The major players in the Northwest Conference baseball standings have been somewhat shaken, while not much has changed in the fastpitch softball and boys soccer ranks.
Western Washington University softball wrapped up its non-league schedule in dominating fashion with one final tournament in California.
Here’s an overview of what you may have missed from the last week of the spring season.
Prep
Baseball
Lynden is the only Whatcom County team still undefeated, and the Lions are sitting at 6-0 overall (3-0 NWC) ahead of spring break week.
Blaine (5-2, 1-2 NWC) and Meridian (4-2, 1-2 NWC) have each lost two in a row after being in that same camp last week. Blaine lost to Sehome and Anacortes by a combined four runs, while Meridian dropped games against Lakewood and Oak Harbor by just three total scores.
Bellingham (4-3, 2-1 NWC) has vaulted up the standings after this last week, as the Bayhawks beat Burlington-Edison 4-3 on Thursday, March 21 before shutting out Mount Baker on Tuesday, March 26.
Lynden Christian, Ferndale, Sehome and Nooksack Valley all have 1-2 NWC records, similar to Blaine and Meridian, which have them all in the mix. Sehome pulled off an impressive upset over Blaine last week, and the Mariners lost by just one to Lynden, 6-5, on March 26.
Seven games involving local teams were canceled due to weather on Saturday, March 23, limiting the slate of contests played since last Wednesday.
Fastpitch softball
Very little defense is being played in the NWC this season. Of the 22 total league games that have been played since March 21, the winning team scored double-digit runs in 19 of them.
A few were closer than others. Lynden (7-0, 3-0 NWC) survived a nail-biter with Peninsula, 15-14, on March 23 after erasing a six-run deficit entering the fifth inning. Sehome lost to Shorecrest, 14-13, on Monday, March 25, and Mount Baker outlasted Mount Vernon, 13-11, the next day.
Seven teams in the NWC are averaging double-digit runs scored per game, while three others are allowing at least 12 on a nightly basis.
Lynden is currently at the top of the standings, but Mount Baker (5-1, 2-1 NWC), Blaine (2-0, 1-0 NWC) and Meridian (3-2, 2-1 NWC) are also in the mix. Meridian also pulled off an impressive 9-8 win over Anacortes on March 26.
Boys soccer
Three teams now stand out from the bunch: Sehome (6-0-0, 2-0-0 NWC), Bellingham (6-1-0, 2-0-0 NWC) and Squalicum (4-2-0, 2-0-0 NWC). Squalicum’s only two losses have been to Sehome and Class 4A Lake Stevens.
Sehome is yet to surrender a single goal in its two league games, combining to beat Lynden and Sedro-Woolley by a score of 10-0.
Lynden (3-4-1, 1-2-0 NWC) has lost three straight games, falling to Ferndale, Bellingham and Sehome in that span. The Lions began the season near the top, and have since plummeted in the league hierarchy.
In Class 1A, Blaine (4-1-1, 0-1-0 NWC), Meridian (3-2-0, 1-0-0 NWC) and Nooksack Valley (2-3-0, 1-0-0 NWC) are all neck and neck. While Blaine has the best overall record, it has the worst league record of the trio after a 2-1 loss to Meridian on March 26.
NV, on the other hand, beat Mount Baker in the Mountaineers’ season opener, 2-0, on March 25. The Pioneers are yet to earn a win that indicates how truly competitive they will be.
WWU
Softball
Western softball went a perfect 5-0 at the 2024 Tournament of Champions on March 22–24 in Turlock, California. The Vikings are now ranked No. 13 nationally after beating their opponents — including No. 19 Cal State San Marcos — by a combined score of 25-3.
Sophomore infielder Hailey Rath and junior catcher Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez each crushed home runs, with the latter notching her team-high ninth bomb of the season in a 6-1 win over Cal Poly Humboldt on March 23.
Western (22-4, 2-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) already has 22 home runs on the season — more than twice the amount it had in 49 games last season (10).
The Vikings’ talented pitching staff of junior Joie Baker (8-2), freshmen Kaiana Kong (6-1) and Alli Kimball (8-1) threw three shutouts in the tournament, allowing just 22 hits and two earned runs in five games while striking out 23 batters.
Western has now completed all of its non-league games for the season, and its next set of matches will be a four-game home series against Saint Martin’s from March 29–30. The Vikings will play two games each day, with the first at 12 p.m. and the second at 2:30 p.m. both days.
Northwest Conference baseball standings — March 20
Northwest Conference fastpitch softball standings — March 20
| Baseball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Mount Vernon | 3-0 | 7-2 |
| Lynden | 3-0 | 6-0 |
| Oak Harbor | 3-0 | 6-0 |
| Anacortes | 3-0 | 6-2 |
| Lakewood | 3-0 | 3-1 |
| Bellingham | 2-1 | 4-3 |
| Blaine | 1-2 | 5-2 |
| Meridian | 1-2 | 4-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 1-2 | 4-3 |
| Burlington- Edison | 1-2 | 3-4 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-2 | 3-4 |
| Ferndale | 1-2 | 2-3 |
| Sehome | 1-2 | 2-5 |
| Sedro- Woolley | 0-3 | 3-5 |
| Mount Baker | 0-3 | 0-5 |
| Squalicum | 0-3 | 0-6 |
| Softball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Lynden | 3-0 | 7-0 |
| Burlington- Edison | 3-0 | 3-4 |
| Blaine | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| Sedro- Woolley | 2-0 | 4-1 |
| Mount Baker | 2-1 | 5-1 |
| Lakewood | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| Meridian | 2-1 | 3-2 |
| Sehome | 1-2 | 5-3 |
| Ferndale | 1-2 | 3-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 1-2 | 3-2 |
| Anacortes | 1-2 | 3-2 |
| Oak Harbor | 1-2 | 3-3 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-2 | 1-3 |
| Mount Vernon | 1-2 | 1-5 |
| Squalicum | 0-3 | 0-6 |
| Bellingham | 0-3 | 0-7 |
Northwest Conference boys soccer standings — March 20
| Boys soccer | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L-T | W-L-T |
| Bellingham | 3-0-0 | 7-1-0 |
| Sehome | 2-0-0 | 6-0-0 |
| Squalicum | 2-0-0 | 4-2-0 |
| Nooksack Valley | 2-0-0 | 2-3-0 |
| Mount Vernon | 2-1-0 | 4-2-0 |
| Ferndale | 1-2-1 | 1-4-1 |
| Burlington-Edison | 1-0-0 | 3-2-0 |
| Meridian | 1-0-0 | 3-2-0 |
| Lakewood | 1-2-0 | 3-3-1 |
| Lynden | 1-2-0 | 3-4-1 |
| Anacortes | 1-1-0 | 2-3-1 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-4-1 | 1-6-1 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-0-0 | 1-4-0 |
| Blaine | 0-1-0 | 4-1-1 |
| Mount Baker | 0-1-0 | 0-1-0 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-2-0 | 2-4-0 |
Connor J. Benintendi is CDN’s sports editor; reach him at connorbenintendi@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
