Thunder Mountain football coach Bill Byouer has said many times the main goal of his program is open doors to higher education for his kids through football, allowing many who might never have thought of attending college the opportunity to do so.

After two short years, former center and nose tackle Cole Bossio is the first alum of the program to earn a college scholarship after signing with Trinity International Univeristy, an NAIA school in Deerfield, Ill., outside of Chicago. Bossio said the scholarship will cover about three-quarters of the cost to attend school.

The boys and girls of summer are on the baseball diamonds, but now is the time to get ready for football. Thunder Mountain High School Coach Bill Byouer is starting a new tradition at the new school — a four-day, three-night series of intense clinics and drills for pre-high-school athletes as young as the fifth-grade level.

Devan Romine homered twice and drove in six runs as Sitka swatted Ketchikan 21-6 during Thursday’s second matchup of the Region V Baseball Tournament at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park.

The third-seeded Wolves scored 21 runs on 15 hits and six walks to move on to face defending region and state champion Juneau-Douglas at 6 p.m. today.

JDHS pounded fifth-seeded Petersburg 24-0 in Thursday’s nightcap of the double-elimination tournament’s opening day.

The Region V Baseball Tournament begins this morning at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park. But make no mistake about it, the gamesmanship began last weekend.

And no one is giving away any state secrets as far as who will take the hill when play begins at 10:30 a.m.