SPORTS
A10 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022
STANDINGS
TIGERS
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Continued from Page A9
while also aiming to help
younger players on the team
improve.
“At the beginning of the
season I was pretty ner-
vous because we’re young,
but now that we’re on the
fi eld getting some work in
I really see us going pretty
deep in the playoff s,” she
said.
In his fi rst full season as
head coach, Bowen will be
looking to get creative with
the team’s roster manage-
ment. Down on numbers
this spring, the Tigers will
have to be versatile in the
fi eld.
“Our bats will be really
strong,” he said. “La Grande
has always had a good
lineup when it comes to
bats. We always hit the ball
really well. I’m excited to
carry that on.”
Freshman Marti
Anderson will likely be a
key contributor at catcher,
while junior Carlee Jensen
will be a key player in the
outfi eld. Austyn Meuser,
another freshman, will look
to step up defensively and
on the mound.
“There’s some younger
girls that will really help
carry the team,” Cody
Bowen said.
Neer enters the season as
La Grande’s top arm, while
Maya Wilson, Graci Jeff ries
Carroll
Providence
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League
Overall
College of Idaho
9-0
22-2
Oregon Tech
9-0
22-4
Eastern Oregon
6-0
16-5
Southern Oregon
5-1
19-5
Corban
5-5
11-12
Bushnell
4-3
6-12
British Columbia
4-5
5-9
Northwest
2-7
5-14
Warner Pacifi c
1-8
2-14
1-9
0-9
3-15
0-12
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League
Overall
Lewis-Clark State
0-0
27-1
Oregon Tech
0-0
17-9
Corban
0-0
12-10-1
British Columbia
0-0
12-13
College of Idaho
0-0
12-15
Eastern Oregon
0-0
7-18
Bushnell
0-0
2-19
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
Grace Neer, center, gets ready in the dugout during a match between
the La Grande and Baker softball teams at Sam Marcum Field in La
Grande on Thursday, May 6, 2021. Neer will be the Tigers’ ace in the
circle in 2022 and play positionally as well.
and Ava Hedden will look
to strengthen the pitching
rotation.
“It’s defi nitely about
playing for your team, no
matter where you are on the
fi eld,” Neer said.
The 2022 season marks a
return to normalcy for soft-
ball around the state. La
Grande saw its 2020 season
cancelled and 2021 short-
ened due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Players and
coaches alike are looking
forward to a more consistent
season on and off the fi eld.
The Tigers opened their
season at Hermiston on
Wednesday, March 16, the
fi rst of seven road games
to start the 2022 season.
La Grande’s fi rst home
matchup is a doubleheader
against Banks at Pioneer
Continued from Page A9
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Thursday, March 17
Park on April 1.
La Grande will travel to
face Philomath and Glad-
stone in a round-robin
set of games at Lebanon
High School on March 19,
before traveling to Eagle,
Idaho, on March 25 for four
games in the WTP Spring
Tournament.
While the Tigers will be
short on depth, the team has
the talent to make a playoff
push. La Grande’s senior
core, led by their fi rst-year
head coach, will be looking
to make noise this spring as
softball season kicks off .
“I think we’re capable of
getting deep in the playoff s,”
Neer said. “I really see a
bright future for us. I think
we can win the GOL and I
do think we have a chance
at the state title.”
CLOCK
Haley Ferry (35), of Salem Academy, and Union’s Kaylin Nowak
prepare to grab a rebound after a free throw during the state 2A girls
championship basketball game on Saturday, March 5, 2022, at the
Pendleton Convention Center. Union won the game 52-38.
ON THE SLATE
Pricing a shot clock can
be tricky, Weber said, as
it varies based on what
scoreboards are already
installed at a school.
Some schools already
have a shot clock feature
installed in their gym. But
Weber ranged the cost of
a shot clock to between
$2,000 and $5,000.
A total price tag of
$600,000 would be on
the low end if the nearly
300 OSAA member
schools were to install a
new shot clock and every
school would be left
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
LACROSSE
Eastern Oregon at Southern
Oregon (2), 2 p.m.
Whitman at Eastern Oregon,
1 p.m.
COLLEGE WOMEN’S
LACROSSE
Monday, March 21
(2), 11 a.m.
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande at Hermiston (2),
4 p.m.
PREP TRACK & FIELD
Powder Valley, La Grande
at Ontario Ice Breaker,
3:30 p.m.
Multnomah at Eastern Oregon,
1 p.m.
PREP BOYS TENNIS
PREP SOFTBALL
La Grande at Vale, 3 p.m.
La Grande at Philomath,
10 a.m.
La Grande vs. Gladstone,
Philomath High School,
noon
Union/Cove at Toledo
Tournament, TBA
Friday, March 18
PREP SOFTBALL
Union/Cove at Toledo
Tournament, TBA
PREP TRACK & FIELD
Cove, Imbler, Union at Diana
Thurmond Invitational 2022,
Harper, 11 a.m.
Cove at Lewiston Invitational,
noon
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande vs. Shadow Ridge,
Surprise, Arizona, 5 p.m
Wednesday, March 23
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande vs. Dakota Ridge,
Surprise, Arizona 2 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Eastern Oregon at Oregon Tech
(2), 11 a.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Thursday, March 24
PREP BASEBALL
Eastern Oregon at Southern
Oregon (2), 11 a.m.
La Grande vs. Shadow Ridge,
Surprise, Arizona
having someone to run it.”
Weber said the costs of
installation and fi nding
an operator are concerns
that other athletic direc-
tors mirror, and will be a
topic of conversation in
the OADA conference in
April.
Snook said he does
think that the implemen-
tation of a shot clock
in Oregon is more of a
matter of when, not if.
“We know it’s coming
in the future. So it’s better
if we get on that,” he said.
Weber said he would
anticipate the rolling out
of shot clocks to be an
all or nothing situation,
meaning that there would
not be shot clocks set up
for the 6A and 5A clas-
sifi cations and not at the
smaller schools.
Snook, who was previ-
ously a basketball coach
at Vale, said that he antic-
ipates that many small-
er-school basketball teams
will have to make philo-
sophical changes if a shot
clock arrives in the state.
In his scheme, the
Vikings played a patient
style of off ense and relied
on defense to carry them
in games.
The low-scoring aff airs
may not have succeeded
with a shot clock.
“You just have to
adjust,” Snook said.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Eastern Oregon at Oregon Tech
footing the bill.
Tom Snook, the ath-
letic director at 3A Vale
High School, said the cost
isn’t his primary concern
for a new shot clock. His
biggest worry is the logis-
tics of it all. This would
include a whole new
electrical job in Vale’s
gym and also the task of
fi nding another person to
work at every basketball
game — something that’s
not always easy for small
schools.
“At our size of school,
it can be diffi cult to
get people to work the
games,” he said. “I’m
more worried about the
logistics of wiring and
Tuesday, March 22
Sunday, March 20
Saturday, March 19
PREP BASEBALL
La Grande vs. Canby, Surprise,
Arizona, 2 p.m.
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