Northwest Notes May 21, 2025

Robbins returns for second stint as LC State baseball coach

LEWISTON — Jeremiah Robbins will return to Lewis-Clark State College as baseball coach, the school announced Tuesday. 

Robbins led LC State to NAIA national championships in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and was inducted into the LC State Athletics Hall of Fame in April.  

Robbins rejoins the team after launching and leading the baseball program at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., from 2019-24. He replaces Jake Taylor, who led the Warriors from 2019-2025. Taylor replaced Robbins as Warriors head coach.

LC State failed to qualify for the NAIA World Series the past two seasons. Lewiston hosts the event, which begins Friday, at Harris Field.

Robbins led LC State to five NAIA World Series championship games in his six years at the helm from 2013-18. He posted a 270-71 (.792) winning percentage. After national runner-up finishes in his first two seasons, the Warriors won three consecutive national titles during 2015-17. In his final year, the Warriors finished third. 

During his time, Robbins received numerous honors. Twice he was named the NAIA Coach of the Year, and in each of the three championship seasons he was honored as the American Baseball Coaches Association NAIA Coach of the Year. He was named the ABCA's West Region Coach of the Year four times and was the NAIA West's Coach of the Year twice. 

In Robbins' final year at LC State, the baseball program earned the NAIA's F. Hank Burbridge Champions of Character award for sportsmanship and commitment to the community. The baseball team participated in campus activities and took part in several community events, including helping area Little League teams. 

During his time away from LC State, Robbins helped rebuild the Umpqua baseball program and assisted in the fundraising of nearly $1 million to build a baseball facility.  

Before coming to Lewiston in 2013, he served as the head coach at NCAA Division II Western Oregon University in Monmouth from 2006-12 where he helped the Wolves qualify for regionals five times and win seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles.  

Robbins will officially begin his second tenure at LC State on Thursday.

Capitals re-assign Chiefs' Cristall to AHL team in Hershey

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Washington Capitals re-assigned forward Andrew Cristall from the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League, senior vice president and general manager Chris Patrick announced.

The Capitals selected Cristall in the second round (40th overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft.

Cristall, 20, led the WHL in scoring during the regular season with 132 points (48 goals, 84 assists) in 57 games played.

Cristall began the season with the Kelowna Rockets before being traded to Spokane on Jan. 8, and helped Spokane reach the WHL Championship Series, where the Chiefs lost to Medicine Hat in five games.

Penticton Vees acquire Chiefs prospect Trevor Connelly in WHL Expansion Draft

The Penticton Vees have acquired Spokane Chiefs’ forward prospect Trevor Connelly (2006) as part of the 2025 WHL Expansion Draft.

Connelly, who was originally selected 16th overall by Spokane in the 2021 U.S. Priority Draft, spent the 2024-25 season at Providence College, where he logged 13 points in 23 games (4 goals, 9assists).

Last summer, Connelly was selected 19th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft and has since signed his entry level contract with the team. This spring, he made his professional debut with the Henderson Silver Knights, where he posted a goal and three assists in six games.

During the expansion draft earlier this month, the Vees were allowed to select one player from each of the 22 WHL teams’ rosters ahead of their inaugural season. Since the Chiefs played in the WHL Championship Series, they were not required to submit a protected list for the expansion draft until two days after their season ended.

The WHL is expanding to 23 teams with the addition of the Penticton Vees for the 2025-26 season. Penticton will play in the B.C. Division of the Western Conference, with no other changes to WHL alignment.