The prep baseball and boys soccer landscape in the Northwest Conference is getting clearer, while it was a week of blowouts on the fastpitch softball side.
Western Washington University softball split a four-game series with Northwest Nazarene in a battle of two nationally ranked teams.
Here’s an overview of what you may have missed from the last week of the spring season.
Prep
Baseball
A few leaders are emerging in the early season, with Lynden, Meridian and Blaine all undefeated and with four or more wins.
Meridian (4-0) may be the purest threat, as the Trojans are scoring a whopping 20.8 runs per game while allowing just 3.3. In the last week alone, Meridian beat Friday Harbor 33-0 on Wednesday, March 13, Granite Falls 17-7 on Friday, March 15 and Squalicum 13-0 on Thursday, March 21.
Junior pitcher Jonah Aase, a University of Washington commit, threw a perfect game for the Trojans on March 21, striking out 17 batters in the win, according to Whatcom Preps.
Blaine (5-0) and Lynden (4-0) are also in the Northwest Conference’s upper echelon early.
Blaine beat Mount Vernon Christian 7-0 on March 13 before besting Granite Falls, 3-0, on Saturday, March 16 and Ferndale, 5-0, on Tuesday, March 19.
Lynden held off Clarkston 4-1 on March 15 and beat W.F. West, 10-7, the next day. The Lions then edged rival Lynden Christian on March 19.
Nooksack Valley (3-2) has won two in a row, most recently outlasting Sehome in an 11-10 comeback victory on March 19. The Pioneers used a three-run seventh inning to retake the lead for good after allowing Sehome to score eight in the fifth and sixth innings.
Lynden Christian (3-2) has dipped a bit after a 2-0 start, but the Lyncs have played two top-tier programs state-wide in Lynden and Cedar Park Christian in their consecutive 4-2 losses.
Fastpitch softball
It was a week full of blowouts in the fastpitch softball realm for Whatcom County’s teams, as eight games locals played in were decided by at least 15 runs in the last week alone.
Sehome (3-1) began the barrage, beating in-city rival Bellingham (0-3) 24-0 on March 13. The Mariners continued their hot streak by crushing their other city rival, Squalicum (0-4), 16-1 the next day.
Lynden (3-0) rolled Archbishop Murphy, 12-0, on March 15 in another blowout, though it was short of the 15-run threshold. Lynden Christian (2-1), however, crushed Bellingham 22-0 on March 15.
Mount Baker (4-0), which currently has the most wins in the NWC, obliterated Naches Valley 19-0 on March 16 before beating Colville, 9-1, later that day. The Mountaineers also beat Anacortes 20-2 on March 19.
Squalicum was on the wrong end of another hot team when the Storm lost to Kingston 18-0 on March 16. LC also had a taste of its own medicine when it lost 18-1 to Sedro-Woolley on March 19.
Nooksack Valley (1-0) rounded out the massive victories with its 20-0 win over Bellingham on March 19 as well.
Girls tennis
Squalicum, Sehome and Lynden are all 2-0 to begin the season, and all have not surrendered more than three courts through two contests.
Sehome leads the pack, winning all 14 of its matches against Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley.
Squalicum is a close second, with a 13-1 court record and its only loss coming against Ferndale on March 13. Lynden beat Bellingham 4-3 the same day and shut out Lakewood, 7-0, on March 19.
Bellingham (1-1) has been solid, losing the close match to Lynden before shutting out Oak Harbor, 7-0, on March 19.
Boys soccer
In the 2A NWC, four teams are neck and neck: Sehome (3-0-0), Squalicum (3-1-0), Bellingham (3-1-0) and Lynden (3-1-1).
Squalicum beat Lynden (5-1 on Tuesday, March 12) and Sehome bested Bellingham (3-1 on March 12) and Squalicum (4-3 on March 15). Outside of that, the hierarchy of the four remains mostly unknown.
Sehome, of course, has the best resume, with two wins inside that group and an undefeated record. Lynden most recently beat Meridian 4-0 on March 19, while Bellingham downed Lynden Christian, 5-1, on March 18.
Squalicum bounced back from its loss to Sehome, punching up to beat Mount Vernon 2-1, also on March 18.
The 1A NWC is slightly less muddled, with Blaine (2-0-1) and Meridian (2-2-0) leading the way once again.
Meridian has lost two in a row to two of the four 2A teams mentioned prior, by a combined score of 6-0. However, the Trojans had won their previous pair of games over Sedro-Woolley (2A) and Lakewood (2A) by a combined 11-0 score.
Blaine, on the other hand, doesn’t have a loss and most recently tied Cedar Park Christian 1-1 on March 18. The Borderites routed Granite Falls two days earlier, 8-1, on March 16.
Ferndale, alone in the 3A NWC among Whatcom County teams, is yet to earn a win at 0-3-1 on the season. The Golden Eagles have struggles, but they tied Oak Harbor, 3-3, on March 18 to avoid another loss.
WWU
Softball
Western’s four games against Northwest Nazarene March 15–16 went right down the middle in a battle of two nationally ranked teams.
The teams alternated victories, as the Vikings (No. 14 nationally) were slightly outscored in the series by the Nighthawks (No. 16), 6-5. It was the first time two teams of nationwide relevance dueled at Viking Field on Western’s campus.
On March 16, Western won the first game, 3-2, before dropping the second, 2-0.
Western junior pitcher Joie Baker picked up two wins in the series, combining to pitch 12 innings while allowing seven hits, three earned runs and two walks while striking out 13 batters.
Northwest Conference baseball standings — March 20
Northwest Conference fastpitch softball standings — March 20
| Baseball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Blaine | 1-0 | 5-0 |
| Meridian | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Lynden | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Oak Harbor | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Anacortes | 1-0 | 4-2 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-0 | 3-2 |
| Lakewood | 1-0 | 1-1 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-0 | 3-1 |
| Bellingham | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-1 | 3-2 |
| Sedro- Woolley | 0-1 | 3-3 |
| Burlington- Edison | 0-1 | 2-3 |
| Ferndale | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Sehome | 0-1 | 1-4 |
| Mount Baker | 0-1 | 0-3 |
| Squalicum | 0-1 | 0-4 |
| Softball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Mount Baker | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Ferndale | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| Lynden | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| Meridian | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Blaine | 1-0 | 2-0 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Sedro- Woolley | 1-0 | 3-1 |
| Burlington- Edison | 1-0 | 1-4 |
| Sehome | 0-1 | 3-1 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-1 | 2-1 |
| Lakewood | 0-1 | 2-2 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-1 | 2-2 |
| Anacortes | 0-1 | 1-1 |
| Bellingham | 0-1 | 0-3 |
| Squalicum | 0-1 | 0-4 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-1 | 0-4 |
Northwest Conference boys soccer standings — March 20
| Boys soccer | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L-T | W-L-T |
| Mount Vernon | 2-1-0 | 3-1-0 |
| Sehome | 1-0-0 | 4-0-0 |
| Bellingham | 1-0-0 | 4-1-0 |
| Squalicum | 1-0-0 | 3-1-0 |
| Lynden | 1-0-0 | 3-1-1 |
| Anacortes | 1-0-0 | 1-2-1 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-0-0 | 1-2-0 |
| Ferndale | 0-1-1 | 0-3-1 |
| Oak Harbor | 0-2-1 | 1-4-1 |
| Blaine | 0-0-0 | 2-0-1 |
| Meridian | 0-0-0 | 2-2-0 |
| Burlington-Edison | 0-0-0 | 1-1-0 |
| Lynden Christian | 0-0-0 | 0-3-0 |
| Mount Baker | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 0-1-0 | 2-2-0 |
| Lakewood | 0-2-0 | 1-3-1 |
Connor J. Benintendi is CDN’s sports editor; reach him at connorbenintendi@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
