Mariners News

The Mariners are in the Windy City today for the start of their series against the White Sox.

Seattle’s coming off a dominant series sweep against San Diego over the weekend. The M’s outscored the Padres 15-3 in the inaugural edition of the “Vedder Cup.” Cal Raleigh and Rowdy Tellez each hit a pair of homers during the series and Bryan Woo picked up his fifth win of the season in yesterday’s game.

They now own a 2.5-game lead over the Rangers and Astros for first place in the AL West. Luis Castillo and the M’s will look to make it four straight today when they face the struggling Chicago White Sox, who have dropped their last four games.

First pitch for tonight’s game is at 4:40 on KPUG.

Storm News

The Storm had a rough start to their season on Saturday. Seattle fell to the Phoenix Mercury 81-59 in their WNBA season opener in Phoenix.

Skylar Diggins scored 21 points and had four steals, but the Mercury outscored them in all four quarters to start the Storm off 0-1. No. 2 overall draft pick Dominique Malonga scored 2 points in 10 minutes during her debut with Seattle.

The Storm are trying to bounce back tonight when they travel to face first overall pick Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings. It tips off at 5:00.

Sounders/Reign News

The Sounders played the Portland Timbers to a 1-1 draw in the Cascadia Cup rivalry match on Saturday. Both teams were short on rest following mid-week games.  Albert Rusnak scored in the 30th minute to give Seattle an early lead, but Santi Moreno responded six minutes later to tie the match up. The Sounders sit three points back from the Timbers at sixth place in the Western Conference standings.

Meanwhile, the Reign got a win on Saturday. Maddie Dahlein scored in the 39th minute to give Seattle a 1-0 win over Racing Louisville. The Reign now sit at sixth place in the league standings.

NFL News

A Seahawks’ division rival has just handed out another massive contract.

ESPN reports the San Francisco 49ers signed Fred Warner to a three-year, $63 million contract extension today. The 28-year-old is coming off his third straight All-Pro season where he played through a small fracture in his ankle for the last 13 games of the season. The deal makes Warner the highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the league and ties him to the team through the 2029 season.

It comes after the Niners locked down quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle for two other giant contracts earlier this offseason. In total, the three extensions total over $400 million over the next five years.

WWU Softball News

Western Washington University’s softball team is heading back to the College World Series.  The Viks won back-to-back elimination games over Cal State San Marcos on Friday to book their ticket to the final round of eight. Olivia Matlock hit a 3-run homer in the deciding game to help the Viks advance.

They earned the 8th seed in the reseeding and will face top-seeded UT Tyler in a rematch of last year’s national championship series, where the Viks came up just short. That game takes place at 11 am Thursday from Chattanooga, TN.

Prep Sports News

Lynden’s softball team booked its ticket to state in dramatic fashion over the weekend. Sophomore Kyleigh McVie hit a walkoff home run in extra innings Saturday to give the Lions a 5-4 win over Burlington-Edison in the 2A district championship. Lynden earned the #9 seed and will take on Franklin Pierce in the opening round on Friday morning in Selah. Lynden Christian also earned a 9-seed in the 1A state tournament and will face Kiona-Benton in Richland on Thursday afternoon.

Bellingham couldn’t keep its magic going at the end of the district baseball tournament. The Bayhawks lost to Archbishop Murphy 10-0 Saturday in a winner-to-state match. But Lynden Christian won a pair of matches against Meridian and King’s to book its spot in the 1A state tournament. The Lyncs earned the 11th-seed and will face Cashmere in a loser-out game on Saturday morning.

Whatcom County didn’t see as much success on the soccer pitch. The Squalicum boys had their season come to an end on Saturday in a 1-0 loss to Archbishop Murphy. The two teams were scoreless after regulation and two overtimes, but Archbishop made all of its penalty kicks to send the Storm packing. Meridian and Blaine each dropped their bi-district games on Saturday too.

Sehome is the only boys soccer team left as the state tournament gets rolling. The second-seeded Mariners are hosting W.F. West at 5 pm this Wednesday in the opening round.