If this year’s All-Northwest Conference team is any indication, next year could be a great year for the conference.

Nearly half of the first-team all-conference selections (six of 14), which were released Friday after being selected by the NWC coaches, should return next year.

And that’s not counting the NWC Most Valuable Player, junior Casey Locker of Ferndale.

Locker helped lead the Golden Eagles to the Class 3A State Tournament for the second time in three seasons and the second time in school history. They will face Kennewick in the first round of the tournament today in Yakima.

Locker was joined on the first team by fellow Ferndale junior Spencer Hannah.

Lynden and Sehome also advanced to the Class 2A State Tournament and will open regional play today. Not surprisingly, each team has an underclassman on the first team. Sophomore Tyler Lingbloom is the lone Lions representative, while Anthony Pitsch is one of three Mariners but the only freshman on the first team.

Pitsch is joined by Sehome teammates Ryan Williams and pitcher Jared Vera, who are both seniors.

Bellingham has two senior selections to the first team in Pete Carlson and NWC batting leader Michael Takemura, while Nooksack Valley had one in senior Chad Van Berkum.

Rounding out the first team were Anacortes senior Kyle Macy and junior Casey Lloyd, Burlington-Edison junior Ian Capron, Mount Vernon seniors Cam Taylor and Matt Woodard

and Sedro-Woolley junior Bobby Twedt Jr.

1A SOFTBALL SITE CHANGE

Rather than travel all the way to Tacoma’s Sprinker Fields to play each other in the Class 1A Tri-District Softball Tournament, Nooksack Valley and Lynden Christian have agreed to play today’s tournament championship game at Janicki Fields in Sedro-Woolley.

The game time has been moved to 1 p.m., according to an e-mail from Nooksack Valley coach and athletic director Tom Harmon.

The Lyncs and Pioneers have already clinched trips to next week’s Class 1A State Tournament in Spokane, so today’s game is for the tri-district trophy and the top seed into state.

Nooksack Valley has won all three previous meetings with LC this season, claiming a 5-0 non-league win on March 13, a 3-2 Northwest Conference win on May 1 and a 1-0 victory in the Class 1A Sub-District Tournament championship game last weekend at Sedro-Woolley.

Today’s meeting won’t be the only softball game at the Sedro- Woolley softball complex.

At 11 a.m. Sehome and Mount Baker play a winner-tostate game in the Class 2A Northwest District Tournament. The winner moves on to a seeding game at 1 p.m., which will be opposite the tournament’s championship game between Anacortes and Burlington-Edison.

The Class 3A Northwest District Tournament also wraps up play at the same times with its 11 a.m. championship game between Mount Vernon and Everett and a pair of elimination games.