SAN FRANCISCO — After helping their team to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, the Alaska-Anchorage senior pair of Tori Hollingshead and Millie Long have been chosen to the D2CCA All-West Region First Team in women’s basketball.
Long was also a two-sport athlete for the Peninsula College Pirates, and was the 2022 Baden Player of the Year for soccer. She was also an all-Olympic League MVP in both soccer and basketball for the Port Angeles Roughriders and a state champion in the 300-meter hurdles.
Hollingshead was a South Region First Team selection for Umpqua Community College in 2023, while Long was a North Region First Team selection for Peninsula the same year.
Recognizing the top players among the 35 teams in the NCAA Div. II West Region, the two Seawolves made the five-player first team along with Central Washington’s Sunny Huerta, Azusa Pacific’s Kelly Heimburger and region player-of-the-year Nala Williams of Cal State Dominguez Hills.
A 5-9 point guard, Long was the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Cal Poly Humboldt, posting 12.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.2 steals per game for the Seawolves (27-4, ranked No. 16 in the nation). The NCAA Div. II steals leader has recorded a GNAC and UAA single-season 129 swipes so far, while leading the GNAC in both assists and assist/turnover ratio (2.3) as well. Among her big games, she had 26 points, nine steals, eight assists and no turnovers against Western Oregon and 21 points and a school-record 11 steals against Simpson.
A 6-3 center, Hollingshead was a unanimous First Team All-GNAC selection and the MVP of last week’s GNAC Tournament, posting her league-leading 11th double-double in the title-game victory over Saint Martin’s. The Orem, Utah, native is averaging 14.0 points a game on 50 percent shooting, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 2.0 steals.
As first-team selections, both Seawolves advance to the balloting for D2CCA All-America honors, voted upon by the College Sports Communicators (sports information directors) membership.
Long also made the CSC All-Academic team with a 3.66 GPA in journalism and public communications.
Hole-in-one
SEQUIM — The Cedars at Dungeness announced this weekend that another local golfer and member of the club scored a hole-in-one on Wednesday.
Bill Schless hit his hole-in-one on the 11th hole playing from the silver tees 100 yards away from the hole. He shot it with a 9 iron and a Titleist Tour Speed ball.
It was Schless’ first hole in one and it was witnessed by playing partners Jim Boekhoff and Gary Syme.
WCL alumni in MLB
VANCOUVER — This year, 40 West Coast League alumni were listed on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day rosters.
That total is one shy of the WCL record, set in 2023, and includes 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal (Kitsap/Detroit Tigers), who made his second straight Opening Day start for Detroit.
On Opening Day, Steven Kwan (Corvallis/Cleveland Guardians), a three-time Gold Glove winner and 2024 All-Star, delivered a game-winning double in the top of the 10th. Kwan’s teammate Kyle Manzardo (Portland) went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, home run and four RBI and Paul Sewald (Spokane), a former Seattle Mariner, earned the save for the Guardians.
“Every spring, I’m blown away by the number of WCL alumni who dot the MLB rosters on Opening Day,” said WCL Commissioner Rob Neyer. “This year the box scores were full of familiar names, just another testament to our teams and their Player First philosophy. I can’t wait to see who else shows up in the big leagues this season.”
In other notable performances, Adley Rutschman (Corvallis/Baltimore Orioles), a 2023 Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-Star, homered twice; Vinny Capra (Walla Walla/Milwaukee Brewers) hit his first career home run; Kyle Stowers (Bellingham/Miami Marlins) laced a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth; and Ryan Walker (Corvallis/San Francisco Giants) recorded a save.
Other well-known WCL alum ni in the Major Leagues include 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber (Cowlitz/Cleveland Guardians), 2024 All-Star Jarren Duran (Walla Walla/Boston Red Sox), and Rhys Hoskins (Kitsap/Milwaukee Brewers).
Bill Schless hit a hole-in-one on the 11th hole at the Cedars at Dungeness on Wednesday. (Cedars at Dungeness)
