The Kitsap BlueJackets didn’t have the most representatives at the 2008 West Coast Collegiate Baseball League All-Star Game July 15.

With just four Jackets making the West Division All-Stars, only Moses Lake, which hosted the game, had fewer representatives (three).

But the impact of those Jacket players proved vital as the West and East tied 2-2, the second all-star tie in the game’s three-year run. Last year, the East won 4-1 before a 6-6 tie two seasons ago.

The West and Kitsap first baseman Bucky Aona (Southern Utah), playing designated hitter in the game, wasted little time in getting things going, slapping a two-out RBI single to give the West a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

That lead grew to 2-0 when BlueJackets’ second baseman Brandon Decker walked, stole second, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a passed ball.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as a two-run home run by Kelowna’s (British Columbia) Stephen Hagen in the bottom of the second set up the deadlocked score for the remainder of the nine-inning contest. Hagen was named MVP for his efforts.

Aona didn’t just make a splash in the game, however. The 6-2, 280-pound first baseman from Makakilo, Hawaii, smashed nine homers in the opening round of the pregame home run derby. He advanced to the finals, where he met up with Southern Utah teammate Nick Freitas. It was Freitas who would prevail, hitting four in the finals to Aona’s zero. Freitas also was hit by three pitches.

Corvallis closer Taylor Starr was named the game’s Top Prospect by WCCBL advisory board member Carl Moesche of the MLB Scouting Bureau. A number of scouts were in attendance.

While Aona (1-2, RBI, strikeout) and Decker (0-2, run, walk, stolen base) had the greatest success for Kitsap, outfielder Doug Buser (0-2, strikeout) and catcher/utility man Max Kwan (0-2, strikeout) also took the field for Kitsap.

The BlueJackets opened the second half of the season with wins over Olympia and Spokane.

They take on Tacoma Thursday at 7 p.m.

OAR NW off and rowing

The adventures continue for Greg Spooner.

Spooner, a former resident of Bainbridge Island, is heading out on another row, but this time, they won’t be heading across an ocean. Instead, he and teammate Jordan Hanssen are making a trek around the Olympic Peninsula by rowboat.

Starting in Gig Harbor on Aug. 4, the duo will go nearly 400 miles through Puget Sound, up to the Strait of Juan De Fuca and out to the Pacific Ocean.

From there, they’ll row south and head through Grays Harbor and circumnavigate several inland rivers. Their journey will take them through the Black River and the Black River National Wildlife Refuge.

“Washington’s beautiful waterways were begging us to sight see, explore, and test our bodies once again,” Hanssen said in a press release.

Spooner and Hanssen, along with Dylan LeValley and Brian Vickers, became the first Americans to row unassisted from mainland to mainland when they went from New York to Falmouth, England in 2006.

Visit www.oarnorthwest.com.

Runners finish strong on trail

Three Bainbridge Islanders – Stuart Johnson, Michael Shiach and Phil Leatherman – were among the 202 finishers in the 2008 White River 50 trail run, held July 26 near Mt. Rainier.

The 50-mile endurance race, featuring a gain and loss of 8700 vertical feet, is part of the USA Track and Field Trail Run series, and this year drew 238 participants from 15 states and several countries.

Runners enjoyed near-ideal weather conditions, with temperatures ranging from 50 to 60 degrees and with broken clouds shielding the grueling climbers from direct sun but often allowing spectacular close-up views of the northeast side of Mt. Rainier.

The race, now in its 16th year, is run outside the Park and Wilderness areas, mostly on rough trails open to mountain-biking. Water, salt tabs and food are made available at aid stations about every 10 miles, where the course intersects logging roads.

Susanna Beck, from Eugene Ore., set a new women’s course record of 7 hours, 32 minutes. Cutoff time for the race is 13 hours. Thirty-six runners did not finish.

–Provided by Phil Leatherman

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