“A portion of downtown Winslow turned into a velodrome Saturday evening, as more than 200 professional and amateur bicycle racers took on the mile-long course in the second Twilight Bicycle Races.The hills don’t look like much, organizer Steve Rhoades said of the course, which ran east on Wyatt Way, north on Ericksen Avenue, east on Wallace Way and south on Madison Avenue to Wyatt. But if you don’t have a good warmup, they’re killers. You’ll pop off the back of the race.Rhoades estimated that only about one-third of the 60 starters completed the 35-lap main event for professional racers.”
“Bainbridge’s young baseball dreadnoughts continued their march towards a state championship Wednesday.Although the defense faltered a bit, the 9-10 Little League all-stars cranked up the offense to post a 7-2 win over Kenmore in a winner’s bracket semifinal, advancing to this weekend’s climactic round of play.”
“The qualifying laps were OK – no spinouts, and no wrecks, which is more than several drivers could say.But the No. 24 car wasn’t rolling through the banked left-hand turns properly. So driver Garrett Haxby steers back into the pit for a conversation with his mechanic, one that goes like this:Donna says you got third.It’s loose though, dude.Really loose?Not really loose, but loose.Given this direction, mechanic Nathan Searles takes up a wrench and makes minor adjustments to the suspension of Haxby’s car. It works – later in the evening, when it really counts, Haxby will rally to take third again in a field of some 15 cars, in the evening’s main event.We live and die by our motto, Haxby says, pointing to the dashboard and its inscription: Drive it…like you STOLE it!Haxby, a Poulsbo resident and co-owner with Ranji Dhatt of Madison Avenue Garage on Bainbridge Island, is in his fourth year in Legends series racing.”
“As host of this year’s state tournament, Bainbridge’s 13-year-old Babe Ruth all-stars didn’t need to win their way into the tournament.But on Wednesday, the hosts definitely proved that they belonged, as they drubbed Ferndale 15-0 in a tournament-opening game called after five innings by the 10-run rule.We had excellent pitching, great defense and superb clutch hitting, Bainbridge coach Mike Patterson said. I’m ecstatic about the way we played.”
“BREMERTON – If experience is the best teacher, Bainbridge’s 15-year-old all-stars have learned their lessons well.They proved that over the weekend by storming to the Babe Ruth district championship, a title that this bunch won as 13-year-olds and as 14-year olds.That’s something – winning the district tournament three years in a row, head coach Bruce Hebner said. No matter who you’re playing, that’s hard to do, because so many things can happen in baseball.Bainbridge captured the title with an 8-5 win over Central Kitsap on Sunday.”
“Bainbridge 9-10 baseball coach Rick Watson said his team was well-positioned going into the deciding games of the district tournament over the weekend because he had his top pitchers rested and ready.But not even Watson could have predicted just how good his pitchers would be. All his three top pitchers did was toss back-to-back shutouts against South Kitsap Eastern as Bainbridge ran away from the field to take the district title and move into this weekend’s state tournament.We were hitting on all cylinders all tournament, Watson said. We had pitching all the way, big hits and excellent defense. Our pitchers gave up only three runs and eight hits in the five games, and we never trailed.”
“The old saying that the team making the fewest mistakes wins is never more true than in youth baseball. That being so, it should follow that a team making no mistakes will win big.And so it was Thursday night, as the Bainbridge 9-10-year-old baseball all-star team turned in another near-flawless performance Thursday to claim a 9-1 win over the North Kitsap Nationals in district tournament play at Olalla.Pitching is what held us together, said Bainbridge coach Rick Watson. We made no mistakes, made great plays in the field and came through in the clutch.The island team’s third straight tournament win sends them into a winner’s bracket showdown against South Kitsap East, tonight at 7:30 p.m.”
“After years of playing tournament baseball on the road, Bainbridge gets a chance to play host, as the Babe Ruth 13-year-old state tournament comes to the island July 19-24.This has been a huge community effort, tournament director Geoff Roach said. Not only will it be a lot of fun, but it gets the team into the state tournament automatically, and one step closer to the regional (tournament).The nine-team, double-elimination tournament will take place at the BHS field over six days.”
“Bainbridge’s 9-10-year-old softball all-stars stayed in the thick of district tournament play Monday with a 20-10 win over Mason County.By winning two and losing one over the weekend, coach Kirk Robinson’s squad played their way into a Friday rematch with Sequim, with the winner facing perennially strong East Jefferson for the district championship.Bainbridge opened tournament play Friday with a 14-0 trouncing of Mason County. The islanders scored three times in the first inning, five in the second and six in the third before the game was called because of the 10-run mercy rule.Bainbridge’s pitchers combined for a one-hitter. Chelsea Whealdon pitched the first three innings, striking out seven. Abbey Heller pitched the fourth, and struck out the side.The pitchers helped themselves at the plate as well. Whealdon drove in three runs with three hits, and Heller knocked in two runs with a double.”
“Time is running out on Brad Barquist’s Olympic dreams.Hobbled by injuries that have waylaid his training schedule, America’s top 10,000-meter runner at the Atlanta games will go to the Olympic trials Friday in a long-shot bid for a place on this year’s team.It may be the islander’s last competitive race.It’s not looking all that favorable, Barquist said this week in assessing his prospects. But all the time lines, everything I’ve set myself up to do, ends this summer. So I’m determined to go and hope things fall in my favor, (rather) than not to go at all.Barquist set progressive goals for each Olympiad in the last decade. In 1992, his goal was to qualify for the Olympic time trials, which he did. In 1996, his goal was to make the Olympic team. Again, that was accomplished. This year, his goal is to win an Olympic medal at the games in Sydney.”
“The increasingly popular all-comers track meets begin their sixth season Monday at 7 p.m. at the Bainbridge High School track.This is a family-oriented event for anybody that runs, meet director Jim Whiting said. Well over half of our turnout is usually kids 12 and under, but we have some serious runners as well.”
“For a bunch of small-town kids, some islanders certainly know the ropes.Ten Bainbridge girls competed in the national U.S. Amateur Jump Rope Federation Tournament at Walt Disney World in Florida, June 23-25.All brought home medals. And 15-year-old Brisa Leachman was named the country’s top freestyle jumper in all age groups.I had a miss in the preliminary round, and took second, Leachman said. But the top three in each age group go into the finals, where everybody competes no matter what age they are. You start over in the finals, and I won.Leachman was competing as part of the Hot Dog USA team from Kirkland. Until last fall, she was a member of Bainbridge Island Ropeskippers, and was part of the four-jumper team that finished second in last year’s world competition.”
“The cliche that there’s no place like home is never more true than on a golf course, where players adapt their games to the layout they regularly play.The home-course advantage proved decisive Thursday, as Wing Point’s team made up a three-shot deficit on its own course, and went on to post a one-shot overtime win over Meadowmeer in the ninth annual Helpline House Golf tournament. This was the most memorable as far as drama, said Meadowmeer head professional Tom Mueller, the only player to compete in all of the tournaments. I can’t remember any being so competitive.The 10-plus hours of competition finally ended on Wing Point’s second hole. There, country club head pro Dave Tunkkari holed a downhill 20-foot chip for a birdie, letting Wing Point hang onto the Fred Schaffer memorial trophy for another year.”
