PORTLAND — Zane Petty of the Port Angeles Lefties was one of 30 current and former members of the West Coast League drafted by Major League Baseball teams earlier this week.
Petty, who has committed to play for Texas Tech, appeared in four games for the Lefties this season, pitching 13⅔ innings and striking out 13 batters. He had a 2.63 ERA. He last appeared in a game July 2. He was drafted in the 17th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Corvallis Knights, a power in the WCL, had seven players drafted, including Brooks Lee (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) in the first round by the Minnesota Twins as the eighth overall pick. Gabriel Hughes of Bellingham was also selected in the first round by the Colorado Rockies as the 10th overall pick.
Hughes is a Gonzaga product, one of five Gonzaga and West Coast League players selected in the draft, including three picks in the first three rounds. Bellingham and Wenatchee each had four players picked in the MLB draft, while Ridgefield had three players picked, including Justin Boyd, taken in a compensatory round as the 73rd overall pick. Boyd was one of three Oregon State/WCL players drafted.
There were 14 WCL alumni selected in the first 10 rounds of the draft.
“The West Coast League,” said WCL Commissioner Rob Neyer, “is the top collegiate summer league in the western half of North America, which becomes all the more obvious every year when so many WCL alumni are tabbed during MLB’s amateur draft.”
Aiva Arquette of the University of Washington was also picked in the 18th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played for Wenatchee in the WCL.
Storm lose to the Sky
CHICAGO — Allie Quigley scored 18 points, Emma Meesseman had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and the Chicago Sky beat the Seattle Storm 78-74 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.
Chicago (20-6) clinched a playoff spot with its 20th win of the season.
Meesseman made a reverse layup to give Chicago a 76-72 lead and Kahleah Copper grabbed an offensive rebound on the Sky’s next possession before making 1 of 2 free throws for a five-point lead. After a timeout, Breanna Stewart made a driving layup with 10.7 seconds left to pull Seattle within three points, but Copper went 1 for 2 from the free-throw line at the other end.
Copper finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for Chicago. Candace Parker had 10 points and eight rebounds. Chicago was missing guard Courtney Vandersloot for concussion protocol.
Stewart led Seattle (17-9) with 24 points. Jewell Loyd added 18 points, Tina Charles had 11 points and six rebounds, and Sue Bird scored nine points.
Olczyk joining Kraken
CHICAGO — Eddie Olczyk is leaving the Chicago Blackhawks after 16 years as a color commentator on their television broadcasts.
He’s expected to work Seattle Kraken games next season, joining the team his brother Ricky works for as an assistant general manager.
“For 16 seasons, we were fortunate to have legendary broadcaster Eddie Olczyk bring Chicago Blackhawks hockey into the homes of our fans,” the team said in a statement Monday. “We are going to miss him as much as our fans will. Though we are disappointed to learn today that he has decided to go in another direction, Eddie will always be part of the Blackhawks family. We appreciate his many contributions and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Olczyk also does national broadcasts for TNT. He has become one of the leading hockey voices in the U.S. after playing more than 1,000 NHL games.
By Peninsula Daily News and the Associated Press
