Sports
A7
Saturday, June 4, 2022
LA GRANDE BASEBALL
ONE MORE TIME
La Grande looks to avenge last year’s title game loss to Hidden Valley
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
L
A GRANDE — While
the preparation for the
state championship
rematch against Hidden Valley
will be similar as the previous
28 games, there is a redemptive
element to this contest for the La
Grande Tigers.
“Redemption is on all of our minds,
for sure,” junior pitcher and infielder
Logan Williams said. “It’s that, but also,
it’s another game.”
La Grande will be aiming for its third
state baseball title when it meets the
Mustangs at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 4,
at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
“This game means a lot to us,” senior
pitcher and infielder Devin Bell said. “I
feel like all season we’ve played with
a chip on our shoulders, like we want
to get there. We want to play that team
again, because we have something we
want to prove to everybody, so I believe
just that chip on our shoulders will lead
to us pushing harder.”
The teams met a year ago at Aurora
in what head coach Parker McKinley
earlier this week called one of the best
games he had been a part of. It was a
Ronald Bond/For The Observer
La Grande head coach Parker McKinley talks to his team Thursday, June 2, 2022, prior to the team’s state championship appearance against Hidden
Valley on June 4.
point he expanded on this week, noting
the quality of athletes on both teams, the
baseball IQ they carry and the ability
to not only make the routine plays, but
great plays.
“That game last year had several
of those,” he said. “And so that’s what
made it so special. I can see that this
has the potential to be another game
like that just based on the personnel
that’s in both lineups.”
La Grande dropped the title game
that day, 5-2, when Isaac Hill hit a
two-out walk-off grand slam for Hidden
Valley.
“We felt that heartbreaking moment,
and we’re like ‘we’re not going to let
that happen again,’” Bell said. “We’re
going to try to take the lead and keep it
steady.”
The teams have been on a prover-
bial collision course for the rematch all
season, routing opponents left and right,
and piling up similar numbers. Both
teams enter with 27 wins — La Grande
at 27-1, Hidden Valley at 27-2. Both
teams average around 11 runs per game,
have solid defense and strong pitching
See, Title/Page A8
Shining examples of student-athletes
Three La Grande baseball
players earn valedictorian
status with 4.0 grade point
averages
By JEFF BUDLONG
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Cole Jorgensen,
Braden Carson and Derek Begin
will not be at La Grande’s grad-
uation ceremonies on Saturday, June 4,
and they could not be happier about it.
The trio has done everything needed
to stride across the stage in front of
family and friends. They are three of
Begin
Carson
Jorgensen
five valedictorians for the senior class,
but they will be busy at Volcanoes Sta-
dium in Keizer battling for a state base-
ball championship.
“Those guys do a really good job
of leading by example, and it is one
of those things when you are standing
around and look at how everyone
is doing something a certain way it
becomes the culture,” head coach Parker
McKinley said. “I am fortunate to have
a lot of guys with high grade point aver-
ages on the team, and I credit all of the
juniors and seniors passing that culture
on to the freshmen and sophomores.”
With GPAs more impressive than
anything they can put up on the baseball
diamond, the discipline and determina-
tion to be successful both on the field
and in the classroom doesn’t happen by
mistake.
“It is just a lot of hard work,” Carson
said. “When I was in middle school I
got a B in a class and I was struggling
a little bit, but I made it a goal to get all
A’s in high school.”
All three are multisport athletes,
and Jorgensen said playing sports at La
Grande helps instill a lot of traits that
will benefit anyone as they try to accom-
plish goals in their life.
The 4.0 GPAs are that much more
impressive given the circumstances all
students had to overcoming during a
pandemic. The same self-motivation
needed to go to practice and compete
in games throughout the school year
served all three well when making time
to study and getting assignments com-
pleted, especially when classes were
conducted remotely.
“We know how fortunate we are and
we have played together on the same
travel baseball team since we were 9
years old,” Jorgensen said.
Carson, who will attend Eastern
Oregon University in the fall to wrestle,
See, Shining/Page A8
SPORTS SHORT
Despite backlash, controversial Saudi-backed golf tournament coming to Oregon
By KYLE IBOSHI
KGW News
PORTLAND — Despite push-
back from local mayors, a U.S.
senator and golf club members —
several of whom have resigned
from the club — Pumpkin Ridge
Golf Club in North Plains is
scheduled to host a controversial
golf tournament June 30-July 2.
It will be the first U.S. stop for
a lucrative new professional golf
league backed by the financial arm
of Saudi Arabia — a country long
accused of human rights abuses.
“It’s despicable. It’s horrible,
absolutely horrible,” said North
Plains Mayor Leri Lenahan.
Lenahan, along with 10 other
mayors in Washington County,
signed a letter opposing the Sau-
di-backed golf tournament.
Local leaders are especially
concerned about potential protests
and the safety of their community.
Saudi Arabia’s role in this
new golf tour, the LIV Golf Invi-
tational Series, has prompted a
hailstorm of controversy. The
non-governmental organization
Amnesty International said the
country has demonstrated time
and again a flagrant disregard for
human rights — including crack-
downs on freedom of expression,
association and assembly.
In 2018, Saudi agents killed
Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident
and columnist for The Wash-
ington Post.
“I’m just not going to be
silent when Saudi Arabia tries to
cleanse its bloodstained hands,”
said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden.
Wyden accused the Saudis
of “sportswashing” — a term
used to describe big spending on
high-profile sporting events to
help cleanse a country’s image
and reputation.
The LIV Golf Invitational
Series is scheduled to begin with
a tournament at Centurion Golf
Club in London June 9-11. The
new league is hoping to entice
professional golfers to partici-
pate with huge payouts and prize
money. The PGA has warned it
would forever ban players if they
abandoned the PGA Tour for the
See, Golf/Page A8
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club/Contributed Photo
Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains is scheduled to be the first U.S. stop
for the controversial Saudi Arabia-back professional golf tour, the LIV Golf
Invitational Series.
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