Sports
6A
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Th e Observer
A sports season lost, part 3
Baker High School
seniors Robb,
Shirtcliff reflect on
spring aspirations,
future plans
By Corey Kirk
EO Media Group
BAKER CITY — Three
years after he made his
way to track and fi eld at
Baker High School, senior
Brylan Robb found his ath-
letic niche.
After head coach Suzy
Cole placed him in hur-
dles, his passion for these
events slowly grew.
“Sophomore year I
decided that I liked (hur-
dles), and I would say last
year everything started
clicking for me,” Robb
said.
During his junior
season, Robb began to
shine more in his events.
Remarkably so, Cole was
able to see the passion for
his craft grow.
“He really started
falling in love with it last
year and had worked really
hard during the summer
and the winter months
trying to get ready for a
great season,” Cole said.
Going into his senior
year, competing in col-
lege became more real-
istic for Robb. Already
accepted academically
to Western Oregon Uni-
versity to pursue a crim-
inal justice degree, Cole
was hoping that a strong
season could spark a con-
versation of competing
on the next level for her
student-athlete.
“He’s a young athlete
that was really starting to
come on, this was a year
we were really hoping to
get him stronger marks,”
Cole said.
That all changed
when the Oregon School
Activitites Association
announced on April 8 that
it was going to be sus-
pending the rest season
due to the COVID-19
pandemic. It really put a
damper on plans for every
member of the track and
fi eld team.
“I was emotional. I
cried a little bit,” Robb
said.
Though heartbroken for
the season that never was,
Robb chooses to push for-
ward. He often fi nds him-
self back at the track alone,
running through drills and
pushing to get better.
“I continue to work on
my form and try to make
that better,” Robb said.
“Then I try to get my three
step down and make it
Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
Spencer Shirtcliff tightens an eyebolt while installing an electric fence on a cattle guard Thursday morning while work-
ing as a ranch hand near North Powder.
out with my friends and
meeting new people from
different areas.”
Shirtcliff faces
unknown after
missed baseball
season
Photo by Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
Baker High School Senior Brylan Robb kicks a soccer ball Thursday morning while shoot-
ing on goal at a soccer fi eld in Baker City. The three-sport athlete is spending his lost
season working and kicking around the soccer ball.
“I was kind of in shock. I actually really didn’t believe it at
fi rst. We hadn’t really been hit by it so I didn’t think it was
that bad.”
Spencer Shirtcliff, Baker High School senior
quicker so I can get over
faster.”
His dreams of being
able to compete in college
now have become trickier.
While reaching out to
Western Oregon Univer-
sity, Robb found out that
longtime Wolves head
coach Mike Johnson was
going to be retiring.
“I need to fi gure out
who the new head coach is,
but if I don’t hear anything
I probably will try and
Condor hatches at Oregon Zoo
The Observer
PORTLAND — The
Oregon Zoo reported its
Jonsson Center for Wild-
life Conservation now has
seven fuzzy California
condor chicks squawking in
their nests.
The center’s fi nal chick
of the season hatched May
14, according to the press
release from the zoo, and
condor mother Malibu is
doing fi ne work raising the
baby bird.
“Malibu is such an atten-
tive parent that she’s barely
left the nest box since the
chick hatched,” the zoo
reported in a press release.
“Care staff have only
caught glimpses of the new
arrival, but are keeping a
close eye on the nest-cam
monitors.”
To see the nest-cam
video of the new chick, go
to https://youtu.be/uUFCb-
SIizLM .
“We had more mating
pairs than ever this year,
which is great news for
the future of the condor
walk on,” Robb said.
Cole sees her former
student-athlete equipped
for the challenge of
walking on, and can see
him be a vital part to the
Wolves track and fi eld
team of the future.
“I think he has a ton of
potential,” Cole said. “If he
continues to love it like he
does now, by the time he is
a junior or senior, he can
be an impactful athlete for
them.”
Though he is focused
on his future, Robb cannot
help but refl ect on his time
with the Bulldogs. He was
grateful for all the rela-
tionships he’d made, and
Cole’s impact on his ath-
letic career.
“I’m glad that Suzy
made me do hurdles
because I don’t think I
would be doing them,”
Robb said. “I am defi -
nitely going to miss going
on long bus rides, hanging
After spending his fall
under the Friday Night
Lights, and his winter
on the hardwood, BHS
senior Spencer Shirtcliff
was excited to fi nd him-
self heading back to the
baseball diamond. After a
strong season last spring,
he knew his development
was vital to the team’s
success.
“I played a whole
summer after my regular
season my junior year, and
found myself back in the
cages a couple of months
before the season was sup-
posed to start,” Shirtcliff
said.
As the team prepared for
the season, Shirtcliff and
his teammates were excited
to face their opponents on
their schedule. When the
Oregon School Activities
Association announced it
was following the executive
order made by Gov. Kate
Brown, all sports ceased
operations due to COVID-
19, which effectively ended
spring sports on April 8.
This left Shirtcliff feeling
unsatisfi ed.
“I was kind of in shock.
I actually really didn’t
believe it at fi rst,” Shirtcliff
said. “We hadn’t really been
hit by it so I didn’t think it
was that bad.”
Now that this season is
lost, what hurts student-ath-
letes the most is the growth
they could have accom-
plished in competition —
something that head base-
ball coach Tim Smith sees
as a problem for his gradu-
ating seniors and his team.
“Everyone lost some-
thing, you don’t miss a
season without having an
impact to not be able to be
there and at least practice,”
Smith said.
That is defi nitely the
case for someone like Shirt-
cliff, who is currently
speaking with small schools
in the area for a chance to
possibly play baseball on
the collegiate level.
“He’s looking at Blue
Mountain Community Col-
lege,” Smith said. “The
coach is supposed to be
calling me.”
Coaches like Smith are
now facing hurdles of get-
ting up-to-date fi lm and
content to help their student
athletes who have mutual
interest in playing their
sport at a college.
“They are always inter-
ested in how they will com-
pete and we haven’t been
able to do that,” Smith said.
Shirtcliff knows that the
loss this year puts him at a
disadvantage, as many of
these schools were inter-
ested to see how his senior
season was going to turn
out.
“It really sucks, my
fellow seniors and I were
planning on having a really
good year,” Shirtcliff said.
“I was hoping to have a
year like last year, but go
deeper in the playoffs.”
Though his future career
in baseball remains uncer-
tain, Shirtcliff is motivated
now more than ever to have
his time on the diamond
end on his terms, and will
play next year.
“It does make me want
to play at the next level even
more because I have unfi n-
ished business,” Shircliff
said.
He hopes that stu-
dent-athletes who are
younger than him will not
let the pandemic dictate
their effort, and that they
will continue to practice
and work hard to be ready
to compete in their respec-
tive sport.
“They need to not see
this as a disadvantage and
keep working,” Shirtcliff
said. “They need to try and
not make it as bad as it is
and prove themselves.”
Editor’s Note
This is part three of a
three-part series looking
at how northeast Oregon
student-athletes — from
Umatilla, Union, Wallowa
and Baker counties — are
dealing with seeing their
spring season lost to the
coronavirus.
Grande Ronde Hospital proudly welcomes:
Bryan Tolle, D.O. & Michelle Tolle, D.O.
Joining the GRH Regional Medical Clinic team as a Primary Care Physicians
Photo contributed by the Oregon Zoo
Malibu, a critically endan-
gered California condor,
cares for a recently hatched
chick at the Oregon Zoo.
recovery program,” said
Kelli Walker, the zoo’s lead
condor keeper. “All seven
chicks appear to be healthy
and thriving, which should
mark a signifi cant step for-
ward in the recovery of
this critically endangered
species.”
The chicks will stay
with their parents for at
least eight months before
moving to the Jonsson Cen-
ter’s pre-release pens for
about another year. Even-
tually, they will travel to
a wild release site to join
free-fl ying condors in Cal-
ifornia, Arizona or Baja
Mexico.
Dr. Bryan Tolle and Dr. Michelle Tolle join the Grande Ronde Hospital & Clinics team of family
medicine providers from Sayre, Pennsylvania. Bryan and Michelle attended the Pacific Northwest
University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where they received their doctorate degrees, and
received their undergraduate degrees from Ball State University. In their free time, they look forward
to exploring the outdoor recreation Northeast
Oregon has to offer. They are happy to be back in
the Pacific Northwest and look forward to settling
down, establishing lasting relationships with their
patients, and becoming part of the community.
Please join us in welcoming Drs. Bryan and
Michelle Tolle to the Grande Ronde Valley!
GRH Regional Medical Clinic
Bryan Tolle, D.O.
506 4th Street, La Grande • 541.663.3138
grh.org/RMC/
Drs. Bryan & Michelle Tolle are now accepting new patients!
Learn more in our online Provider Directory at www.grh.org today.
Michelle Tolle, D.O.