Steve Tool/ChieftainWallowa Valley Eagles pitcher Gus Ramsden winds up for one of his blazing fastballs during a 4-0 loss versus the La Grande Tigerrs JV team on April 11.

Sports roundup

By Steve Tool

Wallowa County Chieftain

It has been another busy week of sports around Wallowa County.

Baseball

The Wallowa Valley Eagles settled back down to earth, dropping both ends of an April 14 doubleheader at Irrigon.

The Eagles had their wings severely clipped in the 1 p.m. opener, coming out on the bottom end of an 18-1 shellacking. The Eagles gave up nine hits while also committing nine miscues and contributing only one hit to the contest.

“There’s not much to say about it,” said assistant coach Geoff Hayward. “We just didn’t focus, and the score shows that.”

The second game saw the Eagles at least get their tail feathers off the ground, losing an 8-7 squeaker at the Knights’ hands. The Eagles exploded for two runs in the first inning, trading scores and leads throughout the game, and led 7-6 after their final at-bat in the top of the seventh. The Knights popped off two runs in their half of the inning to send the Eagles plummeting to defeat.

“It was a good game. We hated to lose it of course, but it’s one of those things,” Hayward said.

The losses left the Eagles 2-2 in league play and 5-4 overall. The Eagles host their home opener against Nyssa 1 p.m. Friday, April 21.

The Wallowa Valley Cubs are back in the win zone after two victories in an April 14 doubleheader at Elgin/Imbler. The Cubs sentenced the Huskies to the doghouse, 13-7, in the first game, led by Ashley Exon’s 2-for-3 performance at the plate while swatting in 4 RBIs. Jessie Teeney and Madison Plew hopped on the RBI train unloading for two each on the hapless Huskies.

The Cubs outhit Elgin, 9-8, but Elgin’s seven errors spelled doom for the Huskies. Five Cubbies tore up the base paths with two steals each, Plew leading the way with three.

On the mound, Plew went the distance for the Cubs, striking out eight while walking five.

The Cubs followed the first win with a 19-2 celebratory massacre of the Huskies. Josie Scott led the charge, turning in a golden 4 for 4 plate performance, including three doubles and three RBIs.

Teammate Shelby Moncrief also turned in a golden performance, going 4 for 4 with two RBIs, including a homer, Darby Gassett followed close behind, with a 3 for 4 performance including two triples and a whopping six RBIs. Three other Cubs turned in multi-hit performances.

Lexie Gassett pitched for the Cubs, and in her second full varsity outing, gave up only five hits while striking out five and walking three.

“We’re really starting to come together as a team, and I think we’ll come together even more as the season goes on,” said Coach Andy Plew.

The wins left the Cubs 2-2 in league play and 3-5 overall. The Cubs play their first home game on Friday, April 26, hosting Nyssa for a 1 p.m. twinbill.

Golf

Both Enterprise and Wallowa/Joseph traveled to John Day for the Grant Union Invite with Enterprise taking third. Wallowa/Joseph doesn’t field enough golfers for an official team.

Brycen Locke of Enterprise tied for fourth in the tournament, shooting an 89, while teammate Boone Harrod shot a 97. Kai Oliver of Joseph led the Wallowa team with a 98 while Cole Kiesecker, also of Joseph, followed with a 114.

For the girls, Kana Oliver of Joseph led Wallowa with a 123 score on the day. Both Enterprise coach Mike Crawford and Wallowa coach Marvin Gibbs said their teams played through every kind of bad weather imaginable and were proud of the team’s performance. Enterprise girls stats were unavailable.

Enterprise golf next travels to the Heppner invite on April 21, while Wallowa travels to the Big River Hermiston Invite at Umatilla on the same day.

Track

Both Joseph and Enterprise high schools traveled to the Rivers Edge track meet in Umatilla April 14 to test their mettle against 28 other schools. For the ladies, the Outlaws placed first, scoring 66 points and edging out Hermiston by three points. The Eagles ladies shared 20th place with Bickleton, scoring 10 points.

In the men’s department, Joseph shared the 12th slot with Cove and McLoughlin scoring 18 points while the Outlaws shared 16th with Bickleton, scoring 16 points.

Eagles coach John Roberts was pleased with his team’s efforts.

“My kids did pretty well,” Roberts said. “We didn’t have Isabelle Tingelstad or Haley Miller running and Ally Cooney and Addie Kilgore were gone on an ag trip, or we’d have scored more points. It helped that our younger kids stepped up. We’ve got three weeks to keep preparing for districts and state.”

The next varsity meet for both Joseph and Enterprise is a 1 p.m. April 22 contest at the 11th Annual Pepsi Invite at Union.

TRACK RESULTS

Enterprise Girls top 10

• 100 meters 7th, Hero Peters 14.43; 200 meters 6th, Riley Gray 29.47; 10th, Reagan Bedard 30.18; 800 meters 2nd, Deedee Duncan 2:35.38; third, Eliza Irish 3:36.80; 1500 meters 3rd, Deedee Duncan 5:33.26; 100 meter hurdles 6th, Stacy Douglass 18.81; 9th, Ashlyn Gray 19.54; 300 meter hurdles 1st, Karli Bedard 50.70; 9th, Irina Baldessari 55.09; 4×100 relay 2nd, Hero Peters, Riley Gray, Karli Bedard, Stacy Douglass 53.34; 4×400 relay 2nd, Hero Peters, Riley Gray, Karli Bedard, Stacy Douglass 4:20.13; High jump 1st, Karli Bedard 5-01; Long jump 8th, Riley Gray 13-10.

Enterprise boys top 10

4×400 relay 6th, Trent Bales, Jake Coggins, Cole Gomes, Foster Hobbs 3:48.22; Shot put 6th, Chandler Burns 42-02.50; Javelin 1st Ethan Burns 160-01; High jump 9th, Kobe Ketscher 5-08; Triple jump 9th, Joe Robb 36-03; 10th, Colby Harris 36-00.50.

Joseph Girls top 10

400 meters 10th, Johnelle Suto 1:07.89; 4×100 relay 7th, Johnelle Suto, Ella Coughlan, Camille Crenshaw, Alexis Sykora; 4×400 relay 8th, Johnelle Suto, Ella Coughlan, Camille Crenshaw, Alexis Sykora; High jump 2nd, Alexis Sykora 4-08;.

Joseph boys top 10

400 meters 3rd, Cayden DeLury 53.05; 800 meters 9th, Tyler Homan 2:12.67; 300 meter hurdles 2nd, Cayden DeLury 43.44; 4×400 relay 5th, Tyler Homan, Caevan Murray, Aaron Borgerding, Cayden DeLury 3:48.17; Pole vault 9th, TJ Grote, Kade Kilgore 9-00.