to compete before turning the page on their high school careers for good.

The Nationals used a balanced offensive attack to defeat the Americans 10-2, but the evening was about far more than the final score.

“It was really tough to be able to give each other a hug and say, ‘This is it,’” Naselle’s Leith Chadwick said. “We’re not ever going to put our jerseys back on and go to war with each other ever again.”

The atmosphere reflected that sentiment throughout the evening.

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Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Baseball

SWW Senior All-Star Game

• Nationals 10, Americans 2

The Games of The Day

High School Softball

No. 8 Clatskanie at No. 4 Heppner/Ione (State semifinals)

— Heppner High School, 4 p.m.

The History of Diamonds

When Josh Kirshenbaum isn’t covering the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park he’s busy digging up all the nuggets of history you may forgotten — or perhaps never knew.

Take a trip down memory lane thanks to the Blast Zone Media research department. We’ve got details on every local baseball and softball team to ever play for an official state championship.

In Case You Missed It

By Drew Lawson for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Track & Field / State Roundup

The Blast Zone may as well be known as The Fast Zone (and the strong zone, too!) after last weekend. That rebranding would be well-deserved after a cavalcade of local athletes took home 11 individual State championships, one team State championship and many more Top-8 spots on the podium during the assorted WIAA and OSAA State Track and Field Championships in Tacoma, Yakima and Eugene.

Last week’s Track and Field recap noted that the various district championships meets allowed the best from around The Blast Zone to showcase why they deserve their spot to be considered one of the region’s premiere athletes.

The State meets, on the other hand, allowed those same athletes an opportunity to remove any “consideration” and cement their place in the record books…moving from thought and potential to a tangible matter of fact.

Whether it was the 3A and 2A athletes shining in normally cloudy Tacoma, the 1A, 2B and 1B schools punching up in Yakima, or the southern residents of The Blast Zone from Oregon letting the bright lights of Hayward Field at the University of Oregon not get in their way, area’s best athletes were a part of the season-ending spectacle in their quest to secure State hardware and history.

Keep reading to see how speedsters, leapers, throwers (and whatever synonym pole vaulters prefer) from each area school fared at the State Championships last week.

State Photo Galleries

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BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Track & Field

The WIAA and OSAA State Championships were held last weekend in Tacoma, Yakima and Eugene, Oregon and we’ve got photos from nearly every location.

• Day 3

• Day 2

• Day 1

High School Baseball

Saturday

• Dayton 7, Naselle 4 (State Championship)

• Toutle Lake 6, NW Christian (Colbert) (State 3rd Place)

Friday

• Naselle 12, DeSales 11 (State semifinals)

• Napavine 6, Toutle Lake 5 (8 inn.) (State semifinals)

High School Softball

Friday

• Clatskanie 5, North Clackamas-Country Christian 4 (State quarterfinals)

Tomorrow in History

June 2, 2017: Kami Gray swats a go-ahead two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to power Rainier to a 3-2 win over Dayton in the OSAA 3A state title game. Jadyn Crape and Rylee O’Brien both had two hits for the Columbians, who won their fourth state title in five years.

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The Game of The Day

High School Baseball

SWW Senior All-Star Game

• Story Field, 5 p.m.

In Case You Missed It

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

WIAA Baseball / Senior All-Stars

Lucky ballplayers from all over the upper reaches of The Blast Zone will get one more opportunity wear their high school jerseys and lace up their spikes on Monday. That’s because the 46th annual Southwest Washington Senior All-Star Game is returning to Story Field for a bonus evening of baseball in Longview.

Lower Columbia College will play host to the event with the game taking place on Story Field, where the LCC Red Devils recently won themselves another NWAC Championship. And while at least several of the participants in the Senior All-Star game will go on to play baseball in college — Monday is all about representing their home town and the old school one more time for the road.

Oh, and there’s a spot in the All-State Series on the line as well.

“Top players from the Southwest Washington Senior All-Star Game will be nominated to play in the All=State Series in Yakima,” said Castle Rock head coach Joe Bair, who also serves as the Senior All-Star Game director.

The annual All-State Series will be held June 26-28.

First pitch for the Southwest Washington Senior All-Star Game is set for 5 p.m. on Monday, with the game is set to last seven innings. Admission is $5 per person and only cash will be accepted.

Senior All-Star Rosters

The Nationals

• Stuart Teter, Castle Rock

• Jack Kerker, Castle Rock

• Jeff Rooklidge, R.A. Long

• Tucker Walling, Castle Rock

• Nolan Scott, Kalama

• Jonah Cadigan, R.A. Long

• Zeppelin Edgell, Mark Morris

• Evan Chisholm, Castle Rock

• Dylan Pelas, Ilwaco

• Riley Young, R.A. Long

• Jase Peterson, Mark Morris

• Corbin Johnson, Ilwaco

• Coaches: Ryan Littlefield (R.A. Long) and Chris Patana (Ilwaco)

The Americans

• Brady Hamer, Castle Rock

• Cooper Carlson, Wahkiakum

• Trajen Ford, Naselle

• Parker Leitz, Wahkikaum

• Deker Bartell, Mark Morris

• Rohan Feigenbaum, Toledo

• Reilly O’Farrell, Mark Morris

• Scott Henington, Naselle

• Tucker Morrow, Mark Morris

• Leith Chadwick, Naselle

• Jerry Neighbors, Castle Rock

• JJ Soden, Castle Rock

• Braylen Lawrence, Toledo

• Coaches: Mack Gaul (Toledo) and Joe Bair (Castle Rock)

*All-Star rosters subject to change.

In Case You Missed It

Skyler Smith for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

1B WIAA Baseball / State Report

SELAH – The Naselle baseball team erased an early three-run deficit and carried a lead into the fifth inning Saturday night, but Dayton capitalized on late opportunities to secure a 7-4 victory and the 1B State Championship, Saturday, at Carlon Park.

Three innings on the one hand. Nine outs on the other.

That’s how close the Comets came to delivering a state championship as a parting gift in Randy Lindstrom’s final game as head coach at Naselle High School.

For Naselle at large, the loss ended a remarkable postseason run that saw the No. 2-seeded Comets claim a District IV title one fortnight ago in a Km Mountain Battle barnburner on neutral ground. The Comets went on to rout No. 7 Sunnyside Christian at home last week in the quarterfinals, before living dangerously in a thrilling victory over No. 11 DeSales on Friday at Wood Field to to reach the championship game.

And while the final result wasn’t what Naselle diehards had hoped for, the run added another impressive chapter to one of the state’s most consistent small-school baseball programs as it simultaneously marked the end of Lindstrom’s tenure as skipper of the Comets.

The Comets were making their third appearance in the State championship this decade, after winning back-to-back titles in 2022-23.

“They got huge heart,” Lindstrom said of his team. “This game humbles you real fast. We’ve had our backs against the wall numerous times all year long, and we just weren’t able to come out on top tonight.”

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Skyler Smith for BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

2B WIAA Baseball Championship / State Report

SELAH — Less than 24 hours after watching a trip to the state championship game slip away in heartbreaking fashion, the Toutle Lake baseball team returned to Carlon Park with one final opportunity to leave the WIAA 2B State Baseball Tournament with something to show for its season.

The Fighting Ducks made sure they didn’t leave Wood Field empty-handed.

Toutle Lake erased an early two-run deficit and broke open a tie game with a four-run sixth inning Saturday afternoon, defeating Northwest Christian (Colbert) 6-3 to secure third place in the state and cap yet another memorable postseason run.

For a team which entered the tournament as a double-digit seed and then found itself just one unfortunate inning away from playing for a State championship, the victory provided both closure and validation after Friday’s extra-inning semifinal loss to Napavine.

In related news, the Tigers of Napavine went on to win the State title on Saturday evening. That’s salt in the wound for the Ducks if they allow it to be, but the East Cowlitz County kids were keeping their heads and hearts in their own dugout, and keeping all things in perspective on the season’s final day.

“There weren’t many people that thought we were going to show up here and win a trophy, but there wasn’t a doubt in our minds,” Toutle Lake head coach Chris Byrd said. “We’ve played well at the end. For the last three weekends in a row we’ve played tough teams and we’ve beat them.”

The plucky Ducks arrived in Selah last weekend as the No. 10 seed and knocked off No. 7 Mount Vernon Christian in convincing fashion before going eight rounds with No. 2 Kittitas in “the weirdest game”. Toutle Lake made the return trip to Carlon Park this week, only to fall No. 3 Napavine in an extra-inning semifinal that ended one step short of a State title appearance.

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BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Baseball

• Dayton 7, Naselle 4 (State Championship)

  

• Toutle Lake 6, Northwest Christian 3 (State 3rd place)

High School Track & Field

The WIAA and OSAA State Championships wrapped up at various locations in Washington and Oregon on Saturday. Be sure to check out our photos from the three-day event.

• Day 1 / Thursday

• Day 2 / Friday

• Day 3 / Saturday

This Day In History

• May 31, 2003: A day after taking home the Class B state title in the discus, Wahkiakum’s Beth Frink makes it a double in Cheney, starting her day in the shot put finals with a 41-foot, 3/4-inch huck that nobody can come within 3 feet of the rest of the day.

  “I wanted to go in there and let everyone know I was there,” Frink said of her first (and winning) attempt.

  Elsewhere around the oval at EWU, Ilwaco’s Nate Appel set both a meet record and a school record when he won the title in the 2A boy’s 800 meters with a time of 1:54.30, and Kalama’s Ryan Scott won the 1A javelin crown with a 185-foot, 1-inch throw.

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In Case You Missed It

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Track & Field / Photo Gallery

Local athletes continued putting one foot in front of the other — or otherwise finding a way to get the job done — during the third and final day of the State Championships on Saturday at assorted locations around the region.

Those efforts netted several State titles for Blast Zone area athletes, with many more finding their way to the podium. In Tacoma the R.A. Long Lumberjills saw Josephine Sully capture the 2A State pole vaulting crown. Meanwhile, over in Yakaima the Toutle Lake Fighting Ducks locked down three gold medals thanks to the throwing efforts of Kristin Strozyk — a senior who competes in a wheel chair.

Keep scrolling below the paywall to see all of the photos Blast Zone Media could collect on Day 3 of the State Championships.

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Skyler Smith for blastzonemedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

OSAA Prep Softball / State Report

CLATSKANIE – The Clatskanie softball team erased two deficits Friday afternoon and saved its best answer for last, as Joey Sizemore’s walk-off RBI infield single in the bottom of the seventh inning secured a 5-4 victory over North Clackamas-Country Christian in the OSAA 2A state quarterfinals in front of one of the largest crowds to watch a Clatskanie softball game in recent memory.

It was the second straight postseason game in which the Tigers celebrated a walk-off winner on their home field. Just 48 hours after Kaden Byrum delivered a two-run walk-off home run to eliminate No. 9 ranked Monroe-Alsea in the opening round of the state tournament, Clatskanie once again found a way to survive and advance.

“We’ve been preparing for this all year,” Clatskanie head coach Teauna Hughes said. “We try and do pressure situations during practices, but I’m more on the mentality side of the game. We just really try to perfect the little things.”

That mentality was tested more than once Friday evening, and each time the hometown Tigers found an answer.

“When stuff happens, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Sizemore said. “All I can think about is next pitch. Just moving on because you can’t do anything about the last one.”

The dramatic finish was familiar territory for a Tigers team that has made a habit of responding under pressure during its postseason run.

The win sends the Tigers into the OSAA 2A state semifinals, where they will travel to play No. 4 Heppner/Ione on Tuesday.

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BlastZoneMedia.com / blastzonenews@gmail.com

High School Softball

• Clatskanie 5, Country Christian/North Clackamas 4 (State Quarterfinals)

High School Baseball

• Napavine 6, Toutle Lake 5 (State semifinals / 8 inn.)

• Naselle 12, DeSales 11 (State semifinals)

High School Track & Field

The WIAA and OSAA State Championships will continue on Saturday for the final events of the 2026 season. Be sure to check out our photo galleries from the first two days of action.

• Day 1

• Day 2

This Day In History

• May 30, 1992: Naselle’s Tracy Elliott brings home the area’s only individual state title on the second day of the Class B State track meet in East Wenatchee, taking the crown in the girls 300-meter hurdles in 46.4 seconds.
  The victory was a bright end to the meet for Elliott, who earlier had led the 100-meter hurdles up until she clipped the penultimate hurdle, and had to settle for sixth.

  
  “She was disappointed, and you could tell,” Naselle coach Steve Tolva said. “Because in the 300 hurdles, nobody even came close to her.

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The Games of The Day

High School Baseball

No. 10 Toutle Lake vs No. 4 Northwest Christian (State 3rd/4th place)

• Wood Field (Carlon Park), Selah, 10 a.m.

No. 2 Naselle vs No. 4 Dayton (State championship)

• Wood Field (Carlon Park), Selah, 7 p.m.

High School Track & Field

WIAA 3A/2A (State Championships)

• Mount Tahom High School, Tacoma (all day)

WIAA 1A/2B/1B (State Championships)

• Eisenhower High School, Yakima (all day)

OSAA 3A/2A (State Championships)

• University of Oregon, Eugene (all day)

In Case You Missed It