Wahluke kicks off spring sports

MATTAWA — Wahluke High School spring sports kicked off last week with turnouts. Real action will start this week.

As usual, boys soccer will lead the way. The Warriors are expected to be in the race to state. Nothing, except some faces, has changed for coach Arthur De Victoria.

The Warriors will open at home this year against state-caliber competition from the Seattle area. Seattle Academy will be here at 4 p.m. this Friday. On Saturday, at 11 a.m., University Prep will visit Wahluke.

Tennis was really young last year. Coach Adrian Sandoval expects to have several returning veterans around which to build a contender.

Tennis will launch on Saturday at home against the White Swan boys and girls at 10 a.m. then go to Othello on Thursday, March 17.

Track, which should get a lot of help from last fall’s cross country success, travels to Eisenhower in Yakima on Saturday for jamborees for the boys and girls. Brock Anderson’s team should show improvement in the distance races.

Baseball is the sport to keep an eye on. After two years of rebuilding the program against junior varsity programs, Don Oppelt’s boys jump up to a full SCAC schedule this year.

Most of the players of the last two years are back, but there are new faces. The sport that died a few years ago for lack of popularity seems to be popular again.

Still, Wahluke is new to the league, and Oppelt is taking plenty of time to get his boys ready. The schedule will be soft to start.

Wahluke and Granger will open with two games at Wahluke on Tuesday, March 22, They will face each other twice again at Granger on Friday, April 1.

Daisy Cardenas’s fastpitch girls will start sooner. They will open with a single game at home against Royal on Thursday, March 17. On Saturday, March 19, they will travel to LaSalle for two contests.

Tiffany Headman’s golf program, mostly girls, will kick off its season at Desert Aire Golf Course at 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 17.