SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THuRSday, July 21, 2022
Union Softball squad extends successful season
Grande Little League
County La softball
team headed to
athletes regional tournament for
trip to Little League
strike
World Series in Arizona
gold
FOLLOW THE TOURNAMENT
The West Regional Tournament can be
tracked on Gamechanger at https://
bit.ly/3ojCsrz. To support the team, its
gofundme pages are https://bit.ly/
3PBUsZR or https://bit.ly/3cuqIj2.
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
In all, eight gold
medals return from
regional Special
Olympics
By RONALD BOND
For The Observer
LA GRANDE — Union
County athletes claimed
eight gold medals in track
during the regional Special
Olympics games in Herm-
iston July 16, and two addi-
tional gold medals in the
regional golf tournament in
Oregon City on July 17.
Leading the way for the
track team was Amanda
Herbert, who took gold in
both the 400-meter walk
and the 800-meter walk.
A pair of other ath-
letes earned both a gold
and a silver medal: Jen-
nifer Coppin had gold in the
100-meter walk and silver
in the softball throw, and
Pete Crowell flipped those
results, taking gold in the
softball throw and silver in
the 100-meter walk.
Dennis Adams earned
gold in his division of the
softball throw, and bronze
in the 100-meter walk. Also
getting a gold/bronze result
was Dani Thorne, who took
the top spot and gold in the
800-meter run and bronze
in the softball throw; Jason
Franks, who won gold in
the 800-meter walk and
bronze in the 400-meter
walk; and R’Anne Werner,
who took gold in the 100-
meter dash and bronze in
the softball throw.
Tommy Boren took two
silver medals, one in the
50-meter walk and one
in the softball throw, and
Judith Asper earned a fifth-
place ribbon in the softball
throw.
“They all did an amazing
job,” said Lis Throne, local
program co-coordinator for
Union County. “It was a lot
of fun to be doing it again.
All the athletes from all
the counties that were there
were all so excited to see
each other again.”
The next day, Nick
Mendiguren and Brandon
Cooper, both first-year
competitors in golf, took
first in their respective divi-
sions on the course. Cooper
won gold in Division M3
of individual skills play,
and Mendiguren won gold
in M4 of individual skills
play.
Another first-time com-
petitor, Alex Weissenfluh,
won the silver medal in
nine-hole individual play.
In nine-hole alternate
shot play, Ian Altenburg
and unified partner Patrick
Vaughn won a silver medal
in Division M1, and Remy
Spangler and Larry Bare,
unified partner, won silver
in Division M2.
Rounding out the med-
alists was Bradley Culver,
taking bronze in Division
M2 of individual skills play.
LA GRANDE — Gary Krantz
said team unity has been a key
for the La Grande Little League
juniors softball team.
Krantz, the manager of that
squad, has witnessed that firsthand
this summer as the team has gone
undefeated — 18-0 — won a state
championship, and starting this
weekend will represent the state at
the West Regional Tournament in
Arizona.
“The thing (head coach) Rob
(Harnack) and I coach the most is
the way a team represents a family
on the field and when they’re
off that field,” Krantz said. “We
do our best to build unity, and
that’s what these girls do — they
come together (and) they support
one another. We’re very big on
teaching that.”
The team united in a big way
last weekend, claiming the state
championship July 15-17 in Red-
mond. La Grande defeated Crook
County, and twice defeated
Klamath Falls, including in the
championship, 12-9, on Sunday,
July 17.
La Grande opened with a win
over Klamath Falls in its first game
on July 15, 9-4, to reach the semi-
finals. La Grande followed up with
a 4-0 shutout of Crook County on
July 16 to reach the championship
round.
Klamath Falls shook off the
early loss and earned three straight
Contributed Photo
The La Grande Little League juniors softball team holds the banner after winning the
state tournament Sunday, July 17, 2022, in Redmond.
wins — over Corvallis, Clackamas
and Crook County — to reach
the final, but came up short in the
rematch.
The team carried some
momentum and mettle built during
the district tournament champi-
onship — one that saw them win
despite being hampered with errors
— into state, and kept rolling.
“This weekend, I don’t know
what it was — sometimes our
bigger hitters weren’t hitting,
and then our ones that weren’t
always our best hitters stepped
up,” Krantz said. “It actually fell
together. It was nice.”
The team is made up of 11
players who have all contributed in
some fashion to the team’s unde-
feated run. La Grande has formi-
dable pitchers, solid hitters and
versatile players all around the
field.
“When you show up to play like
these girls do when it’s game time,
it’s great. It’s fun to watch when it
all clicks,” the coach said. “Some-
times it’s softball, it’s still Little
League, there’s still errors, they’re
learning, but every single one of
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union County Special Olympics/
Contributed Photo
Union County’s Alex Weissenfluh
gets ready to putt on Sunday,
July 17, 2022, at Stonecreek Golf
Club in Oregon City during the
2022 Special Olympics Oregon
Regional Golf Tournament.
Weissenfluh took second place
in nine-hole individual play.
these girls is coachable. I’ve got
girls that have played since they
were 4 years old and they’re still
learning. That’s a big part of win-
ning is their attitude, the way they
do it. They’re phenomenal. I’ve
coached a lot of them a lot of years.
They’re pretty good, and they’re a
lot of fun.”
Izabelle Martin, the team’s cap-
tain, most experienced player and
starting pitcher, is excited about
what the team has accomplished.
“I think it’s really impressive
that we’re a really young team
and we’ve made it this far,” she
said. “I’ve never gone to regionals
before, so doing it with such a
young group and all these girls, it’s
really good.”
Krantz said the community has
jumped behind this team in its
run for regionals. The team had a
short turnaround to get ready for
the tournament, leaving Thursday,
July 21, for an 18-hour drive ahead
of their Saturday, July 23, opener.
That has left them with just a few
days to fundraise and get ready
for the trip, but the backing is
arriving quickly. Two gofundme.
com accounts have been set up to
help fund travel to Arizona, and as
of late July 19, had about $5,000
raised between the two.
“The support that we’ve had
from the community trying to
get these girls down to Arizona is
actually overwhelming at times,”
Krantz said. “A lot of parents, a lot
of coaches are teary-eyed at some
things.”
Once the team arrives, La
Grande opens play at 8 a.m. July
23, against Marana Little League
out of Arizona, one of nine teams
competing for a spot in the Little
League World Series. They’ll be
battling against teams from Ari-
zona, Washington, California,
Utah, Nevada and Alaska for that
World Series bid. The champion-
ship, should La Grande advance, is
July 27.
Krantz knows the team will
face good opposition.
“We’re going to see some com-
petition down there that we don’t
see, and that’s great for these
girls,” he said. “I’m just hoping
that by the end, when the dust
clears, we’ve got one or two more
runs than they do. Obviously the
goal in our mind is to go to the
World Series, which would be phe-
nomenal and so much fun for these
girls, but as long as we play ball
and leave everything on the field
every time and we keep our heads
up and pick each other up, we’ll do
just fine.”
The key, Martin said, will be for
the team to enjoy itself.
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