SPORTS

by Neil MacDonald

Borderites win some, lose some
Blaine boys dropped a pair of North Cascades Conference soccer decisions at Pipeline Athletic Fields this past week, losing 5-1 to South Whidbey on April 12 and 4-1 to Meridian on April 10.
Pat Corcorran scored the Borderites’ lone goal against SW and Joe Button got Blaine’s only goal in the Meridian match. Button’s effort came in the dying seconds of the first half after Meridian had taken a 2-0 lead on goals by Kris Franks and Mike Geleynse.
In earlier action, Blaine lost 4-2 to Mt. Baker on April 3 and edged Lakewood 2-1 on April 5 at the Pipe, then fell 4-1 to South Whidbey in Langley on April 7.
The Blaine-Baker bash was a mix of missed opportunities, scrum-like scrambles and a tendency for both teams to concentrate their attacks up the middle. Abe Thalhofer led MB, getting two goals and an assist. Blaine midfielder Jason Vanderyacht got both Blaine markers. George Idden and Mike Braun got assists.
The Double B’s had several close calls. Blaine goal-seekers bounced a shot off a Baker defender frantically guarding an empty net, sent a point blank rocket glancing off MB keeper Robby Orlowski and skimmed several shots over the crossbar.
Another Borderite shot came out of a colossal clump of Baker and Blaine players and headed for the lower left corner of the net only to be deflected away by the outstretched arm of a diving, airborne Orlowski at the last nanosecond. It was the stop of the season.
Blaine’s 2-1 win over Lakewood featured ice-cold rain and a wicked west wind. Corcorran fired a ball past the Lakewood keeper’s left side midway through the first half to start the scoring. Chris Crane got the eventual winning goal off a Corcorran rebound. Bryce Barker scored the Cougs lone goal on a penalty shot.
Toby Spinner scored Blaine’s only goal against South Whidbey on a corner kick from Jason Vanderyacht. SW, 7-1 in the NCC, led 1-0 at the half before exploding for three goals in the second half.
Blaine dropped a pair of road matches, losing 5-2 to Nooksack Valley on March 26 and 1-0 to Sultan on March 28. Pioneer player Tony Vos netted four goals to lead undefeated NV to their win. Corcorran and Braun scored for Blaine.
The Borderites play the Tigers at Granite Falls on April 19, then host Nooksack on April 23 and Sultan on April 25 at the Pipe. All three games start at 4:30 p.m.

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Lady bs struggle following win over Lyncs
After edging Lynden Christian 4-3 on April 3 at Lynden, Blaine dropped three straight North Cascade fastpitch games, 10-0 to Mt Baker at the Pipe on April 6, 17-5 to Nooksack in Pioneer land on April 11 and 15-1 to South Whidbey on April 12 back at the Pipe.
Going 1-for-3 against the top three NCC teams – MB, LC and NV – wasn’t that traumatic for the young Lady B’s, except perhaps the lopsided nature of their losses to Baker and Nooksack. Being stoned by seventh-place SW for a third straight double-digit defeat definitely led to a plea for Prozac.
Julie Robinson led the Falcons, going 4-for-4 with a home run, double, sac fly and five RBIs. Cleanup hitter and winning chucker Ashley Lopez and No. 9 hitter Mary Murphy both went 3-for-4. Brandy Johannesson doubled and scored Blaine’s lone run on a passed ball.
NV’s Devin Dykstra dominated the Pioneer game, going 3-for-3, with five RBIs and two home runs. Shelley Harder, Angie Regier and Kristina Wilburn each tallied three hits for NV. Brandy Johannesson had two hits for the Borderites.
The Lady B’s capitalized on the wild side of LC pitching to top the Lyncs with a four-run stroll-burst in the third inning. Lady B Liz Sipes walked. Amanda Stull singled. LC chucker Tracy DeBoer fanned the next Borderite, but then walked Krista Walter to load the bases, leaving no place to put Alisa Burk, the upcoming batter.
Burk walked, Sipes scored. Kristina Francis walked, Stull scored. Walter then came home on a wild pitch while Burke and Francis moved up. Johannesson bounced a grounder to second. The LC infielder elected to try for Burke at home and failed to get her. Blaine had four runs on four walks, one hit and a wild pitch.
Stull’s single, Blaine’s only hit in the game, made DeBoer hard luck hurler du jour.
The Baker bash saw Lexy Postlewait hold Blaine batters hitless for 3 2/3 innings before Walter singled to spoil Postlewait’s bid for a no-no. Lexy eventually settled for a two-hit shutout. If Postlewait was a dose of pitching poison for Blaine, Corrina Hartrum was toxic trouble bat-wise for the Lady B’s, going 3-for-4 with a sixth-inning three-run home run.
The Lady B’s host Granite Falls on April 19 and Lakewood on April 24 in a pair of NCC contest. The twice-postponed Blaine Invitational goes at 10 a.m., April 21 at the Pipe..

Boys baseball prepares for stretch run
By Brendan Shriane
Blaine’s baseball team split a North Cascades Conference doubleheader at South Whidbey on April 11, winning the first game 5-2 and dropping the nightcap 10-5.
Craig Anderson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs and six hits. He had seven strikeouts and gave up only one walk. “(Anderson) mixed his pitches well, kept us in the game,” coach Gary Clausen said. Anderson also contributed with the bat, going 3-4 with a double.
Bob Francis went 2-3 with two RBI and gave the Borderites a key insurance run in the sixth, driving in Laird Dickie with a sacrifice fly. Dickie, who was running for Nick Miller, had advanced to third on Chris Kleman’s double.
In the second game, South Whidbey jumped on top early and, despite having nine hits, Blaine got no closer than four runs. “We gave up five runs in the first and couldn’t quite come back,” Clausen said. South Whidbey added two more before Josh McDonald hit a three-run, bases-loaded double in the fourth inning to make it 7-3.
The loss snapped a two-game win streak for Blaine, who beat Lakewood 4-3 on April 9 at Pipeline. Ryan Sorter, running for Mitchell Sherman, scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh for a dramatic walk-off victory.
The Borderites went into the seventh down 3-2. Anderson was able to coax a free pass and eventually scored the tying run when Dickie walked. Sorter crossed the plate with the winning run when Lakewood’s pitcher uncorked the decisive wild pitch on an 0-2 count to pitcher Miller.
On April 12, Blaine lost a non-conference game, falling 11-1 to Lynden at the Pipe, in a game that was called after six innings because of rain. The game was close until the sixth when sophomore Josh Mellum, in his first pitching appearance for Blaine, gave up eight runs, none earned, in 1/3 of an inning. Blaine committed four errors in the inning. Grant Sanders came in to get the final two outs. McDonald, who went three innings, giving up three runs, took the loss.
Ryan Pike relieved McDonald in the fourth and gave up one hit and no runs in two innings of work.
Blaine is now looking to secure a playoff spot with eight games to go, all against league opponents. “It is a very important week for us, Sultan (here on April 16, a 14-4 win, and away April 18) and Nooksack on Friday (April 20). We’ve got to win at least two out of these three. We’ve got to be ready,” Clausen said.

Farmer, Allen, Braumberger card low scores for Borderites
Blaine boys shot a team total of 226 to finish fourth in the North Cascades Conference’s opening tournament at Raspberry Ridge on April 3 and came fifth with a five-member total of 232 in the NCC nine-hole golf tourney at Homestead Farms Golf Course April 5.
Kevin Farmer led the Borderites with 39 at Raspberry Ridge and 40 at Homestead.
Tamara Allen shot 59 at Useless Bay on April 4 to lead the Lady B’s to their second straight fifth place finish after they came fifth with a 345 team total in a six-team meet on March 29 that opened the NCC girls’ golf season at Raspberry Ridge. Hailey Braumberger was low Lady B at the Ridge with 53.
Matt Wiens’ 44, Kyle Goddard’s 46, Brendan Mulholland’s 46, Travis Black’s 51 and Adam Dolan’s 52 rounded out Blaine boys’ scoring at Raspberry Ridge.
Goddard and Mulholland carded 47s, Dolan and Black shot 49s and Wiens 51 to round out Blaine’s iron and wood work at Homestead.
Lynden Christian won both boys’ tourneys, shooting a team total 197 at Raspberry Ridge and 206 at Homestead. LC’s Andrew Bostrom was low medalist at the Ridge with a one-under 33 and won at Homestead with a par-matching 36.
Meridian’s Lady Trojans, led by low medalist Beth Stockton’s 44, won the Raspberry Ridge meet with a 239 total. Mt. Baker won at Useless Bay with a team score of 272.
MB’s Jeni Zwiers and Candace Roosma shot 48s to tie for low medalist.
Other Lady B scores at Useless Bay were: Braumberger 60, Jeni Armstrong 71, Erica Johnson 74 and Erin Flores 81. Other Blaine girls scores at Raspberry Ridge were Armstrong 60, Allen 64, Johnson 67 and Flores 74.
The Borderite boys competed in the Birger Solberg Memorial Whatcom County Golf Championships on April 2 at Bellingham Golf and Country Club. Lynden’s Tim Feenstra won his second straight County Championship with a 3-over 75. Mt. Baker’s Mitch Mallahan’s 78 was the lowest score turned in by a NCC golfer.
Blaine scores in the Solberg Memorial were: Dolan 49-43 – 92, Wiens 48-48 – 96, Farmer 56-42 – 98 and Goddard 56-52 – 108.

Tennis results
Blaine dropped a 7-0 girls tennis encounter to Sedro Woolley at Blaine on April 4. The Lady B’s April 2 date with Mt. Vernon was rained out.
Results
Singles: No. 1 - Karridi Sorested (SW) d. Kate Lawrenson (B) 6-1, 6-2. No. 2 – Amanda Clark (SW) d. Brenda Jones (B) 6-0, 6-2. No. 3 – Nicole Sims (SW) d. Samantha Freeman (B) 4-6, 6-0 (Sims won tiebreaker). No. 4 – Courtney Richards (SW) d. Christina Trembley (B) 6-0, 6-1.
Doubles: No. 1 – Elizabeth Bird-Katherine Rutledge (SW) d. Shaneen Brown-Mandy Haslip (B) 6-2, 6-3. No. 2 – Rachael Guffie-Emily Schlicker (SW) d. Linsey Taylor-Jessica Freeman (B) 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-1. No. 3 – Sarah Wesson-Erica Vague (SW) d. Jacqueline Thomas-April Oswald (B) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Neil's Notes
Jorgenson and Gold win
Blaine’s Chris Jorgenson teamed with Chuck Gold to win the fifth annual Shuskan Best Ball competition with a score of 66 at Shuksan Golf Club on March 31.
Ace for Young
Gary Young used a 5-iron and and a Ping Eye 2 ball to get a hole-in-one on the third hole at Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club on April 14.
Eight ‘Cudas win at Hawkeye
Eight members of the Blaine Barracudas Wrestling Club won medals at the Hawkeye Invitational, April 14, in Anacortes.
Darrell Price, Jr. (95 lb. midget) and Eric Murphy (187 lb. open) won first place in their divisions. Andrew Price (70 lb. bantam), Devin Krenz (100 lb. school boy), Wesley Orton (40 lb. bantam) and Niko Rehon (95 lb. novice) took second place. Fourth-place finishers were Richie Tewes (143 lb. junior) and Hayden Stacy (50 lb. bantam).
Murphy, Stacy and Orton were named wrestlers of the week by Barrracuda coach Craig Foster.

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