Sports
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore.
Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011
Cougars split home opener
(Photo by Dan Mancuso, Illinois Valley News)
Senior Curtis Paulson reaches home safely after a bad pitch gave him the opening to score. The IVHS baseball team went one and one against 6A Crater Tuesday, Mar. 22.
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
The Illinois Valley High School
baseball team could be hitting its
stride.
After two back-to-back games
against Crater JV Tuesday, March
22, coach Bob Johnson says the 2011
team is already looking stronger than
last year.
“We’re getting better every
game,” Johnson said. “If we keep im-
proving at the rate we’re going now,
we’ll be pretty competitive with ev-
erybody we play.”
After weeks of heavy rain and
spring storms, the Cougars finally had
the chance to play on their home turf
at Illinois Valley High School, facing
the 6-A Crater JV from Medford.
At first, Illinois Valley struggled
to contain Crater on defense. Though
the opponent only had five hits, they
were able to score 12 runs by out-ma-
neuvering the Cougar defense.
In game two, the Cougars re-
versed the result, winning 5-3 in a
combination of strikeouts, strong de-
fense and plenty of hits.
This time, the Crater defense
struggled to contain Illinois Valley.
Curtis Paulson, Andrew McLaughlin
and Zach Anderson were just some
of the Cougars getting hits in the last
two innings. Paulson slid home evad-
ing the catcher’s glove; on defense,
Josh Free tagged out a Crater player
going for first in a crucial end-of-
game play.
“You have to have your pitchers
throwing strikes and your guys [on
defense] have to pick up grounders
and throw ‘em out,” Johnson said. “If
you do that you have the chance to
win almost every game you’re play-
ing.”
According to Johnson, strong
pitching from Bryan Biggs and An-
derson struck out several Crater play-
ers and helped Illinois Valley hold
and extend its lead.
“I don’t think we made any er-
rors,” Johnson said. “I was really
proud of our guys. We played excel-
lent defense.”
Last season, Illinois Valley didn’t
get many wins but played hard in the
4A Skyline division with several
young players. The 2011 Cougars
are a mix of all grade levels; so far,
they’ve shown promise both in de-
fense and their ability to get hits.
“I’m looking forward to this
season because I think we’re going
to have a lot of fun,” Johnson said.
“They work really hard. Over spring
break we practiced almost every
day…they want to play, they want to
win and they want to learn.”
IV Little League hosts first
Mudsling Tournament
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
Starting at 7 a.m., Illinois Valley
Little League teams held the first Mudsling
tournament fundraiser for the organization
Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March
20.
Nine teams dueled it out at Jubilee
Park in Cave Junction. Mike Hussey
Trucking narrowly edged out Aftershock
for first place with Aftershock a close
second. The Rebels took third to round
out the top three.
IV Little League member Christi
Alvarez said “the first pickle” started
Sunday morning when Silver Bullet
teammates thwarted a double-play effort
by Aftershock. But they made it through
to face The Rebels. Aftershock narrowly
won 6-5.
Aftershock then gave Mike Hussey
Trucking its first loss, but the latter team
regrouped and defeated Aftershock 25-13
to win the championship.
The rest of the teams, The Misfits,
The Tribe, Silver Bullets, DLC, Patrick
O’Connor Landscaping, NWD and
S.N.A.F.U. also brought their ‘A’ games
in support of the fundraiser.
According to Alvarez, the motto
for the weekend was “rain, snow, sleet or
shine, play ball!” This was tested in the
very first game between The Misfits and
S.N.A.F.U., which included a little bit of
everything; sun, showers, snow and hail.
“Despite the sometimes dreary
weather, all the teams played knowing
they were doing something for the
kids, and that showed through when
under normal circumstances tempers
would fly,” Alvarez said.
For the inaugural tournament,
Don and Regie Valenti screen-
printed new “March Mudsling” T-
shirts. It wasn’t just about winning:
IV Little League board members
thanked the umpires and the
volunteers who helped the event run
smoothly.
“[The board] would like to
thank all ten teams…for coming and
spending such an amazing weekend
with us in support of our own future
ballplayers. Without you, this would
not have worked,” Alvarez said.
(Courtesy photo for the Illinois Valley News)
Teams slop through the mud during the first Mudsling tournament Saturday, Mar. 19.
Illinois Valley played Brookings
Harbor on Tuesday, March 29, the
first team in a 3-A league of compa-
rable size, a possible peek into how
difficult upcoming matches against
Southern Cascade opponents might
be.
“[Brookings Harbor] seemed
to have some pretty good ball play-
ers last year,” Johnson said. “It’ll let
us know about where we stand with
some of these teams…I think we’ll
do fine.”
Assuming the weather cooper-
ates, the next scheduled game is 12
p.m. Saturday, April 2 at home against
Glide.
Academic Masters
competition
coming to IVHS
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
Josephine County’s
AcademicMasters
competition started in 1984
with the hopes of inspiring
and motivating students
to challenge themselves
intellectually.
Nearly 30 years later, the
program will come to Illinois
Valley High School on April
27. This week, IVHS faculty
will select the five Cougars
who will represent the school
in competition.
“It’s great to host this
year and to see Illinois Valley
students get support,” said
Academic Masters board
member Jack Dwyer. “They
came together for the basketball
team recently and I hope to see
that [support] again.”
According to Dwyer,
students from four schools
will compete at IVHS with
$15,000 in prize money at
stake. Students will test their
knowledge of English, science,
social studies and math; some
will perform a music selection
as well.
Students from Hidden
Valley, North Valley and
Grants Pass high schools
are scheduled to compete at
Illinois Valley. Contestants
will receive a question with
30 minutes to prepare an
answer and have five minutes
to present it — in front of an
audience.
“This is going to be a
great event for the school,”
Dwyer said. “I’d like to see IV
know about it and I applaud
the young students who will
be performing that night.”
Dwyer
said
local
organizations help support the
Academic Masters program,
allowing cash awards from
$300 to $1,200 for the winners.
The team with the highest
score will receive $250 for
their school.
As the “home team”
this year, Illinois Valley High
School also has the chance to
win a $250 award for having
the highest attendance.
Dwyer said he’s been on
the Academic Masters board
for three years, but taught at
Lorna Byrne Middle School
for 28 years before.
“This seems to be the
finest hour for our schools
when academic achievement
is recognized,” Dwyer said.
“I have not found a similar
contest anywhere else so it’s a