EOU staff
earn regional
recognition
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University softball’s
coaching staff last week received
regional honors after a historic
2022 season.
EOU finished the year at 43-17
overall and as the runner-up of
the Oklahoma City Bracket in the
National Association of Intercolle-
giate Athletics opening round after
earning an at-large bid. The team’s
43 wins now stands alone atop
Eastern’s record books for the most
victories in a single season.
Coaching staffs of the National
Fastpitch Coaches Association’s
NAIA regions on Wednesday,
June 1, announced
their selections for
staff of the year rec-
ognition. For Region
IV, the honor went to
EOU softball head
coach Nicole Chris-
tian and her staff.
Christian
Entering the 2022
campaign, EOU was picked to
finish fifth in the Cascade Col-
legiate Conference but easily
exceeded expectations, according
to an announcement from EOU
Athletics. The team finished third
in the regular season standings and
at the CCC Tournament, registering
a 24-6 mark in conference action.
The Mountaineers, ranked 15th
in the final NAIA Coaches’ Poll
of the regular season, finished
with five All-CCC selections. Gar-
nering All-CCC honors for Eastern
Oregon was Amanda Smith
(pitcher), Grace Gaither (infielder),
Caitlin Crist (infielder), Shelby
Starr (outfielder) and Karsyn Zara-
goza (outfielder). Five All-CCC
selections are the most under
Christian.
Christian also had her first pair
of College Sports Information
Directors of America Academic
All-District selections in Kayla
Berg and Taylor Dow. The senior
duo were selected to the first team,
Berg was selected as an outfielder,
while Dow was selected as a desig-
nated player.
Christian finished her third
season as head coach of Moun-
taineer softball in 2022. She is sup-
ported by assistant coaches Theresa
Manley, Woody Wright, Bob Chris-
tian and volunteer assistant coach
Taylor Smith.
Christian began her coaching
career in 2001 when she was
named the head softball coach for
La Grande High School. She was
with the Tigers from 2001-03, then
spent some time in the junior col-
lege ranks as the head coach at
Blue Mountain Community College
from 2003-05.
Christian was the softball bench
boss at Umatilla High School from
2005-08, then took the role as head
softball coach and assistant girls
basketball coach at McLoughlin
High School, Milton-Freewater,
starting in 2008. In 10 seasons
as the softball coach, Christian’s
squad made the state tournament
nine consecutive times. Mac-Hi
also made four straight state cham-
pionship game appearances and
won back-to-back state titles in
2014 and 2015. During the 2018
campaign, she also picked up career
win No. 300. She was inducted into
the Mac-High Hall of Fame
in 2018.
Sports
A7
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Ready to ride
Eastern Oregon
Livestock Show
rodeo brimming
with top talent
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
NION —
U
The “Oldest
Show in the
Northwest” is back for its
115th year.
And there will be an addi-
tion to the rodeo at this year’s
Eastern Oregon Livestock
Show.
The EOLS is in full swing
this week in Union, with the
youth showmanship events
already underway and auc-
tion, rodeos, horse racing and
extreme bulls on the slate. The
livestock show also will be the
site of a unique show to wrap
up the week Sunday morning,
June 12.
Rodeo Director Darren
Hansen said an event new to
Union will be run during this
year’s rodeo performance —
ladies breakaway roping. He
said getting the event added to
the day sheet has been a work in
progress for a couple of years.
“We were trying to get a feel
for it. Now we’re doing it and
(it) looks like a lot are doing it,”
Hansen said.
Indeed, Hansen said the
event is jam-packed. There are
10 competitors scheduled all
three days of the rodeo itself,
and an additional 28 women set
to compete in the slack portion
outside of the rodeo’s main run.
It’s not the only rodeo event
that is filled to the brim with
talent, either. Hansen said there
are 50 contestants signed up
for the Ed Miller Xtreme Bulls
event on June 9, which is the
maximum number of slots
available.
Last year’s Ed Miller saw
a tie between Ruger Piva and
Payton Fitzpatrick, each turning
in rides of 84 points and taking
home more than $3,400 —
combining for more than half of
the purse.
Piva is back to defend his
title, and will be matched up
against a field of former cham-
pions and local talent.
Among those currently slated
to compete are Roscoe Jarboe,
Jordan Spears and Parker
Breding, the 2019 champion.
Riders with local connec-
tions include Cody Camp-
bell, of Summerville, Austin
Miller, of Imbler, and Clayton
Savage, who Hansen said is
a Cove graduate. Derek Kol-
baba, of Walla Walla, who
grew up in Joseph, is also set
to ride June 9. The Xtreme
East Oregonian, File
Derek Kolbaba, of Walla Walla, rides Don’t Sweat It for 84.5 points during the 2018 Pendleton PBR Classic in the
Happy Canyon Arena. Kolbaba, who grew up in Joseph, is slated to ride June 9, 2022, in the Ed Miller Xtreme Bull
Riding event at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union.
Bull Riding starts at 6:30 p.m.
PRCA rodeo and horse
racing begin at 4 p.m. June 10
and run through the weekend,
kicking off at 2 p.m. June 11
and 1:30 p.m. June 12.
Last year’s rodeo contestants
took home a combined payout
of more than $51,000.
While he didn’t have an
explanation for why, Hansen
said the June 10 and 12 slates
are the fullest this weekend.
He did note that horse racing
contestants are fewer than
normal this year, and track con-
ditions could further hamper
racing given the recent rains. He
doesn’t expect the added mois-
ture of recent weeks, though, to
have an impact elsewhere in the
arena.
“It shouldn’t on the rodeo
side. The only thing that would
impede anything is if there were
standing water,” he said.
The final day on June 12
includes a free event starting at
10 a.m. featuring Todd Pierce,
the founder of Riding High
Ministries. During the event,
Pierce, a pastor and former
bareback riding champion, will
train an unbroken horse. A free
breakfast, starting at 8 a.m. is
included with the event.
EOLS staff has been bustling
to get ready, and EOLS Presi-
dent Dave Billings said the team
is looking forward to “just get-
ting this thing off the ground,
and looking forward to better
weather.”
The 4-H and FFA showman-
ship already has been impacted
by the wet spring, with horse
showing that began June 6
moved from the arena to the
grass parking lot due to damp
conditions.
“That’s probably the only
thing (moving),” Billings
said. “We have hopes of drier
weather.”
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Bull rider Ruger Piva, of Challis,
Idaho, takes an 83-point ride on
Louisiana Lightning to win the
night on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021,
during the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in
Hermiston. Piva returns to Union’s
Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in
2022 to defend his 2021 title, and
will be matched up against a field of
former champions and local talent.
SPORTS SHORT
Championship baseball, softball games delayed
By NIK STRENG
The Oregonian
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Jace Schow swings at pitch during La Grande’s 8-0 victory over Philomath at Pioneer Park,
La Grande, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. The Tigers advanced to the OSAA Class 4A finals
where they will play Hidden Valley at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
SALEM — In a seemingly
fitting end to the 2022 spring
season, the Oregon School
Activities Association has had
to postpone a couple of state
championship baseball and
softball games due to weather.
On Saturday, June 4,
less than an hour before
games were scheduled to
start, the OSAA announced
that the Class 5A baseball
game would be delayed to
10:30 a.m. to give crews
more time to tend to the field.
The original start time was
10 a.m.
The OSAA added that
the 4A and 6A classification
championship games would
be moved to June 7.
The Class 4A champion-
ship baseball game will be
on Tuesday with No. 4 La
Grande vs. No. 2 Hidden
Valley at 3 p.m. The Class 6A
championship game will be
No. 14 Canby vs. No. 4 West
Linn at 6 p.m.
In softball, the 4A game
will be No. 2 Cascade vs. No.
1 Marist Catholic at 3 p.m. on
June 7 and the 6A game will
be No. 3 Oregon City vs. No.
1 Tigard at 6 p.m.
La Grande will be aiming
for its third state baseball title
when it meets the Mustangs at
Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
The game is a rematch
of last year’s 4A title game,
which was not sanctioned
by the OSAA. La Grande
dropped the title game that
day, 5-2, when Isaac Hill hit a
two-out walk-off grand slam
for Hidden Valley.
The teams have been on
a proverbial 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
staffs that have each recorded
15 shutouts.