Search
Close this search box.
Happy Birthday to us! Try 6 months of unlimited local news for $2.

Sports roundup: First week of baseball districts conclude

WWU track and field posts new PRs at Portland Twilight meet

Lynden Christian junior Jonah Terpstra extends for a ground ball May 6 during the Lyncs' 3-2 loss to Overlake in the first round of the 1A District 1/2 tournament.
Lynden Christian junior Jonah Terpstra extends for a ground ball May 6 during the Lyncs' 3-2 loss to Overlake in the first round of the 1A District 1/2 tournament. (Finn Wendt/Cascadia Daily News)
By Connor J. Benintendi Sports Editor

The first week of prep baseball districts is in the books. Fastpitch softball teams near the postseason. Boys and girls golfers nabbed more tournament wins. Western Washington University track and field was split between two meets in Oregon.

Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep sports teams over the past week.

Prep

Fastpitch softball

With one week left in the regular season, Blaine (15-2, 12-1 Northwest Conference) is no longer the clear favorite to win the league title. Sedro-Woolley (15-3, 11-2 NWC) is nipping at the Borderites’ heels in the home stretch.

Blaine beat Mount Baker, Meridian, Elma and Bellevue Christian last week, but the Borderites lost a non-league game to Montesano, 4-1, on May 6. 

Sedro-Woolley has won its last seven games and 11 of its last 12. The Borderites won the only regular-season meeting between the two teams — a 3-1 victory on March 23 — and they will not meet in districts due to being in different classifications. 

Nevertheless, it will be an interesting race to watch with the postseason rapidly approaching.

Lynden has won five of its last six games, thrusting the Lions into a fourth-place tie with Mount Baker in the league standings. Both teams are 12-6 overall with a 9-4 conference record.

Baseball

photo  Ferndale’s Tipton Bundy makes a sliding catch in the outfield March 17 in a game against Squalicum. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)  

All but three Whatcom County teams are still alive heading into the second week of district tournaments.

Nooksack Valley, Blaine and Mount Baker had their seasons end, with the Mountaineers being the only team that did not get a bid into the 1A District 1/2 bracket.


Meridian and Lynden Christian will face off in an elimination game on Saturday, May 13.

Lynden remains hot in the 2A District 1 tournament. The No. 2-seeded Lions routed No. 7 Bellingham 10-0 in the quarterfinals on May 6, advancing them to a semifinals game against No. 3 Burlington-Edison on Tuesday, May 9.

Bellingham will face No. 6 Sedro-Woolley in a consolation first-round game, and No. 8 Sehome is up against a rival in No. 5 Squalicum, both of which will be elimination games on May 9.

Squalicum lost to No. 4 Archbishop Murphy, 5-0, in the first round, while Sehome fell 11-1 to top-seeded Anacortes.

No. 3-seeded Ferndale is alone and thriving in the 3A District 1 bracket after edging No. 3 Mount Vernon, 7-6.

Senior pitcher Jake Mason picked up the win on the mound for Ferndale, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out five batters. 

Offensively, it was a team effort for the Golden Eagles. Senior outfielder Andrew James finished the game 2-for-2 with two runs scored, while junior pitcher Camden Raymond went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Senior pitcher Dylan Strom, sophomore infielder Talon Bungard and James each scored twice.

Ferndale will now face No. 2 Edmonds-Woodway at 7 p.m. on May 9.

Boys golf

photo  Lynden’s Jack Stapleton watches his tee shot April 28 during a match with Lynden Christian at Homestead Farms Golf Club. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)  

Whatcom County boys golf teams were spread across two large tournaments on May 1. 

Ferndale, Lynden Christian, Meridian, Nooksack Valley, Mount Baker and Squalicum attended the Mount Vernon-hosted event at Avalon Golf Links, and Ferndale’s Baylor Larrabee continued his league-leading campaign with another event win. 

Larrabee shot a 72, edging Squalicum’s Daniel Robbins (76) by four strokes. Meridian’s Daniel Blankenburg and Griffin Dykstra tied for third (77) while Oak Harbor’s Tobias Wood finished fifth (82). 

LC won the meet as a group, finishing with a team score of 416. Oak Harbor took second (435) and Squalicum placed third (443).

Bellingham and Lynden attended a Sehome-hosted tournament at Lake Padden Golf Course along with four other teams.

Lynden’s Logan Medcalf beat his season average by seven strokes with an event-winning score of 66. Sehome’s Wes Bothel was close behind Medcalf with a 68.

Sehome’s John Kummer and Burlington-Edison’s Ben Wilson tied for third with a 74, and the Tigers rounded out the top five finishers with Rex Wilson’s 75.

The team scores were close, and Burlington-Edison won the event with its 380 team score. Sehome was just two strokes behind the Tigers with its 382, and Lynden took third with a 408.

Girls golf

Blaine, Ferndale, Meridian, Mount Baker, Nooksack Valley and Squalicum were at the Whidbey Golf Club on May 4 for an Oak Harbor-hosted tournament.

Blaine’s Ellie Tanjuaquio was the top local finisher, taking sixth with her score of 100. Tanjuaquio’s teammate, Kijah VanRijswijck, finished eighth with a 115 and Ferndale’s Morgan Hayes took ninth with her 110.

WWU

Track and field

Western’s regular season has come to an end, and the Vikings were split between two meets in Oregon on May 6.

One Viking, freshman Jaden Johnson, competed at the Linfield Open at Maxwell Field in McMinnville, Oregon, while other Western athletes were at the Portland Twilight meet at Griswold Stadium in Portland.

Western sophomore Kevin McDermott set a new personal record in the men’s 1,500-meter run with his time of 3:48.17. McDermott, who is ranked No. 7 in program history in the event, finished fourth out of 61 runners.

Junior Drew Weber finished fifth in the men’s 800-meter run with his time of 1:50.68, edging sophomore teammate Jonah Bloom who set a new personal record in the event (1:50.69). Bloom moved up to No. 4 in program history with the finish. 

Junior Marian Ledesma finished ninth out of 32 finishers in the women’s 800-meter run with her time of 2:11.82, beating all other NCAA Division II runners. Haley O’Connor, a Western assistant coach, ran for the Bellingham Distance Project and finished third overall (2:08.18).

At the Linfield Open, Johnson finished fifth in the 200-meter dash (22.71 seconds) and 10th in the 100-meter dash (11.32 seconds).

Western will now prepare for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships which run May 12–13. The event will be at McArthur Field on Western Oregon University’s campus in Monmouth, Oregon.

Prep baseball, fastpitch softball standings — May 9

Baseball, Northwest Conference

Baseball League Overall
Team W-L W-L
Anacortes 13-2 17-4
Lynden 13-2 17-5
Mount Vernon 13-2 16-5
Ferndale 12-3 18-3
Blaine 10-5 13-8
Burlington-Edison 9-6 12-8
Meridian 8-7 13-9
Oak Harbor 8-7 11-8
Lynden Christian 7-8 9-12
Squalicum 6-9 8-11
Sedro-Woolley 6-9 8-12
Bellingham 4-11 8-13
Sehome 4-11 5-15
Nooksack Valley 3-12 4-16
Lakewood 2-13 4-16
Mount Baker 2-13 2-16

Fastpitch softball, Northwest Conference

Fastpitch softball League Overall
Team W-L W-L
Blaine 12-1 15-2
Sedro-Woolley 11-2 15-3
Burlington-Edison 10-2 12-5
Lynden 10-4 13-6
Mount Baker 10-5 13-7
Mount Vernon 9-5 9-9
Oak Harbor 8-6 10-9
Squalicum 7-6 8-9
Lakewood 7-6 7-9
Lynden Christian 7-7 9-10
Meridian 5-8 9-8
Nooksack Valley 5-9 8-11
Ferndale 4-10 6-13
Anacortes 2-11 4-12
Sehome 1-13 2-15
Bellingham 0-13 0-18

*Standings were updated on May 9 at 10:18 a.m. to reflect the outcome of the May 8 games.

Latest stories

Upcoming recreation opportunities and professional, college and prep sports
March 27, 2024 10:00 p.m.
Lynden baseball, softball both remain undefeated
March 27, 2024 6:44 p.m.
Eight-run fifth frame powers Bayhawks to 10-0 win over Mountaineers
March 26, 2024 10:00 p.m.

Have a news tip?

Email newstips@cascadiadaily.com or Call/Text 360-922-3092

Sign up for our free email newsletters

Preferences: