Have yourself a day, Preston Jones.
The outfielder from Vancouver had just about a perfect day at the plate in Oregon State’s 20-4 win over Gonzaga on Sunday.
Seven times, Jones stepped to the plate. Zero times did Jones make an out.
Jones went 4-for-4, tripling in both the first and second innings along with two singles. He also walked three times, including twice in Oregon State’s 13-run sixth inning. Jones scored four runs.
A graduate of Mountain View High, Jones is off to a fast start after he decided to return for his fifth season at Oregon State. He’s batting .583 through the Beavers’ first four games, which have all been played in Surprise, Arizona.
Jones was an All-Pac-12 Defensive honorable mention in 2019, when he played in 51 games, making 32 starts. He batted .228 with six doubles, two home runs and 16 RBI.
Oregon State (3-1) will stay in Arizona for a four-game series against Grand Canyon University before returning for its home opener March 4 against BYU.
Local wrestlers reach NAIA Nationals
Two freshmen from Clark County who wrestle for Arizona Christian University have qualified for the NAIA National Championships.
Jack Latimer, a Camas graduate, qualified at 149 pounds. Alex Newberry, a Heritage graduate, will compete at 157 pounds.
The tournament, which involves 240 wrestlers, will take place March 5-6 in Wichita, Kansas.
Newberry enters that tournament having won his matches in four consecutive duel meets.
Latimer and Newberry are among 32 wrestlers to qualify for nationals from the Cascade Collegiate Conference.
Evergreen graduate VA Ili also competes for Arizona Christian, a school in Glendale with about 820 students.
WWU basketball to play after all
After months of uncertainty, the Western Washington women’s basketball team will take the court to start a six-game schedule on Friday.
Initially, only Washington’s private schools in the NCAA Division-II Great Northwest Athletic Conference were slated to play this winter. But following revised guidelines from the state Department of Health, Central Washington and Western Washington crafted their schedules.
Western and Central will play home-and-home series against Saint Martin’s, Seattle Pacific and each other.
Western has freshman point guard Mason Oberg, the Columbian’s All-Region player of the year in 2020 for Union.
Central has sophomore guard Cassidy Garner of Prairie and sophomore guard Taylor Stephens of La Center.
Have any tips of standout performances of college athletes from Clark County? E-mail sports editor Micah Rice at micah.rice@columbian.com
