CC Notebook: LCC softball in action this weekend
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 11:35 PM PDT
By Rick McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe three-time defending NWAACC champion Lower Columbia College women’s softball team will unveil its 2009 lineup when it participates in the Sophomore Showcase and Fall Classic on Saturday at Portland’s Delta Park.
The Fall Classic features 31 games beginning at 8 a.m., with action continuing at 9:30, 11, 12:30 p.m., 6:30 and 8. The Lady Devils play Centralia at 11 a.m., tangle with Columbia Basin at 12:30 p.m. and meet Pierce at 6:30.
Also during the day, the Sophomore All-Star Showcase games will be contested at 2:30 and 4:30. LCC players Tasia Trochim, Samantha Petrich, Camy Way and Kassandra Myers are members of the South team, which squares off with the North at 2:30 and the West at 4:30.
Petrich, a middle infielder, hit a team-leading .510 with 11 home runs, 50 runs batted in and 20 stolen bases. She earned NFCA All-American honors from Louisville Slugger, was named to the NWAACC Southern Division’s first team and was selected to the NWAACC All-Tournament team.
Way, a first baseman, hit .469 with eight home runs and 40 RBIs to earn Southern Division first-team honors, and Myers hit .339 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs to garner Southern Division second-team accolades and a berth on the all-tournament team.
Besides hitting .300, Trochim had an 11-2 record with a 3.05 earned run average. In 87 innings, she struck out 76.
On Oct. 4, the Lady Devils will host a tripleheader with South Puget Sound, Bellevue and Everett at Tam O’Shanter Park. LCC opens with South Puget Sound at noon, followed by Bellevue at 2 p.m. and Everett at 4.
LCC will participate in a fall scrimmage at the University of Washington on Oct. 11-12. On Oct. 11, the Lady Devils play Western Washington University at 9:40 a.m., followed by a meeting with Simon Fraser University of Canada at 11:20. On Oct. 12, LCC tangles with Central Washington University at 11:20 a.m., followed by a matchup with the University of Washington at 1 p.m.
Fassold, Zirkle pitch in WCCBL championship
Current LCC pitcher Cody Fassold and ex-Red Devil Luke Zirkle helped the Wenatchee AppleSox to a runner-up finish behind Corvallis in the race for the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League title.
Fassold, a returning sophomore from Gaston, Ore., who also earned all-WCCBL honorable mention, had a 3-0 record with a 2.43 earned run average during the regular season. In the postseason, he took a perfect game into the sixth inning and struck out 13 while leading the AppleSox to the league’s Eastern Division title with a 4-2 win over Kelowna.
Zirkle, who had a 0-0 record with a 3.48 earned run average in relief, also hit .295 with five RBIs, including a two-run double in Wenatchee’s 5-3 postseason win over Kelowna.
LCC pitching coach Rob Hippi finished his second campaign in a similar role with the AppleSox. His Wenatchee hurlers compiled a 23-19 record with a 3.56 earned run average. In 372 innings, his troops struck out 329 and allowed the second-fewest walks (140) in the league.
Former Devils pitchers Chad Wagner and Paul Dickey also earned all-WCCBL honorable mention as members of the Kitsap Bluejackets. Wagner had a 4-3 record with a 3.41 earned run average, and Dickey went 2-7 with a 6.02 ERA.
Another ex-LCC player, Jett Hart, started 18 of 21 games played and hit .217 with nine stolen bases for the Bellingham Bells.
In addition, LCC athletic director Kirc Roland is a member of the WCCBL Advisory Board, and former Seattle Mariners broadcaster Ken Wilson is league president.
Ten Red Devils to play four-year college baseball
A number of sophomores from the 2008 NWAACC Western Division champion LCC baseball team have inked letters of intent to continue their collegiate diamond careers at the university level.
Infielder Shawn Peterson, outfielder De’Andre Wheeler and pitcher Rye Phillips are headed to Western Oregon University, and catcher Bas Nooij and pitcher Chad Wagner are taking their talents to Hawaii Pacific University.
Also moving on are pitchers Ryan Graves (Central Washington University), Brian Erickson (Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho), Alex Levin (Fullerton State University), Ben Rosen (College of Idaho) and Luke Zirkle (Bellevue University in Nebraska).
Devils in the minor leagues
Eight former LCC baseball players had mixed results while toiling for minor league professional teams during the past season.
Broc Coffman started 19 games and finished with a 10-5 record with a 3.03 earned run average with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, an independent team playing in the Northern League. Coffman finished the season tied for the league lead in victories, was fifth in strikeouts with 82 in 115 innings, and was fifth in earned run average among starters having pitched 75 innings or more.
Kyle Aselton compiled an 8-6 record with a save and a 4.24 earned run average for the New Britain Rock Cats, the Class AA team in the Minnesota Twins organization competing in the Eastern League in New Britain, Conn. In 38 appearances including 14 starts, he struck out 86 batters in 110 innings.
Aselton pitched victories in his last four starts, including back-to-back outings that earned him Bank of America Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors. During the two-game span, he had a 0.00 earned run average and struck out 17 in 12 innings.
Josh Keller, who inked a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, split his season between the Angels’ Arizona Instructional League team and the Orem (Utah) Owlz of the Pioneer League.
While in Arizona, Keller was 1-0 with six saves and a 3.77 earned run average. He finished the season with a 1-1 record and a 5.68 earned run average in seven games with the Owlz.
Drew George, who helped Oregon State University to victory in the 2007 College World Series, signed on with the Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints of the independent Class A Frontier League. George, a third baseman, played 15 games and hit .154 in 39 at-bats with three doubles.
George has returned to OSU to complete a degree in social studies and work as an assistant infielders coach.
Outfielder Lyndon Estill split time with a pair of teams in the Chicago White Sox farm system. He hit .226 with eight home runs and 24 runs batted in with the Great Falls (Mont.) Rookie League squad in the Pioneer League, and hit .197 with nine RBIs with the Kannapolis (S.C.) Intimidators, a short-season Class A team in the South Atlantic League.
Shortstop Brooks Lindsley, an 18th-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft held in June, helped the Salem-Keizer (Ore.) Volcanoes to a runner-up finish in the Class A Northwest League championships. Lindsley started 26 games for the Volcanoes, and hit .254 with seven RBIs and four stolen bases in 71 at-bats.
Prior to joining the Volcanoes, Lindsley hit .349 with 14 RBIs in 20 games with the Giants’ team in the Arizona Instructional League.
Ryan Shaver pitched briefly for the San Jose Giants before his season was cut short by injury. While with San Jose, a Class A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants in the California League, he had a 0-0 record with a 4.50 earned run average in eight relief appearances spanning 14 innings.
Pitcher Dustin (D.J.) Lidyard pitched a month with the Fargo-Moorhead (N.D.) RedHawks before he was released on May 10. As a rookie in 2007, Lidyard had a 3-2 record with a 4.83 earned run average for the West Virginia Power of the South Atlantic League, a Class A farm team of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Former Devils pitcher Renkert calls it quits
Former LCC and Washington State University pitcher Dane Renkert, who was drafted in the 29th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, has retired from professional baseball.
The 24-year-old Renkert, who finished the past season pitching for the Fargo-Moorhead (N.D.) RedHawks of the independent Northern League, has decided to concentrate his time on his granite company (www.cornerstone1001.com), which makes customized products for commercial and residential projects.
While at WSU, Renkert studied communications with an emphasis on journalism. Throughout his minor league career, Renkert penned a weekly column for the Bellingham Herald about his baseball exploits.
Around the NWAACC ...
A half-dozen former standout area prep student-athletes are listed on volleyball and soccer rosters with NWAACC schools.
Ex-R.A. Long High volleyball players Shyra Hoffman and BriAnne Culbertson are playing at Clark and Mount Hood colleges, respectively, and Toledo’s Hilary Luhn and Christina Hertz of Winlock are toiling at Centralia College.
Winlock’s Hailey Bryant is a defender with the Clark College women’s soccer team, and Jeremy Penley of Mark Morris is a forward with the Tacoma College men’s squad.
Rick McCorkle is a sportswriter for The Daily News. He can be reached at 577-2529 or rmccorkle@lee.net
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