Sports
A9
Saturday, March 12, 2022
DAVIS
CARBAUGH
CARBAUGH’S CORNER
Local
athletes
ready to
take the
diamond
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
The temperatures are grad-
ually rising, which means that
spring sports is right around
the corner.
Coming off a mix of epic
and gut-wrenching finishes
to the winter sports seasons,
local athletes are set to hit the
tennis courts, golf courses and
tracks, and baseball and soft-
ball teams are dusting off their
gloves and getting geared up
to take the diamond.
For the La Grande base-
ball team, several key players
are coming off the euphoria
of a wrestling state title.
Others who played basket-
ball are aiming to bounce back
from the heartbreak of a sea-
son-ending buzzer beater at
the hands of Banks just over a
week ago.
The Tigers return a huge
group of upperclassmen that
came just one inning away
from a state championship
last season. A strong cadre
of seniors leads a La Grande
team that will look to make a
playoff push this spring.
The Tigers have a large
turnout this year, filling the
halls of the La Grande Middle
School Annex to train and
get into top form ahead of the
upcoming season. La Grande’s
opening day is Thursday,
March 17, on the road at
Hermiston.
In softball, La Grande is
led by a group of core seniors
looking to replicate similar
success from last year’s team
that made it to the 4A state
semifinals.
Seniors Grace Neer and
Kinzy Bowen, who will both
play softball in college, will
be anchors for a strong Tigers
team in 2022. La Grande
opens the season at Hermiston
on March 16.
Nick Huntimer/Contributed photo
Eastern Oregon University’s TJ Davis sprints into a high jump attempt at the 2022 NAIA Indoor Track
and Field National Championships in Brookings, South Dakota, on Saturday, March 5, 2022. Davis
scored 5,439 points to take home an individual nation championship in the men’s heptathlon.
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
B
PAYING
ROOKINGS,
S.D. — In one
of track and
OFF
TJ Davis’ hard work comes to
fruition with national
heptathlon championship
field’s most difficult
competitions, a local
college track athlete
recently earned top
marks in the nation.
TJ Davis, in just his second year at
Eastern Oregon University, took home
the individual national championship
in the men’s heptathlon at the NAIA
Indoor Track and Field Champion-
ships on Saturday, March 5, in Brook-
ings, South Dakota. Davis set personal
records in six of the seven events en
route to scoring 5,439 points, finishing
his indoor season on top.
See, Davis/Page A10
See, Carbaugh/Page A10
SPORTS SHORT
MLB, union bargain past midnight to salvage 162-game season
By RONALD BLUM
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Players have voted
to accept Major League Baseball’s latest
offer for a new labor deal, paving the way
to end a 99-day lockout and salvage a
162-game regular season that will begin
April 7.
The union’s executive board approved
the agreement in a 26-12 vote Thursday,
March 10, pending ratification by all
players, a person familiar with the bal-
loting said, speaking to The Associated
Press on condition of anonymity because
no announcement was authorized.
MLB sent the players an offer March
10 and gave them until 3 p.m. to accept
in order to play a full season. The union
announced the player vote around
3:25 p.m. Owners planned to hold a ratifi-
cation vote later in the day.
The agreement will allow training
camps to open this week in Florida and
Arizona, more than three weeks after they
were scheduled to on Feb. 16. Fans can
start making plans to be at Fenway Park,
Dodger Stadium and Camden Yards next
month. Opening day is being planned a
little more than a week behind the original
date on March 31.
The deal will also set off a rapid-fire
round of free agency. Carlos Correa,
Freddie Freeman and Kris Bryant are
among 138 big leaguers still without a
team, including some who might benefit
from the adoption of a universal desig-
nated hitter.
The sport’s new collective bargaining
agreement will also expand the playoffs to
12 teams and introduce incentives to limit
so-called “tanking.” The minimum salary
will rise from $570,500 to about $700,000
and the luxury tax threshold will increase
from $210 million to around $230 million
this year, a slight loosening for the big-
gest spenders such as the Yankees, Mets,
Dodgers and Red Sox. A new bonus pool
was established for players not yet eligible
for arbitration, a way to boost salaries for
young stars.
Commissioner Rob Manfred had set
a March 8 deadline for a deal that would
preserve a 162-game schedule along with
full pay and service time required for
players to reach free agency. Talks spilled
past the deadline and Manfred announced
more cancellations Wednesday, increasing
the total to 184 of the 2,230 games.
After yet another snag, this time over
management’s desire for an international
amateur draft, the deal came together
March 10 and capped nearly a year of
talks that saw pitchers Max Scherzer and
Andrew Miller take prominent roles as
union spokesmen.
Players had fumed for years about the
deal that expired Dec. 1, which saw pay-
rolls decline for 4% in 2021 compared
to the last full season, back to their 2015
level. The union had an ambitious negoti-
ating stance in talks that began last spring,
asking for free-agency rights to increase
with an age-based backstop and for an
expansion of salary arbitration to its level
from 1974-86.
Find up-to-date scores and additional game coverage
for your local high school, available 24/7 at
www.lagrandeobserver.com.