Prep fastpitch softball teams largely struggled in the first full week of the spring season. Select local baseball teams looked dominant to start the year. Bellingham track and field athletes set high expectations in the first meet of the season.
On the collegiate side, Western Washington University softball fell to fifth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings after a rough weekend in Ellensburg.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Fastpitch softball
Whatcom County fastpitch teams have experienced wide-ranging results in their non-league schedules so far, as Meridian and Nooksack Valley are already the only local teams that remain undefeated.
Blaine has not won or lost, as the Borderites are the only Northwest Conference team to have not played a game yet.
Meridian is the hot team of the early season, posting wins over Squalicum, Friday Harbor and Coupeville last week. The Trojans have outscored their opponents 39-15 to start the season, highlighted by a 16-0 romp of Friday Harbor on March 15.
Nooksack Valley is off to a 1-0 start after a 19-8 win over Sehome on March 14. Senior Sierra Anderson and junior Lainey Kimball led the Pioneers at the plate, each finishing 3-for-4 batting. Anderson added four runs scored, two home runs and seven RBIs while Kimball belted a three-run home run and tallied five RBIs.
Ferndale began its season on fire, steamrolling Bellingham 26-0 on March 14. The Golden Eagles lost both games of a doubleheader to Friday Harbor on March 18, by a combined score of 15-10.
Lynden bounced back from an 8-6 loss to Arlington to open its season by deflating Archbishop Murphy 22-2 on March 17.
Bellingham, Squalicum, Sehome, Mount Baker and Lynden Christian are all yet to put a notch in the win column.
Baseball
Four local teams hold undefeated records after the first full week of the season, with Bellingham, Meridian, Blaine and Ferndale flying high.
Meridian is 3-0, outscoring its early-season non-league opponents 28-6 thus far. The Trojans have picked up wins over Granite Falls, Friday Harbor and Coupeville, led by a 10-0 performance over Friday Harbor on March 15.
Bellingham hasn’t shied away from tough, familiar opponents in the early part of the campaign, and it’s paid off for the Bayhawks. A tenth-inning walk-off double gave Bellingham a 6-5 win over Lynden Christian on March 18, capping off a 3-0 opening week.
Blaine is 2-0 after a 5-3 win over Burlington-Edison on March 17, led by an impressive performance on the mound from junior pitcher Kieran Markusen.
Markusen pitched all seven innings, striking out 10 batters with no walks and allowing just two earned runs.
Ferndale downed Squalicum 9-3 on March 17 before defeating Enumclaw the next day, 10-4. The Golden Eagles moved to 3-0 on the season after churning out five runs in the sixth inning against Enumclaw. Senior pitcher Jake Mason earned the win on the mound, striking out seven and giving up two hits and as many earned runs in five innings pitched.
Lynden and Squalicum are both 2-1 after the first full week of play while Lynden Christian and Nooksack Valley both sit at 1-2. Sehome and Mount Baker will be in search of their first wins of the season this upcoming week.
Track and field
City Meet: Bellingham, Sehome, Squalicum
The three Bellingham schools kicked off their seasons on March 15 at Civic Stadium, with athletes getting warmed up before larger meets begin in a few weeks.
Sehome sophomore Triya Mitchell finished first in the girls 100-meter dash with her new personal record of 12.99 seconds while freshman teammate Hayden Niewiadomski won the high jump event with her mark of 4-08.
The Mariners’ boys were led by a first-place finish and new PR from senior Mason Hill in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 23.56 seconds.
Squalicum senior Wesley Sluys led 21 other runners in the boys 1,600-meter run, setting a new PR of 4:25.14. The Storm’s Ty Hoffman took first in the boys 400-meter dash with his time of 55.49 seconds, while freshman Hayden Nelson finished 14 feet ahead of the next closest competitor in the boys javelin with a mark of 96-11.50.
Freshman Jolie Paz earned another PR for Squalicum in the girls 100-meter hurdles, capturing first with her time of 17.85 seconds.
Bellingham’s girls performers were led by freshman Isabelle Rogers’ 79-10 mark in the girls discus, finishing first out of 11 throwers. Freshman Jayda Knutsen also notched an event win with her mark of 82-03 in the girls javelin.
Bayhawks senior Javen Livas’ 54-05 mark in the boys shot put currently has him ranked No. 1 in the state at the 2A level, while fellow senior Henry Sheldrup is in the same position in the boys discus after posting a mark of 164-05 — both performances topped the 2A state title-winning marks from last season in their respective events.
WWU
Softball
Western softball lost three of four games versus Central Washington University from March 18–20, all on the road.
The Vikings dropped the first two games on March 18 by a combined score of 15-5, with the second game ending in five innings.
They bounced back on March 19, winning the first game 3-0, but lost the second 8-4.
Western led Central Washington 3-1 after four innings in the second game on March 19 before surrendering seven runs over the fifth and sixth innings.
One highlight for the Vikings was senior pitcher Mareena Ramirez throwing two one-hitters over the four-game stretch, with the first coming in game one (1-0 loss) and the second in game three (3-0 win). Western remains at its best with Ramirez — now 9-3 on the season — in the circle.
Western will host Western Oregon University (13-14, 5-1 GNAC) in another four-game series at Viking Field March 25 and 26. The Vikings fell from first place in the GNAC to fifth after the difficult weekend, now sitting at 12-12 overall and 4-4 in league games.
Prep baseball, fastpitch softball standings — March 21
Baseball, Northwest Conference
| Baseball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Bellingham | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Ferndale | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Meridian | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Blaine | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Burlington-Edison | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Lynden | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Squalicum | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Anacortes | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Lakewood | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Nooksack Valley | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Sehome | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Mount Baker | 0-0 | 0-3 |
Fastpitch softball, Northwest Conference
| Fastpitch softball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Meridian | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-0 | 3-0 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| Anacortes | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| Nooksack Valley | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Lynden | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Ferndale | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Burlington-Edison | 0-0 | 1-3 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-0 | 0-1 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Mount Baker | 0-0 | 0-2 |
| Bellingham | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Squalicum | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Lakewood | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Sehome | 0-0 | 0-3 |
| Blaine | 0-0 | 0-0 |
*Standings were updated on March 21 at 10:10 a.m. to reflect the outcome of the March 20 games.
