Wallowa Valley baseball, softball players earn honors

Published 8:02 pm Monday, July 3, 2023

There is one more round of hardware for the Wallowa Valley baseball team following its historic, home playoff drought-ending season.

Three players — Special District 3 player of the year Jaxon Grover, staff ace Drew Beachy and outfielder Gabe Nobles — all were named 3A first team all-state, head coach Zack Grover said.

Jaxon Grover capped off a stellar season by being named a first-team all-state infielder. Grover, who was also a first-team all-district infielder, hit .506 with an on-base percentage of .614. The junior scored 43 times, stole 31 bases, and struck out just twice on the season.

“Jaxon is continuing to grow and expand his baseball skills both in the field and at the plate,” Zack Grover said. “It was great to see his confidence grow at the plate this year. Any time you have over a hundred plate appearances and only two strikeouts, that’s a pretty good season.”

Beachy followed his first-team all-district selection with a first team all-state nod. The senior posted an 8-1 with a 1.62 ERA. He struck out 87 batters on the season, and limited opposing batters to a .149 batting average.

“Drew grew on the mound quite a bit this year,” Grover said. “He’s starting to work a lot more on pitch placement and pitch selection. He’s starting to watch and learn each hitter’s tendencies as the game goes on.”

Capping things off was Nobles’ selection as a first-team outfielder. Nobles, one of the team’s main offensive threats, finished with a .459 batting average, a .560 on-base percentage and drove in 24 runs.

Grover noted that Nobles has been a first baseman most of his life, and praised his ability to adjust to the outfield at the level he did.

“Making the change to outfield and making first-team all-league and all-state in his first year in the outfield says a lot about his work ethic and being able to adapt to whatever his team needs out of him,” the coach said.

Softball honorsThe Wallowa Valley softball team landed five on the all-state team, and all of them on the second team — utility player Cooper Nave, pitcher Aimee Meyers, infielder Sophie Moeller, first baseman Abby Straight and outfielder Alex Rowley.

Nave turned in an impressive junior campaign, one that included her leading the Outlaws in numerous offensive categories: batting average (.672), home runs (eight), RBI (44), hits (43), doubles (12), on-base percentage (.750) and slugging percentage (1.234).

“She hits the ball hard every time she hits it, and when you do that you’re going to find a hole somewhere,” head coach Gary Gassett said. “I was impressed with her hitting. She was the best hitter in our league, I thought, easily. She’s going to have a great year next year. I can see it.”

Meyers, the team’s primary pitcher, secured an 18-5 record with a 3.58 ERA. She pitched 131 innings, allowed 133 hits, walked 28 batters and struck out 121, and pitched in all but one game.

“I was very impressed with Aimee because, yes, it’s hard to pitch both games of a doubleheader and know you have to do it,” Gassett said. “She worked really hard to get herself in shape to do that, and she did it. She worked very hard this year to make that possible.”

Moeller hit .377 with six home runs and 29 RBI as the team’s leadoff hitter. She led the team in runs scored with 39, added eight doubles, had a .490 on-base percentage and slugged .740.

“Sophie, I think, turned herself into the best defender in the league,” Gassett said. “She worked really hard, she was staying after practice and working hard to get to that point. The Burns coach (Robert Medley), at the all-league selections, said she was the best athlete in the league, and I believe it.”

Straight hit an even .500, second on the team, and added two home runs and 28 RBIs. She scored 30 runs, was second on the team with 39 hits and 10 doubles, and had a slugging percentage of .756.

“I was very impressed with Abby,” Gassett said of Straight, who adjusted well to a full-time starting role. “She hit good last year, but only part-time. She can hit any type of pitching, slow, fast, whatever. She always makes contact, and usually hard contact.”

Rounding out the all-state honorees was Rowley, who after hitting .353 with one home run, 21 RBI and 24 runs scored, ended the season with a .470 on-base percentage.

“What Alex brings to the outfield, she would run through the wall, she dives, she makes incredible catches all the time, she has a great arm, she is in charge when she is out there,” Gassett said. “She’s a great defender.”