It’s spring break, not much going on this week. So for this week’s column, we’ll just share some random thoughts.
The schedule: This week’s schedule is very light, and for good reason. The Hockinson boys soccer team traveled to Tumwater on Saturday to play a non-league match against Black Hills. But when the Hawks arrived, both teams realized they didn’t have enough players to fill out full varsity lineups, with so many players being absent for spring break activities.
So the two teams played a JV game instead. Black Hills won 3-1.
The Camas baseball team went against the grain by scheduling five games — all five of its non-league game allotment — at a tournament in Anaheim, Calif. The Papermakers will play two games on Monday, two on Tuesday and one more on Wednesday. Paul Valencia will write about the experiences of the Papermakers in Southern California later this week.
Also Hudson’s Bay will face Woodland in a non-league baseball game on Friday at the all-weather field at Concordia University in Portland. Maybe by Friday, we might actually see some rain.
All-state basketball: The Associated Press all-state basketball teams are scheduled to be released on Monday. No team other than the Columbia Adventist boys advanced to state from Clark County, so it will be interesting to see how that impacts local players’ chances of earning all-state honors.
All-star basketball: The Clark County high school all-star basketball series is a go, but we don’t have a date yet. Clark College will host the event. Clark coaches Alex Kirk and Al Aldridge are working on selecting the rosters for the squad.
Dry spring: In case you haven’t noticed, this has been one of the driest Marches on record in Clark County. That could be bad news for your water bill later this summer, but it’s great news for spring sports.
Every baseball team in the 4A and 3A Greater St. Helens League is completely caught up on its league schedule, with every team having played five of its 15 scheduled league games.
Skyview leads the 4A GSHL with a 5-0 mark, with Heritage and Union (both 3-2) giving chase.
In the 3A GSHL, Mountain View emerged from the first time through the league slate unscathed at 5-0. Kelso (4-1) and Columbia River (3-2) follow the Thunder.
Skyview is No. 1: The National Soccer Coaches Association of America released its first boys soccer rankings of the spring.
And topping the list for Region V — which because Washington is one of the few states that plays boys soccer in the spring this is essentially a Washington ranking — is Skyview.
The Storm, the defending 4A state champions, are also ranked fifth nationally, behind two teams from Georgia and one each from Oklahoma and South Carolina.
And with two more wins this week, then spring break, the Storm figure to be in good position when the next poll comes out on April 9.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
