7A
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
The Observer
Mountaineers gear up for Sioux City
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
Observer fi le photo
Eastern Oregon’s Aspen Christiansen passes a ball dur-
ing a home match against Southern Oregon. Eastern
begins play at nationals Tuesday.
Eastern Oregon University head vol-
leyball coach Kaki McLean-Morehead
said her team has bounced back well
from its loss to Southern Oregon in the
Cascade Collegiate Conference title game.
The match also showed the team
some areas to fi ne-tune as the No. 7
Mountaineers get ready for pool play in
the NAIA national tournament, which
begins Tuesday in Sioux City, Iowa.
“We need to up our game in serve
receive and play a more balanced game
(on offense),” McLean-Morehead said,
noting the loss to SOU was a combina-
tion of the Raiders playing very well
and Eastern not playing to its potential.
“That was a loss that we took pretty
hard,” she added.
Losses have been few and far be-
tween, though, for EOU as it heads into
the national tournament. The Moun-
taineers have one of the best records in
the nation at 29-3, a high-ranked de-
fense and an offense powered by one of
the top attackers in program history in
senior outside hitter Megan Bunn, who
is just 18 kills shy of surpassing Casey
Loper for No. 2 on the all-time list.
McLean-Morehead said, though, that
teams are starting to key on Bunn,
who led Eastern with 368 kills this
season — more than 130 ahead of No. 2
attacker Cambree Scott (235) — so the
Mountaineers will need to mix up the
offense a bit more at nationals.
“Everyone knows the majority of the
time the ball is going to go to Megan
Bunn,” she said. “That’s great, but we
have to have other people step up. Peo-
ple know that now, and they’re going to
start camping on her. They’re going to
start fi nding a way to shut her down.”
The coach said the adjustments will
mean trying to set the middle and
right-side more consistently, but could
also include running some plays to the
middle and right to Bunn.
Junior setter Madison Pilon, who had
971 assists on the season, said the team is
also working on increasing its pace of play.
“Because of our size, speeding up our
Observer fi le photo
See EOU / Page 7A
Observer fi le photo
La Grande pitcher Allie Brock, who has been an integral part of the Tigers’ back-to-back La Grande catcher Jayce Seavert, a key piece of the Tigers’ championship run in 2018
state championships, has signed with Division-I Montana.
and 2019, has signed her letter of intent to play softball at Oregon Tech.
Tiger standouts ink college deals
■ Defending Class 4A pitcher of the year Allie Brock fulfills
lifelong dream to pitch Division I, signs with Montana
■ Former state player of the year and all-state catcher Jayce
Seavert elects to go NAIA route, signs with Oregon Tech
By Ronald Bond
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
The Observer
Allie Brock recently ac-
complished a goal she’s had
since she was 8 years old.
The La Grande High
School senior and softball
pitching standout will pitch
at the NCAA Division I level
following graduation after
signing with the Univer-
sity of Montana earlier this
month.
“Since I started pitching,
that has always been the
goal,” Brock said. “I think
it’s really great that I fi nally
achieved that goal.… It’s
(taken) a lot of work. Hours
of working on certain spins,
working on forms to get
everything fundamental.
We worked so much and so
hard.”
Regional pitching coach
and ASA softball coach Lin
Casciato and Brock’s father,
Mike, have been the two
most instrumental pieces in
helping Brock develop into
the best pitcher in LHS his-
tory, and one of the best in
the state of Oregon.
“I wouldn’t be able to
pitch without Lin or my
dad,” she said.
Casciato said Brock’s
work ethic has been vital
in reaching her goal and
growing into the player she
now is.
“From the time she was
a little girl, she has always
been consistently disci-
plined, focused and deter-
mined,” Casciato said. “She
gets a drill, gets an idea
about a certain movement
(and) Mike and her work
(on it). “She is, I think, con-
sumed with perfection and
understanding. She works
hard enough to make those
The Oregon Tech softball
team recently landed a La
Grande athlete who has
Division I potential.
The Owls have inked
all-state catcher and former
4A state player of the year
Jayce Seavert, a vital cog
for the Tigers’ back-to-back
state championship run,
signing the senior earlier
this summer and offi cially
announcing it in November.
“Right out of the gate
Jayce will be able to con-
tribute to the program as
a leader and as a defensive
and offensive player,” LHS
head coach Woody Wright
said. “She’ll be able to con-
tribute as a freshman.”
Seavert said OIT coach
Greg Stewart fi rst reached
out to her following the 2018
state championship game
when La Grande defeated
Henley. Stewart, Seavert
said, had been at the game
to watch a couple players for
the Hornets.
He ended up fi nding his
future catcher on the other
side of the diamond.
“He was there to watch
some girls from Henley and
ended up seeing me. He
reached out, we connected,
we went and toured, and
(OIT) is perfect for the medi-
cal fi eld,” said Seavert, who
intends to study medical
imaging and radiology.
The senior looked at a
wide range of schools, even
talking to D-I programs,
including the University of
Oregon.
But education, an op-
portunity to see the fi eld a
lot sooner and the outreach
by Stewart drew Seavert to
Observer fi le photo
Brock is coming off a junior season where she went
22-1 and had a 0.90 ERA.
things happen. It’s called
time and dedication.”
Brock said part of what
has helped her develop has
been understanding her
body movements as she
pitches.
“She has an awareness
that a lot of kids don’t have,”
Casciato said.
He added that Brock is so
in tune with her body that
if a movement if off and
causing her not to pitch as
effectively, she can make the
adjustment on her own.
“(As) she got older (she
has reached the point
where) she’ll tell you what
the problem is,” he said.
Brock said part of that
comes from a keen interest
in body movement.
“I also enjoyed studying
how the body moves,” she
said. “Looking at how my
body moved throughout
the pitch was fascinating
to me.”
Brock has built up an ex-
tensive pitching repertoire
during the past nine years.
At her disposal when she
steps into the pitching circle
are a fastball, changeup,
dropball, screwball, rise-
ball, curveball and offspeed
curve.
“We added a new pitch
See Brock / Page 8A
Observer fi le photo
Seavert hit .575 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs during
the 2019 season.
Oregon Tech.
“He reached out more
than anybody else, so I took
to that more,” she said.
She also “didn’t want to go
D-I,” and said Stewart not
only guaranteed her a spot
on the roster but told her
she should see the fi eld as a
freshman.
“Right now, what he sees,
I’ll be second string because
when I come in there will
be a senior catcher,” Seavert
said. “I’ll probably be split-
ting games my freshman
year, and come my sopho-
more year, I’ll be the starting
catcher.”
OIT is landing an athlete
in Seavert who began to
help turn the LHS pro-
gram into a powerhouse
the minute she joined as a
freshman.
In her most recent season
on the fi eld, she had a .575
batting average, 12 home
runs, 61 RBIs and 37 runs
scored.
Seavert said her play
behind the plate, though, is
her strength, and said catch-
ing was the position that fi t
her the best when she began
playing softball.
“I’ve played it all my life,”
she said. “I just was good
at it. That was the easiest
See Seavert / Page 8A