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Former NIC, Gonzaga star Bay to enter Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Former North Idaho College and Gonzaga baseball standout Jason Bay will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the organization announced.

Bay will be inducted on June 15 in St. Marys, Ontario, at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, along with pitcher Ryan Dempster, coach Rob Thomson and executive Gord Ash.

“It was a very pleasant and somewhat unexpected surprise to get that call from the Canadian Hall of Fame,” said Bay, who played two seasons at NIC before transferring to Gonzaga. “I’m proud and honored to be recognized with great people who have helped build baseball in Canada in various ways, to the elite level it has become. I’m looking forward to it!”

Bay, a center fielder had an 11-year MLB career with stops in San Diego, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York and Seattle. His best season came in 2004 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he hit 26 home runs with a .282 batting average. This earned Bay the National League Rookie of the Year award, the only Canadian to earn the honor. Bay was named to the Major League All-Star game three times in his career, twice with the Pirates and once with the Boston Red Sox. Throughout his career, he collected 1,200 hits and 222 home runs, the most of any Gonzaga alum.

In his two years as a Zag from 1999-2000, Bay hit 35 career home runs, which ranks third-most in school history and remains seventh on the all-time batting average list with a mark of .374. Bay also ranks second all-time with 74 RBIs in the 1999 season, where he also hit 20 home runs and scored 65 runs. In 2015, Bay became the first Gonzaga baseball player to be inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor.

Gonzaga’s Clarke named WCC Player of the Week

Gonzaga junior forward Brandon Clarke was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

Clarke recorded back-to-back 20-point games in a pair of big wins for the (now) No. 3 Zags (23-2, 10-0 WCC). He totaled 44 points on 68 percent (17-of-25) shooting from the field. He also added 22 rebounds, eight blocks, four assists and three steals. In the 92-62 win over San Francisco, he scored 20 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds were the most in the McCarthey Athletic Center’s 15-year history.

Clarke also broke the program’s single-season record for blocked shots. He needed two for the record and finished with five in the game. His 77 blocks are the third-most currently in the country. The Phoenix native’s 77 blocks are three shy of 10th for the most in a career in program history. In Saturday’s rout win over Saint Mary’s, Clarke blocked three more shots and scored a game-high 24 points in 23 minutes on 9-of-12 shooting.

With six regular season contests remaining, Clarke ranks ninth on the WCC single-season blocked shot list and needs 15 to crack the top five, while his .688 (172 of 250) field goal percentage would be the best in conference history, besting the mark of current NBA Zag Domantas Sabonis who connected on .668 (145 of 217) in 2015.

Gonzaga travels to Loyola Marymount on Thursday and San Diego on Saturday.

Desert sweep helps WSU’s Franks land Pac-12 honors

Washington State senior forward Robert Franks was named the Pac-12 men’s basketball Player of the Week by the conference office.

A native of Vancouver, Wash., Franks led the Cougars to their first sweep at the Arizona schools since 2006-07 and third all-time, as well as their first conference weekend sweep since 2011. WSU started it off with a 91-70 victory at Arizona State last Thursday and followed it with a 69-55 victory at Arizona on Saturday.

At ASU, Franks tied his career-high with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, along with a career-high 4 steals. Twenty-three of his points came in the first half, marking his second-most in a half, his most in a first half and most in a half this season. Two days later at Arizona, Franks followed it up with 31 points and 8 rebounds as WSU snapped its 13-game losing streak to the Wildcats and got its first win over them since 2009-10. Franks was 9-for-9 from the free throw line on the weekend and has made 28-consecutive free throws.

Franks is averaging 22.6 points per game, leading the Pac-12 and ranking 15th in the country. The forward also moved into 21st on WSU’s career scoring list and currently has 1,195 career points. With his 12 3-pointers over the weekend, Franks now has 141 3-pointers, which ranks 10th all-time in WSU’s career record books.

The Cougars host Washington on Saturday.