A bevy of former area prep standouts are now competing in spring sports in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC).

In baseball, Centralia College features catchers Rusty Beam of Mark Morris, Grant Stonex of Castle Rock and Kelso outfielder Jesus Morgan, and Grays Harbor has Kelso pitchers Nathan Enriquez and Jacob Green.

Kelso’s Phillip Cadwell is roaming the outfield at Olympic College in Bremerton, and Southwestern Oregon College in Coos Bay has Rainier second baseman Jesse Renoude and former Columbians pitcher Justin Parrish as its pitching coach.

Ex-R.A. Long High and Lower Columbia College pitcher Jesse Spellmeyer is the pitching coach and former LCC assistant coach Donegal Fergus is the head coach at Tacoma. Columbia Basin College in Pasco has former LCC and Washington State University head coach Steve Farrington as its head coach. Farrington’s youngest son, Brady, is also a sophomore pitcher with the Hawks.

Clark College’s softball team includes ex-Castle Rock outfielder Stormi Grendahl and pitcher Samantha Watkins, and former Toutle Lake players Amanda (Cox) Jerome and Valerie Noble. The Penguins’ track team includes former R.A. Long standouts Will Hillebrand and Andrea Avalos, Winlock’s Hailey Bryant and Toutle Lake’s Kandra Kent.

Ex-Mark Morris golfer Jason Molner is playing as a freshman at Spokane College.

DeRosier inks at Wenatchee

Three-time all-Greater St. Helens League setter Andrea DeRosier of Kelso has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball beginning this fall at Wenatchee Valley College.

“I knew from talking to her references that she was well-regarded for having a gritty work ethic,” Wenatchee Valley coach Kelly Ketcham said. “Boy did she live up to her reputation. She threw herself around our gym chasing down every second ball. She is quick and agile, and definitely not afraid to get on the floor to make a play.”

DeRosier, who also plays for the Cowlitz Volleyball Club 18 Asics team, is joined on the Knights by outside hitter Lauren Fulton, the 2008 Gatorade Alaska Volleyball Player of the Year.

Grendahl earns accolades

Castle Rock’s Stormi Grendahl, a freshman outfielder with the Clark College softball team, was named a Clark Student-Athlete of the Month during March.

During the month, she hit .457 with eight doubles, a home run and 12 RBIs.

Gaston takes over at GHC

A 30-year-old Idaho native will be the fifth Grays Harbor College men’s basketball coach in the past five seasons when he takes over the Chokers beginning this fall.

Tyler Gaston, a former basketball coach at Castle Port and New Plymouth high schools in Idaho, was hired to replace Del Sandberg, who resigned after one season to return to Pacific Lutheran University as an assistant coach. Sandberg, the brother of former Chicago Cubs infielder Ryne Sandberg, compiled a 1-23 record during the past season.

Prior to Sandberg, George Swanson coached the Chokers to an 18-12 record during the 2007-08 campaign, and Rich Wold led GHC to a 15-13 mark during the 2006-07 season. Leonard Barnes was with the Chokers for three seasons during 2003-06 and had a 46-41 record after succeeding Dick Dixon, who coached the team between 2000-03.

CBC protests bizarre loss

The Columbia Basin College softball team has had difficulty winning its share of NWAACC Eastern Division games this season, but the Hawks reached a low point in a recent doubleheader against the Blue Mountain Timberwolves.

Blue Mountain (22-12, 15-7 league as of April 30) took a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning of the opening game when Sara Weekes broke her ankle. She will be out for the remainder of the season. The Timberwolves, who only had nine players available at the beginning of the game, continued play with eight. Each time Weekes’ spot in the order came to bat, an out was recorded.

But Columbia Basin (15-23, 8-14 league), which managed only seven hits, was held scoreless until the seventh inning when it scored all of its runs. The Hawks coaching staff filed a protest with game officials after the game and a ruling is still pending.

CBC won the nightcap over the short-handed Timberwolves 6-3.

Baseball at Clark College?

If former Major League and Clark College baseball pitcher Randy Myers has his way, Clark would resurrect its baseball program and return to competition in the NWAACC Western Division.

But before the Penguins can suit up, they need to refurbish their on-campus field and determine if there’s enough interest among Vancouver-area high school players to consider playing at Clark.

“I’m supportive of baseball. I would love to see it at Clark,” college president Bob Knight told the Vancouver Columbian. “But we have a lot of things to fund. I have to measure it against all the priorities at the college. It’s not the highest priority, but if the students wish to support this I will certainly endorse it.”

Supporters will need to raise about $31,000 to make the field playable and purchase equipment. They also need to convince the school’s student finance committee to provide permanent funding for the program through the allocation of student fees.

Myers, who played baseball at Clark in 1981 and ’82 before a 14-year Major League career as a relief pitcher, has pledged to match donations to resurrect the team at a 4-to-1 rate, and would give an additional $10,000 if the field is named after his former coach at Clark, Vern Kindsfather.

Around the NWAACC

Geri Wuollet, who helped Toutle Lake to the Class 2B state softball championship in 2006, has inked a letter of intent to play softball next season at Clark College. … Former Lower Columbia College men’s basketball players Ryan Freeman and Josh Troyer have inked to play next season at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. The duo will join ex-LCC player Anthony Gallagher, who will be a senior with the Geoducks next season.

Rick McCorkle is a sportswriter for The Daily News. He can be reached at 577-2529 or rmccorkle@tdn.com