No. 2: Legendary Cheff dies
No one might have made more of an impact on the area’s collegiate baseball scene than Ed Cheff. His tactics for getting the most out of players were legendary. His no-nonsense style was maddening and endearing to those who played for him and coached with him.
The iconic Lewis-Clark State leader died Jan. 15 at his home in Sequim, Wash. He was 78.
During his tenure as coach of the Warriors from 1977-2010, Cheff led one of the most successful programs at any level of college sports. He compiled a 1,705-430-4 record and guided LCSC to 16 championships at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics level.
He has the fifth-most wins of any college baseball coach at any level and no one in the sport comes close to his collection of national titles.
In a March 18 memorial service, hundreds of former players, coaches, administrators and those close to the program paid tribute to the man who many felt helped turned each of them not into just a better player, but a better human being.
“Nobody went to practice going, ‘This is going to be great — I can’t wait to see Ed today,’ ” said Chip Damato, who played and coached for Cheff and conducted the memorial service. “Here we are, years later, and not one person in this room has anything but great things to say about him. (They) want to thank him for the impact he had on their lives, and the impact he had on this community and the baseball environment in general.”
No. 3: Wildcats on two-season tear in boys basketball
A program with a rich tradition of excellence, Lapwai boys basketball saw rare success even by its own standards in the 2021-22 season as the Wildcats went undefeated and secured a second consecutive Idaho Class 1A Division I state title.
Going 27-0 and extending its overall winning streak to 36 games, Lapwai won each game it played by a minimum of two possessions, including nonleague victories against Class 5A opponents Coeur d’Alene and Lewiston. At the state tournament in March, the Wildcats defeated all three teams they faced by margins of more than 30 points. Senior leader Titus Yearout graduated to play local Division I college basketball for the U of I.
Lapwai has begun the 2022-23 season with another five consecutive victories, bringing its current winning streak to 41 games — still barely half the program record of 81 set in the late 1980s.
No. 4: Former WSU football coach and mercurial figure Mike Leach dies
From being the prime innovator of the prolific Air Raid offense, to his supreme storytelling to his love for pirates, former Washington State football coach Mike Leach was both a football genius and an unforgettable character.
Leach, who left WSU to coach at Mississippi State in 2020, died earlier this month from a sudden heart condition.
“The Pirate” led the Cougars from 2012-19, taking them to six bowl games including a streak of five straight that WSU has now pushed to seven under coach Jake Dickert.
He was gruff and a bit old school when it came to his coaching style, but those who knew Leach well talked about how he was always willing to talk to young reporters and coaches who he barely knew, or allow young fans to come into the locker room for unforgettable memories with the team.
He was also a proven winner with a knack for producing some of the nation’s best passers.
Leach’s teams had six seasons that ranked in the top 20 best passing seasons in Football Bowl Subdivision history, including four of the top six.
“He was different. You never really felt like an underdog with him,” said former WSU quarterback Gardner Minshew, who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles. “He had confidence. … It was awesome man. It was contagious.”
No. 5: Moscow product Ewers makes top 10 in women’s Tour de France
In her first full year on the women’s professional world tour and first appearance at the newly revived event, 2012 Moscow High graduate Veronica Ewers led all Americans with a ninth-place finish in individual standings across the eight-stage, 642.2-mile women’s Tour de France.
Ewers, who took up competitive cycling less than five years ago and has enjoyed a meteoric rise through the amateur and pro ranks, had her best showing in Stage 4 of the Tour, which saw her finish in fourth place, less than one second behind the next two riders and 1:24 off the lead.
Currently ranked 18th globally, she has become a standout performer for Team EF Education-TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank, for which she has signed a contract to compete through 2025.
No. 6: Kendrick football repeats in Idaho Class 1A DII
The Kendrick football team entered 2022 as favorite to repeat as the Idaho Class 1A Division II state champion.
The Tigers never flinched, finishing the year undefeated, beating Dietrich 42-34 in the championship game Nov. 18 at Holt Arena in Pocatello.
Kendrick’s dominance was talked about in great length. The Tigers will enter 2023 on a 15-game winning streak. Their last loss was a 24-22 decision against Genesee on Oct. 22, 2021.
The Tigers got redemption against the Bulldogs by shutting them out 104-0 on Sept. 15. In fact, shutouts were common for Kendrick this year. The Tigers recorded seven consecutive from that game against Genesee to the Class 1A Division I state semifinal against Castleford, a stretch of 58 days.
Kendrick had five players receive All-Idaho honors. Teams in the classification shouldn’t be too excited, as a majority of the team returns for the third consecutive season next year.
No. 7: Dahmen’s wonderful ride in Brookline
Clarkston native Joel Dahmen had qualified for major championships before. He even had a top-10 finish. But none quite lived up to what he did Father’s Day weeked.
Heading into the weekend tied atop the leaderboard with defending champion Collin Morikawa, the former University of Washington golfer and cancer survivor kept fans in the valley on the edge of their seats before finishing in a tie for 10th place June 19 at the 122nd United States Open at The Country Club.
In what arguably is the toughest test in all of golf, the true national championship of America, the two time Washington Class 2A state boys individual champion brought his A game and showed he belongs with the big boys.
He had the lead for the first time at the halfway point in a major. Dahmen had missed the cut in four of his previous major tournaments. He’d missed the cut in previous two Opens.
Yet, there he was, at the top at 5-under-par 135, with former major champions Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy chasing him down.
He eventually had a 4-over 74 in the third round and a 1-over 71 in the final round to share 10th with Gary Woodland and pocket a cool $407,220 in the process.
“I can hit it with the best of them. I learned that, especially on a course like this where you have to hit it in the fairway and it’s not overly long,” Dahmen said of his play. “I think I was one of the best ball-strikers over the four days.”
No. 8: Troy baseball wins Class 1A Division I state title
When a sports program goes through hard times, fans are told to “trust the process.”
When it came to baseball in Troy, there was no process to trust until Travis House created one. From the school parking lot to a state championship, the Trojans hope it is just the start of more great things to come.
Appearing in just its second state tournament ever, Troy took down defending state champion Genesee 4-3 to win the Idaho Class 1A championship on May 21.
The Trojans (15-6) raced out to a 4-0 lead and used four dominant innings on the mound by freshman Dominic Holden to win the title.
“Getting over that hump with those guys is huge for the future,” House said. “I have tried to tell those guys (for two years) that you can compete with anyone, they just had to believe it. This proves to them that they can play with anyone.”
No. 9 (tie): Former LCSC baseball standout Connor Brogdon gets to MLB World Series with Phillies
Connor Brogdon did something no other Lewis-Clark State baseball player has done.
Brogdon worked 15 innings in the NAIA World Series in 2017, picking up two wins en route to the Warriors winning its most recent championship.
The now-reliever pitched four innings in the 2022 World Series for the Philadelphia Phillies in a losing effort to the Houston Astros.
The right-hander allowed three hits and struck out seven of the 14 batters he faced.
Keith Foulke had played in the MLB World Series for Boston in 2004, but did not reach the NAIA World Series in his lone season with the Warriors in 1994.
No. 9 (tie): WSU women’s basketball earns second consecutive NCAA tournament berth
Before the 2020-21 season, the Washington State women’s basketball team owned a single NCAA tournament appearance to its name — a 1991 berth under coach Harold Rhodes.
Heading into this season, the Cougars are coming off two in a row.
Fifth-year coach Kamie Ethridge has the Cougs hoping to make it three straight.
Under Ethridge, WSU has reached unprecedented heights as a program. The next step is to make it out of the first round where WSU has fallen in each of its three trips to March Madness.
WSU went 19-11 last season — a new program record for wins in a year — and the Cougs are already 10-2 this season.
The crazy thing is four of WSU’s starters this year were also starters on each of the last two NCAA tourney teams — guards Charlisse Leger-Walker and Johanna Teder and forwards Bella Murekatete and Ula Motuga.
Leger-Walker is leading the Pac-12 in scoring this season at 21.1 points per game and will go down as an all-time Cougar great no matter what happens the rest of the way.
