SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
GEBBIA
Continued from Page A7
Gebbia, roundly panning it
as a “dirty play.”
Months before the 2021
game against Oregon,
Gebbia hoped to play in the
game. Even though his doc-
tors laid out 12-18 months
of recovery, Gebbia thought
that was for ordinary people.
Far less for a finely tuned
athlete like a college football
player.
“I had the blessing of
being able to have training
and strength staff and my
own coaches that are going
to be able to push me to get
back onto the field,” Gebbia
said. “That’s why I was
looking at it like, 18 months?
I’m gonna be back in eight
months. I don’t know what
you guys are talking about.”
Sure enough, eight
months after undergoing
surgery, Gebbia was there
for the first day of 2021 pre-
season camp last August.
For three weeks, he took
turns at quarterbacks in
competition for the starting
job. For a time, Gebbia
looked on track to return as
OSU’s starting quarterback.
Late in camp, coach Jon-
athan Smith said Gebbia’s
hamstring was feeling sore,
HISLER
Continued from Page A7
wanted him to walk on.
EOU plays in the Frontier
Conference with the likes of
Carroll College, Southern
Oregon, College of Idaho
and Whitworth University.
An outstanding season
During a season that saw
the Mustangs finish 11-1,
with their one loss to even-
tual state champion Coquille
in the semifinals, Hisler
was the backbone of a very
stingy Heppner defense
that allowed opponents an
average of 5.5 points per
game.
He had a team-high 97
tackles and three fumble
recoveries. On offense, he
ran for 1,153 yards on 158
carries and 12 touchdowns.
He was a first-team Blue
Mountain Conference selec-
tion at running back and
linebacker.
Hisler also was named to
the 2A all-state team as the
Defensive Back of the Year,
which includes linebackers
and secondary players.
He also earned first-team
honors as a running back.
The cherry on the top of
TIGERS
Continued from Page A7
offseason to regular season.
Bell noted that the
one-two punch of himself
and Cole Jorgensen is one
of the lineup’s strengths,
making it difficult for
pitchers to pitch around
either hitter. La Grande’s
offense has been firing as a
whole, scoring 12 or more
runs in each of the last six
games.
“My mindset is to get
on base, because I usu-
ally have Cole Jorgensen
coming up behind me and
I know that he is com-
pletely capable of hitting
me in every single time,”
Bell said. “My mindset is
to get on base and score
every at-bat.”
On top of his hitting
prowess, Bell has con-
tributed on the mound as
well. The senior is 2-0 on
the year over three starts,
combining for six innings,
11 strikeouts, three hits
allowed and just one run.
His performances at the
plate and on the mound
during La Grande’s road
trip to Arizona in late
March earned Bell OSAA
athlete of the week on
Thursday, March 31.
“I try to just take care
of business when my team
and coach need me,” Bell
said of his added presence
on the mound this year.
Bell has been one of
several dominant arms so
far this season, alongside
Jace Schow, Sam Tsiatsos,
Logan Williams and Nick
Bornstedt.
so he was taking a day off.
Then two. Then a week, and
finally indefinitely.
“I kind of tweaked it a
little bit, and it was tough
for me to walk out there,”
Gebbia said. “Short of get-
ting a cortisone shot, I didn’t
think I was going to be able
to move very well.”
Gebbia told Smith he
didn’t “want to do a disser-
vice to the team” and took
himself out of the mix for
the starting job for Oregon
State’s opener. Then a
couple weeks later he had a
minor medical procedure on
his hamstring.
Hope waned. Weeks
into the season, Gebbia
was often spotted limping
from the practice field to
the Valley Football Center.
One day he playfully rode
a scooter across the street
from the practice field.
Reality eventually struck
Gebbia in early November
that he wasn’t going to play
during the 2021 season.
“I mean, I was walking
around in practice and
having problems,” Gebbia
said. “I was in constant
pain.”
Gebbia couldn’t pin-
point the low point of his
recovery, but admitted it got
a little dark.
“It’s one of the big-
the season for Hisler was
an invitation to play on the
East team in the 70th annual
East-West Shrine Game,
to be held Aug. 6 at Baker
High School.
“I’ve been very fortu-
nate to play here,” Hisler
said. “The community is
awesome, and coach Grant
— there isn’t a better coach
to play for — and the guys
are amazing. Bigger schools
might have better competi-
tion, but I love it here.”
In his four years with the
Mustangs, Heppner amassed
a record of 36-4, and won a
state title in 2019 with a 13-0
record.
“Winning the title, that
was awesome,” Hisler said.
In addition to football,
Hisler also played basket-
ball, ran track, and this
spring is playing baseball
for the Mustangs. He earned
Blue Mountain Conference
honorable mention honors
this season in basketball.
“I did track the last three
years,” Hisler said. “I hav-
en’t played baseball since
middle school, and before
that, T-ball. I play center
field and pinch run for the
pitcher.”
Just a team player doing
his part.
Schow emerged as one
of the team’s aces early on,
going 3-0 over five out-
ings. Schow has pitched
18.2 innings, tallying 20
strikeouts and allowing
five runs. As a team, the
Tigers have allowed just
one run in five separate
games and kept every
opposing team to five or
less runs this season.
After winning its first
two league games, La
Grande is set to travel to
face league opponents
McLoughlin, Baker/Powder
Valley and Ontario through
the end of April. The
Tigers host McLoughlin
and Baker/Powder Valley
in early May to close out
league competition, before
concluding the regular
season with a matchup
against Pendleton/Griswold
at home.
A fast start to the
season has the Tigers one
step closer to their ultimate
goal of winning a state
title, but the team’s men-
tality continues to focus on
one game at a time. With a
deadly combination of effi-
cient hitters and emerging
aces on the mound, La
Grande will look to con-
tinue its early season suc-
cess into the second half of
the regular season.
“We all want to win
a state championship of
course, but we just have to
take it game-by-game and
approach each team that
faces us,” Bell said. “We’re
taking it game-by-game,
but I think we all know
that we should be in the
championship game and
that it’s our top goal.”
gest adversities that I’ve
had to fight through,” he
said. “There was a point in
time where I had to think
about, am I going to hang
this thing up? I mean, it’s
a pretty serious injury. But
I’m blessed to say I’m not
hanging it up.”
Gebbia also can’t pin-
point when he turned a
corner. He felt it was the
perseverance, the grind of
rehabilitation that eventually
turned into progress. The
offseason, where there was
no football, was a solace
to Gebbia. He focused on
rehab and school. Gebbia
got back to lifting weights
for the first time in more
than a year.
Months later, spring foot-
ball practice started, and
Gebbia felt healed.
“Every month, it just gets
better and better,” he said.
Now, the focus is playing.
Which for Gebbia means
proving he’s the best option
to start at quarterback over
Nolan or another candidate,
TuESday, apRil 12, 2022
Ben Gulbranson. Gebbia
hopes the coaches haven’t
forgot how he played prior
to the injury, because he
thinks he’ll get back to that
level or better.
“I felt like this is a place
that I want to be a part of.
Coach Smith has created
an environment here that I
really want to dig my heels
into and try to win a spot
again,” Gebbia said.
Gebbia said he’s not fix-
ated on becoming the starter
or the backup. Gebbia is
about playing as well as
he can, and let the coaches
decide where he fits.
Gebbia insists whatever
the coaches decide, he’s at
Oregon State until the end of
his college career.
“Unless they say, hey,
kick rocks,” Gebbia said,
smiling. “This is where I
want to be. I want to put my
head down and grind and
be able to contribute in any
way that I can. I don’t see
me leaving in the foresee-
able future.”
ON THE SLATE
April 8 results
COLLEGE BASEBALL
lewis-Clark State 7, Eastern
Oregon 0
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Corban 5, Eastern Oregon 4
Eastern Oregon 4, Corban 2
PREP BASEBALL
Burns 6, Joseph/Enterprise/
Wallowa/Elgin 5
Burns 13, Joseph/Enterprise/
Wallowa/Elgin 11
PREP SOFTBALL
Echo/Stanfield 18, Elgin/
imbler 1
Echo/Stanfield 15, Elgin/
imbler 0
Burns 4, Joseph/Enterprise/
Wallowa 1
Burns 4, Joseph/Enterprise/
Wallowa 2
April 9 results
COLLEGE BASEBALL
lewis-Clark State 18, Eastern
Oregon 3
lewis-Clark State 13, Eastern
Oregon 4
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Eastern Oregon 7, Corban 6
Eastern Oregon 3, Corban 0
PREP BASEBALL
union/Cove 9, pilot Rock/
Nixyaawii 8
union/Cove 14, pilot Rock/
Nixyaawii 9
Tuesday, April 12
PREP BASEBALL
la Grande at pendleton/
Griswold, 4:30 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
pendleton/Griswold at la
Grande, 4 p.m.
Enterprise/Wallowa/Joseph at
union/Cove, 5 p.m.
PREP TENNIS
la Grande at Baker/powder
Valley, 3 p.m.
Thursday, April 14
PREP TENNIS
Ontario at la Grande, 3 p.m.
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