Greene Cashes In On More Than Tennis Chances
Tennis/softball
Josh Greene of Medical Lake lives kind of like Harrison Ford in “The Fugitive.”
He’s not running from the law, but the young man is definitely on the move. And no one seems to be able to slow him down.
The Northeast A League’s best boys tennis player can’t be stopped on the court by his opponents, and off it, trying to get him to sit still for a few minutes is almost impossible.
“He’s a motivated kid,” said his mother Robin Greene. “He has non-stop energy.”
Josh couldn’t be reached for comment. Here’s why:
Greene, a junior, is enrolled in accelerated honors classes at ML while he takes classes at Spokane Falls Community College. He wants to get his two-year degree by the time he graduates from high school.
“He thought this would be a good start for college,” his mother said.
He’s been taking classes at SFCC since last September.
On Wednesday, Greene was in school at ML from 8 a.m. to 1:35 p.m. Then he went to tennis practice for 3 hours before going to class at SFCC from 5 to 10 p.m.
Greene carries 3.6 grade-point averages in high school and college.
He also carries an awesome league record in his three years of tennis at Medical Lake. Greene has lost only one of 34 league matches in his career.
That’s all the more amazing considering he first picked up a tennis racket just before his freshman year.
“He was a soccer player from the time he was 5,” his mother said. “A friend of his came by the house one day, asked him to help with a tennis camp, and that was the end of his soccer career.”
Softball
The NEA and Frontier League start their eight-team regional tournament today at Medical Lake to determine what two teams will play in the AA-A State playoffs next week.
Kettle Falls plays Clarkston, Colville faces Newport, Freeman takes on East Valley and West Valley confronts Deer Park. All games start at 2:30 p.m. The tournament will conclude on Saturday.
WV enters the tournament as the Frontier’s No. 1 seed with a record of 17-1. Barring the unforeseen, the Eagles are the odds-on favorites to get their 10th state berth in the last 12 years.
“Our goal from the start has been to get to state,” said WV coach Steve Kent.
The way his team has played recently, Kent feels confident in WV’s chances.
“Right now, we’re probably playing as good as we have all year,” he said. “If we can continue along that path, we’ll do real well.”
Junior pitcher Darcy Sohns (see athlete of the week) heads the staff. The Eagles’ No. 2 pitcher, senior Carie Koker, had a 4-1 record in league.
Kent cited the development of junior catcher Jennifer Robinson and the solid play of first baseman Jolie Jensen, a junior, as big factors in WV’s success.
“They’re good players who are committed to the game,” Kent said.
, DataTimes