RECENT HEADLINES
June 1, 2010

SASHA SHEFTS NAMED HEAD COACH FOR MEN'S SOCCER
Sasha Shefts, who was named as Bellevue College’s new women’s coach in December, has also been appointed as head coach for the men’s team also as announced by Athletic Director Bill O’Connor.  Shefts replaces 2009 NWAACC Coach of the Year, Adam Fenster, who led Bellevue’s men to the NWAACC title in November. Fenster resigned in early June to accept the head coach position for the women’s soccer team at his alma mater, Evergreen State College.   

Shefts, who was previously  an assistant coach for the Bellevue men’s team for the last three years, is also a former head coach at Holy Names Academy and Emerald City FC. He was a former standout player at Seattle Pacific University in 1983.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SOCCER TRYOUT INFO
Tryouts for Bellevue College's Mens' soccer team will be August 16th from 9-11am. Women's tryouts will be on the same day from 12-2 at Robinswood park across the street from Bellevue College on 148th. First-year paperwork must be completed prior to the first day of tryouts.  Packets may be picked up at the athletics office in the gymnasium.  Any questions contact Sasha Shefts at sasha.shefts@bellevuecollege.edu

IAN McKAY WINS NWAACC SEATTLE MARINERS SCHOLARSHIP
June 10, 2010

Bellevue College outfielder Ian McKay has been named recipient of the Seattle Mariners Scholarship, which is annually given to the top sophomore student-athlete in NWAAACC baseball. McKay is an honor student who has also studied abroad in Spain, and is a spanish / international busines major. McKay was among the team leaders in every offensive category despite missing over four weeks of league play due to injuries. The outfielder hit .310 with 22 RBI and stole 28 bases in 31 attempts. McKay will play at Chico State (CA) Unversity next year, one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the country.

Ian McKay receiving the 2010 Seattle Mariners Scholarship from Lower Columbia College Athletic Director / NWAACC Baseball Committee Chair, Kirc Roland. photo by Tracy Swisher, NWAACC

IAN PARMLEY NAMED SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
June 10, 2010

Bellevue College outfielder Ian Parmley was named Second Team All-American outfielder this week by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Parmley was named to the Pacific Association Division All-American Team, which is comprised of all community colleges in Washington, Oregon, and California. The division is one of four in the country for 2-year schools along with NJCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III. Parmley hit .363 and scored 43 runs and also stole 34 bases. He was a unanimous all-league selection and was a two-time all NWAACC Tournament selection. The left-handed outfielder has signed to play his next two years at Liberty Unversity, a 30 game-winning NCAA Division I school in Virginia.

BULLDOG BASEBALL ENDS HEROIC RUN WITH THIRD PLACE FINISH AT NWAACC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Freshman corner infielder Kyle Johnson. photo by Rich Dworkis

Bellevue College baseball showed signs of another magic run towards a second consecutive NWAACC title, but fell short with a third  place finish at the NWAACC Championships over Memorial Day weekend in Longview.  With NWAACC titles in 2007 and 2009, the team was two games away from a third title in four years.  The Bulldogs proved to be one of the most competitive teams at the tourney, with wins over eventual champion Lower Columbia, second-ranked Columbia Basin, and league-rival Edmonds.  Needing three wins on championship Monday, the Bulldogs beat previously unbeaten Lower Columbia 4-0, leaving three remaining teams (Bellevue, Lane, and Lower Columbia) with one loss apiece.  Lane Community College ended the Bulldogs’ chances with an 8-6 win. 

On the opening day of the tourney, in perhaps the best game of the day, Bellevue squared off with Columbia Basin in a re-match of last year’s title game. Bellevue’s Seafth Howe outdueled
Columbia Basin ace Elliott Van Gaver 1-0. Van
Gaver, who Bellevue beat a year ago on championship Monday, was brilliant, striking out 9 but yielded the lone run of the game when Tyler Cox drove in Ian McKay in the bottom of the 7th .  Howe was even better, striking out 12 and walking only one.

After a washout of day two (Friday May 28), Bellevue faced #1 ranked Lower Columbia in a quarterfinal game. The Bulldogs fared well against Lower Columbia’s highly-touted pro prospect Jeff Ames, who is expected to be taken in this month’s major league draft. Cox and Kyle Johnson drilled home runs as the game was tied 3-3 going into the 9th inning before Lower Columbia delivered the key hit; a two-out double to defeat Bellevue 6-3. Bulldog pitcher Kyle Swannack was even more impressive than his opponent, striking out 10 while walking only one in a complete game effort.

With one loss, Bellevue faced league-rival Edmonds in a loser-out affair, sending their North Region rivals home with a 5-3 victory.  The Bulldogs jumped out 3-0 on a home run from Emmett Niland. Cody Edwards hit Bellevue’s second home run of the game and fourth overall in the tourney, for the game-winning RBI in the fourth inning.

Following the dramatic win over Edmonds, Bellevue advanced to championship Monday. Due to the rain delays over the weekend, the team would have to win three games in one day to re-claim the title. Bellevue was forced to play Lower Columbia again, this time coming out ahead 4-0 behind the stellar pitching performance by Jake Collier.  It was the second dominating pitching performance by a Bellevue pitcher against the eventual champion Lower Columbia squad.  Collier threw a complete game shutout after a two-week layoff.  The hitting combination of McKay and Cox again delivered, as they did in the opener against Columbia Basin, as Cox drove in McKay with an RBI single after McKay led off the inning with a base hit and stolen base. 

The win over Lower Columbia left three teams remaining with one loss apiece. Bellevue’s next foe was Lane Community College. The ‘dogs jumped out 3-0 but could not hold onto the lead as Lane battled back to win over Bellevue 8-6.  “A 30-win season (Bellevue ended the season 32-20) is outstanding. The team has many things to be proud of; finishing strong winning the North Region Tourney with a 3-0 run for the second year in a row, going head-to-head and splitting with eventual champion Lower Columbia on their home field in front of capacity crowds, and proving their mental toughness by beating league-rival Edmonds both in the region playoffs and eliminating them from the NWAACC tourney.  For the few returning sophomores we had, getting a championship ring in ’09 and making it to championship Monday finishing third in 2010 is quite an accomplishment. This year’s playoff run was also a good experience for our relatively young team” says Coach Mark Yoshino.  The Bulldogs will return several starters from this year’s club and have already marked their calendars for 2011.  Their season opener will be a return trip from where they just came from; Lower Columbia College where the NWAACC Champions of the last two years will square off against each other.
 
BELLEVUE LANDS FOUR ON NWAACC CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM; ALSO PLACES FOUR ON ALL-NWAACC TEAMS
Bellevue’s heroic team efforts were also reflected by their representation on the NWAACC Championship All-Tourney and All-NWAACC teams. Tyler Cox, who hit .444 for the tourney and delivered the biggest RBI’s all weekend was named all-tournament catcher. Pitchers Seafth Howe and Jake Collier were named all-tourney pitchers for their complete game shutouts, and reigning tourney MVP Ian Parmley was named all-tourney utility player.  Parmley was also named first-team All-NWAACC along with Howe.  Cox and infielder Cory Urquhart earned second team all-NWAACC honors.

For detailed tourney info, please visit the NWAACC website at http://nwaacc.org

BELLEVUE MEN’S GOLF PREVAILS AT NWAACC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

Sophomore Matt Epstein shot 68-75 at Gold Mountain GC to finish fourth overall at the NWAACC Championships as Bellevue won the team title by one stroke.

The Bellevue Men’s Golf team took first place at the NWAACC Golf Championship Tournament played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton,
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.

Congratulations to head coach Kirk Johanson, assistant coach Darcy Muzzy, and all the student-athletes on the Bulldogs men’s and women’s golf teams. WAY TO GO, BULLDOGS!

Freshman second baseman Sarah Agerup gets the first hit of the inaugural game on Bellevue's campus field photo by Rich Dworkis

SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT HIT WITH RAIN DELAYS, TOURNEY FORMAT CHANGE

The NWAACC Softball Championship Tournament that was scheduled to begin in Portland Fri., May 21, was plagued with rain delays that not only pushed back the starting day for the first games into Saturday, then Sunday, then Monday, but also ended up altering the tournament format. Despite repeated attempts to complete the full 30-game double-elimination tournament, eventually NWAACC officials were forced to remove the one-loss side of the bracket, making the tournament single-elimination.

The Bellevue softball team, initially scheduled to play at 11:30 a.m. Friday, didn’t take the field until 8 a.m. Monday, but when they did, the Bulldogs played strong against third place East Region Columbia Basin, winning by a score of 6-4. Freshmen Tobey Varney and Brianna Bray each had RBIs, and freshman Ashleigh Carter picked up the win for the Bulldogs. Game two matched up Bellevue against SW Oregon who had just stomped Pierce 11-0. The SWOCC Lakers were still on a roll and beat the Bulldogs 3-0 to end a much-truncated run at the soggy tournament.

“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. I am very proud of their efforts during the season and truly enjoyed coaching this group!”

SOFTBALL ALL-STARS AND ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS INCLUDE 10 BULLDOGS

NWAACC North Region Softball All-Stars selections recognized seven outstanding Bulldogs for first team: Ashleigh Carter, pitcher; Megan McLachlan and Lindsay Sullivan, infielders; Lauren Reid and Lexi Kubin, outfielders; Tobey Varney, utility; and Sarah Agerup, designated hitter. Second team honorees were Breonna Chrisman, pitcher; Megan Zender, infielder; and Brianna Bray, outfielder.

Bellevue infielder Toby Varney was also named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American team.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR BULLDOGS SOFTBALL TEAM AND COACHING STAFF FOR A REALLY GREAT SEASON!

Please visit the BC Athletics website http://bellevuecollege.edu/athletics/ for additional team information. For complete standings, coaches’ polls and up-to-the-minute results, go to http://nwaacc.org

GO, BULLDOGS!