Sports
A7
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Tigers earn all-state honors
Devin Bell named state’s top player, Parker McKinley earns coach of the year
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
A GRANDE — Devin Bell
L
wrapped up his high school
baseball career last week with a
state championship.
The La Grande standout added another feather to
his cap just days later.
Following the Tigers’ 10-1 victory over Hidden
Valley to earn the program’s third title, Bell was named
4A state player of the year.
Bell was a standout both at the plate and on the
mound for the Tigers, who cruised to a 28-1 record.
The shortstop, who also was named a fi rst-team
infi elder, hit .539 on the season with 10
home runs and 69 RBIs. He also boasted
a 6-0 record with a scant 0.39 ERA. He
struck out 64 batters and walked just 13
in 36 innings pitched, and posted a WHIP
of .667. His eff orts on the season included
a no-hitter in the Tigers’ 8-0 semifi nal
win over Philomath.
Bell
The Tigers landed two other players
on the fi rst team, including pitcher Jace
Schow. The junior fi nished with a perfect
10-0 record, a 1.45 ERA, 57 strikeouts
and just 16 walks in 53 innings pitched.
The third fi rst-team all-state member
from the Tigers was Cole Jorgensen, who
made it at catcher. The senior batted .479
McKinley
with four home runs and 33 RBIs, and
posted an impressive on-base percentage
of .635, aided by being walked 29 times
and striking out just seven. Behind the
plate, he threw out 59% of baserunners
who attempted to steal on him.
Making the third team as a pitcher was
Schow
Sam Tsiatsos, who posted a record of 6-0
with an ERA of 0.42, striking out 50 bat-
ters and issuing just eight walks in 33
innings of work.
Logan Williams also landed on the
third team as an infi elder. He fi nished
with an average of .267, a home run, 18
RBIs and 35 runs scored and 10 stolen
Jorgensen
bases.
And earning honorable mention at fi rst
base was Nick Bornstedt and as a utility player was
Noah McIlmoil. Bornstedt, who went 3-for-4 in the
Isabella Crowley/The Observer, File
Pitcher Devin Bell and catcher Cole Jorgensen speak to coach Parker McKinley during La Grande’s 8-0 victory over Philomath at
Pioneer Park on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Bell was named the Class 4A state player of the year, while McKinley earned 4A coach of the
year honors. Jorgensen was named to the 4A fi rst team.
championship game, fi nished .262 with 26 RBIs and a
.479 on-base percentage. McIlmoil hit .447 with a home
run, 16 RBIs and 11 runs scored.
Parker McKinley was named 4A coach of the year,
directing the Tigers to a season-ending 24-game win-
ning streak, a 28-1 record overall, a team average
of .363 and a team ERA of 0.85. Under his tutelage,
the Tigers had seven players with more than 50 plate
appearances hit above .300, 10 with 10 more RBIs on
the season and 12 who accounted for at least 10 of La
Grande’s 326 runs. The Tigers outscored their oppo-
nents 326-38 and pitched 15 shutouts.
Breakaway roping a growing sport on professional rodeo circuit
Texas women doing
their part at Eastern
Oregon Livestock
Show to build
breakaway roping
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
UNION — Martha
Angelone and Amanda
Hodges remember just a
few years ago competing at
breakaway roping in ama-
teur rodeos in Texas.
They never imagined
at the time they’d be com-
peting halfway across the
country in the budding
rodeo sport, as they were
Saturday, June 11, during
the Eastern Oregon Live-
stock Show in Union.
“It’s been tremendous
how many rodeos have
added it for us, and that
it’s in the
pro rodeos,”
Angelone,
who lives
in Stephen-
ville, Texas,
said. “Me and
Angelone
Amanda, a
couple years ago, we were
going to the amateur rodeos
together down in Texas
where we’d get to go to
three or four a week, and
now we’re getting to go all
over the world doing it. I
would never be in Oregon
if there wasn’t pro rodeo up
here.”
The two were among
dozens of women com-
peting for the fi rst time
in Union with the EOLS
electing to add breakaway
roping to the fray during its
115th edition.
The growth of the sport,
Hodges said, has opened
up more opportunities for
the competitors, including
the chance to
earn more on
the circuit.
“Those
amateur
rodeos that me
and Martha
Hodges
used to go to
would pay nowhere near
the same as these,” Hodges,
from Brazoria, Texas, said.
“We’d go drive a couple
hours across Texas to win
$1,000, and now we’re
driving for $10,000 (pots).”
Breakaway roping, a
women’s event, is essen-
tially half of tie-down
roping. The riders follow
a calf out of a chute just
as in tie-down roping, and
try to rope the calf around
the neck. Once the calf is
roped, however, the time
stops. There is no need
to dismount and tie the
animal.
That fact was met with
gratitude June 11 by at least
one of the 10 women who
competed, with one rider
saying to another, “I’m glad
we don’t have to get off ” as
they awaited their turn in
the rainy, muddy conditions
at the EOLS arena.
The speed of the event
— most competitors have
their calf roped in 2-3 sec-
onds — makes thinking on
your feet vital.
“A lot of this sport is just
reaction. You can’t think,”
Hodges said. “You kind of
just gotta hope that things
go your way, and a lot of
times things do have to fall
your way for you to win.”
The fact that it is a quick
event makes it one Ange-
lone said is extremely hard.
“You don’t really have
a lot of time to set up your
shot because you gotta be
so fast, so you gotta think
about trying to make every-
thing happen in a split
second,” she said. “You
have to be focused on what
you’re about to have to do
to make your run work. The
tie-down ropers can always
take an extra swing and set
everything up. We don’t
even have time to think
about that.”
Angelone was quick on
her feet Saturday, twirling
an orange rope to catch her
calf quickly and post a time
of 2.6 seconds.
It was a mark that briefl y
moved her to the lead, until
being surpassed by Sawyer
Gilbert later in the round.
Gilbert had a time of 2.4
seconds, which ended up
being the top time of the
day.
“This is the fi rst time
I’ve ever rode this horse in
the mud,” Angelone said
following her run. “I hon-
estly didn’t know how he
was going to handle it. It’s
a little bit diff erent for the
start and the cattle than if it
was dry, but not terrible.”
Hodges had a strong run
negated by breaking the
barrier, which added 10 sec-
onds to her time and put
her out of the running for a
good payday. Still, she was
pleased with her eff ort.
“It was fun for me. I got
a little early start on mine,
broke the barrier, but I
feel like my horse worked
good,” she said. “I did my
job good enough for me to
be happy with.”
Both were pleased to
be a part of the fi rst run of
breakaway roping at the
EOLS, and said they would
be back.
“If it wasn’t raining I’d
probably give it a 10 out
of 10,” Angelone said of
the Union-based rodeo.
“Since it’s raining, probably
an eight out of 10. I think
it’s cool. I think it’s awe-
some that they’re letting the
breakaway ropers in.”
SPORTS SHORT
Mounties finish No. 14 in final softball poll
EOU moves up one spot in final coaches’ poll of the season
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The Eastern
Oregon University softball team
moved up one spot in the fi nal NAIA
Softball Coaches’ Top 25 poll, which
was released last week
The Mountaineers fi nish the 2022
season with a No. 14 ranking, up
from No. 15 in the prior poll.
Oklahoma City, which earned its
11th NAIA Softball World Series
crown, was the top team in the poll,
earning all 18 fi rst-place votes, fol-
lowed by national championship run-
ner-up Mobile (Ala.). Science & Arts
(Okla.) landed in the No. 3 spot while
Southeastern (Fla.) vaulted all the
way up from 11 to No. 4. Freed-
Hardeman (Tenn.) rounded out the
top fi ve.
The poll was voted upon by a
panel of head coaches representing
each of the conferences and the
Continental Athletic Conference
(Independents).
EOU fi nished 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
tally of 43 wins now stands alone
atop Eastern’s record books for the
most victories in a single season.
Entering the 2022 campaign, EOU
was picked to fi nish fi fth in the Cas-
cade Collegiate Conference but easily
exceeded expectations, according to
an announcement from EOU Ath-
letics. The team fi nished third in the
regular season standings and at the
CCC Tournament, registering a 24-6
mark in conference action.
Eastern Oregon was one of four
Cascade Collegiate Conference
teams in the top 25. Oregon Tech was
the highest placing CCC team, fi n-
ishing No. 7, while Southern Oregon
fi nished No. 12 and College of Idaho
was No. 22.
The Observer, File
Eastern Oregon University’s Karsyn Zaragoza (7) rounds third
base on her way to home plate against Providence University at
the Peggy Anderson Softball Field, La Grande, on Friday, March
25, 2022.