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Peal will throw for George Fox
Pitcher is school’s
lone first-team
all-state player
since 2014
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
A
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
tHeNa — blane Peal
is a three-sport athlete at
Weston-mcewen High
School, but his first love is
baseball.
the senior right-handed
pitcher recently signed a letter of intent to
play baseball at George Fox University,
Newberg, to continue his career on the
mound.
“I’m very excited,” Peal said. “They are
a good engineering school, which is what
I was looking for. I met with their coach
(Kevin Kopple) and he was a really super
guy. We hit it off. It (George Fox) filled all the
boxes I wanted. It was the perfect situation.”
there is so much to like about Peal as a
player and a student. He is a 4.0 student and
will receive an academic scholarship from
the school.
On the field, Peal can pitch, play shortstop
and hit the heck out of the ball.
“This will be a good thing for him,”
tigerScots coach Shawn Pierce said. “He
has a bright future. He is one of those kids
— not just the athlete, but the human being
that comes with it. No way any college coach
would talk to him and say, ‘I don’t want that
kid.’ ”
Peal was a first-team Blue Mountain
Conference selection, and a first-team
2a/1a all-state player his junior year. He is
the school’s lone first-team all-state player
since tyler Simmons in 2014, according to
Pierce.
Weston-McEwen finished the modified
spring season with a 6-7 record, but handed
Dufur its first loss, 3-0 on May 1. Peal picked
up the win in that game, allowing one hit and
striking out 11.
On the year, Peal hit .630, with 10 doubles,
three triples, four home runs, 23 RBIs and 22
runs scored. In 54 plate appearances, he only
struck out three times.
He pitched 29.2 innings. He gave up seven
hits, four earned runs, struck out 59, walked
14 and had an ERA of .94. He finished with
a 4-0 record.
“His baseball numbers are ungodly,”
Pierce said. “I’m very proud of him. He
works super hard and he means a lot to me.
He’s a great kid.”
Peal said he will be pitching at George
Fox. He said they did not discuss whether he
would see any action at the plate.
“Pitching has always been the most
enjoyable part of baseball for me,” Peal said.
the bruins are a program steeped in
history. they won the 2004 d-III national
Hodgen Distributing’s Blane Peal fields the ball as a River City Athletics player slides into second base on July 19, 2021, at Bob White Field
in Pendleton. Hodgen won the first game 13-11 and lost the second 9-7.
See Peal, Page B2
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Hodgen Distributing’s Blane Peal throws a pitch July 6, 2021, against the Columbia Gorge Hustlers at Bob White Field in Pendleton. Peal
recently signed a letter of intent to play baseball at George Fox University, Newberg.
Lee Insko remembered for a legacy of compassion
eou coach had
an impact on his
former players
By DICK MASON
The Observer
La GraNde — Lee Insko led
Eastern Oregon University to many
triumphs in the athletic arena during
his 14 seasons as a head coach for
the mountaineers. but along the way
Insko did much more than win.
Insko, who died Nov. 16 at
Grande ronde Hospital, La Grande,
at age 86, also taught life lessons so
timeless and enduring that some of
his players did not fully appreciate
them until decades later.
“I never realized the impact he
had had on my life until I got older, “
said Greg Oveson, of Wallowa.
Oveson played for Eastern from
1970 to 1973, during the first half of
Insko’s 10-year tenure as eastern’s
head football coach, which ran from
1968 through 1977.
Oveson went to become an
educator and high school coach. He
said there have been many instances
in which he has encountered issues
in coaching and thought back to how
Insko handled them. He remem-
bered the compassion Insko showed
Eastern Oregon University/Contributed Photo
Lee Insko served as a coach at Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, for
14 years and later was named the dean of EOU’s distance education pro-
gram. He died Nov. 16, 2021, at the age of 86.
his players and tries to replicate it.
Oveson also recalled how Insko
balanced being a competitor with-
out having a triumph at all costs atti-
tude.
“He loved to win, but wanted to
do it right, with hard work and inten-
sity,” Oveson said of Insko, who later
became an eou dean and helped
jump start eastern’s groundbreak-
ing distance education program.
the highlights of Insko’s gridiron
coaching career at eastern included
a 21-19 upset of national power
Carroll College at Helena, montana,
in 1974. It was the Fighting Saints’
only home loss that season, its first
in Helena since 1972.
Insko stepped down as eastern’s
football coach in 1978 to become the
mountaineers’ head men’s basket-
ball coach. He guided the men’s
hoopsters for the next four seasons,
winning 54 games in the process.
His cast of roundball players
included Emmett “Rodney” Roberts
who played for the mountaineers
from 1978 to 1980.
“He was one of the most kind
hearted men I’ve ever met in my
life,” Roberts said. “He had a heart
of gold. Whether you were on the
varsity or the junior varsity, he was
concerned and showed compassion.
He was such a blessing in our lives.”
roberts came to eastern from
bowie, maryland.
“I was a long way from home
but I never felt alone because coach
always made sure I was OK,”
roberts said.
the former eou player returned
to La Grande earlier this year to visit
Insko and his family.
“I felt like I was their son because
of the way they treated me,” Roberts
said.
Gary vaughn of Pendleton, who
played football for Insko in the early
1970s, was struck by how Insko
treated all of his players the same
regardless of their talent level.
“Lee Insko was always one of my
favorite coaches because every one
of his players really mattered to him
and it always showed,” Vaughn said.
“Lee didn’t care if you were the star
or the last man on a roster, you were
going to be coached hard and taught
the game. His humor, decency and
kindnesses was always on display.”
vaughn, who said Insko won
several regional coach of the awards,
later served on his coaching staff.
“When I coached for him, he
expected the same from his assis-
tants, how we all treated and cared
for each other was very important
to him. He became family and your
players were like family,” Vaughn
said.
Insko later served as dean
of eastern’s distance educa-
tion program for eight years after
ending his coaching career at eou
in 1982. dixie Lund, who worked
under Insko while he led eastern’s
distance education program, cred-
ited Insko with doing a remarkable
job furthering the development of
the distance education program. the
program was one of the first in the
nation to allow students to earn a
degree without attending classes on
a college campus. today, it remains
one of the most successful distance
education programs in the region.
Lund also credited Insko with
being a remarkable mentor for her.
“I just had so much respect for
everything about him,” Lund said.
“He was a role model for the rest of
us to follow.”
She said Insko urged her to earn
a doctorate degree, which she later
did.
“That was the best advice anyone
could have given me,” Lund said.
Still she vividly remembered
how concerned Insko was about the
See Insko, Page B2