In case you haven’t seen it in the Events calendar, we received this announcement from the Seattle Mariners (who don’t start play at Safeco Field till April 12th):

The West Seattle High School Baseball team will be playing in the 4th Annual High School Baseball Classic at Safeco Field this Saturday April 3rd at 12:30 pm. West Seattle will be playing Auburn Mountainview (currently ranked 8th in 3A state baseball). The gates at Safeco Field open at 11:30 am. Entry into the game is free. Parking in the Safeco Field parking garage will be $5. Following the West Seattle game, Nathan Hale High School will be playing Foss of Tacoma.

Lots of talented athletes playing for West Seattle’s high schools, and while we can’t promise you every-game-all-the-time coverage just yet, we’re working on spring-sports coverage, with some help. Two games to report from Friday – Chief Sealth beat Nathan Hale 6-5 (our partners at the Seattle Times have stats here) at SW Athletic Complex in Westwood, and West Seattle High School beat Ingraham at home. WSHS assistant baseball coach Scott Meaker has again written up the Westside highlights for us to share with you – those are ahead, along with a reminder about tonight’s WSHS baseball/fastpitch fundraising dinner, and today’s WSHS-Seattle Lutheran JV game – read on!Read More

HIgh-school baseball season is starting to intensify. This morning we have a West Seattle High School report courtesy of assistant baseball coach Scott Meaker – looking ahead to games today and tomorrow, recapping wins on Wednesday, and also noting the big fundraising dinner/auction Saturday to raise money for fastpitch softball as well as baseball – read on:Read More

Thanks to Tim McMonigle for sharing photo and summarizing the latest milestone for newly renovated Hiawatha Playfield and the players who have been waiting a long time for it:

West Seattle High School (in blue) had their first varsity soccer game of the season today and played on the beautiful new turf at Hiawatha in front of local students and fans, beating Franklin HS 3-0. This is a great improvement over playing their home games at Memorial Stadium the last several years where many fans could not see them. The weather cooperated and the boys played their hearts out. Their next game is Thursday afternoon at Ingraham HS and Friday evening against Sammamish HS, hopefully at a local venue. Come on out and support your local WSHS Wildcat soccer team!

Story, photos and video by Randall G. Hauk
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

While some people spent the morning in line for the Safeco Field box office or on their computer in an attempt to get tickets for Seattle Mariners games that are at least a month away, others chose to take advantage of the rare March sunshine and the offer of free food at the Southwest Athletic Complex while watching the Chief Sealth High School Seahawks baseball program scrimmage with the Cleveland High School Eagles.

In his second year as the head coach of the Seahawks, Ernest Policarpio says the event was imagined as a way to bring the community closer to the school’s growing baseball program, hopefully stimulating more popularity of the game among parents and students.

Today’s event also featured a barbecue as a chance for community mingling.

This year, Chief Sealth will have enough athletes to field three teams for the first time in recent memory. Growing interest in the sport is not, however, the only positive momentum working in the Seahawks’ favor. The results on the field are also showing improvement.

While today’s game will not count in the standings, Sealth managed 17 runs in just two innings of play today, albeit against a very short-handed Cleveland squad. However, combined with yesterday’s jamboree in which Sealth outscored Foster 5-1 and Franklin 7-1 in a pair of three-inning sessions, there is reason for optimism.

“We wanted to play good baseball,” said Policarpio (photo) about the team’s mission for the day. “When they had the chance, the kids were hitting the ball.”

Policarpio will need those hits to continue next week when his Seahawks officially open their season by hosting the defending 3A champions, O’Dea High School, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday at SWAC.

ALSO NEXT WEEK: West Seattle High School boys’ varsity baseball team plays Blanchet at Lower Woodland, also 3:30 Friday … Seattle Lutheran High School‘s winter-athletics awards night is Monday at 6:30 pm (the SLHS baseball team is leading a clinic at the school this weekend for younger players).

What a day for Colin Slingsby, boys’ basketball coach at Chief Sealth High School. Not only did the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce announce he’d been chosen as Westsider of the Year, he also got to celebrate his team’s successful season during the Sealth winter-sports banquet tonight. Also on hand, athletic director Sam Reed:

His wrap-up of the winter-sports season, e-mailed last weekend, was printed out and handed out at tonight’s banquet. Here’s what he wrote:

Nearly four months after the season started, the last of the Chief Sealth Winter sports teams concluded their season last week, when the boys basketball team was defeated in a winner-to-state, loser-out game versus Franklin High School. While the 68-65 loss wasn’t the desired result, it doesn’t dampen the amount of ‘Sealth Pride’ that was built throughout the season.

All of our Winter Sports have things to be proud of. Foremost, it was a season marked by excellent coaching. Long-standing coaches Dave Rosario (wrestling) and Colin Slingsby (boys basketball) each took home Metro League Coach of the Year honors and added regional awards as well. Tony Trahan, in his first year at the helm of the girls basketball team, and Katie Hathaway, also new to the school as head swim coach, helped craft hard-working teams that competed well throughout the season. Gymnastics was led in conjunction with West Seattle High School and coached by Echo Balliett-Legge.

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When the Chief Sealth High School boys’ varsity basketball players attend next week’s sports banquet, they’re bound to be holding their heads high. Their season’s over, but it was down to the wire. Last night against Franklin at Bellevue College, in a “winner to state, loser out” situation, Sealth spent the last five minutes of the first half going from seven points down to four points up, but that run and a subsequent one in the third quarter were not enough, as Franklin beat them 68-65 in the last minute. The loss ended the Seahawks’ season and moved Franklin into a seeding round this weekend to determine their place in the state tournament next week. Sealth’s gut-check run at the end of the first half made up for a very flat game up until that point. They managed to keep the streak going at the start of the third and went up on Franklin by as much as 12 points. During that run, the Seahawks controlled the rebound and managed to keep control of the ball.

By the fourth quarter Franklin pulled up and tied Sealth on a series of three-point shots. Most of the last five minutes saw the game turn into a one-point affair, and with less than a minute to go, Sealth went up, thanks to this three-pointer from Keon Lewis.

Lewis was the high scorer for the Seahawks with 28 points, the bulk of those coming on free throws. Congratulations to Chief Sealth for an exciting season!

From Chief Sealth High School (at Boren) – The Seahawks boys’ varsity team won tonight’s district-tournament game against Seattle Prep, 57-50. They play again Thursday – if we’re reading the chart correctly, the opponent will be Franklin. .

9:36 PM UPDATE: Confirmed – Sealth plays Franklin at Bellevue College, 6:30 pm Thursday. Winner goes to the state tournament.

ADDED 10 PM: Here’s our video of how the game ended – listen for the countdown:

Our summary: Most of the elements that had been missing from Sealth’s last two games managed to make a return tonight as the Seahawks beat Seattle Prep 57-50 to move on to play in the next round of the Sea-King 3A District Tournament. The game was a tight one, tied at halftime. Sealth only pulled away from Prep in the fourth quarter by controlling the rebounding. Big games for Sealth: Keon Lewis with 18 points, repeatedly powering his way through Prep’s defense under the basket; Tomas Ogbaslassie with 15 points, including a couple of 3-pointers and a perfect night at the free-throw line. Side note: Congratulations to Sealth coach Colin Slingsby for being honored as the 2010 Star Times boys’ basketball coach.

At Bellevue College in the Sea-King 3A district tournament, the Chief Sealth High School boys’ varsity basketball team played a tight first half, but their inability to hold onto the ball in the second half let the Sammamish Totems overtake them for a 46-39 win tonight – our clip is representative of how things went:

Throughout the first half, the game was tight, and the score was tied 22-all at halftime. But the second half saw the Seahawks score only nine points until late in the fourth quarter. Sammamish took advantage of Sealth’s spotty passing and rebounding to go on a 9-point run. High scorer for Sealth was Tomas Ogbaslassie with 14 points. Sealth gets one more chance, with a Tuesday game against whomever loses the game that followed theirs – Bellevue vs. Seattle Prep (it’s still in the 1st half; periodic updates at @seatimespreps).

From Seattle Pacific University, where we covered the game via Twitter (@wsblive), the boys’ varsity basketball Metro League title game final score: Rainier Beach 51, Chief Sealth 34. But the Seahawks are still in the district playoffs, which start next week. We’ll add the recap and video here soon.

SUMMARY AND VIDEO ADDED 8:55 PM: Friday night, Chief Sealth found out that it’s not easy to hang onto the ball when you play Rainier Beach. Beach pulled away from Sealth early on in the second quarter and never looked back as the Vikings beat Sealth 51-34 to take the Metro League championship.

While the Seahawks managed to rebound the ball fairly well in the first half, they had a great deal of trouble shooting throughout the game. None of their players managed to make it into double digits on the night. The only player who got close was Tomas Ogbaslassie, with nine points. Also the teams’ foul-shooting percentage, which had been a strong point for them against Prep last Wednesday, fell off dramatically against Rainier Beach. Sealth converted fewer than half their free throws.

One of the high points for Sealth came in the second Quarter when senior Daniel Davis put up a three-point shot.

We’re checking for word on Sealth’s first game in the district playoffs. SATURDAY MORNING UPDATE: Sealth athletic director Sam Reed says that since the Seahawks have a first-round bye at districts, they’re scheduled to play at 4:45 pm next Friday at Bellevue Community College – vs. either Sammamish, Bainbridge, or O’Dea (depending on the outcome of two games between now and then).

Tonight at 6, Chief Sealth High School‘s boys’ varsity basketball team plays Rainier Beach for the Metro League title. After Sealth’s Thursday afternoon practice, we talked with coach Colin Slingsby:

Sealth has a challenge tonight – they lost to Rainier Beach twice this year, once by 9 points, once by 10, and RB is undefeated in the Metro League, #2 statewide in 3A. No matter what happens tonight though, Sealth still moves on to the district playoffs next week. You can cheer them on tonight at 6 at Seattle Pacific University (map); we’ll tweet live from the game on our “live events” Twitter account (which you can check on the Web even if you are not a Twitter member), @wsblive (twitter.com/wsblive).

ORIGINAL 8:52 PM REPORT: We’ve been covering it via Twitter at our live-events account, @wsblive – and now the game’s over. The Chief Sealth High School boys’ varsity basketball team beat Seattle Prep – 66-61, the scoreboard read, when the buzzer sounded. Friday night, they’ll play Rainier Beach, which beat Franklin in the other Metro League semifinal game, 73-63.

DETAILS/VIDEO ADDED 10:47 PM: Seattle Prep made a game of it in the last 90 seconds, but Chief Sealth’s big night at the free-throw line helped them to pull out a 66-61 win. Prep pulled within three points with less than a minute to go, but this foul by Prep’s Julian Mason sent junior Keon Lewis to the free-throw line, where he converted both shots to put the Seahawks up by five with less than 20 seconds to go:

Lewis was roughed up three times on the night, leaving the game in the third quarter after he went down clutching his knee just after the second half started. He returned a few minutes later and managed to put up 14 points. He was only outscored on the night by teammate Tomas Ogbaslassie, who had 18 points, 10 of those from foul shots.

Sealth managed to keep Prep from moving the ball inside for the better part of the night while controlling the rebound for all but the last quarter. The Seahawks two big scoring runs came when they forced Prep into playing a game of run and shoot which made Prep routinely lose control of the ball. It was Sealth’s own foul trouble in the fourth that managed to get Prep within striking distance of a win. Prep’s top scorer was sophomore Mitch Brewe, who had 21 points. Sealth moves on to play Rainier Beach on Friday night at 6 pm at SPU.

A few more notes from high-school basketball last night: Chief Sealth High School‘s boys’ varsity team solidified its 2nd-place ranking in the Metro Conference by beating Bainbridge last night, 72-56 (stats here). In girls’ varsity, Bainbridge defeated Sealth, 57-35 (stats here). Meantime, there’s more to report from WSHS’s games besides the melee we mentioned last night – ceremonies honoring senior players, and game highlights – read on:Read More