Todd Beamer High School graduate Cole Bixenman is red hot on the baseball field at Linfield College in McMinville, Ore. The sophomore catcher is hitting a torrid .469 on the season and leading the Northwest Conference in RBIs with 23 in just 16 games. Bixenman has three home runs, three doubles and has scored 14 runs. Linfield is currently 13-3 on the season.
Bixenman also started two games at quarterback for the Linfield football team during the fall and played the second half against the University of Puget Sound. Linfield won all three games.
Other district players in college baseball:
Todd Muecklisch — The 2006 TJ grad is playing shortstop at Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Ida., after two seasons at Tacoma Community College. Muecklisch is currently leading the Warriors with a .438 batting average in 11 games and has eight RBIs, six runs, two triples and one home run.
At Tacoma, he hit .284 with five home runs, five doubles, a triple, 26 RBIs and 11 stolen bases last year. Lewis-Clark State is currently 12-6 on the season.
Jason Summers — The 2006 TJ grad played two seasons at South Mountain Community College in Arizona and has since transferred to Northern Iowa University. This year, the catcher is hitting .378 in 13 games with thre doubles, one home run and 14 RBIs.
As a sophomore at SMCC last year, Summers hit .342 with 30 RBIs. Northern Iowa 8-9 on the season.
Ross Humes — The Decatur grad is playing his senior year on the Washington State University baseball team. Humes, a left-handed pitcher, has currently thrown 2 2/3 innings on the year and has a 0.00 ERA. The Cougars are 5-11 overall.
Last year, Humes appeared in 23 games, including six starts. He was 4-4 with a team-leading six saves. As a sophomore, Humes made 25 appearances out of the bullpen and posted 3-3 record with 12 saves, 4.70 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 44 innings. The 12 saves set a Cougar single-season record.
Brock Gates and Shane Elliot — Gates, a Decatur grad, transferred to Edmonds Community College after spending a year at the University of Washington. The first baseman is hitting .256 with 10 runs scored and eight RBIs. Elliot is a freshman outfielder after graduating from Federal Way.
Brad Carter — The 2007 Decatur High School grad is playing at Western Oregon. Carter is a right-handed pitcher has appeared in two games and hasn’t given up a run in three innings. Western Oregon is 7-6-1 overall.
Justin Reed and Justin Lee — Reed, a Decatur grad, is a freshman pitcher on the Central Washington University baseball team and Lee, a Beamer grad, is a freshman outfielder. Reed has pitched in three games and has a 6.43 ERA. he has thrown seven innings. Central is currently 6-14 on the season.
BA Garner — The Decatur grad is pitching for Hawaii Pacific after playing two years at Tacoma Community College. Garner was Hawaii Pacific’s closer last year and finished with a 4-3 record and a team-high 10 saves.
Tracking the Grads appears periodically in the Mirror. If we missed someone, email sports@fedwaymirror.com.
