SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, JunE 30, 2022
Tigers earn all-GOL honors
Wallow County’s
Hanley “Noodle”
Miller won the tie-
down calf roping
title at the Oregon
State High School
Finals n Prineville
in June 2002. At the
High School Rodeo
National Finals in
Gillette, Wyoming,
July 17-23, the
15-year-old will be
competing in both
tie-down roping and
team roping.
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
Contributed Photo
Miller wins high school calf roping title
Enterprise cowboy qualified
for nationals in two events
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Hanley “Noodle”
Miller, a 15-year-old freshman at Joseph
Charter School and the son of Cory and Dena
Miller, of Enterprise, recently completed
a successful first season of his high school
rodeo career.
Partnered with his 11-year-old sorrel
gelding, K2, and his 13-year-old bay gelding,
Pepperoni, Miller led the state from the
beginning of the season last fall. He then
walked away with the tie-down calf roping
title at the Oregon State High School Rodeo
Finals in Prineville earlier this month. Miller
tied down 16 of 17 calves through the season
and placed in 15 of 16 runs. The champion-
ship earned him a saddle, sponsored by Les
Schwab, and a buckle. In addition, Miller was
awarded a certificate for the Columbia River
Circuit PRCA permit when he turns 18.
Next on Miller’s agenda is the High School
Rodeo National Finals in Gillette, Wyo-
ming, July 17-23. He will be competing in
both tie-down roping and team roping with
his partner, Bayli Ladner, of Klamath Falls.
The two moved up to fourth place in the team
roping standings at the Oregon High School
Rodeo Finals to earn a spot at the national
event. Miller’s 19-year-old sorrel gelding,
Capone, and his 14-year-old bay mare,
Kabang, carried him through the season as
the team’s heeler.
Miller is coached by pro rodeo compet-
itor Nathan Steinberg, of Klamath Falls, and
formerly of Southern Texas, who has men-
tored him and helped develop Miller’s tie-
down roping skills. Steinberg has been doing
clinics with eight-time world champion and
ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Joe Beaver
since 2004.
“I met Noodle two years ago at a Joe
Beaver clinic in Idaho,” Steinberg said. “I
instantly fell in love with him. He’s a good
kid from a good family. We do 20 clinics a
year and I see a lot of kids. It’s inspiring to
see Noodle’s work ethic and love of the game.
When he comes here to rope, he asks 20,000
questions a day and has desire beyond his
years. It’s pretty cool. And to see him with the
work ethic he has at 15, he’ll be successful at
whatever he does.”
Miller also earned an invite to compete
this September in one of the two Joe Beaver
Roping events of the year in Texas.
In addition to the list of successes this past
year, Miller has also qualified for the Vegas
Tuffest in Las Vegas, Dec. 1-5, for the second
straight year and for the Hooey Junior Patriot
Finale in Fort Worth, Texas, in February and
March 2023.
In his spare time, Miller is busy man-
aging his own herd of Corriente and Her-
eford cattle and exercising and training
most of his family’s 25-plus head of regis-
tered quarter horses. He helps his parents
in the family’s fencing business or putting
in saddle time on horses brought to him
by those from the local community and
beyond. He is also a member of the Joseph
FFA Chapter and competes at the Wallowa
County Fair with market steers.
LA GRANDE — Before securing a spot
as the state player of the year and helping
the La Grande baseball team to a state title,
Devin Bell was the most dominant player in
the Greater Oregon League.
Bell recently was named GOL player
of the year after helping the Tigers to an
undefeated league season, one that saw La
Grande not only win all 12 games but allow
just two runs in the process and toss shut-
outs in its last 10 league contests.
Bell finished the 2022 season with a .539
batting average, 10 home runs and 69 RBIs,
and carried a 6-0 record on the mound with
a 0.39 ERA.
Bell was among 12 Tiger players who
received all-league honors for LHS. The
first team consisted of catcher Cole Jor-
gensen, first baseman Nick Bornstedt,
Logan Williams as a first-team infielder,
both Jace Schow and Sam Tsiatsos as first-
team pitchers, Cesar Rodriguez and Braden
Carson as first-team outfielders, and Noah
McIlmoil as a first-team designated hitter.
Jorgensen hit .479 with four home runs
and 33 RBIs, and posted an impressive
on-base percentage of .635. Bornstedt fin-
ished .262 with 26 RBIs and a .479 on-base
percentage, and Williams was .267 with a
home run, 18 RBIs, 35 runs scored and 10
stolen bases. Schow and Tsiatsos combined
for a record of 16-0 on the season. Carson
hit .333 with 16 RBIs and 22 runs scored,
while Rodriguez hit .310 with 14 RBIs and
24 runs scored. And McIlmoil hit .447 with
a home run, 16 RBIs and 11 runs scored.
Both Sergio Staab and Jarett Armstong
made the second team, Staab as a pitcher
and Armstrong in the outfield. Staab was
2-0 with a 0.84 ERA, and Armstrong hit
.302 with 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Derek Begin rounded out the player awards
as an honorable mention first baseman, hit-
ting .375 with two RBIs and 36 runs scored.
“I think every single one of those kids
on there earned every single one of those
(awards). If you asked them, they would
say they had the opportunity that they
had because the players around them gave
them the opportunity,” head coach Parker
McKinley said. “It’s a tremendous team
effort. Fun stuff to have been part of the
process.”
McKinley himself earned recognition for
the Tigers as the league coach of the year.
Softball team sees seven players,
coach recognized
The La Grande softball team secured the
Greater Oregon League title in 2022 and
earned a berth in the state semifinals.
The Tigers were boosted to that success
by a bevy of all-league awards, with four
players landing on the first team and four
garnering a spot on the second team.
“They all earned it,” head coach Cody
Bowen said. “They definitely earned it. It
was hard to categorize some of them. Ulti-
mately it came down to batting average and
fielding average. The girls had a really good
team this year. We had a lot of freshmen that
showed up and played well.”
A pair of seniors led the way on the first
team, with Grace Neer collecting a spot on
the first team as a pitcher and Kinzy Bowen
being named to the first team as a utility
player. Neer, as a pitcher, turned in a record
of 8-3 with a 2.81 ERA and 121 strikeouts
in 82-1/3 innings. Bowen had a .408 bat-
ting average with 12 home runs and 43
RBIs. Carlee Jensen was selected as a first-
team outfielder batting, .420 with 12 RBIs
and a team-high 32 runs scored, and Carlee
Strand was a first-team infielder, batting
.488 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and 23
runs scored.
Strand also was named to the second
team, earning a spot as a pitcher with a 9-3
record and a 1.94 ERA. She was joined on
the second team by a pair of outfielders, Bri-
elle Hood and Rylie Huddleston, who hit
a respective .333 and .446 with two home
runs, 20 RBIs and 33 runs between them,
and by catcher Marti Anderson, who hit .400
with three home runs and 28 RBIs.
Cody Bowen was named GOL coach of
the year, giving the credit to the team for the
award.
“It’s a nice honor (that) I appreciate,” he
said. “The girls do a lot of hard work and
make me look good.”
The Tigers finished 11-1 in GOL play
and posted an overall record of 18-8 before
falling to eventual state champion Cascade
in the semifinals.
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