Summerhawks a tournament team

Unlike previous years, the Cheney High School’s baseball field will not see much action this summer.

That’s because the Cheney Summerhawks baseball team will not play a regular season schedule. Instead, players will participate in summer workouts and compete in tournaments during the summer. The team’s first tournament is the High Desert Baseball Classic June 22-25 in Ephrata..

The original plan was for the Summerhawks to have one team compete in the American Legion AA league. However, head coach Glenn Chamberlain explained the change in plans stemmed from lack of eligible players — specifically pitchers.

“Is it ideal? No, but it’s the way it is,” Chamberlain said.

One thing that contributed to a lack of players is the summer sports camps that take place in late May and early June, which is when American Legion plays a good portion of its regular season. This conflict was the reason Cheney left American Legion in 2014.

The 17U team played an independent schedule for the last two years. Playing that type of schedule allowed athletes to participate in camps and play a full season in late June and July, facing ball clubs from Washington and Idaho. The 17U Summerhawks 2016 season culminated with a second-place finish in the Moses Lake Smash ‘N Splash tournament.

During that time, the 15U squad competed in Spokane Indians Youth Baseball where there were some difficulties with scheduling games and umpires. At the end of last summer, the Cheney Baseball Association had discussed potentially forming some type of league schedule.

While the Summerhawks won’t have a regular season, many players from the 2017 Cheney Blackhawks’ spring baseball starting lineup will play on Spokane AAA teams. Johnny Owings, Luke Martin, Jacob Lauber, Andrew Witt, Dylan Arthur and Julian Chabot will play for the Cannons. Peyton McPherson and Koby Holt will don a Spokane Expos uniform.

Chamberlain said the benefit of having players compete in AAA baseball is it will help prepare them for the spring 2018 season.

Some players will also work out with individual coaches and run specific drills. Chamberlain might take some athletes to the TBI baseball camp in Ephrata hosted by the Columbia Basin Riverdogs — the same camp he attended when he was playing baseball at a young age.

“As long as the guys are doing something and not sitting around at home,” he added.

Chamberlain also entertained the idea of running a fall baseball team if the interest is there.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].