Section
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY, APRIL 2 1981
The Sandy Post
Sports
and Recreation
Pioneers falter
in late going;
drop 3 games
by MARK FLOYD
The old late inning jin x got to the San
dy High baseball team again
The Pioneers played a lot of good
baseball, but faltered in the late going
and suffered three losses last week, all
to non league opponents
Gresham claimed a 6 1 win over the
Pioneers, Thursday, and Sandy lost a
doubleheader to Class A A power St
Helens Saturday. The visitors took a 10
squeaker in the first game, then unload
ed the big tim ber in the nightcap for a
9-3 win.
Sandy and Gresham locked up in a
pitchers’ dual for five innings, the
Gophers taking a 2 1 lead at that point
Mike Contreras pitched for Sandy and
"d id a pretty fa ir jo b ," according to
coach Curtis Heath But Contreras tired
in the sixth and Gresham came up with
a pair of runs on an error, a single and
two doubles
Contreras yielded to Keith Powell,
but the Gophers came up with two more
in the seventh to put the game on ice
“ Gresham didn't hit us a ll that hard,
but errors in the fifth and sixth really
hurt us," Heath said "They got most of
their hits in those last innings ”
Sandy, meanwhile, rapped eight hits
but stranded eight runners. The
Pioneers just never bunched their hits
and couldn't get a ra lly going They
scored their only run in the fifth when
Mitch Paola singled, stole second and
scored on a single by Mo Contreras.
Gresham scored five of its six runs in
the last three innings
The Pioneers got into another p it
chers’ dual Saturday in the opener w ith
St. Helens, the defending state AA
champs The Lions scored once in the
second and the run stood up as St.
Helens held on to take the 1-0 win.
Lori Shelton (left) takes the handoff from Sandy teammate Gayle Both to start the second leg of the 100-meter relay. Jackson won Ihe race, but Sandy took the meet in the girls competition.
I’holo by Murk Floyd
Pioneers split opener with Raiders
by MARK FLOYD
A powerful Jackson squad humbled
the Sandy High boys track team 100 45.
Thursday, but the Pioneer girls claim
ed a 68*2-564 win over the visiting
Raiders
The g irls' win came despite the
absence of two strong distance runners,
Laura Stringharn and Donna Nelson.
Roth were out with an illness and both
were likely first place points.
But the Pioneers made up for the
absence with depth and some good ef
forts from their underclassmen.
‘‘I was pleased with the p erfor
mances of our freshmen, in fact,
everyone competed w ell,” Sandy coach
Randy Hutchinson said "A lot of kids
got PRs and we were ahead of our first
meet performance of last year.”
Sandy scored heavily in the field
events The Pioneers swept the shot
put. the high jum p and the javelin and
won every fie ld event Stephanie
Hagstrom took the javelin with a good
early-season throw of 124-8, then came
back to win the discus at 104-3.
Paige Daugherty took the shot with a
put of 32-2 and had impressive marks in
the javelin, 110-3 for second, and discus,
103-2, also good for second
Freshman Shawny Thoreson cleared
4 9 in the high jum p to take that event
"T h a t was a pleasant surprise,” Hut
chinson said “ She hasn't jumped much
and we haven't had many jumpers late
ly. She’s got a lot of potential.”
Hutchinson was also pleased with the
long jumpers Shelby Dries won with a
15-1*2 jum p and teammate Sandra
Peterson was second, 15-0
Jackson scored heavily in the sprints,
but the Pioneers got a win from Renee
Hess in the 1,500 meters The senior
was timed in 5:30.7. Sandy also got
some important second places Darby
Binder clocked a 1.05.2 in the 400 for se
cond and Sharon Jensen was a second
behind in third Dries was second in the
8(Hl, 2:39 2, and Kelly Douglas came up
with a second in the .3.< mm > meters with a
14 22 o
Gayle Roth won the 300-intermediate
hurdles in 52 3. but w ill be out of action
for a while after having her tonsils
removed She also placed second in the
h ig h jum p
The boys competition wasn't par
ticu la rly close, but the Pioneers did
have several bright spots, mainly in the
field events
Scott Skipper won the shot and
ja v e lin and set SUHS sophomore
records in both In fact, his winning
180 2 throw in the shot was the best
throw in the state early this season.
Skipper won the shot w ith a put of 46-5
The javelin was Sandy's best event
The Pioneers swept as Richard Doering
took second, 149 10, and Mike Marleau
c la im e d t h ir d , 130 11
Bob Nippert claimed the high jum p
with a best of 5-10, narrowly missing on
two attempts at 6-feet.
Sandy's only other win came in the
400 meters as Steve Metelak came on to
win in 54 4 He also took second in the
trip le jum p with a personal best 37-7*2.
The Pioneers showed a lot of potential
despite the loss Dale Rasmussen got
off a 45 6 shot put effort with a standing
throw, Doug Baucom was second in the
high jum p with a 5 6 personal best;
Locke Christman came up with his best
discus throw, a 122 0 for second;
freshman Sam Romey turned in a very
respectable 4:32 4 third place in the
1,500-meters, Kevin Layng and Russell
F o rk broke up Jackson's s p rin t
dominance w ith third places, and a
number of Pioneers on the ju n io r varsi
ty came up w ith good marks.
Sandy's JV team won the meet 62 35
Sandy w in n e rs w ere Joel Dose,
1,500-meters; Christman, shot put, B ill
Bowman, high jum p, Bob Rathke, 100
meters, Rasmussen, discus; Kevin
Weister, javelin, and Nippert, trip le
jum p
The Sandy girls won their JV contest
by a tight 42 40 score Sandy winners
were Denise Proctor, discus and shot
p u t, and Hess, 3 0 0 -in te rm e d ia te
hurdles.
The next meet for the Pioneers w ill be
this Thursday when Sandy hosts
Estacada The meet was scheduled for
Tuesday but postponed due to cold,
rainy conditions
The first event w ill Ix’gin at 3:45 p m.
Sandy nabs softball win
Sandy picked up its first softball win
of the season Friday and it couldn’t
have come at a better time
The 1-7 Pioneers have been playing
teams tough all season, but losing by a
run or two Friday, however, the p it
ching jelled and the Pioneers came
away with a 3-1 win over Silverton on
the Foxes' home field
The win was significant because it
came in Tim ber Valley League play.
Sandy stands 1-1 in the TVL after the
win and a surprisingly close 7-1 defeat
at the hands of state power and league
favorite Oregon City Wednesday
But it was the Silverton win which
pleased Sandy coach Gary Curtis the
most
"We maintained our mental com
posure.” he said "We kept our com
posure and didn't get rattled Once they
loaded the bases and we shut them
down without a run “
In fact, Sandy shut down the Foxes
for the first six innings without a run
Silverton got its lone run, an unearned
one at that in the seventh and final inn
ing
Sandy, meanwhile, picked up a run in
the first and two in the fifth , thanks to a
couple of hits, a few walks and some ag
gressive baserunning
Debbie Rudisill led the Pioneer bat
ting attack w ith a two for four after
noon, but the standout of the game had
to be Patty Gray The southpaw fired a
six h itte r on the mound and fanned five
Silverton batters More im portantly,
she held down her base on balls to just
two, never allowing the Foxes to get a
ra lly started
The Pioneers w ill now face Molalla
and Estacada, both teams picked for
the second division of the TVL But a
bigger problem looms with the recent
rainouts, keeping the team sharp for
whenever the next game might be
played
"We are looking forward to Molalla
and Estacada, but our biggest problem
w ill be m aintaining our attitude and in
tensity," Curtis said “ I'm happy with
our progress, though We're not com
placent in our project We know we can
improve some more
‘ But I'm pleased with the progress
we've shown so fa r ”
Rain erases prep slate
A week of downpours has wreaked
havoc on the spring sports schedule at
Sandy High School.
As expected, baseball, tennis and
softball contests were rained out, as
well as track and golf, sports which are
usually played under adverse condi
tions
The calendar on page 2 of this section
carries the original slate of games
scheduled for next week A number of
additions have been made
This Thursday, A pril 2. the SUHS
baseball team w ill travel to Sweet
Home The freshmen baseball team
w ill be at Oregon City A softball game,
varsity only, is scheduled for Estacada
and the track team w ill boat Estacada.
Sandy's boys tennis team w ill travel to
Molalla while the girls w ill host the In
dians.
The Pioneer softball team w ill host
Canby Friday. The baseball team is
also at home, taking on West Linn w hile
the freshmen baseball team w ill play at
the Lions' home field A golf match is
scheduled at Canby
S andy w il l p la y a b a s e b a ll
doubleheader this Saturday at Centen
nial and the track team w ill compete at
the Tim ber Valley league Invitational
at Oregon City.
Monday 's schedule includes a softball
game at Tigard, baseball at Molalla,
boys tennis at Sweet Home and g irls
tennis at home against the Huskies
Randy M artin opened on the mound
for Sandy and survived some early
wildness to settle down and pitch five
good innings K raig G ifford came on in
relief The two combined to halt St.
Helens on one run, scattering 10 hits.
But the Pioneer bats were a bit silent as
Sandy could manage just three hits and
stranded seven baserunners.
In fact, Sandy loaded up the bases in
the fifth w ith just one out and couldn’t
pick up a run Mo Contreras grounded
into a force out at home, then John M a r
tin fanned with the bags fu ll to end the
inning
“ It was a case of us not cashing in ,”
Heath said “ It was a good game,
though Keith Powell played a te rrific
defensive game for us at shortstop He
had two or three diving saves on ground
balls and caught two pop flies headed
for the outfield "
The pitchers' battle went out the w in
dow in the second game, at least, after
a while Powell got the call on the
mound and held St Helens in check for
four innings while the Pioneers got a 2-0
lead But in the fifth , the proverbial roof
fell in
St. Helens started to get to Powell,
and Heath yanked him G ifford came
in, but by the tim e the Pioneers could
stem the tide, the Lions had five runs on
seven hits in the inning Two of those
hits were doubles
St. Helens then got three hits in the
sixth and four in the seventh to put the
game away
"Those firs t four innings were as
good a pitching performance as we've
had all year from a p itch e r," Heath
said of Powell. "B u t then things fell
apart a bit “
Sandy got two runs in the firs t on RBI
grounders by Mo Contreras and Troy
Bangs A solo run in the seventh
resulted from an RBI single by Chris
Davis, scoring Randy M artin
Despite the losses, the 2-6-1 Pioneers
rem ain in good shape in the topsy-turvy
Tim ber Valley League. Sandy has an
0-1 record and there doesn't seem to be
a powerhouse team this year Everyone
looks capable of beating everyone else
Sandy was scheduled to play Molalla
Wednesday (results unavailable at
press tim e !, then Sweet Home Thurs
day and West Linn Friday
A number of these players off the 1962 Sandy High team will be participating in the second annual Alumni Tourna
ment Scheduled to play are Milt Marcy (fourth from left», Mick Hoffman (fifth from left», Gerald Hale (fourth from
right * and Dan Nichols (third from right*.
Alumni tourney opens April 9
The second annual Sandy High
Alumni Basketball Tournament w ill
get underway this Wednesday. April
9. and continue through Saturday.
The field is expanded to 12 teams
this season following the success of
last year's tourney The defending
champs, the Class of l97f-72, w ill be
back to challenge for the trophy once
more
Also in this ye a r’s field w ill be a
team from I960 and back and a team
of grads from 1961 66
The oldest returning player w ill be
Gordon Nilsen, who graduated in
1953
I^ist year's leading scorer, Alan
Nippert. may be unable to play
because of other commitments, but
the other top players are all return
ing, including form er Portland State
player Jack Paola and 6 foot 9 Rick
Zim merman, who played in Europe
The first games w ill begin at 6 30
p m Wednesday in the upstairs and
downstairs gyms at SUHS.
The tourney w ill culminate .Satur
day when 10 teams w ill play, in
cluding two for the championship at
8 p.m.
Also scheduled for “ Super Satur
day' is an alumni barbecue and
dance. The barbecue is sponsored by
the Future Farm ers of Am erica, the
dance by the SUHS booster club The
Sandy High band w ill play music of
the '50s, 60s. ’70s and 80 s.
Tickets w ill be 82 each night for
adults and students
For more inform ation, call Sandy
High at 668 8011.
That many games in a row could
deplete a pitching staff, but it may work
to the Pioneers' advantage Sandy has
five or six pitchers who are adequate,
but no real stopper Their depth may
neutralize some of the other teams that
rely on one or two fireballers to get
them through a season
McDevitt tops
in hoop benefit
John M cD evitt of Sandy was the top
local participant in the Jack Ramsay
B asketball Shootout E a s te r Seals
benefit.
M cDevitt collected M2 in pledges
Contributions were collected based on
the number of baskets the participants
could sink within a three m inute period
Ramsay coach of the Portland T ra il
Blasera, is a national Easter Seals of
ficial.