Sports
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cougars’ fastpitch win in final play
(Photo by Darcy Wallace, Illinois Valley News)
Senior Sabrina VanTassel wins the game with a close play at the plate in extra innings. St. Mary’s fell victim to the Cougs 8-7 Tuesday, May 10 at IVHS.
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
The Illinois Valley High School fastpitch
squad continued its end of season surge with an
8-7 victory over St. Mary’s Tuesday, May 10 in
overtime.
Both teams have come a long way from
the last time they faced each other April 23, in
a double-header where IVHS won the first and
lost the second.
On May 10, athletes made big plays on
the field as well as behind the plate. But with
increased experience and a better overall
knowledge of the game, the Lady Cougars
showed flexibility and improved skill — plus a
little bit of luck.
“The game was amazing,” said lead coach
Cathy Pope. “I think the girls wanted it more…
we worked [in practices] on base running and
strategic plays. We don’t always have to hit; in
the end, I had somebody sacrifice bunt, which
was pretty scary for sure. It doesn’t always
work out. But it worked out this time.”
Illinois Valley first took the lead 2-1, but
in the second inning St. Mary’s scored four runs
in a surge. The Lady Cougars answered with
another three runs to tie it up.
After one run each in the fifth, it became a
6-6 game. Neither team’s pitcher yielded much
more than a base hit. Several players would
hit fouls, only to have a pop fly caught by the
defense or a runner tagged out.
But according to Pope, the team has
learned another important element separating
good teams from better ones.
“I think they’re learning to trust me,” Pope
said. “Being told to steal or bunt isn’t always the
best option in their minds, but they trust in me.
Sometimes I haven’t made the right decision,
but when I tell them [to go for it], they do it
wholeheartedly.”
In the final inning, Lady Cougars stayed
levelheaded under pressure, even when facing
one or two strikes against them. The winning
play didn’t come from a series of hits or a
home run out of the park. Instead, a sacrifice
bunt helped Van Tassel slide home just in time,
called safe by the umpire for a Cougar win.
“It’s really hard to stay focused in the
box and be disciplined [when you’re down],
sometimes you’re taking half-swings at
everything,” Pope said. “[Van Tassel] was
aggressive on the bases and got some batters
to move her around. Sometimes things work in
your favor.”
Over the course of the season, an
inexperienced Illinois Valley team has had to
overcome many obstacles, sometimes playing
against older teams in 4-A, 5-A and 6-A schools
and making mistakes along the way.
Losing games at any level can make
anyone feel down, but according to Pope, they
had to make mistakes in order to learn to play
the game.
“We battle that sometimes,” Pope said.
“If one person starts putting herself down…it
spreads like wildfire on the field. This was
the first game where I think everybody made
mistakes and everybody played just as hard
going on, which made me feel good to see.”
Continued on B-4
Cougars gain momentum in blowout
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
(Photo by Darcy Wallace, Illinois Valley News)
Senior Bryan Biggs on the mound Tuesday, May 10.
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Continued on B-4
The Cougars had a rough
start to the baseball season, but
they’ve recently turned the tide
in league play, winning some
important games including
a crucial 5-4 victory against
Rogue River.
But on Tuesday, May
10, Illinois Valley went from
an 0-4 start to beat St. Mary’s
with a decisive 14-4 score,
solidifying their current third-
ranked position in the 3-A
Southern Cascade league.
According to coach Bob
Johnson, the team scored 14
runs on 13 hits with one error
in just five innings of play. Few
players had multiple hits, but
everyone had at least one, and
several more scored points.
Zach Anderson was the
starting pitcher, giving up four
runs but striking out four as
well. Bryan Biggs took over in
the third inning and ended with
three strikeouts and no runs or
walks. According to Johnson,
Tony Paulson and Lander
Nordal both had three hits, and
Tyler Andrews had two.
Illinois Valley’s confidence
is clearly building, with
athletes talking more and
encouraging each other on the
field and from the dugout.
Johnson believes some
recent wins are giving the
Cougars increased motivation
to continue on the successes
of the football and basketball
teams earlier in the year.
“They’ve kind of come
together as a team and they
care about each other,”
Johnson said. “They got a
taste of winning now — and
they like to win. All of this is
going to make our school keep
getting better. We’re going to
start getting the attitude that
we can play with anybody.”
After opening the season
against teams from 6-A
schools, the Cougars had to
overcome some early-season
mistakes to find they could in
fact hold their own.
Johnson also reiterated
the fact that many first-year
athletes were fresh from
Little League play and finding
themselves in a higher-stakes
playing field.
“The young guys are
going to make some mistakes
until we learn,” Johnson said.
“But we’ve learned really well.
And the older guys are playing
pretty well, and they’ve played
well most of the year.”
Johnson believes the 2011
team has more depth of talent
in their roster than previous
years, which could put the
Cougars in a good position to
make State.
At third in the league,
Illinois Valley will have to
win a playoff game against
the second-ranked team in
the
post-season. Though
remaining
regular-season
games might not have much
effect on their chance of State
play, it will no doubt give the
Cougars valuable momentum
if they win out.
Johnson said that after
the losses to Cascade Christian
May 6, the Challengers have
all but clinched the first place
position. Most likely, Rogue
River and Illinois Valley will
battle for the second spot.
If they go to State, Illinois
Valley could match up against
highly ranked teams such as
Glide, who is ranked sixth in
all of 3-A as of Friday, May 13.
But when the Cougars played
Glide back in early April, they
were only narrowly defeated 4-
5 in the second double-header
game.
“At State, there are only
16 teams, so anything can
happen,” Johnson said.
Lone thrower to represent Cougars
By Darcy Wallace
IVN Staff Writer
The Illinois Valley
High School track team
wrapped up a season
of big improvements
and personal records
Saturday, May 14 at the
Sunset League Special
District Meet.
In a league full
of tough competition,
track
coach
Ray
Yarbrough said senior
Kayla Johnson took
first in discus and
second in javelin, and
will advance to State in
both events.
“We only sent
one student to State but
had a lot of [personal
records],” Yarbrough
said. “We came in and
pushed some people
who probably didn’t
think they were going to
be pushed this much.”
Senior
Jesse
Bethke tied with two
others in high jump
with 5’6” for fourth
place. He also did
well in discus, but like
several other Cougars,
he was just short of a
State placement.
Celilo Nordal also
ran the 1,500-meter race
in 4 minutes 56 seconds,
one of several personal
records for Illinois
Valley.
Samantha
Milner also slashed her
time down to 5:39 in the
1,500-meter race.
Freshman Amanda
Brooks finished fourth
in
the
100-meter
dash, short of a State
placement but just tenths
of a second behind the
second- and third-place
runners.
“In our league, St.
Mary’s is a powerhouse
program,” Yarbrough
said, highlighting the
difficulty of the 3-
A Southern Cascade
league in track. “In
any other conference
[Brooks] would have
gone. She’s running
against the best of the
best.”
Continued on B-4