Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Locally: Former Gonzaga baseball standout Jason Bay to be inducted into Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Boston’s Jason Bay watches the flight of his three-run home run during the first inning of Game 2 of the American League division series against the Los Angeles Angels on Oct. 3, 2008. (Chris Carlson / AP)

On Thursday, July 2, 2009, during the second of his two years with the Red Sox, Jason Bay became a U.S. citizen during a ceremony at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

Nearly 10 years later, on June 15, 2019, in St. Mary’s, Ontario, the Canadian-American from Trail, British Columbia, whose exploits at North Idaho College and Gonzaga University launched an 11-year Major League Baseball career, will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

“It was a very pleasant and somewhat unexpected surprise to get that call from the Canadian Hall of Fame,” Bay is quoted in a release announcing his selection. “I’m proud and honored to be recognized with great people who have helped build baseball in Canada in various ways, to the elite level it has become. I’m looking forward to it!”

Bay was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 22nd round in 2000 and made his major league debut with San Diego on May 23, 2003, after being traded in 2002. His first major league hit was a ninth-inning home run in that game. Two days later, he suffered a broken right wrist after being hit by a pitch.

His best season came in 2004 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hit 26 home runs with a .282 batting average and was named the National League Rookie of the Year, the only Canadian to win the award.

The left fielder was named to the Major League All-Star game three times; three times he was the Tip O’Neill Award winner as the best Canadian baseball player; and he won the Silver Slugger Award in 2009 that is given to the best offensive player at each position. That year he also was named No. 41 on The Sporting News’ list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball.

Bay collected 1,200 hits and 222 home runs during his career that also included the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners. He ended his career after the 2013 season in Seattle in which he hit .204 with 11 home runs and 20 RBIs in 68 games.

In two years at Gonzaga (1999-2000) after two at NIC, Bay hit 35 career home runs, which ranks third in school history. His .374 career batting average is seventh.

In 2015, Bay became the first Gonzaga baseball player inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor.

Bay, whose Trail youth team reached the 1990 Little League World Series, will be inducted with former pitcher Ryan Dempster, coach Rob Thomson and executive Gord Ash.

College scene

Kelly Dopke, the first Idaho soccer player to earn Google Cloud Academic All-America first-team honors, has been named one of 42 recipients (21 female, 21 male) of a 2018-19 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship worth $10,000.

Dopke, who has a 4.0 GPA in medical sciences, said she was “in disbelief” when she was notified. She said she will use it to jump-start her medical career.

“Following graduation in May, I’ll be studying abroad in London,” she said. “I’ll be studying comparative health systems for a short week and then I’ll come back to the U.S. … Med school in 2020 is for sure the goal,” although she is unsure on a field to pursue.

“I think the best option is to go into med school undecided and then figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life,” she said. “I think that if I go in already decided on a specialty that I might pigeonhole myself. I think going in with an open mind and then figuring it out in med school is the best option. And it will make me the best doctor.”

Ella Dederick, Washington State’s star goalkeeper who led the Cougars into the third round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament in 2017, has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after her 2018 senior season was ended by an injury late in the fifth game.

One of WSU’s all-time top keepers, she ranks second in wins (35) and goals-against average (0.87), third in shutouts (20.5) and minutes played (6,072), and fifth in win percentage (.606).

Andrew Hoover, a Case Western Reserve University junior from Mt. Spokane, captured a second straight University Athletic Association wrestler of the year honor, this one at 149 pounds. He was the top wrestler at 141 as a sophomore.

Andrew and twin brother Alec, CWRU captains and All-GSL wrestlers at Mt. Spokane and State 3A placers, helped the Cleveland school to a second-place finish in the Division III UAA. Alec, who has a team-leading 25-7 record, finished second at 141 this year. Andrew will take a 19-15 record into regionals next weekend.

Earlier this season, Alec was inducted into the Case Western Van Horn Society for academic achievement with a GPA of 3.8 or higher. The brothers were Academic All-Americans as sophomores.

Nate Pryor, North Idaho’s freshman point guard from Seattle, was named NWAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week following a 38-point effort that led the Cardinals to a 114-80 victory over Big Bend.

Pryor shot 71 percent from the floor and added 10 assists – he ranks fifth in the conference with 109 – eight rebounds and two steals as the No. 1 Cardinals ran their record to 20-2, 9-0 atop the East Region. Pryor ranks 19th in the NWAC with an 18.1 scoring average. His 38 steals are 18th.

• Whitworth baseball and softball pitchers claimed Northwest Conference player of the week awards.

Junior Matthew Young received the baseball honor for his performance in Whitworth’s season-opening win at College of Idaho. In seven shutout innings, he had six strikeouts and allowed just three hits and no walks.

Freshman Drea Schwaier-Wolf won the softball award after she allowed just one earned run in 20 2/3 innings in three complete games, striking out nine and walking three.

• Sophomore Ryan Grady and junior Byron Rossmiller each won three individual events and contributed 60 points apiece to lead Whitworth to its second straight Northwest Conference men’s swimming championship last weekend in Federal Way, Washington, and 16th in 18 years.

They shared Men’s Swimmer of the Year honors with Noah Cutting of Linfield, also a three-event winner. One of Grady’s wins was a conference-record 2:00.57 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Whitworth’s Steve Schadt was named the Men’s Coach of the Year.

Whitworth’s women finished third behind Whitman and Linfield.

• Whitworth landed 47 slots on the All-Northwest Conference swimming teams. The men claimed 20 slots on the first team and eight on the second. The women had six first-team slots and 13 on the second.

Men: First team: 200 medley relay (Byron Rossmiller, jr.; Ryan Grady, so.; Eben Schumann, sr.; Owen Lempert, jr.); 800 free relay (Grady; Jake Davies, so.; Logan Todd, fr.; Finn McClone, r.); Grady, 500 free, 100 breast, 200 breast; Davies, 200 IM, 200 breast; Lempert, 50 free, 100 breast, 100 free; Schumann, 50 free, 100 fly, 200 back; 400 medley relay (Rossmiller, Grady, Schumann, Lempert); Rossmiller, 400 IM; McClone, 200 free; Rossmiller, 100 back, 200 back; 200 free relay (Lempert; Andrew Gonzalez, sr.; Tristan Todd, jr.; Schumann); 400 free relay (Lempert, McClone, Gonzalez, Schumann). Second team: McClone, 500 free, 200 back; Logan Todd, 500 free, 200 fly; Tristan Todd, 100 fly; Davies, 100 breast; Gonzalez, 100 free; Alex Henderson, fr., 200 breast.

Women: First team: Cameron Lyon, so., 500 yard freestyle; Jamie Siegler, so., 50 free, 100 breaststroke, 200 breast; Hannah Galbraith, jr., 100 backstroke; Cameron Lyon, so., 1,650 free. Second team: 200 medley relay (Galbraith; Siegler; Isabella Hackney, fr.; Eve Vetter, fr.); 800 free relay (Molly Vagt, so.; Vetter; Hackney; Lyon); Marissa Gibson, jr., 500 free; Jessica Defiesta, fr., 500 free, 400 IM, 1,650 free; Vetter, 200 individual medley, 400 IM; 400 medley relay (Galbraith, Siegler, Lyon, Hackney); Olivia Cox, jr., 400 IM; Gaby Thomas, sr., 200 free; Lyon, 200 butterfly; Vagt, 200 fly.

• Three Washington State indoor track records fell in meets in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Seattle last weekend.

Freshmen women’s records were set by Charisma Taylor in the 60-meter hurdles (8.30 seconds) in Albuquerque and Emma Jenkins in the 5,000 meters (16 minutes, 49.99 seconds) in the Husky Classic in Seattle. Emmanuel Wells Jr. set overall program and indoor records in the men’s 60-meter dash (6.55) at the Don Kirby Elite in Albuquerque.

• The Gonzaga women’s and men’s cross country programs have been recognized as All-Academic teams by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for a fifth straight season. The men had a 3.40 cumulative GPA, while the women had a 3.57.

• The Whitworth women were selected to finish fourth and the men sixth in Northwest Conference coaches’ preseason tennis polls. Defending champions Linfield (women) and Whitman (men) were picked to finish first.

The Pirates women are led by their top doubles team, All-NWC Eric Lee and Emma Jo Wiley, who had a 10-3 record in 2018. Lone senior Nick Hughes will lead the Bucs’ men.

Golf

The 21st annual Spokane Golf & Travel Show is next Saturday and Sunday in the Spokane Convention Center.

Hours are from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $12 with children 12 and under free. Tickets are available at TicketsWest outlets or the golf show web site, spokanegolfshow.com.

Every adult paid admission will receive a free round of golf from Fairways Golf Course. If tickets are purchased online, buyers can select a bonus golf offer from a variety of area courses.

Wide World of Golf will have its demo zone and more than eight manufacturers will feature the latest equipment. There will also be clearance and close out clothing and equipment from area courses. Other features will include long putt and long drive contests, and break-the-glass and putting challenges.

Information: (509) 621-0125.

Hockey

Spokane Chiefs players bagged groceries and collected donations at three Fred Meyer locations on Feb. 4 that Second Harvest said will provide more than 3,200 meals for needy individuals throughout the Inland Northwest.

Letters of intent

Gonzaga men’s cross country/track & field: Myles Bach, distances, Center Point, Iowa; Evan Bates, distances, Stevenson Ranch, California.

Idaho women’s tennis: Nicole Horacek, Vancouver, B.C.

Washington State volleyball: Julia Norville, libero/DS, Orangevale, California; Reagan Cooper, OH, Dallas; Alexcis Lusby, OH, Sparks, Nevada; Magda Jehlarova, MB, Prerov, Czech Republic; Mykayla Myers, MB, Coppell, Texas; Pia Timmer, OH, Emlichheim, Germany; Weronika Wojdyla, OH, Krakow, Poland.

Shooting

The Spokane Junior Rifle Club Gold team finished 28th at the U.S. Army National Junior Air Rifle Championships on Jan. 24-26 in Fort Benning, Georgia. It had been 22nd out of 89 qualifiers.

Cassidy Wilson, 18, homeschooled; Taylor Christian, 17, Spokane Valley Tech; Zach Pearsall, 17, homeschooled; and Caden Kight, 15, Northwest Christian, combined to shoot 4,702 out of a possible 5,232. The national champion shot 4,909.9. Ben Jones, 15, homeschooled, was the alternate.

In the companion individual competition with 138 shooters, Wilson finished 38th and Christian 60th.

The Army Marksmanship Unit also staged its first National Championship 3-position small-bore (0.22) outdoor match at the same time. Pearsall led three SJRC shooters, placing 77th out of 113.

Volleyball

Collin Cohen, a volunteer assistant at Utah last season, has been named an assistant coach at Eastern Washington, Eagles head volleyball coach Leslie Flores-Cloud announced.

He becomes a second assistant, joining Kelly Bonjas, who will be entering her second season.

Cohen, who helped the Utes advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, played at Santa Barbara City College for two seasons before transferring to Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. Prior to Utah, he was the head men’s coach at Missouri Valley College after assisting with the women’s program for a season.