Locally: Washington State baseball brings in nationally ranked recruiting class for second straight year

Brian Green received a second significant endorsement last week.

Less than a week after Washington State University’s third-year baseball coach was signed to a two-year contract extension through 2026 by the school, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper announced the Cougars’ 2021 signing class is ranked among the best in the country for a second year in a row.

With left-handed pitcher McKabe Cottrell of Freeman, a first-team junior college All-American and NWAC Pitcher of the Year for Spokane Falls among those in tow, the Cougars’ 2021 signing class is ranked 40th by Collegiate Baseball, which tabbed the 2020 class 29th.

WSU has also signed Cole McMillan, first-team all-region at San Jacinto JC in Texas, the No. 10-rated junior college left-hander in the country, and five JC transfers who started at Power Five conference schools – infielder Dakota Gaillard (Florida State), outfielders Hylan Hall (Miami), Austin Plante (TCU) and Bryce Matthews (Arkansas) and catcher Nate Stevens (Arkansas).

The Cougars’ 2021 signers are the top-rated junior college class according to JBB Baseball.

WSU also signed a handful of highly rated high school players, including infielder Elijah Hainline from Mead, rated the second-best shortstop in the state by Prep Baseball Report.

Also according to Prep Baseball Report, Loreto Siniscalchi (Burnaby, British Columbia) is the third-best RHP in Canada, infielder Drake Anderson (Puyallup) is the top shortstop in Washington, Jack Dedonato (Mercer Island) is the second-best LHP in Washington and Will Cresswell (Puyallup) is the fourth-best catcher in Washington.

Green’s 2021 class is rated seventh in the Pac-12, ahead of Arizona State (42), Washington (43), California and Utah, and also neighboring rival Gonzaga.

College scene

The Gonzaga women’s soccer team continues to make waves nationally and in the West Coast Conference.

Freshman forward Kelsey Oyler, who scored the only goal in the 65th minute of a 1-0 victory over visiting University of Omaha on Sept. 25 as the Zags ran their school-record winning streak to eight games, was named WCC Offensive Player of the Week, and the Bulldogs climbed to a program-best No. 16 national ranking.

Oyler curled in a shot to the far post for her fourth goal of the season and earn the second straight weekly honor for the Zags and third of the season. Goalie Lyza Bosselmann was the WCC Defensive Player of the Week the previous week and forward Kate Dole was the season’s first offensive recipient.

• Whitworth women’s soccer and men’s golf came in for Northwest Conference weekly honors for the week of Sept. 20-27.

Kate Nelson, a junior goalkeeper from Tacoma, was the NWC women’s soccer defensive recipient after recording two wins during the week, including her fourth shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over Whitman. She had seven saves. She made four saves in the Pirates’ 3-1 win over Willamette and saw her season goals-against average dip to 0.73.

Men’s golf honors went to junior Sam Pauly from Shadle Park, medalist at the Bulldog Fall Invitational in Redlands, California, with a 5-under-par 205 (69-67-69) for 54 holes. He was the only player in the field with three rounds in the 60s and won by a stroke.

• Area athletes in women’s soccer and men’s golf are among those who received weekly honors in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Sydney Clements, a College of Idaho senior forward from Ferris and Community Colleges of Spokane, was the women’s soccer offensive POW after scoring goals in both of C of I’s weekend wins. Her first goal of the season in the 86th minute capped the scoring in a 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Corban. Her goal off a rebound in the 69th minute proved the winner in a 3-1 victory against Bushnell.

Men’s golf honors went to Lewis-Clark State freshman Kristof Panke from Davenport, who led the Warriors with an even-par 216 (73-71-72) for 54 holes, finishing 11th in a field of 66. L-C State was third in the Saint Martin’s Invitational at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington.

• Tyler Shea, a Northwest Nazarene junior from Northwest Christin HS, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s cross country runner of the week following his third career victory on Sept. 25 in the Ken Garland Classic in Lacey, Washington. Shea covered 8K in 25 minutes, 36 seconds for a four-second win.

• For only the third time in program history, the Gonzaga men have climbed into the Top 20 in the USTFCCCA coaches national cross country rankings, jumping five spots to No. 20 thanks to a close runner-up finish (55-62) to No. 9 Oregon in the Bill Delllnger Invitational. GU put three runners in the top five, but saw their next two finish 18th and 32nd.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 4 in the West Region, behind Stanford, Oregon and No. 3 Washington, which is 13th nationally.

The Gonzaga women are eighth in the West and Washington State is ninth. UW, tied for eighth nationally, leads the West women’s rankings.

• Players with area ties received the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball awards for the week of Sept. 20-26 for leading Central Washington to wins over nationally-ranked Western Washington (No. 15) and Simon Fraser (No. 22).

Hannah Stires, a freshman defensive specialist/libero from Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls, earned defensive honors after she averaged 5.43 digs and 1.14 assists per set. Stires had 17 digs, five assists, a kill and an ace in a four-set win over WWU and added 21 digs and three assists in a three-set sweep of Simon Fraser.

Offensive honors went to Tia Andaya, a sophomore setter/outside hitter transfer from Gonzaga, who averaged 3.71 kills, 2.79 digs and 5.43 assists per set to go with a .339 hitting percentage. Andaya had her fourth triple-double of the season in a four-set win over the Vikings with 16 kills, 26 assists and 14 digs. Against SFU, she had 10 kills, 12 assists and two digs.

• The school-record-tying 31 kills on 76 swings while hitting .303 that earned Washington State junior Pia Timmer a second straight Pac-12 volleyball offensive player of the week honor last week, also earned her the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association national Division I Women’s Player of the Week award.

It’s just the second time a Cougar has received the national award. Sarah Silvernail won it in 1996.

In wins over No. 24 Colorado (3-0) and No. 6 Washington (3-2) to begin conference play, Timmer averaged 5.0 kills, 2.33 digs, 0.88 blocks and 6.3 points per set in eight sets. In the rivalry match against UW, Timmer was also the Cougars’ best all-around player, adding career-bests in digs (21) and blocks (7).

• Eric Barriere‘s second 500-plus-yard passing performance in as many weeks on Sept. 25, that earned him a second straight Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week award and third of the season, also gained the Eagles’ redshirt senior quarterback three national honors.

Barriere, who compiled 546 yards of total offense in the Eagles’ first win at Southern Utah since 2014, 50-21, also was named College Sports Madness’ National Offensive Player of the Week for a second-straight week, and received an honorable mention nods from College Football Performance and Stats Perform.

Golf

Mark Nelson, who has 20-plus years of golf and hospitality experience in North Idaho, most recently at Hayden Lake Country Club in his hometown, has been named the new head golf professional at the Kapalua Golf & Tennis Bay course in Maui, Hawaii.

Before Hayden Lake, Nelson was the head pro at Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley and also worked at Twin Lakes Village Golf Club, the Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course and The Club at Black Rock.

A Class A member of the PGA since 2010, Nelson is a past president of the Inland Empire Chapter of the PNW PGA and was the IEPGA Golf Professional of the Year in 2020 and its Resort Merchandiser of the Year in 2017.