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May 15, 2013

Rixing Xu won the #1 singles championship on Saturday. Xu never lost a set the entire year. photo by Rich Dworkis

WOMEN’S TENNIS FINISHES SECOND AT NWAACC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
For the first time in eight seasons, the Bellevue women’s tennis team did not bring home the championship trophy as the Bulldogs finished the season in second place at the NWAACC Tennis Championships held in Spokane the weekend of May 10-11. It was the Skagit Valley women’s team who ended the Bulldogs’ championship run, although Bellevue freshman Rixing Xu won the Overall Singles Championship at the #1 position with a quick and convincing 6-0, 6-0 win against Skagit Valley’s #1 player. Coach Jason Chapman said he believes that Xu’s season this year “is possibly the best I have ever seen while coaching at BC.”   Xu went through the entire season never losing a set, quite an accomplishment even when playing against four-year schools in the beginning of the year. The #2 doubles team of Barbara Smith and Preet Kaur also won at that position with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spokane’s #2 doubles team.

Results from the NWAACC Tournament
1st Singles Rixing Xu BC Def Sarah Tuemmler SVC 6-0, 6-0
2nd Singles Cady O'Dell SVC Def Sydney Obstar CCS 6-2, 6-2
3rd Singles Heather Smith SVC Def Dru Sanchez CCS 6-2, 6-7(8-6), 6-2
4th Singles Gretchen Lawrence SVC Def Sheridan Lachney CCS 6-4, 6-2
5th Singles Toria Morcom SVC Def Preet Kaur BC 7-6, 6-3
6th Singles Christa Spitler SVC Def Mariah Horn CCS 6-0, 6-1
1st Doubles Tuemmier/Spitler SVC Def Xu/Dedon BC 6-4, 6-4
2nd Doubles Smith/Kaur BCC Def Letsch/Lachney CCS 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3rd Doubles O'Dell/Smith SVC Def Le/Nasu 6-2, 6-2

Team Scores
Skagit Valley 136
Bellevue 100
Spokane 96
Treasure Valley 28
Shoreline 0

Colten Kleis fired a 67 on day one at Bandon Trails GC. photo by Rich Dworkis

KLEIS AND ANASURIYA TAKE 4TH AT BANDON DUNES

Bellevue College men’s golfer Colten Kleis took fourth place over the weekend of May 12-13 at the SWOCC Invitational played at the beautiful Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in southern Oregon, while Bellevue sophomore Suchada Anasuriya also finished in fourth on the women’s side.

The first round was played on the very difficult Bandon Trails course, ranked the most difficult of the four courses at the resort. Kleis opened play with a brilliant 67, five under-par on day one placing him in a tie for first place. His round was especially impressive after he started the round with a bogey and double bogey, three over par after two holes. Battling back from the rough start, Kleis birdied six times the rest of the way to card his 67. Day two greeted the players with typical Bandon Dunes weather; fog, rain, and high winds.  Round two was played on the ocean side Bandon Dunes course.  The weather made scoring difficult for all players. Kleis finished day two with a 79 placing him in fourth, five shots off first place. Coach Kirk Johanson noted, “A great first round by Kleis; his best of the year on the most difficult course we will play this year, and a great confidence boost going into the NWAACC Championships this coming weekend in Walla Walla.” The BC Men finished in fourth place as a team. Other BC individual finishes, Ryan Maul T20, Jack Strickland and Eric Frank T24, Brandon Shin T48 and Greg Spencer T51.

Freshman Suchada Anasuriya had another solid effort finishing fourth place as the Bellevue women played the Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes courses.  Anasuriya's opening score of 84 found her nine shots out first place. Just one shot back were Jamie Kirsila and Corey Rois, both shooting 85. On day two, the inclement weather reflected in higher scores. The Bellevue women played strong in the tough conditions. Anasuriya finished with an 82, the second lowest round of the day, Kirsila, 86, and Rois, 87. Anasuriya took fourth overall, Kirsila placed 8th and Rois 9th.  Sophomore Kayce Ogishima finished up in 20th place. The Bellevue women as a team finished in second place.

Next up for both the men’s and women’s teams is the NWAACC Golf Championship Tournament held this year in Walla Walla, May 19-20.

Autumn Isaacson is one of eight sophomores who led Bellevue to a 23-1 league record this year. photo by Rich Dworkis

BELLEVUE SOFTBALL WINS NORTH REGION TITLE, HEADING TO NWAACC TOURNAMENT

The Bulldogs softball team swept Shoreline CC in their final home games of the regular season to win another North Region Title, finishing 23-1 in North Region play and 35-5 overall. This is the third straight title, and the seventh in nine years that Leah Francis has been softball head coach at Bellevue. The other two years, the Bulldogs came in at second in the North Region. Coach Francis, and her outstanding team of assistants, “Give a shout-out to our sophomore class, who went 47-1 in league play during their time here! We will miss you Miranda Granger, Emily Lesser, Autumn Isaacson, Larissa Johnson, Lindsey West, Cassidy DeWaele, Jessica Tingley, and Meagan Ransier.”

“Congratulations to the entire 2013 squad for another great regular season! It was truly a team effort and each player on this year’s team deserves to be proud of the accomplishments thus far - the coaching staff is proud and honored to have the opportunity to coach this amazing group!” said Francis.

Cody Culp won game two in long relief in the win over Skagit Valley. photo by Rich Dworkis

BC BASEBALL WINS SKAGIT SERIES; CLINCHES #3 SEED FOR NORTH REGION TOURNEY

Bellevue College baseball won three of four games this past weekend to clinch a playoff berth in the North Region Tourney which begins Thursday, May 16, at Everett Memorial Stadium. On Friday, May 10, playing in Mount Vernon, Bellevue held a 2-0 lead in game one before Skagit Valley battled back and won in the bottom of the final inning by a score of 3-2. In game two, Bellevue's bats carried the team to a 10-0 win which ended after seven innings due to the run rule. Cody Culp entered in the bottom of the second inning with two Skagit runners on base and a 3-0 count on Skagit hitter Jay Stout. Culp promptly delivered two strikes to shift the momentum and retired the next two hitters to end Skagit Valley's threat. Jordan Silva's RBI single plated Bellevue's first run which was all the Bulldogs would need as Culp went five and two-thirds of an inning in long relief while striking out seven. The bottom of Bellevue's order, Silva, Aaron Stroosma, and designated hitter Aaron Sandefur, generated seven of the Bulldogs' nine RBI's in the game.

On Saturday, May 11, at home at Bellevue’s Courter Field, sophomore lefty Jake Reppert struck out ten without walking a batter en route to a three-hit complete game win on the mound to lead Bellevue to an opening 9-1 win. The big blow came in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Bellevue scored eight runs to put the game away. Sheldon Stober and Stroosma both delivered two RBI doubles in the big inning. In game two, the Bulldogs got a scare as Skagit Valley jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning. Bellevue answered back with 14 runs, scoring every inning while pounding out 17 hits. Stober, Nick Pribble, and Jordan Richartz each had three hits. Pribble, Traishawn Patrick, and Sandefur all had three RBI's. Sandefur's came on a three-run home run in the fifth.

Bellevue ended regular season play with a 13-11 record (26-17 overall) and are winners of ten of their last 12 games. The Bulldogs took off Mother's Day off before preparing for the North Region Tourney. The tourney, which begins on Thursday, May 16, is a four-team double-elimination tourney. Everett, who earned an automatic berth to the NWAACC Championships by winning the regular season title, and one other North Region team will move on to the NWAACC Championships May 23-27 in Longview, WA.

Bellevue will be the third seed in the region tourney this week. The tournament runs Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. There are no games on Saturday, May 18, due to high school playoff games previously scheduled at Everett's home field. For updates, check the website and schedule page. An updated bracket will be posted daily once the tourney begins. The preliminary bracket as of Monday, May 13, appears at the BC baseball website, www.bellevuecollege.edu/athletics/baseball.

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!