Sixers 11U continue strong season despite 1-2 weekend
MOSES LAKE — Despite a 1-2 weekend, the Central Washington Sixers 11U (17-10) are off to a strong start to their season, according to Head Coach Sonny Garza. “Season's going pretty good overall,” Garza said. “We won a tournament a few weeks back. We have a couple second places, and the last couple weekends we've been facing some pretty good all-star teams that have kind of been put together. It's good to start facing those types of teams again, and we're still seeing some of those same tough teams that we've played the last couple years, which is also really good.”
GALLERY: Summer baseball highlights
MOSES LAKE — The Dune City Dust-Up took over Moses Lake over the weekend. The bullpen series event not only brought several local Basin teams to town, but teams from all over Eastern Washington competed, as well. See below some highlights from the weekend of competition. Full results of the tournament will be covered in a later edition of the Columbia Basin Herald.
Moses Lake All-Stars 9U win weekend tourney
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake All-Stars 9U (6-4) earned champion status after going 4-0 in the Dune City Dust-Up over the weekend. Despite a shaky start in game one, the All-Stars grinded out four strong wins, Head Coach Isaac Jahns said. “I'd say we started out feeling like we were struggling a little bit on Saturday. Our pitching wasn't on, but the kids really grinded through it,” he said. “They managed to get the W's on Saturday, despite not being at their best, which showed a lot of determination, and I was really proud of that.”
Ephrata girls compete at Hoopfest 2026
SPOKANE — Ephrata was well represented at Hoopfest over the weekend with seven teams competing from high school to fifth grade brackets. By the end of the weekend, two of the Ephrata teams claimed second place finishes in their brackets. “I thought they did great,” said Ephrata High School Head Coach Alain Black. “They played well, they played hard and had some good competition, so it was fun to watch.” The two teams to take home the silver were the Tiger Terrors consisting of Summer B, Gwynn F, Tyler W and Brooklynn R and the Hoop Town Girls consisting of Brooke B, Grace K, Emma F and Hallie H.
Tigers first wrestling camp deemed a success
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers Wrestling camp was held June 29 through July 1 where young wrestlers came together to practice and learn more about the sport. Tigers Boys Wrestling Head Coach Joe Knox said he was pleased with how the camp turned out. “We had mostly younger boys and then some middle school girls, so we had a good mix of kids, and I thought it went really well,” said Knox. “The kids were really energetic, we had a lot of fun, and we learned a little wrestling along the way.” The main goal for Knox at the camp was to teach the young group of kids the fundamentals and focus on the basic skills of wrestling.
Summer volleyball camp preps Knights for this fall and beyond
ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights held their summer volleyball camp from July 6-10 and brought in both new and experienced players to learn more about the sport. Knights Head Coach Melanie Griffin said this camp was a great opportunity for this team as they head closer to the start of the season. “I feel it was huge for these girls,” said Griffin. “They really learned and grew. We worked on some high-level stuff, and I had a young group show up so it was really good for them to see what the game can look like, and I think they felt good.” For the first four days of camp, girls from seventh grade to the upcoming seniors all worked together on a variety of skills and exercises to stay fresh during the offseason. The coach said she feels the girls learned a lot of new things and most importantly learned to play and have fun together.
Mavericks volleyball camp aims to shape future generations of athletes
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks volleyball team hosted its camp for the little-Mavs and mini-Mavs. The three-day camp drew 120 athletes, Head Coach Krystal Trammell said. While 120 kids can be a lot to manage for anyone, Trammell has some help. "We utilize our high school athletes in the program," she said. "We divide up all the girls, different age levels, and each team has a team captain and a helper. So our players are the ones that are basically teaching and helping develop the next generation of volleyball players."
Ephrata youth fall sports registration open
EPHRATA — Registration for fall youth sports like soccer and flag football in Ephrata is open. Though it’s still somewhat early in the process, turnout has been strong so far, Recreation Supervisor for Ephrata Parks and Recreation Gunner Blankenship said. “In the spring we had about 250 kids for soccer, and we're projecting about the same amount for fall this year,” Blankenship said. “Last year we had a total of 71 kids turn out (for flag football) between first grade and sixth grade, and there's differentleagues for each of those age groups.”
Last chance for fall 2026 youth soccer season signups
OTHELLO — The City of Othello Parks and Recreation is getting prepared to host another season of youth soccer in fall 2026. With the registration deadline set for Aug. 9 at 11:59 p.m., the league hopes to bring in as many young athletes as possible. “All of our sports do serve the elementary level kids, because anything after that they are already participating in school sports,” said Valerie Hernandez, Othello Park and Recreation Coordinator. “All of our sports they’re run by volunteer parents.” Fall soccer is set to begin play Sept. 22 and run through Oct. 15 with games being played Tuesdays and Thursdays. Game times will be determined by division and registration numbers and announced once teams have been formed.
Grid Kids expands opportunities this season
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Grid Kids football program is gearing up for the start of its 26th football season this fall. This year, alongside their tackle football program, the Grid Kids have expanded their flag football options. “It’s one of those things that you just don’t really know how well it’s going to go, but right now we’re looking pretty strong,” said Brian Gwinn, the Gird Kids administrator and communications contact. The tackle opportunities remain the same for third through sixth grade with third and fourth graders playing together and fifth and sixth graders separately from the younger players. The format for third and fourth grade will remain at a regular 11-man game, but for fifth and sixth grade there is consideration for moving down to an eight-on-eight format.
