BURNS — The Wallowa Valley baseball team dropped two heartbreakers to the Burns Hilanders on Friday, April 8, in Special District 5 play, with Burns grabbing a 6-5 walkoff win in the opener, then outlasting the Eagles in a slugfest in the nightcap, 13-11.

In the opener, Lane Rouse scored the tying run in the top of the seventh to even the score at 5-5, but Burns plated the winning run in the home half to win the back-and-forth battle.

Jackson Decker, Trace Collier and Spencer Decker all scored in the third to briefly give the Eagles a 3-2 lead before Burns tied the score in the bottom of the third. Both teams scored in the fifth — one run by Jaxon Grover before Burns responded with two — to set up the late-inning dramatics.

Maclane Melville collected three hits for the Eagles, and Jackson Decker added two hits.

In the second game, Burns broke an 8-8 tie with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, sending 11 batters to the plate. Wallowa Valley responded in the seventh when Spencer Decker, Melville and Cody Fent all scored runs, but the rally fell short.

The Eagles spent most of the game trying to rally, as they fell behind 4-0 after one inning and 6-2 after three frames.

Wallowa Valley briefly pulled ahead in the fifth, 7-6, as both Deckers, Grover and Rouse all scored. The Hilanders retook an 8-7 lead before Fent scored the tying run in the sixth.

Wallowa Valley (5-5 overall, 2-2 SD5) visits the Pendleton/Griswold JV for a doubleheader April 15 and hosts the Baker/Powder Valley JV on April 18.