SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2022
TITLE
Continued from Page A7
staff s that have each
recorded 15 shutouts.
“Their team has been
playing together (for) a
long time, as well,” senior
catcher Cole Jorgensen said.
“They all seem super close,
kind of like we are. I think
they’re very similar.”
McKinley expects the
Tigers will face Hill on the
mound, a Division I pros-
pect who this season formed
a solid 1-2 punch with Nate
Vidlak, who shut down
Mazama in the semifi nals
May 31, 10-1.
“You got a kid that is
going to go to Oregon State
next year to play baseball.
If he’s eligible to pitch, it’s
pretty hard not to put him
on the mound,” McKinley
said of Hill, who is a force
both as a pitcher (school
record 110 strikeouts) and at
the plate (eight home runs).
Who La Grande counters
with will be a game day
decision, but McKinley has
a plethora of arms at his dis-
posal. Among them could
be Jace Schow (9-0, 1.49
ERA), Sam Tsiatsos (6-0,
0.42 ERA) or Williams (2-0,
0.00 ERA). He’ll also have
the option to use Bell for 25
pitches, with Bell coming
off his no-hit performance
May 31 in the Tigers’ 8-0
win over Philomath.
There really are no bad
decisions for McKinley to
turn to, as his team enters
with a combined ERA of
0.84, a WHIP of 0.85 and
241 strikeouts to just 54
walks in 167 innings.
“The greatest thing about
it is all of them will be
ready to go. All of them will
do what is asked by their
coaches and their team-
mates and they’ll give it
SHINING
Continued from Page A7
credited those around him
for his academic success.
“It really came down to
who I was hanging out with,
and I had people that held
me accountable,” he said.
“It is the same for every-
thing because if you want to
get good at school then you
have to hang around people
that are going to push you.
If you want to get good at
sports, you have to hang
around talented people who
push you. It is the same
recipe for success.”
The La Grande base-
ball team is 27-1 this season
and will face Hidden Valley
(27-2) in the championship
game.
The Tigers will be
playing in the champion-
ship for the fourth time in
the last six years, and will
be playing for its third state
title. The Tigers won it all in
2007 and 2017, and placed
second in 2018 and 2021.
Physical skills are
important in sports and on
the baseball diamond, but
being able to process the
mental side has helped the
Tigers on their current run
of success.
“Baseball is a very fun-
damental game and you
always have to know what
your job is and where to
go with the ball,” said Jor-
gensen, who will play base-
ball at Western Oregon next
season and study sports
medicine.
“We talk a lot about how
preparedness creates con-
fi dence, and when you can
understand diff erent sit-
uations in the game and
learn from and apply them,
GOLF
Continued from Page A7
LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Oregon will be the
second stop for LIV Golf.
The Pumpkin Ridge event,
originally scheduled for
July 1-3, will begin one day
earlier, June 30.
According to its web-
site, tickets for the Pumpkin
Ridge tournament range
from $70 to $6,180.
Tourism offi cials have
either distanced themselves
from the event or com-
pletely dismissed it.
“I haven’t heard one
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Nick Bornstedt turns toward third base during La Grande’s 8-0 victory over Philomath at Pioneer Park on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The Tigers
advanced to the OSAA Class 4A fi nals where they will play Hidden Valley at Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer, on June 4.
LHS Baseball 2022 Season
SCHEDULE (27-1)
Date
March 17
March 17
March 21
March 22
March 23
March 24
April 1
April 1
April 2
April 7
April 7
April 13
April 15
Opponent
@Hermiston
@Hermiston
vs. Canby
vs. Shadow Ridge (AZ)
vs. Dakota Ridge (CO)
vs. Apollo (AZ)
@Seaside/Jewell
@North Marion
@Astoria
vs. Ontario
vs. Ontario
@Pendleton/Griswold
@McLoughlin
100%,” McKinley said. “On
game day, when it comes
down to it, we see how
everybody’s feeling, what
my stomach is telling me,
and we’ll go with it.”
Bell has been a key
“Since I was a kid,
I always wanted
to graduate on
the baseball fi eld.
Anything other than
that would have
been sad for me.”
— Braden Carson,
graduating senior
it makes for special kids,”
McKinley said.
La Grande fi nished
tied for seventh in 4A in
the OSAA’s academic all-
state baseball teams with
an average GPA of 3.37. It
doesn’t happen by mistake.
“There has always been
a focus on doing well in
school and baseball,” Begin
said. “It shows how much
dedication we have toward
what we do. Our coach
brings up when someone
is doing well in class all
the time just to show our
players can do both. When I
was a freshman I heard that
a lot of the top players on
the fi eld were doing well in
the classroom, and I thought
if I could do that it would be
fantastic.”
Begin will attend Oregon
Institute of Technology in
the fall majoring in com-
puter science.
None of the three will
be at graduation to give a
speech, but Carson, who
is considering a biology
major, said it is something
he planned years ago.
“Since I was a kid, I
always wanted to graduate
on the baseball fi eld,” he
said. “Anything other than
that would have been sad
for me.”
person who is excited
it is coming here,” said
Jim Etzel, CEO of Sport
Oregon, the nonprofi t
that helps promote sports
tourism.
Both Sport Oregon and
Travel Oregon said their
organizations played no
role in bringing the event to
Oregon.
“It wouldn’t have been an
event we would have pur-
sued,” said Etzel.
“The primary reason
is — it just doesn’t align
with the values of our
sports community or, in my
opinion, our community at
large.”
Result
W 12-2
W 7-5
W 4-1
W 8-3
L 2-5
W 12-1
W 12-1
W 12-5
W 17-0
W 14-1
W 19-1
W 7-5
W 12-0
piece in the off ense, as well,
entering the game batting
.541 with 10 home runs
and 69 RBIs, but McKinley
noted the balance in the
team’s lineup and pointed
to the eff ort in the Philo-
April 15
April 20
April 20
April 23
April 26
April 29
April 29
May 3
May 3
May 13
May 13
May 20
May 25
May 27
May 31
June 4
@McLoughlin
@Baker/Powder Valley
@Baker/Powder Valley
vs. Philomath
@College Place (WA)
@Ontario
@Ontario
vs. McLoughlin
vs. McLoughlin
vs. Baker/Powder Valley
vs. Baker/Powder Valley
vs. Pendleton/Griswold
vs. Marshfi eld
vs. Marist Catholic
vs. Philomath
vs. Hidden Valley
math game as evidence that
anyone can step up to hit for
the Tigers.
“We had seven guys that
had hit, and we have guys
on our bench that are ready
to go,” he said. “We have a
W 17-0
W 10-0
W 16-0
W 5-0
W 12-0
W 31-0
W 21-0
W 10-0
W 12-0
W 8-0
W 4-0
W 4-3
W 10-0
W 10-4
W 8-0
1:30 p.m.
whole bunch of guys that
when they show up and they
play for each other, they’re
all deadly. If one guy is
having an off day, he knows
his teammates are going to
pick him up. That’s what
this team is built on.”
Indeed, as a team, the
Tigers enter Saturday’s
matchup with a .363 batting
average. Four of their regu-
lars have a batting average
of .400 or better, and three
more are above .300.
“I think a huge part of it
is the chemistry we have,”
Jorgensen said of the team’s
success. “We’ve all been
on the same team since we
were super young. We know
the ins and out of every-
body. I think we all are just
super connected on that
level. One of our strengths
is how complete we are as a
team.”
McKinley also pointed
to the brotherhood of the
players as an element
that has resulted in them
reaching the championship,
which he said was a goal
from Day 1.
“They truly are like
brothers out here, they hold
each other accountable, they
pick each other up, and they
play for each other,” he said.
“You start talking about
all those things that go into
what makes a team a team,
they do it all really well.”
And because they have
done it well all season — to
the tune of 23 wins in a row
and a 27-1 record overall —
the Tigers are confi dent that
although they are playing a
strong team, if they perform
to that level again Saturday,
they’ll get a shot at the
redemption they are after.
“Every time we step on
the fi eld we expect to win,”
McKinley said. “At just the
competitive level, we’re
trying to get out there and
do everything we can, top
to bottom, to be prepared to
win a game.”
Williams agreed.
“I think if we play our
game, we (have) got a really
good chance,” he said.
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