SPORTS
8A — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 2021
La Grande baseball concludes season
as runner-up in 4A state playoff s
McCullough named
CoSIDA Academic
All-American for
second straight season
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The La
Grande High School base-
ball team ended its season
this weekend, fi nishing with
a 14-2 record on the year.
The Tigers came just one
game shy of winning the
4A state championship, but
were defeated by Hidden
Valley in a heartbreaker at
North Marion High School.
La Grande led 2-1
heading into the bottom of
the seventh inning, but fell
5-2 to Hidden Valley when
Isaac Hill hit a two-out,
walk-off grand slam. For
the Tigers, it concludes one
of the winningest seasons
in recent years despite the
challenges of completing
the season in the midst of
COVID-19.
“I think it just speaks
highly to our community
and our kids and their fam-
ilies,” said La Grande head
coach Parker McKinley.
“Our administrators have
worked tirelessly for all of
our sports to be able to have
some idea of success and
opportunity this year.”
The Tigers were domi-
nant in the regular season,
losing only one game in an
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
La Grande High School catcher Cole Jorgenson swings at a pitch in the strike zone during a doubleheader
against Baker on May 8, 2021. The Tigers fi nished the season as runner-ups in the 4A state championship.
early-season matchup versus
Pendleton. La Grande rode
a 10-game winning streak
into the conclusion of the
regular season and averaged
just under 13 runs per game.
In the fi rst round of the
playoff s the Tigers were
scoring runs left and right
again, beating Gladstone
18-1. Following a narrow
7-4 victory over Banks in
the semifi nals, La Grande
lost for only the second time
this year with the champion-
ship game setback.
“What stands out is the
perseverance of the kids and
their families, as well as all
of the coaches that com-
mitted themselves to the
season and the program,”
McKinley said.
The Tigers have four
seniors graduating, all of
whom competed on the
team for all four years of
their high school careers. La
Grande’s ace, Riley Miller,
pitched a gem in the cham-
pionship game and con-
cluded a stellar season.
“It was probably the best
performance of his career to
this point,” McKinley said.
“Big players step up to big
moments.”
Miller recently com-
mitted to Clark College in
Vancouver, Washington to
continue his baseball career
at the collegiate level. For
McKinley, senior athletes
moving on from high school
is always a diffi cult process.
“That’s an emotional
thing every year for us as
coaches,” McKinley said.
LA GRANDE —
Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity’s Max McCullough
was named to the Col-
lege Sports Information
Directors of America’s
2020-21 Academic All-
America NAIA fi rst team
on Tuesday, May 25.
For EOU’s all-time
leading scorer, this
is his second straight
season on the Aca-
demic All-America team.
McCullough was named
to the second team in
2019-20.
“I’m kind of a perfec-
tionist as a person, so I
always strive to get the
highest grade possible in
my classes,” McCullough
said in an interview for
a feature article by The
Observer.
McCullough, a fi fth-
year senior, has already
graduated with a bach-
elor’s degree in busi-
ness administration
with an emphasis in
marketing and man-
agement. According to
McCullough, he is now in
graduate school studying
for a master’s in business
administration.
The Post Falls, Idaho,
native maintains a career
average of 18.4 points
per game and is the only
player in EOU history
to eclipse 2,000 career
points.
Taylor Stricklin of the
Eastern women’s team
was awarded CoSIDA
All-District team along
with McCullough on May
10. Stricklin is majoring
in health and human per-
formance while starting in
46 games throughout her
career at EOU.
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Welcome to Union County
Amanda Loman/Associated Press, File
Oregon State receiver Zeriah Beason (18) catches a pass from quarterback Tristan Gebbia for a touchdown
over Oregon cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (0) last season in Corvallis.
OSU
Continued from Page 7A
late in the year and fi nished
2020 with 148 yards on 16
catches.
Even with a receiver
room that was stocked with
seven or eight starting-cal-
iber pass-catchers, Lind-
gren and coach Jonathan
Smith still constantly kept
the youngest member of that
group on the fi eld.
“I think his precision
in his route running has
always been really good,”
Smith said. “But now he
understands the complete
package. We’re able to
move him around to mul-
tiple positions inside and
out. That’s been a nice
step.”
On Oregon State’s last
play of the season, Beason
caught an 18-yard pass from
Ben Gulbranson on a 50-50
ball at the back of the end
zone. The play came in a
blowout loss, but served as
a glimpse at the future with
two talented freshmen com-
bining for a dazzling play.
However, Beason puts
less stock in that partic-
ular moment as providing
momentum for him to suc-
ceed moving forward.
Instead, he believes that
the work he puts in on a
day-to-day basis is a better
indicator that consistent
in-game success will come
in 2021.
Those who are tasked
with trying to slow him
down at practice tend to
agree.
“I love that competition
everyday at practice,” cor-
nerback Alex Austin said.
“Zeriah, he’s a guy that’s
gonna work. Every day,
every play. He’s not gonna
take a snap off . Being
able to compete with him
everyday, I love it. He’s a
baller.”
A standout at Duncan-
ville High School in Texas,
Beason and the Panthers
went to back-to-back 6A
state title games amidst
the most competitive high
school football landscape in
the country.
“A lot of people compare
high school football there
to junior college,” Beason
said. “I feel like the compe-
tition level really translated
and really helped me get to
the next level and under-
stand the basics.”
In that sense, Beason
arrived in Corvallis physi-
cally prepared for the jump
from high school to the
Pac-12 that so many players
struggle with. At 6 feet, 198
pounds, he is one of Oregon
State’s bigger receivers and
played like it.
But he didn’t get a full
spring season after the
pandemic cut it short, and
had to learn a new play-
book from scratch in the
fall. Oregon State runs a
pro-style off ense that dif-
fers greatly from the spread
scheme he was used to
playing in high school.
After more than a year
of immersing himself in
Lindgren’s scheme, he no
longer has to rely on just his
physicality.
“I feel I’m more prepared
mentally,” Beason said.
“Just because (receivers
coach Kefense Hynson) has
done a good job informing
me and teaching me the
basics of being a receiver.
I feel like I’m a little more
polished than I was last
year.”
Playing time is going to
be hard to come by in 2021
for Oregon State receivers
who don’t bring some-
thing special to the table.
The Beavers return Trevon
Bradford, Tre’Shaun Har-
rison, Champ Flemings,
Tyjon Lindsey and Beason,
all of whom started at times
last season. Anthony Gould
and Jesiah Irish are long-
time special teams contribu-
tors who will expect to play
their way onto the fi eld at
receiver.
www.VisitUnionCounty.org
EASTERN OREGON
2021
PHOTO CONTEST
Official Rules:
Photo Contest open now and closes at
11:59 pm Sunday, June 20, 2021.
Staff will choose the top 10. The public can
vote online for People’s Choice from 12:01
am Monday, June 21 through 11:59 pm
Thursday, June 30.
Digital or scanned photos only, uploaded
to the online platform. No physical copies.
Only photographers from Oregon may
participate.
The contest subject matter is wide open but
we’re looking for images that capture life
in Eastern Oregon.
Submit all photos
online at:
Entrants may crop, tone, adjust saturation
and make minor enhancements, but may
not add or remove objects within the
frame, or doctor images such that the final
product doesn’t represent what’s actually
before the camera.
The winners will appear in the July 8th
edition of Go Magazine; the top 25 will
appear online.
Gift cards to a restaurant of your choice
will be awarded for first, second and third
place.
lagrandeobserver.com/photocontest
Grande Ronde Hospital and Clinics is
pleased to announce that Blue Mountain
Associates, an outpatient mental health
treatment center, will become part of the
GRH health system. The transition to the
new GRH Behavioral Health Clinic takes
effect June 1, 2021. For more information,
visit grh.org/behavioralhealth.
GRH Behavioral Health Clinic Providers (back row from top)
Joel Rice, MD; Mary Goldstein, LCSW; Jim Sheehy, LCSW;
(front row from top) Brittany Pryce, LCSW; Heather Holland,
MSW, CSWA; and Gloria Turner, LCSW.