Mariners News

The Mariners are kicking off the first leg of a key weekend series tonight. The M’s are in Arlington, TX to face their division foe Rangers. Seattle currently holds a three game lead over Texas for first-place in the AL West after winning their last four games.

While the Mariners’ hitting has soared to new heights in recent weeks, the Rangers can’t say the same. They rank second-to-last in the league in runs scored. 

The Mariners have a chance to pick up their eighth-straight series win if they prevail in Texas this weekend. Bryan Woo will look to get the team off to a strong start in tonight’s series-opener. Coverage begins at 4:00 and first pitch is at 5:05 on KPUG.

Another Mariner has captured a league-wide award. Closer Andres Munoz was just named American League Reliever of the Month. Munoz leads the AL with 11 saves and has yet to allow a single run through 15 innings so far this season.

His honor comes after Dylan Moore and Jorge Polanco won back-to-back AL Player of the Week awards.

NBA News

A Seattle native is officially replacing one of the NBA’ most accomplished coaches. The San Antonio Spurs announced today that Gregg Popovich is stepping down as head coach of the team and transitioning to their president of basketball operations.

Taking his place is Mitch Johnson, the son of former Sonic John Johnson, who was a starting forward on their 1979 championship team. Johnson has been the acting coach for the final 77 games of the Spurs season after Popovich had a stroke last November.

He’ll have big shoes to fill, as Popovich exits as the NBA’s all-time wins leader following 29 seasons with the Spurs. It certainly helps that he has the league’s biggest up-and-coming star in French sensation Victor Wembanyama.

Storm News

The Seattle Storm are nearing the beginning of their season. They’ll play their first, and only, preseason game on Sunday at home against the Connecticut Suns. The new-look Storm brought in several new faces over the offseason, including No. 2 overall draft pick Dominique Malonga.

Malonga won’t be with the team for their preseason match since she just finished playing in France for another league. And despite the loss of All-Star Jewll Loyd, veteran guard Skylar Diggins Smith is still calling this “the most talented roster” of her career.

The Storm’s regular season begins two weeks from tomorrow on May 17.

WWU Vikings News

Western Washington University’s softball team keeps rolling through the postseason. The Vikings beat Saint Martin’s 10-6 in the GNAC Championships semifinal this afternoon. Olivia Matlock homered and Maleah Andrews reached base for the 46th straight game to anchor the win. Kaiana Kong threw just over six innings of one-run ball to improve to 10-0 on the season.

The 9th nationally ranked Viks have now won 12 straight ahead of the GNAC Championship final match tomorrow. If they win, they’ll book a spot in the NCAA D-II Regional Tournament.

Prep Soccer News

The Sehome boys are Northwest Conference soccer champions. The Mariners beat Squalicum 2-1 yesterday to cap off a nearly perfect 14-0-2 regular season. Senior Slater Hawk scored a header of a free kick in the final two minutes to secure the dramatic win.

Sehome is currently ranked by the WIAA as the No. 3 team in the state for 2A. They’ll try to return to the state championship game, where they fell in a shootout loss to Franklin Pierce last year.

The 2A district tournament begins on Tuesday.