Monte Walton to be inducted into baseball hall of fame

Monte Walton will be inducted into the Washington Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Safeco Field in Seattle.

Walton started coaching Little League baseball in his teens for Bellingham Parks & Recreation. He was a three-sport athlete — football, basketball and baseball — and went on to play baseball at Centralia College and Western Washington University.

His high school coaching career started in 1979 at Sehome High School as an assistant in football, basketball and baseball.

In addition, he was manager/coach of the Albert J. Hamilton American Legion Team and the Bellingham Bells for several years.

Walton has been the director of the regional feeder game in Bellingham for the last 25 years and coached in the 2004 All-State Games. He has been director of the Mal Walton JV tournament for 36 years and co-director of Grand Slam Baseball Camp in Bellingham for 36 years.

Walton also served as an official in the Whatcom Skagit Island Football Officials Association since 1979.

Walton was the first recipient of the Washington State Dan White Assistant Coach of the Year award for baseball. Additionally, he was inducted into the WSBCA Hall of Fame for Basketball in 2012.

Doors for the event open at 11:30 a.m. and the program runs to approximately 3 p.m. Cost is $30.

Youth football teams advance to playoffs

The Bellingham junior (7th grade) and senior (8th grade) North Cascade youth football teams have advanced to the playoffs.

Both teams earned home-field advantage for the first round and will play on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Civic Stadium. The junior game is at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Senior game at 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 8:34 PM with the headline "Monte Walton to be inducted into baseball hall of fame."