DeSales girds for Waitsburg-Prescott rivalry game
WALLA WALLA — When DeSales entertains Waitsburg-Prescott Friday night at Ty Baffney Field, it will be a renewal of the Southeast 2B-11 League's most heated football rivalry.Currently speaking, that is.And it's a rivalry that leans in Waitsburg-Prescott's
Indians remain red-hot in rout of Knights
Touchet scores early and often in the 52-8 win over Sunnyside Christian.
TOUCHET — After last weekend's brief, autumn-like respite high up in the Wallowa Mountains, summer was back in full force here Friday afternoon on the first calendar day of fall.But the searing sun and temperatures that ticked into the lower 90s had no ad
O'Flaherty plays part in Braves' bodacious bullpen
WALLA WALLA — Eric O'Flaherty received some well-deserved recognition earlier this month in Sports Illustrated.O'Flaherty, Wa-Hi Class of 2003, is pitching out of the Atlanta Braves bullpen and has emerged as a member of the most dominant triumvirate of r
Indians cage Cougs for most of 50-28 win
Touchet holds Wallowa to six points over three quarters of the victory that wasn't as close as the final score.
WALLOWA, Ore. — One hundred and fifty-two points in two games is a big number, even in 8-man football.So it's easy to understand why Touchet spent so much time working on its defense this past week as the Indians prepared for their Friday afternoon non-le
Indians get physical in rout
Touchet coach Gary Dorman is pleased with his squad's aggressive play in a 50-8 win over Condon-Wheeler.
TOUCHET — Like so many season-opening football games, Touchet's non-leaguer here against Condon-Wheeler of Oregon's Class 1A Special District 3 was somewhat ragged around the edges.There were the usual missed assignments on both sides; five Condon-Wheeler
Conley proof positive patience pays off
WALLA WALLA — When T.J. Conley steps on the field tonight for the first time at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., it will be the culmination of a lifelong dream.Also the product of dedication and determination. But most of all the power of patienc
Like father, like Son
Wa-Hi's Moe Handcox, Jr., brings more to the gridiron than athletic abilities -- just like his father, Moe, Sr., who played at Kamiakin and Walla Walla Community College 20 years ago.
Wa-Hi great Wooten dies at 72
Brent Wooten was a three-sport star at Wa-Hi, and played football at UW.
CHENEY — Former Wa-Hi three-sport standout Brent Wooten, who went on to star in football at the University of Washington and later served as head football coach and athletic director at Eastern Washington University, died here Monday after a lengthy illne
Frontier Days Rodeo off to a fast start
Visiting cowboys lead the way in the slack competition on Tuesday.
WALLA WALLA — Jhett Johnson lived up to his Christian name and Turtle Powell surmounted his during the Frontier Days Rodeo slack competition Tuesday at the Walla Walla Fairgrounds.Johnson, who is from Casper, Wyo., and Powell, Stephenville, Texas, turned
Wine Valley lives up to press clippings
WALLA WALLA — I remember the day well.It was late November, post-Thanksgiving, and the temperature was unseasonably warm, hovering near 70 degrees.Bright sunshine painted long shadows across the first fairway as two of my Union-Bulletin colleagues and I s
YMCA loses one of its best in Dyar
WALLA WALLA — As a long-standing member of the YMCA, I have always admired the old-timers.Those septuagenarians and octogenarians — some, perhaps, older still — who show up daily to wage war against the never-ending onset of the aging process. Men and wom
Peach Basket Classic sticks with tradition
The Peach Basket Classic has welcomed 3-on-3 basketball teams to the streets of downtown Walla Walla since 1994, and volunteers are intent on keeping it a fixture in the Valley.
WALLA WALLA — When YMCA Physical Director Tom Kelleher — with an OK from Executive Director Ned Schafer — began formulating plans for a 3-on-3 street basketball tournament in Walla Walla back in 1994, he had a couple of objectives in mind.'For one thing,
Blue Shoes reunion 'Peachy' idea for '86 Blue Devils
WALLA WALLA — The Blue Shoes are coming! The Blue Shoes are coming!It's a refrain that might not mean a thing to many of you out there in U-B Land. But if you happened to be paying attention to Wa-Hi boys basketball 25 years ago, it just might ring a bell
Morgan answers WJGA call as state director
WALLA WALLA — When the Washington Junior Golf Association determined that Walla Walla would be the site of its 35th annual state championship tournament, designating someone locally to serve as tournament director was a piece of cake.Carol Morgan, who has
Washington junior golfers heading to local courses
The addition of Wine Valley makes Walla Walla a prime location for the three-course WJGA tournament.
WALLA WALLA — It takes three conventional-length golf courses to adequately host the Washington Junior Golf Association State Championships, which explains why Walla Walla has never served as the tournament site.Because up until a couple of years ago, Wal
Area AAU basketball team misses out on trip to nationals
WALLA WALLA — Ray Steele has been coaching AAU youth basketball teams on and off for better than three decades.For a variety of reasons, he readily admits, not the least of which is what he views as exposure to college coaches that many players might othe
Buchan: Today reminds us why we love sports
WALLA WALLA — What if every day was like today?Major League Baseball stadiums all across the country sit empty during the final day of the mid-season All-Star break.The National Football League's first preseason games are still nearly a month away, and th
Set adrift abroad
Other than Hawaii, Alaska's Inland Passage and a week in the Caribbean, my experiences as a world traveler were practically nil.Discounting those island stops at St. Maarten/St. Martin and St. Kitts, several pleasant trips to British Colum
Spending a day in Dona's shoes
WWCC golfer Dona Dunovant won the NWAACC title for the second year in a row — but golf isn't all this busy mom, student and actress is made of.
So you think you're busy?Try hustling around in Dona Dunovant's shoes for a day.That's shoes as in plural pairs.There's the shiny black work boots with the reinforced steel toes that offer some protection just in case she loses her grip on a 50-pound suit
Buchan: Foolish pride dampens Atlantic crossing
WALLA WALLA — No question about it, foolish pride can be problematic.I found that out — again — not so long ago when my wife Margaret and I took an Atlantic Ocean cruise in which we sailed from the sultry shores of South Florida to the ancient city of Rom
Abajian's journey
Rich Abajian follows an unexpected football career at Wa-Hi and WWCC by coaching the sport, and his life's turns now find him at a Las Vegas car dealership.
WALLA WALLA — Growing up in Walla Walla in the 1960s, Rich Abajian never thought of himself as a football player.Baseball was his first love, and he dreamed of one day playing in the majors.And even though his father, John Abajian, was for many years a pa
Votendahl transforms area fastpitch pitchers
Jerry Votendahl has taught area fastpitch softball pitchers the finer points of the game for almost 30 years.
WALLA WALLA — The windmill motion of firing a softball fast-pitch style is considered more natural and less stressful than the overhand delivery of a baseball pitcher.That doesn't mean it's any easier to master. It requires a combination of athletic skill
Schools look for trifecta at sports awards
Mac-Hi, Weston-McEwen and Whitman have a shot at three of the five trophies at this year's ceremony.
WALLA WALLA — Will this be the year of the Blue Devils?Mac-Hi's Pioneers, perhaps? Or Weston-McEwen's TigerScots? Or how about Whitman College?These are the schools who are in position to pull off the trifecta — a hat trick, if you will — during the 35th
Umpires' poor calls conjur up memories of Maddux
WALLA WALLA — I've never been much in favor of instant replay.Even in the NFL, where it has been a widely accepted technological staple for many years, I find it more of a nuisance than anything else.With so many commercials already in place to interrupt
Buchan: Baseball's early returns hard to evaluate
WALLA WALLA — The marathon is on.And baseball fans from Bremerton to Boston couldn't be happier. Even those huddled under blankets or hidden beneath umbrellas in the stands of many big league ballparks around the country where spring stubbornly refuses to
Madness of March drives us basketball bonkers
WALLA WALLA — Another March Madness is in the record books.And this year's wild scramble for men's NCAA basketball supremacy was one of the craziest on record, with the eighth-seeded Butler Bulldogs and No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth advancing all the
Mac-Hi's plight depicted in OSAA program
WALLA WALLA — Sitting court side in the Pendleton Convention Center a couple of weeks ago and awaiting the tipoff of Weston-McEwen's first game at the boys Class 2A state basketball tournament, I spent a few minutes browsing through the Oregon School Acti
WWCC coach looks to beef up, balance women's roster
WALLA WALLA — When freshman scoring leader Alex Pfefferle blew out her knee in the quarterfinals of the NWAACC Championships women's basketball tournament Sunday night in Kennewick, Walla Walla coach Bobbi Hazeltine instinctively looked to the end of her
$n$ WWCC women have tears — and smiles — after loss to Yakima
There's a mix of emotions after Yakima knocks off the WWCC women, 53-40, for the NWAACC title.
KENNEWICK — Tears of disappointment flowed in the Walla Walla locker room here Tuesday night in the Toyota Center in the painful moments that followed the Warriors' 53-40 loss to Yakima in the women's NWAACC Championships title game.In the hallway outside
Warrior women ‘unbelievable,' return to title game
WWCC defeats Columbia Basin, 52-48, to reach the championship game today, when the women will defend their NWAACC title.
KENNEWICK — In the uproarious moments following Leslie Stillar's game-winning 3-point shot that beat Highline 55-52 here Sunday night in the NWAACC Championships quarterfinals, Walla Walla freshman Stillar spilled the beans about her team's mission.'We wa
Photo Gallery: WWCC women advance to NWAACC semifinal
Walla Walla Community College's Leslie Stillar hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to lift the Warriors past Highline, 55-52, Sunday night in the NWAACC Championships quarterfinals. The Warriors face NWAACC East rival Columbia Basin tonight at 8 p.m. in
PHOTO GALLERY - WWCC women into NWAACC semifinals
Leslie Stillar hits a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the game as the Warriors down Highline, 55-52.
KENNEWICK — When Walla Walla super sub and scoring leader Alex Pfefferle limped off the court with a knee injury less than five minutes into Sunday night's NWAACC Championships quarterfinal basketball game here in the Toyota Center, fellow freshman Leslie
Warrior women top North's No. 1
The women play Highline at 6 tonight after defeating Skagit Valley, 60-42.
KENNEWICK — If there was ever any doubt in the minds of Walla Walla players, coaches or fans in the Toyota Center Saturday night, it was erased posthaste.Freshman post Tai Jensen rolled left for a layin, point guard Janae Klarich drained a 3-pointer and f
Big range of teams, talent as WWCC men begin NWAACC tourney
The Warriors need to win four in a row for the first time this season to come out on top of the tourney.
WALLA WALLA — Top-ranked Tacoma, with its sparkling 23-2 record, and Eastern Division champion Big Bend, 21-4, are the logical favorites in the 16-team men's NWAACC Championships basketball tournament that gets underway Saturday in the Toyota Center in Ke
Weston-McEwen boys bow out of tourney with loss to North Douglas
PENDLETON — Breakfast basketball didn't taste any better here Thursday morning in the Pendleton Convention Center than Wednesday's afternoon snack as far as Weston-McEwen's boys basketball team was concerned.North Douglas ruined the TigerScots' appetite w
PHOTO GALLERY - Outlaws catch up to TigerScots at state
Enterprise rallies in the fourth quarter to hand W-M's boys a 59-57 win Wednesday in Pendleton.
PENDLETON — Little things mean a lot — especially in a two-point basketball game.Weston-McEwen's TigerScots found that out the hard way here Wednesday afternoon in the opening game of the boys Oregon Class 2A state basketball tournament in the Pendleton C
WWCC women ready to defend NWAACC title
The Warriors open defense of their championship at 6 p.m. Saturday against Skagit Valley at the Toyota Center in Kennewick.
WALLA WALLA — Some things never change.And penciling Walla Walla into the women's NWAACC Championships basketball bracket each and every year certainly appears to be one of those constants.When Walla Walla takes on Skagit Valley Saturday night at 6 in the
Fleet feet helped a 1970 Mac-Hi grad play with the big boys
Larry Spencer, a 1970 Mac-Hi grad, didn't have much size, but used his speed to stand out in high school and college sports.
WALLA WALLA — As an athlete, Larry Spencer's eyes were always a little bigger than his appetite.Or, to put it in his own words, 'I always wanted to play with the big boys,” the 1970 Mac-Hi graduate explained during a recent telephone interview from his ho
Weston-McEwen boys face familiar foe at state
The TigerScot boys play BMC rival Enterprise Wednesday in the first round of the state 2A tournament.
ATHENA — The Pendleton Convention Center is neither unfamiliar nor hostile as far as the Weston-McEwen boys basketball team is concerned.The old gym with the transplanted Phoenix Suns floor is located just 18 miles up the road. And the building that was o
New U-B series to focus on legends of past
WALLA WALLA — When I decided to shift gears in January of 2010 and become a part-time member of the Union-Bulletin sports staff, I did so with several goals in mind.And one of the projects I promised myself that I would achieve was to cobble together an o
Quick trip to Phoenix has ups, downs
WALLA WALLA — A don't-spare-the-horses road trip to Phoenix recently to attend a family funeral won't go down as one of our more enjoyable getaways.And the funeral had nothing to do with it. Joe Donaldson lived 86 mostly adventuresome years and was fondly
Odds are O'Flaherty will have big year in 2011
WALLA WALLA — If you're into gambling, you might want to put some money down on the likelihood of Eric O'Flaherty having a big year pitching out of the Atlanta Braves bullpen in 2011.The odds, it seems, are in his favor. As in odd numbered years, that is.
Hoops on the rise as Whits push for playoffs
WALLA WALLA — When sophomore guard LuQuam Thompson suffered a season-ending knee injury on the first day of practice back in mid-October, third-year Whitman College men's basketball coach Eric Bridgeland admits that he wasn't sure which direction it would
Packers victory pokes hole in AFC supremacy
WALLA WALLA — Before we box up Super Bowl XLV — that's No. 45 for those of you who are Roman numeral impaired — and store it in its proper place in the National Football League's archives, now is perhaps a good time to assess what can be learned from Sund
Siding with the boss not an option Sunday
WALLA WALLA — For those of us devout in the religion of sports fandome, there are certain abiding principles that cannot be ignored.Chief among them — the first commandment, if you will — goes something like this:Thou shalt not show favor to thy boss' mos
Outdoorsman on the court
Weston-McEwen graduate Brian Pickard can be found in the TigerScots' gym coaching the boys basketball team, but his heart will always be outdoors hunting.
ATHENA — Brian Pickard is the product of a sports-minded family firmly rooted in a basketball-crazy town of about 1,200 tucked into the Blue Mountain foothills of Northeastern Oregon.So it's no surprise that the 1992 Weston-McEwen graduate excelled in foo
How 'bout Packers, Jets on Super Sunday?
WALLA WALLA — Reverse psychology gets you only so far.And in the case of this year's NFL playoffs, not far enough.After my predictions were a distasteful oh-for-four during the wild-card round of the playoffs, I deduced last week that I could rid the play
Slow start to pick season
WALLA WALLA — Don't say I didn't tell you so.I cautioned you all last week — before making my playoff predictions — that my NFL expertise was a tad bit inadequate this season due to an acute case of disinterest. And to that extent, I was right on.So far I
Mac-Hi's Flores, boys soccer team recogized by ESPN Rise
The Pioneers' Oscar Flores is tops nationwide in scoring, while the team is No. 1 in goals for a season.
MILTON-FREEWATER — Mac-Hi senior Oscar Flores and his Pioneer boys soccer team have been recognized by ESPN Rise.In rankings published by the ESPN magazine and website that are devoted exclusively to high school sports, Flores is No. 1 in individual scori
Playoff success usually linked to QB play
WALLA WALLA — Having not followed the National Football League as closely this season as in the past, I hardly consider myself a voice of authority when it comes to handicapping this year's playoff field.This lack of interest is no doubt because I didn't
