SPORTS
8A — THE OBSERVER
TuESday, May 11, 2021
Mountaineers part ways
La Grande sweeps
doubleheader against Baker with men’s basketball coach
La Grande High School
Tiger Payton Cooper (8)
brings the heat across
home plate as he throws
against Baker High School
Bulldog Silas Carter (26)
during a game Saturday,
May 8, 2021, at Optimist
Field in La Grande. The Ti-
gers fought a doublehead-
er against Baker, winning
18-0 and 11-4.
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The
La Grande High School
Tigers baseball team on
Saturday, May 8, won both
games of the doubleheader
against the Baker Bulldogs.
La Grande dominated game
one 18-0, while fighting
back from behind to win
game two 11-4.
Starting pitcher Riley
Miller found himself in a
bases-loaded jam in the
top of the first inning, but
struck out two in a row to
avoid giving up any runs.
He pitched five scoreless
innings, allowing four hits
while striking out seven.
“I think that’s the senior
mentality,” said head
coach Parker McKinley.
“Situations like that
are not too big for our
upperclassmen.”
The Tigers scored eight
runs in the first inning
of Saturday’s first game,
all but securing a vic-
tory right from the start.
Catcher Cole Jorgenson
opened the scoring with
an RBI double that scored
Payton Cooper. Later in
the inning, Jorgenson hit a
two-RBI double to extend
La Grande’s lead to 8-0.
La Grande stayed hot at
the plate throughout game
one, scoring 18 runs in four
innings. Jorgenson went
three-for-three with four
alex Wittwer/The Observer
RBIs and one run in game
one, while adding another
three RBIs in game two.
After a blowout loss in
game one, Baker came out
stronger in game two. The
Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in
the first inning after Conner
Chastain’s RBI single.
The second matchup
was neck-and-neck
through the first four and
a half innings, at which
point Baker led 4-3. Facing
a deficit late in the game,
the Tigers needed a major
momentum swing.
“Get a bunt down and
get a guy on base, move
some guys over,” McKinley
said. “That team offensive
mentality is a good one to
be able to build on to start
generating momentum.”
Nick Bornstedt tied the
game at 4-4 in the fifth
inning with a sacrifice fly
to left field that scored
Devin Bell. Third baseman
Logan Williams hit a deep
fly ball to left that scored
three RBIs and put the
Tigers up 9-4 in the fifth.
Jace Schow relieved
starting pitcher Payton
Cooper and threw two
scoreless innings. Cooper
got the win and Schow
earned the save.
The Tigers added some
insurance runs late in the
game to defeat the Bull-
dogs 11-4. La Grande’s
record is 9-1 on the season.
The Tigers play again
May 11, a doubleheader
against Ontario. Opening
pitch is set for 3 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 7
Championships, ashland, 2-1.
PREP BASEBALL
COLLEGE MEN’S
BASKETBALL
Grande 10-0.
La Grande at Pendleton
defeated Ridgeview 12-11.
Local sports roundup
Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii/ukiah on
the road defeated union/Cove
11-7, 7-1.
SOu defeated EOu at La Grande,
93-76.
PREP SOFTBALL
SATURDAY, MAY 8
Wallowa Valley at home
defeated Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii
10-1, 9-0.
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande at home defeated
Baker/Powder Valley 18-0, 11-4.
Wallowa Valley at home
defeated McLoughlin, 15-0, 9-2.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Corban university defeated
EOu at the 2021 Cascade
Collegiate Conference Softball
PREP SOFTBALL
Pendleton at home defeated La
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
College of Idaho defeated
EOu at the 2021 Cascade
Collegiate Conference
Softball Championships,
ashland, 4-0.
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity men’s basketball coach
Carlito Labarda Jr. are
parting ways, according
to an announcement by
Director of Athletics Anji
Weissenfluh.
In four seasons leading
the Mountaineers, Lab-
arda Jr. posted a 61-49
overall record and was
36-34 in Cascade Colle-
giate Conference play. His
best finish came in his first
season, when he led EOU
to a 21-8 overall record.
“I would like to thank
Carlito for his service to
Eastern Oregon University
and to the men’s basket-
ball program,” Weissenfluh
said. “Carlito has been a
positive presence in the La
Grande community and an
ambassador of EOU.”
The coach expressed his
gratitude for the time he
spent in La Grande.
“I want to thank the
La Grande community. I
tried to give back all that
I could. I think this expe-
rience was huge for me,”
he said.
While at the helm of
Eastern Oregon, Lab-
arda Jr. helped guide the
Mountaineers to a 2020-21
season that saw multiple
delays before finally being
able to compete in late
February for the spring
season. His group was 8-12
overall and went 3-9 in
William McLaughlin/Eastern Oregon University
Eastern Oregon university has parted ways with men’s basketball
coach Carlito Labarda Jr., the school announced Monday, May 10, 2021.
CCC spring play.
“Maybe I didn’t win
enough. But I had the
highest winning per-
centage and highest team
GPA out of all the mens
sports in the last four
years,” he said. “I wasn’t in
the plans, which I accept,
and I (will) move on.”
Labarda Jr. was hired
in June 2017 and was the
16th head coach in the
program’s history. Prior
to taking over the Moun-
taineers, Labarda Jr. spent
four previous seasons as an
assistant coach at Carroll
College where the Saints
posted a 79-45 record
during Labarda’s four-year
career in Helena, Montana.
“A national search for
our next men’s basketball
coach will start immedi-
ately,” Weissenfluh said.
Labarda Jr., who said he
is “in a good place,” began
his coaching journey at
Purdue University, where
he was the team’s man-
ager and student assistant
coach from 1994 to 1999
under Purdue legend Gene
Keady.
Labarda called the past
season his best coaching
job, even if it didn’t elicit
his best win-loss record on
the court, citing the chal-
lenges of coaching during
a pandemic and dealing
with COVID-19 cases and
injuries within the team.
“With protocol,
keeping guys safe was
higher on my priority
list,” he said. “Relation-
ship was built to an all-
time high to where I truly
had a (strong) relation-
ship with all 10 of my
guys. They understand
the business, (but) they
were all shocked it hap-
pened so fast.”
Local sports schedule
TUESDAY, MAY 11
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12
PREP BASEBALL
PREP BASEBALL
PREP BOYS TENNIS
Ontario at La Grande, 3 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
Wallowa Valley at Baker/
Powder Valley, 6 p.m.
La Grande at Four Rivers dual
in Ontario, 3 p.m.
La Grande at Ontario, 2 p.m.
Wallowa Valley at union/Cove,
4 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
COLLEGE TRACK & FIELD
Grant union/Prairie City at
Baker/Powder Valley, 3 p.m.
CCC Track & Field Champion-
ships, La Grande, 11 a.m.
COLLEGE MEN’S
BASKETBALL
FRIDAY, MAY 14
Online
SOu defeated EOu at La Grande,
95-93.
Find more sports news at lagrandeobserver.com
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