softball

MYRTLE POINT — South Umpqua’s Reaghan Gilbert tossed a no-hitter against Wallowa Valley as the Lancers ended the Outlaws’ season with a 10-0 victory in 3A quarterfinal softball action on Friday, May 24.

Gilbert compounded the Outlaws’ misery by going 3-for-5 at the plate and driving in five runs in the game, which ended after six innings.

The game marked the second straight shutout for the second-seeded Lancers, who have yet to give up a run in the postseason, and marked the 20th time the team has scored 10 or more runs this season.

Despite the quarterfinal loss on the road, the season was a successful one for the 10th-seeded Outlaws, who wrapped up the year with a 20-7 overall record, posted a second-place finish in 3A Special District 4 and won a second-round playoff game against Pleasant Hill.

Coach Gary Gassett and the Outlaws enter next season without six senior players. Sophie Moeller, Karly Baremore, Aimee Meyers, Cooper Nave, Abigail Straight and Cecilia April played their final game in the loss to South Umpqua.

Outlaws beat Pleasant Hill

The Wallowa Valley softball team earned a slot in the quarterfinals of the 3A state softball tournament by beating Pleasant Hill, 9-3, on Wednesday, May 22.

The 10th-seeded Outlaws traveled to Pleasant Hill, south of Eugene, to upset the seventh-seeded Billies from the Mountain Valley Conference.

The bats connected early in the game for the Outlaws, as the team scored four runs in the early innings and then put the game away with five runs in the fourth inning to post a 9-1 lead. The Outlaws’ defense then took over, allowing the Billies only two additional runs in the final three innings.

Burns/Crane, the district champion and No. 5 seed in the tournament, remains in the hunt for a state title after a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Santiam Christian and prepares for a semifinal matchup versus top-seeded Scio on Tuesday, May 28. The Lancers, now 25-3, advance to the semifinals against No. 3 seed Yamhill-Carlson, also on Tuesday. Both of those games started after the Chieftain’s press deadline.