It’s out of the fire and into the frying pan for the Friday Harbor baseball team. The Wolverines tallied a total of 36 runs in clinching the district’s No. 1 seed and a berth at State with back-to-back blowouts in the Tri-District tournament, Saturday at Sammamish High School.
The Wolverines struck early and often and kept a shot at State alive by burying Meridian 13-3 in a do-or-die showdown Saturday at the District 1 playoffs in Sedro-Woolley. On the heels of a narrow 3-1 loss to Erika Ramstead and the perennially playoff-bound Pioneers, Friday Harbor jumped all over Meridian and tallied three runs in the first, one in the second and three more in the third, and began inning No. 5 with a 7-1 lead and firm command of the game. And they were just getting started.
The Wolverines grabbed a top slot at the Tri-District tournament and a berth at State with back-to-back wins over familiar foes Saturday at Pipeline Fields in Blaine. And they dodged a bullet along the way.
The Wolverines pulled out the bats and pulled off a shocker with back-to-back victories at home over league-leading La Conner Saturday in their regular season finale. Trailing 1-0 in the opener, Friday Harbor blew the game wide open by batting around the order and tallying eight runs in the fourth inning on five timely base hits, including a pair of triples by sophomore Elle Guard.
By all accounts, Sam Banry’s a natural. But now he has a license and state-issued certification to back it up. And he could have a corner on the market as well. On May 2, the 18-year-old Friday Harbor student became certified as an animal massage practitioner after passing a hands-on final exam — the culmination of a six-month online course with the Redmond-based Northwest School of Animal Massage — with flying colors.
Of the basic necessities, putting food on the table easily trumps the lot. And Dorothy Lawson has been on a mission for more than a quarter of a century to ensure the Friday Harbor Food Bank has the resources to fulfill that basic need for anyone on San Juan Island, regardless of their income.
Joseph Giuliano, the former deputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Northwest region, will be sentenced June 23 after pleading guilty to charges of child rape. On April 23, Giuliano, 55, pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court to three counts of child rape and, according to the Bellingham Herald, will likely be sentenced to one year in jail, on work release, and three years of sexual-deviancy treatment.
The Friday Harbor softball team notched three consecutive victories last week to move beyond the .500 mark and recapture some much-needed momentum with five games left in regular-season play.
Freshmen Micky Leytze and Mandy Turnbull gave the Wolverines a shot to win with a turnaround performance and 7-6 victory in the second set Friday on the road at Coupeville.
With two on the court, the Wolverines prevailed in a big way, taking seven of nine doubles matches and earning a victory on the road April 15 at Cavalero Mid High in Lake Stevens.
Senior southpaw Richie Ochoa fanned 13, gave up one base hit and drove in four runs as the Wolverines avenged their only loss of the season with a rout on the road.
A San Juan Island man was sentenced to 10 days in jail for driving with a suspended license, but was found innocent by a jury of a more serious drug-related offense.
A San Juan Island man accused of cutting his dog’s throat — and of assaulting a neighbor who tried to take it to a veterinarian for treatment — will stand trial in early June on a series of charges, including animal cruelty.
