The shining light was Wa-Hi’s softball team, which captured third place in the Class 4A state tournament at SERA Fields in Tacoma. Not a bad ending to a season that also included district and regional titles.

A trio that came up short in quests for state championships consisted of Touchet’s baseball and softball teams, and the baseball squad from DeSales.

In the cases of Touchet softball and DeSales baseball, both entered their title games – in 1B and 2B, respectively – as defending state champions.

The Irish had their hearts broken by a late Northwest Christian rally that resulted in an 11-10, extra-inning defeat while the Indians fell to a hard-hitting group of Colton Wildcats, 13-1.

Touchet finished third in the race for last year’s 1B baseball crown, but reached the championship game this year, only to suffer a 10-4 loss to Wilbur-Creston.

Indeed, the weekend was a downer for three of the four teams talked about above. That having been said, congratulations to all for giving your loyalists much to cheer about more often than not.

W-P’s boys claimed 13 events on their way to an impressive total of 223.5 points – a score that nearly doubled that of Mac-Hi, which finished second with 113.

The battle for the top spot on the girls side was much closer, but ended up in Waitsburg-Prescott’s favor. W-P racked up 161 points while second-place Asotin registered 141 points.

Morgan Baker won three individual events (200, 110 hurdles, and 300 hurdles) and ran a leg on W-P’s 400 relay team.

Maya Garcia (800), and Stacy and Kristin Potter (100 and 1600, respectively) were among W-P’s individual girls winners and each ran a leg on the winning 400 relay team.

These kind of late-season results would appear to bode well for coach Ron Huntington’s teams, especially with the postseason looming. It could be a very exciting May for W-P athletes and their fans.

The three teams – representing Wa-Hi boys soccer, and boys and girls tennis, took the long bus ride to Wenatchee for Big Nine Conference competition.

The boys soccer team opposed Wenatchee, while the boys and girls tennis teams faced both Wenatchee and Eastmont.

The male kickers kept their perfect record intact with a 2-0 shutout of the Panthers thanks to a pair of second-half goals. Wa-Hi improved to 3-0 on the season.

Both tennis teams split with the Panthers and Wildcats. Each team posted a win over Eastmont by a 4-3 count.

Yes, it was a long trip. Yes, it was a long day. But these athletes proved that positive results can be realized regardless of the frequent traveler miles involved.

The Blue Devils’ outstanding campaign – accomplished with mostly underclassmen – and deep run in the postseason came to an end Saturday night, though, at the 4A Regional championships in Kennewick.

While this disappointment saddened Wa-Hi basketball fans, the boys regional victory over Lewis & Clark on Friday night had Big Blue backers jumping for joy. Friday’s triumph earned John Golden’s crew a berth in the Class 4A state tournament that begins Wednesday in Tacoma.

It’s part of what has been a remarkable playoff run for Golden’s Gang. It hit one of its peaks during its final two games of the district tournament with double-digit road victories at Wenatchee and Eisenhower. The latter win clinched the district title for the Blue Devils.

Wa-Hi downed Davis in the opening round of the regional tourney before punching a state ticket with its taming of the Tigers.

Though their quest for a regional crown came up short after a loss to Ike on Saturday night, there is little question that the Blue Devils’ season has provided many thrills. With the state tournament on the horizon, it’s possible that more of these moments could be in the offing beginning Wednesday.

Perhaps its finest hour in the McKeown era came last season, when the Indians finished third in the Class 1B state tournament in Yakima.

Now in his first year as coach of the boys varsity team, it appears that Touchet players have put the disappointment of their regular-season performance behind them and are beginning to buy in to McKeown’s winning attitude.

Evidence was provided last week when the Indians stunned followers of Southeast 1B district basketball with playoff victories over Colton and Tri-Cities Prep – the latter of which was a 52-51 overtime triumph on Saturday in Pasco.

Touchet now stands one win away from reaching the state tournament. This goal may or may not come to fruition, but this past week proved that anything is possible when a team rises from the ashes of a sub-.500 regular season to produce playoff memories.

The Blue Devil girls basketball team improved its record in the Big Nine Conference’s Cascade Division to 9-1 and overall mark to 15-3 with a couple of victories over the weekend.

Wa-Hi smashed Eisenhower, 60-36, on Friday night and posted a 63-58 overtime triumph on Saturday at Hanford.

To fully appreciate what is making this campaign even more amazing requires a glance at this year’s roster – which is made up of two seniors, three juniors, four sophomores and a trio of freshmen.

Evidence that this team has matured was provided by 5-foot-10 sophomore forward/post Hope Klicker in the closing seconds of the Hanford contest. Klicker nailed a 3-point shot with five seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Wa-Hi coach Jack Mehn stated his pleasure with the maturity of his team afterward. He noted that it was a contrast to the previous meeting between the two teams three weeks ago in the Blue Devil gym – won by Hanford in double overtime.     

I recall a line from a movie that suggested, ‘Training is useful, but there is not substitute for experience.’ As these young Blue Devils continue to gain experience and confidence, there appears to be no limit to what they can achieve before this season ends.