Sports
A7
Saturday, January 15, 2022
EOU softball
announces
its 2022
schedule
PREP NEWS & NOTES
DAVIS
CARBAUGH
CARBAUGH’S
CORNER
Sports
seasons
are on
thin ice
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — The
start of the 2021
fall season was a
refreshing sight to anyone
involved in local prep and
high school sports. After a
year of postponed seasons,
empty stadiums and mask
policies, things felt back to
normal.
That was the case until
about the past month or
so, when rising COVID-19
numbers once again
brought the cancellation of
numerous games at the high
school and college levels.
The omicron variant has
caused a skyrocket in cases,
affecting sports all the way
up to professional leagues.
More than 20 basketball
games have been canceled
over the last month in the
Cascade Collegiate Confer-
ence, five of which involved
Eastern Oregon’s oppo-
nents. The conference’s for-
feiture policy penalizes the
school that could not field
a team with a loss, which
could have a telling impact
on the standings at the end
of the year.
The La Grande boys and
girls wrestling teams are
just two of the many local
high school teams that have
seen regional competitions
canceled to avoid large
crowds.
In head-to-head sports
like basketball, games have
been canceled left and
right. Most recently, Gris-
wold High School canceled
a slate of weekend games
that affected both Powder
Valley and Joseph’s sched-
ules on both the boys and
girls sides.
La Grande and Baker
postponed their rivalry
matchup earlier this week,
moving the contest to Feb.
8. The game was slated as
the Greater Oregon League
opener for both schools.
The availability of the
COVID-19 vaccines and
booster shots makes a
major difference from this
point in time versus last
year’s sports seasons, but
the abundance of canceled
games could lead to a slip-
pery slope.
Athletes and fans alike
can only cross their fingers
for the remainder of the
winter season and future of
the spring seasons.
———
Davis Carbaugh covers
news and sports for The
Observer. He can be con-
tacted at dcarbaugh@
lagrandeobserver.com.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Reece Dixon, left, sweeps through the court at Powder Valley High School on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. Dixon, a senior, leads the Badgers
at the point guard position.
Leaving no doubt
Powder Valley setting
the tone early in Old
Oregon League play
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
NORTH POWDER — After
cruising through nonleague play
with a 9-1 record, the Powder
Valley boys basketball team is
leaving little doubt at the start of
Old Oregon League competition.
The top-ranked 1A school
dominated its first three oppo-
nents of league play, taking an
early spot at first place in the Old
Oregon League. The Badgers have
defeated their first three league
opponents by an average of 32.3
points per game and have scored in
the high 60s each contest. Powder
Valley defeated Pine Eagle (68-41),
Imbler (66-32) and Cove (69-33) for
a dominant start to league play and
the new year.
“We just play hard,” head coach
Kyle Dixon said. “We’re ready to
go.”
Through three games of league
play, senior point guard Reece
Dixon has seen his scoring num-
bers steadily improve, averaging
18.3 points per contest.
Senior forward Clay Martin has
also excelled during the opening
stint of Old Oregon League com-
petition, scoring in double digits
each game. Martin has averaged
13.7 points per contest and led the
Badgers with 18 points in the win
over Pine Eagle.
A similar narrative to the
1A football season seems to be
unfolding, with Powder Valley on a
collision course with Adrian once
again. The Antelopes are ranked
seventh with an 11-1 record, but
handed the Badgers their only loss
of the season on Dec. 27. Ione/
Arlington (12-0), Crane (11-0) and
South Wasco County (11-0) are
the only 1A schools with better
records than Powder Valley.
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Bo Ledbetter, right, drives down the court at Imbler High School on Wednesday, Dec.
1, 2021. Union defeated Imbler 55-27 in its season opener.
While most schools stick to
their league competition for the
second half of the season, Powder
Valley has several non-league
games remaining that will be
major challenges. After a narrow
46-44 win over Umatilla, a 3A
school, on Thursday, Jan. 13, the
Badgers are slated to play against
4A opponents La Grande and
Baker later in the year. The Bad-
gers face the Tigers at La Grande
High School on Jan. 18 and visit
the Bulldogs on Feb. 5.
Union boys capitalize on
narrow league victories
UNION — Faced with a mas-
sive overhaul of seven seniors from
last year’s team that made it to the
second round of the 2A state tour-
nament, this year’s young Union
Bobcats boys basketball team has
made solid progress.
Faced with a difficult slate of
non-league games, the Bobcats
managed a 6-5 record heading into
2A Blue Mountain Conference
action. After a three-game skid
against 1A powerhouses Nixy-
aawii, Adrian and Powder Valley,
Union found itself losing a 66-51
contest to Heppner in the team’s
opening league matchup.
After losing four straight
games, Union head coach Odin
Miller was pleased with the team’s
resiliency in the group’s first
league victory on the following
night — a thrilling 51-50 win over
Pilot Rock.
“I’m very proud of our guys and
the way they persevered through
adversity,” Miller said. “They
believed they were going to win
and wouldn’t be denied, even if
it was an ugly game. This was a
great lesson for our young team to
learn about how crazy the league
season can be.”
Union freshman Chase
Koshinsky has been a microwave
outside shooter this season for the
Bobcats, showing off his ability to
heat up quickly from beyond the
arc. He led the Bobcats with 18
points in the win over Pilot Rock,
12 of which came from long range.
While it is easy for young
teams to make costly mistakes,
Union’s youth has also led to posi-
tive momentum swings throughout
the season. The Bobcats traveled
to Athena and earned a narrow
59-53 win over Weston-McEwen to
See, Preps/Page A8
LA GRANDE — Soft-
ball season is just a month
away at Eastern Oregon
University.
The Mountaineers soft-
ball program announced its
2022 schedule on Tuesday,
Jan. 11, with 53 games for
the upcoming season. East-
ern’s first event is Feb. 12,
with a three-game road
series against Willamette in
Salem.
Eastern Oregon softball
is coming off a 16-32 season
that saw the Mountain-
eers fall to Corban and the
College of Idaho on con-
secutive days of the Cas-
cade Collegiate Conference
Championships.
The Mountaineers will
begin the season with 13
straight nonconference
matchups, which includes
games against Willamette,
Lewis & Clark College,
Menlo College, William
Jessup, Hope International
and Marymount California.
Eastern will open con-
ference play in Eugene
against Bushnell on March
4. The Mountaineers and
Beacons will play double-
headers on consecutive
days.
Eastern will return to
Peggy Anderson Softball
Field, La Grande, for the
team’s first home series,
against British Columbia
on March 11. The Thunder-
birds will face off with the
Mountaineers in back-to-
back doubleheaders.
On March 19, the Moun-
taineers will travel to Ash-
land for a four-game series
with Southern Oregon. The
Raiders are the reigning
NAIA champions and went
4-0 against Eastern last
season. Southern Oregon
won the conference regular
season title with a record
of 26-1 in conference play
— the Raiders finished the
2021 season 55-6.
Eastern will welcome the
College of Idaho to town for
a doubleheader on March
29. The Mountaineers
were routed in all seven
matchups against the Yotes
during the 2021 season.
The two schools square off
again for a doubleheader on
April 5 in Caldwell, Idaho.
Oregon Tech will
travel to La Grande for a
four-game series against
Eastern, starting on April
22. The Owls finished
last season as the NAIA
runners-up to Southern
Oregon. The series against
Oregon Tech will be the
final home stand of the year
for the Mountaineers.
Eastern concludes its
regular season with a four-
game road series against
Carroll College on April 29.
Opening pitch for the
Mountaineers is 2 p.m. Feb.
12, in Salem.
SPORTS SHORT
Former La Grande quarterback transfers to Wyoming
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Andrew
Peasley has a new home.
The former standout La Grande
quarterback announced on social
media on Thursday, Jan. 13, that he
will be transferring to play football
at the University of Wyoming. Pea-
sley will have two years of eligi-
bility remaining with the Cowboys.
The junior quarterback left Utah
State University, where he split
reps and was ultimately beat out for
a starting spot by Logan Bonner.
Peasley announced that he would
be leaving Utah State in a tweet on
Dec. 23, 2021.
Peasley threw for 415
than 4,000 passing yards
yards and three touchdowns
between his sophomore and
in the 2021 season, along
junior seasons.
with 212 rushing yards and
Peasley joins two other
one rushing touchdown on 25
transfer quarterbacks, one
carries.
true freshman and one red-
shirt freshman, as the Cow-
In a 49-45 victory over
Peasley
boys look to stock up their
Air Force, Peasley threw
quarterback room under ninth-year
three touchdowns. The Aggies fin-
ished the season 11-2 and won the
head coach Craig Bohl.
Mountain West Championship
Peasley’s transfer comes just 14
game over San Diego State.
days after former Wyoming quar-
terback Levi Williams announced
The senior-to-be was a three-
star recruit and the No. 70 pro-style that he would be joining Utah
State. Last year’s Cowboys starter
in the class of 2018, according to
Sean Chambers also transferred
247Sports.
to Montana State this offseason,
In his time at La Grande High
leaving the starting job open in
School, Peasley tallied over 100
Laramie.
total touchdowns and has more
Utah State University Athletics/Contributed Photo
Utah State quarterback Andrew Peasley, left, celebrates with wide
receiver Deven Thompkins during the Aggies’ 49-45 win at Air Force
on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. Peasley, a La Grande High School grad-
uate, announced on social media he was transferring to Wyoming.