Wilson Creek partners with Odessa for spring sports

WILSON CREEK — The Wilson Creek Devils have partnered with the Odessa Tigers for spring sports this year. Despite wearing different school colors, the Devils will be competing in baseball, golf and track as they continue their athletics through the end of the sports season. 

“We’ve had combined sports for the last few years,” said Devils Athletic Director Loni Koziol. “Before going to Odessa we were combined with Soap Lake, it’s a pretty common practice in our small 1B schools just for numbers, and Odessa was the school that was the closest and had the availability to take our kids.” 

Koziol said the ability to combine athletics with other schools in the area allows the students in smaller schools to have the opportunity to play in more sports since they don’t always have the numbers to make a full team. Besides that, Wilson Creek doesn’t have a baseball field, a track or a golf course that the students would be able to utilize to participate in these sports from home.

Baseball

The Devils have seven athletes heading to Odessa for spring sports. Travis Shearer, Aiden Valline, Matteyo Gajeda, Joey Denton and Luis Sanchez Hernandez will all be playing for the Tigers baseball team this spring. Elijah Madigan will play golf and Landon McMillan will run with the track team. 

For baseball, Odessa sat on the lower end of the Northeast 1B league last season, finishing with a record of 3-13 after competing against tough competition such as Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Northport, both of whom made deep playoff runs. The Tigers will seek to make strides this season to improve their record with their returning lineup and Wilson Creek’s seniors. 

The first game of the baseball season for the Tigers is at home March 17 in a double-header against Cusick with the first game starting at 2 p.m. 

Golf

Madigan is preparing to make a strong return for the Odessa golf team this season after having success last season. In his freshman year, Madigan was a 1B state qualifier who ended up finishing with 96 in the first round of the state meet at MeadowWood Golf Course. 

Now a sophomore, Madigan seeks to return to the course this spring and improve his skills over the next few months. 

The Tigers first meet will be on the Brydon Canyon Golf Course on March 24 at noon. 

Track 

McMillan, a junior at Wilson Creek, found success throughout the 2025 season. In the District 5 finals, he finished third in the 110m hurdles with a time of 19.45 and first in long jump with 19 feet 2.5 inches to qualify for the state tournament. At state, McMillan finished third in long jump with a leap of 19 feet 8.25 inches. 

Competing alongside 12 other athletes in Odessa, McMillan and the Tigers will push themselves to new heights this spring. 

Odessa’s first track meet of the season is March 17 at Valley Chrisian School with the first event starting at 3:30 p.m.