Area sports

What? Dinner in front of the tube with no place setting for Dennis Patchin? Chiefs highlights and Zags recaps without his brisk narration? No more of him giving high school touchdowns the Super Bowl treatment and making B tournament 3-pointers sound so improbable you'd think it was Steph Curry bringing home the gold? The nightly sports without a whisper – not that he ever relied on that volume setting – of Dennis Patchin? OK, altogether now: Are you kidding me?

HILLSBORO, Ore. – The Spokane Indians have led the Northwest League in run differential the entire second half of the season. But the past two games the Hillsboro pitching staff have silenced the Indians offense.

JC Fundahn has only been playing softball for about 20 years, but said he’s finally going to hang it up this year.

From staff reports

HILLSBORO, Ore. – Andy Perez – in his first game in High-A – plated the go-ahead run on a squeeze bunt and the Spokane Indians came from behind to beat the Hillsboro Hops 11-3 in the opener of a six-game Northwest League series at Ron Tonkin Field on Tuesday.

Connor Staine is just 23 years old but seems mature beyond his years.

With the Spokane Indians playing at the High-A level, Spokane’s relative proximity to Denver, and the revamped clubhouse, commissary and workout areas at Avista Stadium, MLB rehab assignments from the parent club Colorado Rockies may become more commonplace. On Sunday, the Indians had their second such appearance of the season, with big league pitcher Antonio Senzatela joining the roster.

Spokane Zephyr FC didn’t earn a win in its inaugural match, but the club didn’t disappoint, either.

The Spokane Indians have had the Vancouver Canadians number most of this season, going 20-6 against their visitors entering play Saturday.

Growing up with Mica native Joe Kopp for a father, a man also recognized as one of the most respected riders in American Motorcyclist Association Flat Track racing history, his 19-year-old son Kody has always been around a tight-knit group of success.

Vancouver starter Kendry Rojas tamed Spokane’s lineup over seven quick innings, and the Canadians’ offense backed him up with a couple of big scoring bursts.

From staff reports

Mayor Lisa Brown proclaimed August 17 as “women’s soccer day in Spokane,” anticipating a “truly historic” occasion for sports in the city.

Watching him retrieve baseballs on the infield following batting practice, Charlie Condon fits right in with his Spokane Indians teammates, participating in a ritual as old as the game itself.

Sophia Braun and Jodi Ülkekul walked onto the field at ONE Spokane Stadium a few weeks ago, stepping onto turf that when they were first playing in Spokane, was a surface parking lot.

A 132-game baseball season spans 5 1/2 months and in the Pacific Northwest can involve each of the four seasons. To say it’s a grind is an understatement – especially since a large percentage of the players assigned to High-A are adjusting to the rigors of playing in their first full season in professional baseball or are recent draft picks just getting their feet wet after exhausting their amateur status.

Gonzaga women's soccer standout Marissa Garcia was named preseason all-West Coast Conference, and the Bulldogs were selected fifth in the league's annual poll released last Friday.

The Northern Colorado Hailstorm showed why the club is atop the Jagermeister Cup standings as the Spokane Velocity fell at home on Tuesday night.

The Spokane Indians have already locked up home -field advantage in the Northwest League championship series by virtue of their first-half title.