Baseball: Eagles race to 16-0 win at Heppner

Published 8:45 am Sunday, March 17, 2024

HEPPNER — The Wallowa Valley baseball team bounced back in a big way from its first loss of the season with a lopsided 16-0 victory over Heppner/Ione on Wednesday, March 20.

The game was called after five innings. No additional details about the game were immediately available.

The Wednesday nonleague game was the first action the combined Enterprise-Joseph-Wallowa team had seen since a Friday, March 15 twin bill at Vince Genna Stadium in Bend. The Eagles split those games, with a 6-0 victory over LaPine.

In the first of the two March 15 games, the Eagles shut out the Hawks of LaPine for a 6-0 victory. In the second game, South Umpqua beat the Eagles, 16-1.

The Eagles opened the season on March 12, with a lopsided 14-0 win over the TigerScots of Weston-McEwen in Athena.

After winning the Special District 3 title last season, the Eagles baseball team boasts nine seniors on the roster.

That senior-heavy roster is a big reason why the Eagles were ranked in the top 10 in the year’s first coaches’ poll. The first poll put the Eagles at No. 10 among the state’s 3A teams.

Banks led the voting in the poll with Cascade Christian sitting second and Brookings-Harbor in third. South Umpqua and Pleasant Hill wrap up the top five teams in the polling.

The most recent OSAA ranking places the Eagles at No. 6. Douglas, from the Far West League, is No. 1, followed by Lakeview, also from the Far West League; Siuslaw/Mapleton, from the Mountain Valley Conference; Banks, from Special District 1; and LaPine, from the Mountain Valley Conference.

The Eagles (now 3-1 on the season, with three shutouts) return to action on Wednesday, March 27, as the team travels to Madras for the three-day White Buffalo Tournament. Wallowa Valley’s Wednesday opponent is Coquille (0-4 as of March 25). First pitch in that game is scheduled for 9 a.m.