Quick hits: Eastern Washington

LOOKING AHEAD

Two of the preseason evaluations about Greater Spokane League baseball have proven to be true, at least so far.

Mt. Spokane’s pitching is tough to touch, and Ferris can mash the ball.

So what will happen Tuesday when they meet up on the South Hill?

As is so often the case, it will probably be decided by a fluke hit by a star or by a key play from a previously unsung player neither team has counted on all year.

The GSL softball standings are jumbled, with no teams that have played three or more games undefeated. Preseason favorite Shadle Park dropped a game at Mt. Spokane, Mead has lost two consecutive games, University lost late to Mead, and on and on.

The soccer standings are starting to show a little separation, with Mt. Spokane and Central Valley three points clear of Cheney, East Valley, Ferris and Shadle.

GSL games of interest

Softball

Monday, East Valley at North Central, 4 p.m.

In a game postponed from last Friday, two of the top 3A schools match up. NC has jumped out to a 2-0 record in GSL play, but has four games this week, including 4A contenders Mead, Mt. Spokane and Gonzaga Prep. EV’s Knights, under new coach Kurt Krauth, have defeated all three 3A teams they have faced.

Baseball

Tuesday, Mt. Spokane at Ferris, 4 p.m.

Does good pitching beat good hitting, as goes the old baseball adage? The GSL favorites will find out when they square off. Mt. Spokane is coming off Wednesday’s doubleheader between unbeatens at CV. Ferris will have been idle for more than a week. In another biggie, North Side rivals Shadle and NC, both 3-2, play at NC.

Soccer

Wednesday, Central Valley at Cheney

The Bears risk their unbeaten record against rugged Cheney, fourth in State 3A last year. Cheney has already beaten Lewis and Clark and U-Hi, firsts for the program, and only lost to co-leading Mt. Spokane 1-0.

LOOKING AROUND

If you need any more proof that national high school polls are bogus, check out the final USA Today’s girls top 25. Ranked No. 4 nationally is Piedmont, Calif., sporting a 33-2 record and winners of the state’s Division IV (midsized schools) title. Piedmont is located near Oakland, and featured 6-foot-4 twins Ashley and Courtney Paris, headed for Oklahoma. Washington’s 4A champion, Garfield, isn’t in the top 25. The Bulldogs, 26-1, aren’t listed until the regional rankings, where they finished sixth in the West. Garfield’s best player, point guard Malia O’Neal, isn’t headed to a big-time school. So why are the rankings bogus? In February, Garfield traveled to Oakland and played Piedmont in its backyard. The final score: Garfield 61, Piedmont 56. Piedmont’s only other loss was to USA Today’s top-ranked team, 27-0 Christ the King from Queens, N.Y. By the way, it was by two points, 44-42, and at a neutral site. … Mt. Spokane’s Megan O’Reilly won her age group (13 through 17) at the Carlsbad 5,000 road race last Sunday in Carlsbad, Calif. O’Reilly finished 13th out of the 1,430 non-elite women in the race with a time of 17 minutes, 45 seconds (a 5:43 pace). … Shadle baseball coach Ron Brooks said it best following a doubleheader Greater Spokane League split with West Valley: “This league, there’s going to be a lot of balance. The 3A-4A stuff, they’re all competitive, all good and well-coached. I think you’ve got to go out and take advantage when it’s your turn.” When the Highlanders, 3-2 in the GSL heading into next week, beat West Valley 7-1 in the second game of the double dip, it was their first game in which the outcome was decided by more than two runs. Shadle beat LC and lost to WV by identical 5-3 scores, and split 4-3 and 3-2 games with U-Hi. … Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls coach Matt Sullivan said essentially the same thing about the Great Northern League, which is in the early stages of a one-division, 18-game league schedule. “The league has some really, really good pitchers,” he said. “I’m hoping a logjam happens in our league this year.” Sullivan’s young Eagles have untested arms in the otherwise strong-armed league, but the team has won twice. Pullman, which beat Lakeside 10-1 on Tuesday, is the league’s only unbeaten at 3-0. … If you’ve had the privilege of watching University Prep of Seattle’s Katherine Reynolds run the past two years at the State 1A Track and Field Championships at Eastern Washington University, keep the memory. Reynolds, a junior who has triumphed in the 100, 200, 400 and long jump two consecutive years, is playing tennis this spring.