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Sports Notebook: CV teams enjoy dominant spring
5/28/2015 8:27:34 AM

By Mike Vlahovich
Splash Contributor

The spring couldn't have gone much better for Central Valley High. The Bears won four championships out of nine sports, had fast-finishing playoff qualifiers in two others and sent numerous individuals to the postseason.

Both boys and girls track teams won Greater Spokane League titles as did soccer and girls tennis. Baseball and softball qualified for district tournaments.

Herewith a look at some of the accomplishments: 

Anything you can do …
On the heels of CV girls' second straight state championship last fall, the unbeaten Bear boys (18-0) used their heads this spring to advance to the state finals May 29-30, coach Andres Monrroy's second trip to Washington state soccer's 4A final four this school year.

They advanced against quarterfinal opponent Pasco 1-0 on May 22 with a goalden goal in extra time by Brian Choate.

In the round of 16, CV fell behind Davis 1-0 on a freak goal that hit the cross bar and dropped straight down before the match had barely begun, but first half headers by Choate and Nathan Grinalds, who assisted each other, rallied the team to a 2-1 lead 10 minutes before intermission. Add an insurance score by Grinalds, and the season carried on.

JD Hauenstein was CV's scoring leader with 16 goals. The Bears lost in the first round last year. They finished fourth at state in 2012.

Track dominates
Both the boys and girls track teams dominated dual competition in winning their respective GSL and regional titles.

Neither team had a close meet, and the girls' dominance was mind boggling. They scored over 100 points (out of a possible 150) in every meet, averaging 117 points per contest.

During district, Anna Fomin (400-200 sprints) and Briegan Bester (800-1,600) were double victors, and CV won two of three relays while piling up 257 points to runner-up Mead's 126.

They have the league's fastest times in several events and incredible depth.

The Bears sent up to three and four girls in an event in repeating as regional champion, which qualified athletes to state the weekend of May 28-29 in Tacoma (after Splash press deadlines).

Parker Bowden in the triple jump and Trevor Brown in the pole vault also were Bears district champs.

Tale of two teams
Perhaps the unlikeliest of CV's achievers was baseball. The Bears finished eighth in the GSL and last among the league's five Class 4A teams.

Then they gutted out a pair of extra-inning playoff games, coming within a win of the regional championship and potential state berth.

A 5-4 win over Lewis and Clark in the first nine-inning thriller got them into the District 8 tournament.

Behind 4-0 entering the seventh inning, the bats rattled. Winning pitcher Austin Bergdahl homered, two triples later Jace Edwards drove in the tying run and the team added the winner in the top of the ninth.

After losing to district champ Gonzaga Prep, CV qualified as the number three team to regionals with the second nine inning win, 6-4 over Mead. Colton Peha's catch in center field and throw out to home sent it to extra innings. Bergdahl's two-run single was icing in the ninth, giving CV a 6-3 cushion.

They upset Richland 4-2 before eventual region champion University rallied for a 4-3 triumph.

Workhorse Bergdahl pitched three of CV's five playoff games, including against Richland, where he gave up one hit and didn't allow a run in the first six innings. He was 2-2 in league with a miniscule 1.06 ERA. The Bears finished the season with an 11-13 record in coach Mike Amend's first year.

Softball tough in clutch
Sitting with a 6-10 record late in the Greater Spokane League season, the girls made an impressive turnaround, winning six of their final eight games to qualify for regionals.

Both losses were to University by a run in the next-to-last regular season game and 11-1 for the district title. In between, the Bears (12-10) outslugged Mead 16-15 in 11 innings, paced by Jordan Schneidmiller with four hits and Shayla Vegas with two home runs.

Vegas finished second in GSL batting, but had the most hits, a .583 average and a league-high 31 RBIs. She scored 27 runs (third), hit seven doubles (third) and smacked four home runs (fourth). She added four more hits in the playoffs. Schneidmiller, Macie Reynolds and Riley Thompson were main offensive contributors.

The season ended with a 6-3 loss to Richland at regionals.

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