Hydroplane fever hits the Columbia River this week for Tri-Cities spring training

Want to get an early look at the unlimited hydroplanes before the Apollo Columbia Cup is run in late July?

Head down to the Columbia River on Friday, May 31, to see seven of them, in what has become an annual event: Spring Testing.

The course will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

And while admission is free, the cost for nearby parking will be $5.

Here are the boats and drivers who should be in attendance, as teams try to dust the cobwebs off the boats and get ready for the season opener in late June down in Alabama:

• U-1 Miss Beacon Electric, with driver J. Michael Kelly;

• U-9 Miss Beacon Plumbing and driver Corey Peabody;

• U-11 Miss Mercurys Coffee and driver Jamie Nielsen;

• U-12 Miss Graham Trucking, with driver Bobby King;

• U-40 Bucket List Racing/Flav-R-Pac and driver Dustin Echols;

• U-60 Go Fast Turn Left Racing/Miss Thriftway and driver Gunnar O’Farrell;

• U-91 Miss Goodman Real Estate and driver Andrew Tate.

In addition, three Grand Prix America boats are expected to hit the water: Richard’s Racing’s two boats, the GP-10 and GP-17; as well as the GP-20 Blown Income Racing.

Furthermore, the vintage hydroplane Miss Thriftway will be there to test the water.

Food vendors and a beer garden will be available, and the band Voodoo Alley will perform at the Columbia Park Bandshell behind the Neil F. Lampson pits, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Contractor Apollo of Kennewick committed to sponsoring the Columbia Cup back in April, and the name for the race is the Apollo Columbia Cup. It will be July 26-28.

Prep baseball

High school baseball fans can get one last look this season at the area’s top seniors when the 4th annual Columbia Basin Series Senior All-Star Baseball Game, set for Wednesday, May 29, at Richland High School.

The game will feature 45 of the top seniors from Tri-Cities region as well as the Yakima area.

The contest will be 9 innings long, and coaches will select players to move on to the all-state series.

Admission to Wednesday’s game is free, and if fans can’t attend, it will be broadcast beginning at 5 p.m. on both Apple Valley News Now ABC, as well as SK+.

The link to watch the game is https://bit.ly/2024CBAS.

Here are the rosters for both teams:

Tri-Cities roster

P Alec Ammerman, Richland; OF Jaxson Baxter, Chiawana; P/1B Dallas Bennett, Richland; P/OF Rylan Blair, Chiawana; 1B/P Nate Clinton, River View; C/OF/2B John Corbin, Richland; 3B/P Chris Daniels, Richland; 1B/P Collin Dorsett, Hanford; P/OF Henry Douglas, Tri-Cities Prep; 1B/C Tyler Gaskins, Southridge; OF Austin Guier, Southridge; C/1B Ethan Hedgepeth, Tri-Cities Prep; P Leyton Lind, Kennewick; OF Rayce Reeves, Richland; 3B Conner Salsbury, Kennewick; P/3B Caleb Sherfey, Tri-Cities Prep; P/OF Jabari Simon, Southridge; SS/OF JR Starr, Hermiston; SS Talon Thai, Kamiakin; SS Landen Webb, Hanford; P/3B/1B Riley Whitlow, River View.

Head coach: Severo Rodriguez, Chiawana. Assistant coaches: Tim Sanders, Southridge; Steve Woods, Kamiakin; Lenny Ayres, Kennewick; Jamie Miracle, Hanford; Jason Jarrett, Tri-Cities Prep; Grant Richardson, Richland.

Yakima roster

2B/SS Corban Aills, Davis; 3B/OF Mason Bailey, Selah; P/2B/SS/OF J’Den Briones, Sunnyside; P/OF Chris Brown-Ward, Eisenhower; 2B/SS/3B Gabe Carlson, Kittitas; C/P Max Dearing, Cle Elum-Roslyn; OF Thane Denny, Naches Valley; Utility Joshua Dominguez, Grandview; C Joel Fernandez, Davis; OF Isaac Froula, West Valley-Yakima; 2B/SS/3B Carter Graham, West Valley-Yakima; C/OF Anthony Hannon-Ramirez, West Valley-Yakima; P Cash Haughton, Eisenhower; 1B/OF Kyan Helseth, Eisenhower; 2B/SS/3B Cooper Kleinow, Grandview; OF Cody Leaverton, West Valley-Yakima; P/1B/3B Dominik Martinez, Davis; P/OF Austin Roof, East Valley-Yakima; P Branson Rozier, Eisenhower; 1B Drake Seward, West Valley-Yakima; 1B/OF Carson Sharp, West Valley-Yakima; SS/OF Buddy Smeenk, Sunnyside Christian; 2B/OF Clayton Smeenk, Sunnyside Christian; 2B/SS/3B/OF Trenton Williams, Davis.

Head coach — Jacob Mortensen, Toppenish. Assistant coaches — Tyler Alseth, Sunnyside Christian; Roger Guzman, Eisenhower; Michael Halverson, Cle Elum; Dave Kleinow, Grandview; Ken Mortsensen, Toppenish.

High school golf

Here are the results for the Mid-Columbia golfers at the WIAA state tournaments last week. More state recaps will come out later this week:

4A boys

Richland scored enough points to place third as a team at Indian Canyon Golf Course last Wednesday.

Leading the way for the Bombers were senior Davis Sheets and junior Kaedon Smith, who both shot two-round totals of 149 to tie for 15th overall out of 112 golfers.

Sheets had rounds of 72 and 77, while Smith was the exact opposite at 77 and 72.

Richland senior Drew Frei tied for 30th with a 154 (79-75), while Hanford’s Cormac Meinshausen tied for 36th at 155 (79-76).

Bellarmine Prep junior JJ Bordeaux was one of four players who tied for first with 141 scores. Bordeaux won a playoff to win the title.

4A girls

Chiawana’s Sydney Stenson was the highest area placer in the state tournament at Spokane’s Creek at Qualchan Golf Course.

Stenson fired rounds of 83 and 94 for a two-day total of 177, tying her for 22nd place out of 87 golfers.

Kamiakin’s Avery Beck tied for 29th place with rounds of 91 and 91 for 182.

Chanyoung Park, a freshman from Jackson High in Everett, won the tournament with a 73-73–146.

3A girls

Hermiston junior Nadalie Cannell had the best finish among Mid-Columbia Conference competitors, placing 15th out of 139 golfers, at the state tournament at Eagles Pride Golf Course in DuPont.

Cannell fired rounds of 83 and 79 for a two-day total of 162.

Right behind her was Southridge junior Riley Brandt, who tied for 18th with a 164 (84-80).

Bellevue freshman Nicole Tang who the tournament with a 71-73–144.

1B/2B boys

Eighth grader Joe Anderson of Orcas Island won the tournament at Tumwater Valley Golf Club, shooting a two-round total of 148 (75 and 73).

Orcas Island also won the team title.

The Mid-Columbia had three golfers finish among the top 19.

Eighth grader Jake Warwick from DeSales of Walla Walla tied for seventh with a 159 (77-82), while senior Delton Bonds of Tri-Cities Prep finished tied for ninth with a 162 (82-80). Liberty Christian junior Ivan Spence finished tied for 17th, scoring a 169 (86-83).

1B/2B girls

Walla Walla Valley Academy senior Nell Dodds was the highest local player, tying for fifth with a two-day score of 187 (96-91) at the Tumwater Valley Golf Club in Tumwater on Wednesday.

Tri-Cities Prep sophomore Kennedy Douglas (101-88–189) and Warden senior Lauryn Madsen (91-98–189) both tied for seventh place.

Almira-Coulee-Hartline sophomore was tournament medalist with rounds of 88 and 85 for a 173 total score.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.