Congrats to Huskies baseball
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
The Huskies gathering for a team photo before heading off to the 2A State tournament for their semi-final game. The Huskies put together a successful season with a winning record and an appearance in the final four of the state tournament.
FILE PHOTO
OTHELLO – Congratulations are in order for the Huskies baseball team after what they have accomplished this season. They saw major improvement this year, improving from 18-6-1 to 21-6 and a final four appearance.
After losing their home opener, the Huskies fired off eight straight wins, including six straight shutout wins. What we saw from the Huskies this season was truly impressive. Though they may not have won the district championship, they brought their all to the crossover game, where they had to win in order to reach the state tournament, to the very end when they defeated Selah for the third-place spot.
The Huskies displayed great control over their opponents defensively, which allowed their offense to shine. A prime example is the game against W.F. West, where they hung 14 runs on their opponent. They allowed eight runs, but six of them came in the first couple of innings, and the Huskies shut them down for the rest of the game.
Sonny Salazar put out strong pitching performances for the Huskies that propelled their success. Pitching contributions by Aiden Garza aided the team in their deep playoff run, too.
I am new to the Basin area, and I was told the expectations for the Huskies to accomplish what they did were not high. However, head coach Sonny Garza believed his team could do it. The bond these kids clearly showed proved that they believed it, too. The camaraderie found in team sports can be so invaluable.
I remember my first Huskies baseball game, when they hosted Ellensburg. I quickly took notice of the engagement of the fans at the game. They brought intense energy that matched the players in the dugout.
There’s a culture at Othello that can’t be ignored, and I had to ask Garza about it when I got the chance to interview him. He said it was always good to be hosting because their people will be behind them.
The Huskies are graduating three seniors, but I have no doubts that this team will come back ready to go next season. Any time a team makes it that far, the goal almost always is to get back there and go further. There is a lot of good to build off of in Othello.
Congratulations to the Huskies on their incredible season.
ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
Correia reflects on making All-State team
COULEE CITY — Multiple basin athletes qualified to play in the All-State Baseball Series from June 27-28 in Yakima, with Almira/Coulee-Hartline graduate, Caden Correia being one of them. Correia said he was initially selected for a feeder game ahead of his state qualification. “I was at practice one day, and my head coach (Hunter Lee) came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, you got selected for an All State feeder game,’” said Correia. “I actually got invited to two, the Central Washington one and the Spokane one.” Correia said he decided to go with the Spokane feeder game since it was taking place at Avista Stadium and he had a desire to compete at that venue. Once he played there, Correia was informed that he was also selected to play for Team Baker in the All State games, an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.
Quincy standout ‘Duckie’ Workinger returns home to lead Vikings womens wrestling
MOSES LAKE — Shannon “Duckie” Workinger was named the new head coach of women’s wrestling at Big Bend Community College on June 18, bringing one of the Basin’s own back to help build the next generation of women’s wrestlers. “I'm super excited,” Workinger said. “I spent some time wrestling at different places, and it feels really good to be able to come back to the community that I was born in and really establish more connections here and build on the ones that I already have, and just help grow our Basin into a great wrestling (community), even better than it already is, because we have some good wrestlers that come from here.”
ACH wrestlers earn All-American honors at women’s national duals
COULEE CITY — Karis Butler and Kyanna Garza from Almira/Coulee-Hartline earned All-American status after a strong showing in the 2026 Women’s National Duals in Westfield, Indiana that ran from June 16-20. “It feels really good,” Karis said. “It was very surprising last year when I got on here, and then this year they were like, ‘You can go to whatever weight class you want,’ and it made me feel very recognized for the hard work I've put in.” Wrestlers competed in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman throughout the four-day tournament. Karis competed in both earning a 7-1 record in freestyle and 4-3 in Greco-Roman. Throughout her path in the tournament, she noted a lot of growth as a wrestler came out of it.