24 • Wednesday, May 21, 2014 • The Record
◗ SOFTBALL
Sports briefs
Royals stopped by Wenatchee V BY TOM BERRIDGE SPORTS EDITOR tberridge@royalcityrecord.com
The Douglas College Royals playoff march was stopped by Wenatchee Valley. The No. 3 seeded Washington State school held the Royals to just five hits en route to a 15-3 win over the North region champion at the Northwest community colleges women’s softball championships in Portland, Oregon on Saturday. Douglas commited four errors in the five-inning matchup. Taylor Miller clubbed her third dinger of the season with a solo shot in the final inning. The fourth-seeded Royals opened the playdowns with an 8-1 victory over Highline on Friday. Tori Belton recorded the win, allowing just three hits while striking out eight batters. Hilary Strelau led the Royals with four runs on two hits. Sydney Brown batted in another three runs on three hits, includ-
ing a home run. Douglas was upset in the quarter-finals 4-3 by No. 12 Walla Walla and was relegated to the consolation bracket in the two-game elimination format. On Saturday, Douglas edged Olympic despite being outhit 12-10. Strelau and Jenna Holm scored the game-winning runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for Douglas. The Royals then got by Chemeketa 4-2 with Strelau scoring two runs on three hits and one RBI. For a second straight game, Douglas was outhit 10-6 by the opposition. Belton went a full seven innings for the win, striking out four batters along the way. Douglas was then eliminated by Wenatchee Valley in a consolation semifinal. Wenatchee’s run was later stopped by No. 10 seed Treasure Valley by a 10-6 score. Top seed Mt. Hood met No. 2 seed Clackamas in the final, winning the region championship title by a 4-2 score.
Brendan Ranford helped the Texas Stars to the Western Conference final in the American Hockey League Calder Cup playoffs. The New Westminster Salmonbellies 2014 draft pick tallied his seventh goal of the playoffs for the Stars in a 3-2 Game 5 overtime win over the defending champion Grand Rapids Griffins on May 16. Texas defeated Grand Rapids in six games and will take on the Toronto Marlies in the conference final, beginning on Friday.
All-conference
Jason Lang/THE RECORD
Leading the pool parade: Hyack Swim Club’s Allyson Wong swims the backstroke leag in the girls’ 200 metre individual medley at the Hyack Festival Youth Cup meet at the Canada Games Pool on Sunday.
Pub fundraiser at Union Jack A fundraiser for B.C. Children’s Hospital will be held at the Union Jack Pub today (Wednesday). Hosted by G&F Financial New Westminster branch, the pub night kicks off at the Union Jack Public House and Carvery at 525 Seventh St., beginning at 6 p.m. One Union Jack cheeseburger and fries with a pint of Bud can be pur-
chased for a $20 ticket. Proceeds from the night go to B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation. Tickets are available from Kelvin Choo. Telephone 604-419-8888 or email kchoo@gffg.com, or visit G&F Financial Group at 760 Sixth St. in New Westminster. Tickets are also available at the Union Jack Pub, just ask the on-duty manager.
Freshman catcher Grace Wardle was recently named to the Heart of America allconference women’s softball team. Wardle had 51 putouts for the Graceland University squad, while batting .341 with 29 hits, including two home runs at the plate in her first season.
Back with Giants
Clint Thornton was approved for a third season as head coach for the Northwest Giants Major Midget Hockey League season. Thornton led the Giants to consecutive regular season league titles in 2012 and ’13.