By Terry Mosher
Editor, Sports Paper
Bob Fredericks has done a lot for the sports world in the West Sound community, and before retiring had a high civilian job at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, so he has a lot to be proud of.
Now it’s a grandson – Conor Long – who has given him something more to be proud of. Long pitched for Western Washington as it bulled its way into the recent (may 24-30) College Baseball Club World Series held at the University of Tampa Baseball Stadium in Tampa, Fl.
Long, a reliever, pitched and got the win in Western’s upset of No. 2 seed Illinois, 14-6, in a first-round game. Long was the losing pitcher in Western’s next game, a 6-5 defeat to James Madison.
Western went on to beat Iowa, 6-3, before losing 5-4 to Penn State, which won the championship with a 12-5 victory over James Madison. Western finished tied for third.
Long pitched in high school at Sehome (Bellingham), which won back-to-back state 2A titles his junior and senior years. Long pitched and won 2008 2A state championship game, beating East Valley of Yakima, 8-1.
The six-foot-2 Long went to Arizona to play baseball, but eventually transferred to Western to finish playing baseball and get his degree (He graduates Saturday, June 15).
Michael Koenen
The neat thing about Long and Western’s experience in the College Baseball Club World Series is that he and his teammates got to meet and interact with Michael Koenen, a graduate of Ferndale High School (just north of Bellingham and Western) who is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers punter.
Koenen played football at Western before the school dropped the sport and was signed as undrafted free agent by Atlanta in 2005 where he punted for six seasons. Tampa Bay signed Koenen as an unrestricted free agent in 2011.
Bob Fredericks
“Koenen took the team out to Lee Roy Selmon’s restaurant for dinner,” said Fredericks. “Then the next day he took the entire team and their parents for a tour of the Tampa (Buccaneers) facility. It was marvelous. When they lost the last game (to Penn State), he invited the whole team and parents to his place for a barbeque. That was marvelous.
“I got to get to know this guy (Koenen) and send him a note. He is only one of three football players from Western to go into the NFL, and that goes way back.”