A10 — THE OBSERVER
TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022
ON DECK
May 6 results
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Eastern Oregon 8, Corban 1
Eastern Oregon 3, Southern
Oregon 1
PREP BASEBALL
Joseph/Enterprise/Wallowa 10,
Umatilla 0
Joseph/Enterprise/Wallowa 10,
Umatilla 2
PREP SOFTBALL
Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii 15, Elgin/
Imbler 0
SOFTBALL
Continued from Page A9
only one run off three hits,
striking out three batters.
The victory secured East-
ern’s spot in the semifi nals
against No. 4 Oregon Tech,
the host team for this year’s
tournament. The Moun-
taineers snapped a 17-game
winning streak by Southern
Oregon heading into the
conference tournament.
Dropping an extra
inning contest
After a successful fi rst
day, Eastern matched up
with the top-seeded Oregon
Tech Hustlin’ Owls in the
semifi nal round. A three-
game conference sweep of
Oregon Tech in late April
propelled the Mountaineers’
up the season and stood out
as a season-defi ning series.
However, Eastern did not
fi nd the same success in the
tournament contest, falling
6-5 in extra innings.
The Mountaineers
remained neck-and-neck
with the Hustlin’ Owls, bat-
tling out a scoreless fi rst
three and a half innings.
Oregon Tech took control of
the game, managing one run
in the fourth and two in the
fi fth for a 3-0 lead.
In a late-game push to
reach the fi nal game, East-
ern’s bats came alive in a
huge sixth inning. Gaither
and Kayla Berg each hit
two-RBI doubles, giving
the Mountaineers a 4-3
advantage.
Stateler added an insur-
ance run on a fi elder’s
choice, scoring Berg on
MARKETING
Continued from Page A9
for high school athletes
could prove disruptive, but
she tempered her criticism,
saying, “I don’t think we’re
going to see a lot of this.”
High school, Niehoff
said, “is not intended to be
an opportunity to earn a
living, and we hope it will
stay that way.”
The issue of NIL deals
for high school athletes fol-
lows a U.S. Supreme Court
decision last June that said
the NCAA cannot restrict
education-related compen-
sation benefi ts for the coun-
try’s nearly 500,000 col-
lege student-athletes. Since
then, Alaska, California,
Nebraska, New Jersey, New
York, Louisiana and Utah
have created laws or pol-
icies allowing NIL com-
pensation for high school
athletes.
Jackson, who attends
Cardinal Hayes High School
in the Bronx, is repre-
sented by his AAU coach.
Archbishop Stepinac High
School in White Plains, New
York, has hired a marketing
consultant to help Fland and
other students at the school
with NIL deals.
Generally, college and
high school athletes can use
sports agents to market their
name, image and likeness,
but they are not permitted
to hire agents to represent
them professionally without
endangering their eligibility.
The standard fee for mar-
keting agents is 15-20% of
an athlete’s NIL deal.
High school athletic asso-
ciations in states where
NIL deals are permitted
bar students from using
their school names and
team logos in the deals they
strike.
In Florida, high school
athletes are not allowed to
benefi t from their stardom.
But Laney Higgins, a senior
volleyball player at Carroll-
wood Day School in Lake
Magdalene, cut a deal after
her season ended that has
Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii 18, Elgin/
Imbler 4
Union/Cove 12, Vale 1
Union/Cove 13, Vale 0
STANDINGS
Special District 4, Pendleton, TBA
PREP BOYS GOLF
La Grande at 4A Special District
4, Ontario, TBA
May 7 results
Tuesday, May 10
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Oregon Tech 6, Eastern Oregon 5
PREP BASEBALL
Joseph/Enterprise/Wallowa at
Weston-McEwen (2), 3 p.m.
Stanfi eld/Echo at Union/Cove,
4 p.m.
PREP TENNIS
Four Rivers at La Grande, 3 p.m.
Monday, May 9
(Results posted after print
deadline)
PREP GIRLS GOLF
La Grande at 4A/3A/2A/1A
an error to put Eastern in
the driver’s seat up 5-3.
Just when it looked as if
Eastern was in command,
Oregon Tech’s Zoe Allen
hit a two-RBI single in the
bottom of the sixth to tie the
game at 5-all. Extra innings
would be needed to deter-
mine the winner.
With one out in the
bottom of the eighth inning,
Oregon Tech’s Lexi Klum
connected on a solo home
run to left fi eld to walk off
the game in victory for the
Hustlin’ Owls. The dev-
astating blow propelled
Eastern to the consolation
bracket, where one more loss
would spell the end of the
team’s conference run.
the semifi nals, the Moun-
taineers’ late-season push
propelled the team to a No.
15 ranking in the latest
NAIA poll — the spot is
favorable for an at-large bid
into the NAIA tournament,
but it is not a guarantee.
The NAIA selection show
is set to air at 2 p.m. on May
10, on the NAIA’s Facebook
page. The committee’s deci-
sion will determine if East-
ern’s season hopes continue.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League Overall
Lewis-Clark State
19-3
48-4
British Columbia
14-9
27-22
College of Idaho
14-10
29-25
Corban
10-12
23-22-1
Bushnell
9-14
11-36
Oregon Tech
9-15
30-25
Eastern Oregon
4-16
11-34
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Cascade Collegiate Conference
Team
League Overall
Oregon Tech
25-5
46-10
Southern Oregon
24-6
46-12
Eastern Oregon
24-6
41-14
College of Idaho
22-8
40-15
British Columbia
18-12
22-19
Corban
11-19
18-36
Carroll
11-19
14-31
Bushnell
11-19
15-33
Northwest
11-19
16-32
Warner Pacifi c
4-26
6-36
Providence
4-26
6-34
PREP BASEBALL
Greater Oregon League
Team
League
La Grande
10-0
Baker/Powder Valley 8-2
McLoughlin
1-9
Ontario
1-9
Overall
21-1
14-9
4-11
1-18
2A/1A Special District 7
Team
League
Dufur/South Wasco Co. 12-0
Weston-McEwen
11-1
Heppner/Ione
10-4
Grant Union/Prairie City 4-5
Sherman/Arlington
4-5
Union/Cove
3-6
Stanfi eld/Echo
3-10
Pilot Rock/
Nixyaawii/Ukiah
2-9
Adrian
0-0
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat 0-9
Overall
18-1
13-2
11-8
9-9
6-6
3-6
5-13
5-12
3-0
0-10
PREP SOFTBALL
Greater Oregon League
Team
League
La Grande
9-1
Ontario
7-3
Baker/Powder Valley 2-8
McLoughlin
2-8
2A/1A Special District 6
Team
League
Grant Union/Prairie City 10-0
Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii 6-2
Union/Cove
6-4
Weston-McEwen
5-3
Echo/Stanfi eld
3-5
Heppner/Ione
2-6
Adrian
0-0
Elgin/Imbler
0-12
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat 0-0
Overall
13-5
15-5
8-10
4-12
Overall
20-0
12-6
14-5
10-7
11-8
3-15
2-1
0-12
0-0
Bounced from
tournament
In the consolation semi-
fi nal matchup against the
College of Idaho, Eastern’s
strong run at the conference
ultimately stalled.
The Mountaineers scored
the fi rst run of the game in
the top of the fi rst inning
on a Tyree home run and
went on to lead 2-1 after
three innings, but the Yotes
pulled away late to win
comfortably.
A fi ve-run fourth inning
by the College of Idaho
was the dagger for Eastern,
which went on to lose 8-2.
Smith received the loss, just
her sixth of the season, after
allowing six runs over three
and one third innings.
The loss ended East-
ern’s conference title run, as
Oregon Tech went on to win
the championship game 1-0
on an eighth-inning walk-off
hit. Despite bowing out in
her donating earnings to
a concussion center that
treated her.
She signed with Q30
Innovations, a Connecticut
company that produces
devices to help reduce
brain injuries, after suf-
fering numerous concus-
sions playing her sport.
She donates the earnings
to the University of South
Florida Concussion Center
in Tampa.
Higgins is continuing
her volleyball career at
Oglethorpe University in
Brookhaven, Georgia, this
fall.
“Brands are going to con-
tinue to see that female stu-
dent athletes can fulfi ll goals
in a unique and authentic
way because the biggest
name doesn’t always mean
the best success,” Higgins
said.
According to the latest
data gathered by Open-
dorse Deals, a company that
its offi cials say have helped
connect 100,000 college
athletes with third parties
for NIL deals, the average
payout has been small thus
far. Division I athletes with
at least one deal have earned
about $664 on average,
according to the data. For
Division II athletes, it’s $59
and just $43 in Division III.
Nearly 70% of deals
involve social media posts,
the Opendorse data shows.
David Ridpath, an asso-
ciate professor of sports
business at Ohio Univer-
sity, frames the opportu-
nity for student-athletes to
benefi t fi nancially as a civil
rights issue. Athletes are not
employees of the schools
they attend and should not
be restricted from earning
money, he said, adding that
amounts won’t be large but
could put “a few extra bucks
in their pockets.”
“In my view, it’s all been
positive,” Ridpath said.
“College and, by extension,
high school athletes are not
employees and should not
be restricted to any market
place where they have
value.”
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