Prep Baseball -- Washington Baseball Players Prepare To Face Oregon's Best

Washington's best high-school baseball players will try to do what their basketball counterparts could not: beat Oregon.

Washington basketball players lost Sunday at the Northwest Shootout in Portland. On Saturday, the two states' baseball teams will meet in the Washington-Oregon All-Star baseball doubleheader at Hudson's Bay High School in Vancouver.

Newport senior Marc Rittenhouse, who was the Class AAA offensive MVP at last weekend's state baseball feeder series in East Wenatchee and helped the Knights win the Class AAA state championship this spring, is one of seven area players who who will participate in the second annual Oregon-Washington doubleheader.

The first game, which pits 20 players from each state against each other, begins at 10 a.m. The second game is scheduled to start at approximately 1 p.m.

Rittenhouse will be joined by fellow KingCo Conference all-star Chad Dias, a catcher at Juanita who was third in the league with a .500 batting average.

Pitcher Scott Stencil of Everett, who was named the Class AAA defensive MVP at the all-state series, heads a four-athlete contingent from the Western Conference that also includes Cascade infielder Bryan Ingram (.507 BA, highest in Cascade history), infielder James Jeske of Edmonds-Woodway (.412, 22 runs batted in) and outfielder Ben DeMond of Sehome.

Seattle Prep infielder Ryan Riley was the only Metro League player selected. The Washington team will be coached by Elton Goodwin of South Kitsap and Al Evans of Mount Vernon. They will be joined by retired Hall of Fame coaches Lloyd Riddle of Renton and Bill Walker of Connell.

Oregon will be led by the pitching of Don Stykel, a right-hander from Centennial High School in Portland who has signed with Oregon State. Brandon Hotchkiss, a first baseman from Madison High School in Portland, has signed with Portland State.

Last year Oregon and Washington split the doubleheader. Washington won the first game 7-0 thanks in part to Max Engel of Seattle Prep, who hit a grand slam and was named Washington's MVP. Oregon won the second game 4-2.

Oregon-Washington rosters

Washington roster - Mitch Barker, OF, Royal City; Tyson Boston, OF, Burlington-Edison; Jeff Carlsen, P, North Kitsap; Ben DeMond, OF, Sehome; Chad Dias, C, Juanita; Tim Fellows, OF, Fort Vancouver; Tim Friedman, 3B, Gig Harbor; David Hixson, P, Evergreen; Bryan Ingram, IF, Cascade; Tony Jenks, 3B-C, Connell; James Jeske, IF, Edmonds-Woodway; Jeremy Rankin, OF-P, Hudson's Bay; Grant Reeves, 1B-P, Mead; Ryan Riley, IF, Seattle Prep; Marc Rittenhouse, IF, Newport; Scott Stencil, P-OF, Everett; Adam Stokey, C, Mountain View; Darren Tinnerstet, P, Capital; Tucker Urdahl, P-1B, Cheney; Joe Whitssett, OF, Central Kitsap.

Oregon roster - Don Stykel, P, Centennial; Mike Morgan, P, David Douglas; Shane Elliot, P, The Dalles; Matt Halleman, P, Sheldon; Brad Ferrin, P, Sprague; Aaron Rivera, P, Tigard; Trevor Brown, C, Sheldon; Neil McDaniel, C, Monroe; Chris Halgren, C-1B, Westview; Brandon Hotchkiss, 1B, Madison; Tyler Kemhus, 3B, Oregon City; Duane Dodge, 2B, David Douglas; Dan Ratliffe, SS, Tualatin; Mark Hernandez, SS, Roseburg; Rob Schlegel, 3B, Banks; Marlin Barnabe, OF, Pilot Rock; Eric Munson, OF, Westview; Travis Starr, OF, Bend; Luke Atwood, OF, McNary; August Noraard, OF, Astoria.

Heide scores for Washington

Jason Heide's basketball career in Oregon started well last Sunday. The Issaquah center, who will play at Oregon State on scholarship next season, scored 15 points for the Washington high-school all-stars against the Oregon all-stars in the Northwest Shootout in Portland.

Heide's total was third on the Washington team, behind Dan Dickau of Prairie (17 points) and Ryan Jones of Capital (16 points). But the Washington boys team was beaten for the fourth consecutive year, 101-84.

"All our coach talked about was that we were 0-3 (vs. Oregon)," Heide said. "I thought we had a really talented team. It was just one of those things."

Heide, who graduated from Issaquah last week, said he's now focusing on getting in shape before moving to Corvallis in September.

Rhoads Golf raises $5,000

The first annual Scott Rhoads Memorial Golf Tournament was played Saturday at the Lakeland Village Golf & Country Club in Allyn. Rhoads, a longtime teacher at Tillicum Middle School and coach at Newport High School, died last summer in the TWA Flight 800 crash along with his wife, Marit.

One hundred-ten golfers played in the scramble event, which raised almost $5,000 through entry fees and raffles. The money will fund three $500 scholarships at Newport beginning next year - one for Male Athlete of the Year, one for Female Athlete of the Year and one for Spirit Person of the Year, which will go to a member of the Knights' cheerleading squad, drill team or band.

Donations to the Scott Rhoads Memorial Fund can be sent to: Chuck Crickmore, Newport Athletic Director, 4333 128th SE, Bellevue, WA, 98006. Make checks payable to the Scott Rhoads Memorial Fund.