If you’re a baseball fan and followed the World Baseball Classic over the last few weeks, there were plenty of Pacific Northwest connections, old and new, to watch.
The largest number of connections came from Team Mexico, which had six players of interest: Current Seattle Mariners players Randy Arozarena and Andres Munoz, who is also a former Tri-City Dust Devils pitcher.
Another former Dust Devils pitcher, Samy Natera, Jr., was on the Mexico roster. So are three former Mariners: Rowdy Tellez, Luis Urias and Taijuan Walker.
Canada, Italy and the USA teams all had four connections.
For Canada, current Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor was one of the team’s leaders. Ex-Mariners pitcher James Paxton and former infielder Abraham Toro, as well as ex-Dust Devils pitcher Cal Quantrill also played for Canada.
On Italy’s roster were current Mariners Dominic Canzone and Miles Mastrobouni, as well as former Seattle pitchers Sam Altavilla and Matt Festa.
The USA roster, of course, included catcher Cal Raleigh and standout reliever Gabe Speier, as well as ex-Dust Devils pitcher David Bednar and former M’s pitcher Matthew Boyd.
Four other countries each had three connections. Colombia had current Mariners minor leaguer Michael Arroyo, former Tri-City Dust Devil Gustavo Campero, and ex-M Donovan Solano.
The loaded Dominican Republic squad had Mariners star Julio Rodriguez, and ex-M’s Ketel Marte and Carlos Santana.
Puerto Rico’s team included ex-Mariners closer Edwin Diaz, as well as coaches Edgar Martinez and Joey Cora; and Venezuela listed current Seattle pitchers Eduardo Bacardi and Jhonathan Diaz, as well as former Mariners third baseman Geno Suarez.
Five other countries had one connection: Great Britain (former M’s catcher Harry Ford), Japan (ex-Seattle pitcher Yusei Kikuchi), Korea (current Mariners pitcher Dane Dunning), Nicaragua (ex-M’s pitcher Erasmo Ramirez) and Panama (ex-M’s infield Jose Caballero).
NCAA basketball
Keep an eye on UCLA in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
The Bruins are the No. 7 seed in the East Region and will play No. 10 Central Florida, with a set tipoff time of 4:25 p.m.
The Bruins’ leading scorer is Kamiakin grad Tyler Bilodeau. The senior forward led UCLA with 17.6 points a game this season, and he was named Third-team All-Big Ten.
Last week, during the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals, Bilodeau went down with a knee injury early in the contest.
He didn’t play the rest of the game, and although the Bruins beat Michigan State, Bilodeau didn’t play in the semifinals against Purdue.
UCLA coach Mick Cronin said Bilodeau could have played — he had a knee sprain — but he wanted to save the NBA prospect for the NCAA tourney.
That UCLA game on Friday will be on TBS.
More baseball
Southridge High grad Maxton Martin will be playing in the Texas Rangers’ Spring Breakout game on Friday.
This is the third consecutive year that Major League Baseball teams will have Spring Breakout rosters, which showcase some of the teams’ top prospects.
For Martin, a 20-year-old outfielder, that means getting to show what he can do.
Martin was an 11th-round selection of the Rangers in the 2023 draft, and he is currently the Rangers’ No. 25 prospect.
He is expected to start this season with the High-A Hub City Spartanburgers in Spartanburg, S.C.
The team plays in the South Atlantic League.
Martin has been able to get some playing time with Texas during spring training.
Last season, Martin spent most of the season in A-level play before earning a promotion in September in High A Hub City.
He hit .258 last year, had 14 home runs and 67 RBIs over the course of 116 games between the two levels.
• Kennewick High grad Danny Dickinson is expected to start the season at the High-A level in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization, playing for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
But it’s been nice to see Dickinson, who was playing at LSU this time last year and then drafted by the Brewers in July, get to play in a few spring training games the past few weeks with the big club in Arizona.
In one contest, the second baseman legged out an infield hit for Milwaukee.
Dickinson is listed as the Brewers’ No. 30 prospect in the organization.
Prep football
Our good friends at Stathound Media have put together a good list of which area schools will be getting new head football coaches.
The list is led by Roger Hoell, who after 32 years decided to resign as Othello’s head coach.
Hoell, a hall of famer, finished with a 239-112 record.
Also on that list is Brett Jay, who recently stepped down at Moses Lake after his son, quarterback Brady Jay, completed his high school career.
Brett Jay is a River View High grad who has coached at his alma mater, Monroe and Hanford. He told Stathound he’s likely not done coaching football. But his near future will involve watching his kids play sports, including Brett, who will play at Montana.
Other job openings include Connell, as Scott Forsyth resigned after three seasons; and Grandview, as Alex Jeffrey stepped down.
Sunnyside’s Marshal Lobbestael vacated the head coaching spot, and the Grizzlies have already filled the position with former Washington Huskies running back (and Interlake coach) Lavon Coleman.
College football
Nathan McClelland (Richland) finished his sophomore season as an offensive lineman for the College of Idaho football team last fall by being named first team all-conference for the Frontier Conference West Division.
After the season ended, McClelland entered the transfer portal and came out on the other side by signing with NCAA school Sam Houston State.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.
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