STAT HOUND MEDIA
CENTRAL WASHINGTON DIGITAL PREP SPORTS
SEAN CARTER/Stat Hound contributor
Win and wait: District format differs from state schedule
East Valley softball, Othello baseball No. 1 seeds in tourneys opening this week
By JERREL SWENNING/Stat Hound
May 5, 2026
The CWAC baseball and fastpitch district tournaments begin Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
In contrast to the compact nature of the state tournaments – as many as six games in a two-day period for fastpitch, and a game a day for baseball – the CWAC district tournaments for the two sports are much more spread out.
A top seed advancing unscathed to the championship would play three games in an eight-day period, and would be called to play twice in one day just once.
The gap gives teams the chance to reset their pitching, allowing them to use their ace in consecutive contests, and possibly cool a batter who is hitting well.
“I can see the pros and cons of it,” Othello baseball coach Sonny Garza said. “The overall goal is the playoffs and the final four.”
For Garza’s Huskies, the top seed in the baseball bracket, that would mean a return to Bellingham’s Joe Martin Stadium, where they finished third place.
Othello doesn’t have to reset its pitching to throw an ace, the Huskies have two of them in senior Aiden Garza and junior Xzyyvn Martinez, both right-handers. The two combined have given up just one earned run in conference play, while striking out 168 and walking 18 in 98 innings.
The offense for the Huskies (15-1 CWAC, 18-3 overall) gets production up and down the lineup, led by Seattle U-bound Quade Gonzalez and No. 3 hitter Rjay Garza.
“We’re taking it one game at a time, one pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time,” Garza said. “That’s going to be our motto.”
Ellensburg (13-3, 13-7) is the second seed, while East Valley (11-5, 14-6) and defending district champion Selah (11-5, 13-7) round out the top four.
East Valley fastpitch felt the impact of the tournament setup a year ago. Seeded second, the Red Devils won their opener and then met an Othello team that started swinging the bats well on Saturday, and were ready for a second contest.
“Those teams that play that second game on Saturday are ready to play a second game,” EV coach Jason Ramynke said. “We experienced that last year.”
East Valley rallied past the Huskies, 9-9, and eventually edged top-seeded Selah for the district crown.
This time around, the Red Devils (15-1 CWAC, 16-4 overall) are the top seed, having won the number draw against the Vikings, with whom they shared the regular-season title and split a doubleheader.
Ramynke credits seniors Tia Ramynke, Presley Weatherley and Sophiya Castaneda with bringing leadership to the team that they learned a few years ago, when East Valley qualified for the state tournament at Carlon Park.
“They contributed as freshmen and learned a lot from the seniors,” the coach said. “They’re doing that for the underclassmen now.”
Selah (15-1, 16-3) is seeded second led by the Michigan-bound senior Avery Brewer and sophomore Apsin Grubenhoff. Ellensburg (12-4) is the third seed with Ephrata (9-7, 10-11) fourth.
The district soccer tournament opened Saturday with top-seeded Toppenish (6-2 CWAC, 11-5-1 overall) defeated No. 4 Quincy (5-3, 6-9) 4-1, and second-seeded East Valley (6-2, 13-2) defeated No. 3 Ellensburg (6-2, 7-7-1) by the same.
The Jackrabbits and Bulldogs are still alive, and will meet play-in winners Grandview and Ephrata in loser-out contests Tuesday.