Summer fun in the sun: Plenty of sports-related activities available in the Twin Harbors

High school sports teams are enjoying their summer vacation but that doesn’t mean local sports fans have to wait until fall to get excited about sports in Twin Harbors.

With Little League kicking into high gear next month, the Grays Harbor Gulls making a run to the top of the standings and the city offering various sports-related activities, the summer months remain a busy time for local sports fans and participants.

Grays Harbor Gulls FC

One of the newest teams in the area is Grays Harbor Gulls Football Club, a semi-pro soccer team based out of Aberdeen that is halfway through its first season in the Western Washington Premier League.

Many of the names on the roster will be familiar to fans of the local high school soccer scene as most of the team is comprised of players who played high school soccer for schools such as Aberdeen, Montesano and Hoquiam, to name a few.

The team has seen some success in its inaugural season and is in position to make a late-season run with five games left in the season.

Head coach Drew Grannemann said the feedback from the community has been encouraging.

“The community support has been incredible,” he said. “I work in a public place and I usually wear Grays Harbor Gulls stuff and I get a lot of comments from people saying how cool it is that we’re bring semi-professional soccer to this area. It’s been nothing but positive.”

The Gulls play locally at Stewart field and have three remaining games at home this season. The Gulls’ next match is at 5 p.m. on Saturday against Issaquah in Aberdeen. For more information, visit the Grays Harbor Gulls FC Facebook page and follow @GHGullsFC on Twitter gameday updates.

Little League baseball

The high school baseball season has been over for almost a month now but the local baseball talent of the future will be on the field all throughout July.

The regular season is coming to an end but a number of local teams have qualified for the postseason.

Montesano’s 8-10 year-old team is playing in the District 3 tournament against Capitol at 10 a.m. on June 23.

In the 9-11 age group, Montesano will face Aberdeen at 4:30 and Elma will face Larch Mountain at noon. Both of those games will take place on June 30 at the Little League fields in Chehalis.

At the Elma Little League fields, Elma’s 10-12 baseball players will play Capitol at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 23.

Montesano will also play earlier in the day at 2:30 p.m. against Larch Mountain.

The 10-12 year-old Majors Division tournament, which begins on Saturday, July 7 in Elma, features three local teams. First, Aberdeen will play Capitol at 1 p.m. followed by Montesano facing Chehalis at 3 p.m. Elma has already secured a first-round bye in the bracket and will play the winner of Chehalis and Larch Mountain on July 8.

Last year’s Little League action saw Monte’s major team win its district and make a run toward a state title before falling to Marysville 10-9 to end the season.

Elk River Challenge

The Elk River will experience higher than normal levels of canoe and kayak traffic on Saturday, July 28 for the Elk River Challenge.

The race is put on annually by the Sound Rowers, a non-profit organization that works to sponsor paddle boat races around the state.

The start-finish line for the race is located at the the Bay City Bridge with a course that takes competitors into the estuary and back.

There are two different course lengths, a seven-mile course and a three-mile course, to choose from.

Last year’s seven-mile race came down to the wire with first-place boat winning with a time of 55:22.9, which was just 3.4 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Registration for the human-powered boat races is open up until race day and $10 per person for participants who pre-register before race day.

Participants can register online at soundrowers.com or call 360-589-7000 for more details.

Grays Harbor Raceway

With drier weather ahead for the next few months, conditions will be more favorable for drivers and fans looking to enjoy the action at Grays Harbor Raceway.

The Elma racetrack has a busy schedule that runs through late September with a variety of different car types competing on the 3/8-banked oval dirt track.

The racetrack is host to drivers from across Washington, Oregon and California along with a few local motorists. Hoquiam’s Tyler Sundstrom is leading the standings in the Outlaw Tuners Division with two wins and three top-five finishes.

Jack Parshall, also from Hoquiam, is leading the Street Stock category with five wins and six top-five finishes.

Anyone looking to check out the fast-paced action this weekend can head out to Elma this Saturday and visit graysharborraceway.com or call 360-482-4374 for more information.

Rec League softball

Aberdeen’s park and recreation department has been offering rec league co-ed slow pitch softball for more than 30 years and the city is hoping for another good turnout this year.

The deadline for co-ed softball is Tuesday, July 17 and the city is hoping to have about 10 teams lined up this year.

Parks and recreation director Austin Webber said the sport remains popular because of the high number of athletes who played baseball and softball in high school.

“It’s just something to do outside in the summer. We have a lot of athletes that played baseball in high school and they’ll convert to softball,” he said.

The city is also planning to bring back kickball for a second year in a row with the season tentatively scheduled to start in early August to avoid some of the cold and wet weather that affected play last year.

Visit aberdeenwa.gov/parks-recreation and/or call 360-537-3230 for updated schedules and registration information.