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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2020)
Sports 6A Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Th e Observer EOU baseball roster loaded as team works through fall practice By Ronald Bond EOU BASEBALL RECRUITING CLASS The Observer LA GRANDE — The COVID-19 pandemic meant Eastern Oregon University head baseball coach Mike McInerney had less time for in-person recruiting as he would have liked. If there is a silver lining, though: He brought more players to the squad. McInerney’s roster for the upcoming season for the resurrected baseball pro- gram will have 43 players — eight more than he set out to bring in when he was named baseball coach ear- lier this year. “Thirty-fi ve is your typ- ical roster. I wanted to get that no matter what,” he said. “As COVID started happening, you’re trying to protect (players) and make sure if you have fi ve guys in a house and they had to quarantine (that you still have enough players). I decided to bump it up. I signed a guy really late that we needed. I settled on 43. Felt it was a good roster.” The program’s fi rst signee was La Grande Tiger Justin Frederick, and McIn- erney added three more La Grande High School ath- letes to the roster: pitcher Parker Robinson, infi elder Isaac Chamberlain — a transfer from Columbia Basin College — and former LHS infi elder Jon Gonzalez. “Isaac, when he’s been in, he looks awesome. He’s done really good. Parker has the same thing,” McIn- erney said. “He’s super tal- ented. He can play at the college level, no doubt.” Ronald Bond/The Observer, File La Grande’s Parker Robinson delivers a pitch during the 2019 baseball season. Robinson is one of four former La High School baseball players signed to the Eastern Oregon Uni- versity roster for the upcoming season. The early stages of fall practice, McInerney said, have brought some surprises. “Easton Watterson, an outfi elder from Treasure Valley (Community Col- lege) — we saw him as a versatile guy who could be small-ball and handle the bat and bunt, (but) he has shown some power, so he has balanced out the lineup,” the coach said. “He and Austin Gerding are a couple outfi elders that will have some double or home run threat.” The coach said there will be a lot of small-ball with the roster, but there also are “four or fi ve with power potential.” “We’ve been super demanding of all the players. They continue to bring it every single day,” McInerney said of the early practices. “We tried going slow at fi rst. Some of these guys haven’t played base- ball in spring or summer, and some have been locked away (in quarantine). We tried to go slow (and) we avoided most of the injuries. Once we got everybody in shape, we have been pushing them hard.” The roster includes 14 pitchers, two of whom will be two-way players who can also step into a different position on the fi eld. “We feel good with that. As long as everyone stays healthy, we should be in a good spot,” he said. McInerney also noted Frederick, Gonzalez, Jamie Powell, Adrian Roa and Nick Jennings are players who have stepped up during the fall. Locking down player positions will be a focal point for McInerney before the team begins game action in early 2021. “We’re still fi guring that out,” he said. “I recruited three or four shortstops. Obviously you’re shuffl ing them around and evalu- ating. It’s a footwork thing. Sometimes you can be an incredible shortstop and not be able to play second. It’s different footwork. We’re a • PLAYER — Town (Previous School) — Position • Kolbe Bales — Dufur (Western Oregon University) — LHP • Garrett Beckman — Lewiston, Idaho — 1B • Matt Bennett — Portland (Brescia) — C • Austin Brown — Salem (Chemeketa Community College) — RHP • Isaac Chamberlain — La Grande (Columbia Basin College) — 3B • Trevor Curl — Newcastle, Washington (Yuba College) — 1B/3B • Brooks Dyer — Vancouver, Washington (Benedictine U) — SS • Turner Edwards — Walla Walla, Washington (Walla Walla Com- munity College) — RHP • Connor Fajardo — Tigard (Chemeketa CC) — SS • Justin Frederick — La Grande — 2B • Austin Gerding — Philomath (Chemeketa CC) — OF • Payton Hamilton — Boise, Idaho (Treasure Valley Community College) — 2B • Cooper Hewett — Hillsboro (Century High School) — 2B • Nick Jennings — Vancouver (Lower Columbia) — RHP • Kagen Kennedy — Las Vegas (Barstow Community College) — OF • Kyle Knudtson — Prineville (Crook County) — RHP • Blake Loftus — Kennewick, Washington (Eastern Washington University) — OF • Cooper Lund — Lewiston, Idaho (TVCC) — LHP • Elliott Marks — Walla Walla (WWCC) — C • Carsten Manderbach — Benton City, WA (BMCC) — SS • Noah Owens — Kuna, Idaho (Cole Valley Christian) — C • Adam Plant — Bend (La Pine HS) — INF • Jamie Powell — Las Vegas, NV (Centennial HS) — 1B/3B • Jordan Rios — Moses Lake, WA (Wenatchee Valley) — RHP • Adrian Roa — Irrigon (BMCC) — SS • Cooper Roberts — Pendleton — RHP • Parker Robinson — La Grande — RHP • Dominic Smith — The Dalles — INF • Lukas Tolan — Walla Walla (WWCC) — RHP • Kaden Walker — Winters, California (Pangos High School) — 1B • Brooks Wann — Nampa, Idaho (Canyon High School) — C • Easton Watterson — Ontario (TVCC) — OF • Mason Wirth — Tangent (Santiam Christian) — C • Tyler Worwood — Wilder, Idaho (Caldwell High School) — INF • Jaydon Yancey — Meridian, Idaho (Blue Mountain Community College) — RHP • Mike Bennett — Portland (Corban University) — OF • Miles Norman — Portland (Chemeketa CC) — OF • Jacob Farnsworth — La Pine (Feather River College) — LHP • Jonathan Gonzalez — La Grande (College of Idaho) — OF • Laken Young — Spokane, Washington (University High School) — OF • Stephen Wade — Victoria, B.C. (College of Southern Idaho) — LHP • Tristan Fergus — Dayton (Chemeketa CC) — 1B • Kyle Lund — Eugene (Chemeketa CC) — LHP/OF month into it. We’re literally still evaluating and moving guys around. We’ll be eval- uating past Christmas.” Seahawks at 5-0 to start season Associated press SEATTLE — By this point, Russell Wilson piecing together more late dramatics that ends with the Seahawks erupting in celebration seems almost expected. Wilson capped a 94-yard drive with a 6-yard touch- down pass to DK Metcalf on fourth-and-goal with 15 seconds left, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Minne- sota Vikings 27-26. Seattle improved to 5-0 for the fi rst time in fran- chise history Sunday, Oct. 11, with another late-game comeback. Wilson fi nished 20 of 32 for 217 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t his best per- formance — he had a pass intercepted by Eric Wilson on a careless attempt midway through the fourth quarter — but he made the key throws late. Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins was 27 of 39 for 249 yards and two sec- ond-half TD passes to Adam Thielen. Alexander Mattison rushed for a career-high 112 yards. But Seattle stopped Mat- tison on fourth-and-less- than-a yard at the Seattle 6 with 1:57 left, setting the stage for yet another Wilson comeback. La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR 975-2000 www.lagrandeautorepair.com MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE ACDelcoTSS Joe Horst TIME TO PLAN for next year. Bank of Eastern Oregon offers operating lines of credit and term loans on equipment and land. Ag & Commercial Loan Officers Call or visit our office on Cove Ave. Kristy Nelson David Stirewalt New Customers Welcome! Here is a couple ideas We have plenty more What do you get for your Boss?? 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