The Bellevue College men’s golf team took first place at the NWAACC Golf Championship tournament played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton on May 23-24.
Bellevue freshman KC Chang’s eight-under-par on Monday was the deciding factor, easing BC into the win over the Spokane team who was only one stroke behind the Bulldogs, having closed the gap after being seven strokes behind at the close of play Sunday.
In the men’s individual results, Chang (78-64) and his teammate Johnny Carey (68-74) tied for second place, with BC sophomore Matt Epstein (68-75) hot on their heels in fourth. This was the first Men’s Golf Championship for BC since resurrecting the program in 2006. Bellevue’s Kirk Johanson was named the NWAACC Men’s Golf Coach of the Year.
Freshman Katya Case wrapped up tournament play with a two-day total of 159, landing her in fourth place in women’s individual results. The BC women’s team finished in eighth place.
Baseball takes third place at NWAACC championship
The Bulldogs fell to Lane Community College 8-6, ending their bid to capture a second-straight NWAACC title and their third in four years in Longview on Memorial Day weekend.
Bellevue knocked off Columbia Basin in the opening game of the tournament as Seafth Howe struck out 12 and walked just one. Day two waited two days to be played after rain wiped out the action. The Bulldogs faced off against No.1 Lower Columbia in the quarterfinals, falling 6-3. Bellevue then beat Edmonds 5-3 to advance to championship Monday, with three wins standing between the Bulldogs and a repeat title.
Jake Collier threw a complete-game shutout against Lower Columbia in a rematch with the Bulldogs winning 4-0 before the loss to Lane Community College.
The Bulldogs ended their season with a record of 32-20.
“A 30-win season is outstanding,” said Bulldogs coach Mark Yoshino. The team has many things to be proud of…This year’s playoff run was also a good experience for our relatively young team.”
Catcher Tyler Cox, utility player Ian Parmley and pitchers Howe and Collier were named to the All-Tournament team.
Four Bulldogs make baseball All-Region first team
Bellevue College had four members selected onto the All-North Region first team baseball squad, as selected by the region coaches. Ian Parmley was a repeat selection from 2009, this year as a designated hitter. Seafth Howe was a unanimous selection at pitcher after going 5-0 with a 0.28 ERA in 32 innings pitched. Howe allowed just two runs on 18 hits during the season.
Cory Urquhart, a freshman, was selected to the infield while Tyler Cox was a unanimous choice at catcher.
Ian McKay and Blake Fulghum were named to the second team.
Bellevue College softball goes 1-1 at NWAACC championships
The Bulldogs softball team was eliminated from the NWAACC tournament after a 3-0 loss to Southwest Oregon under rain-delay rules.
Because rain kept the delayed the tournament four days, NWAACC officials eliminated the consolation bracket, making the tournament single-elimination.
Bellevue beat Columbia Basin 6-4 in game one but couldn’t overcome Southwest Oregon, which had just stomped Pierce College 11-0.
“I was very proud of the way my players represented Bellevue College this weekend,” said head coach Leah Francis. “It was a tough situation for everyone involved, especially the players, who were asked to stay mentally and physically ready while sitting through for four straight days of rain before starting the tournament.”
Ashleigh Carter, Megan McLachlan, Lindsey Sullivan, Lauren Reid, Lexi Kubin, Tobey Varney and Sarah Agerup all earned NWACC North Region first team All-Star selections. Breonna Chrisman, Megan Zender and Brianna Bray all earned second-team picks.
Varney was also named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American team.
