E AST O REGONIAN
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
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A10
nWaC
delays
basketball
Move made because
of COVId concerns
East Oregonian
PendLeTOn — Blue Moun-
tain Community College and the
rest of the northwest athletic
Conference will pause their winter
sports seasons until the week of
Jan. 17.
“We believe this decision is bene-
ficial to our student-athletes, coaches
and the athletic support staff, as the
cancellation of games within the
nWaC and across the athletic land-
scape continues,” nWaC executive
director Marco azurdia said in a
press release. “Our goal is to get our
league games played as they are the
most important games on the sched-
ule, give our student-athletes a sense
of normalcy as they work towards
a championship opportunity, while
being as safe as possible.”
See NWAC, Page A11
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton pitcher Sauren Garton throws out a pitch April 20, 2021, during the second inning against the Redmond Panthers in Pendleton.
Garton has signed to play at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah.
FROM BARN TO
BIG LEAGUES
Pendleton’s
Garton signs
to play softball
at Dixie State
Schedule subject to change
TUESDAY, JAN. 4
Prep girls basketball
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 4 p.m.
Lewiston, Idaho at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler at Echo, 6 p.m.
McLoughlin at Stanfield, 6 p.m.
Liberty Christian (Washington) at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
River View (Washington) at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Griswold, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Pendleton at La Grande, 7 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 5:30 p.m.
Lewiston, Idaho at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
McLoughlin at Stanfield, 7:30 p.m.
Liberty Christian (Washington) at Irrigon,
7:30 p.m.
River View (Washington) at Umatilla, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Griswold, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 5
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at Baker, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 6
Prep girls bowling
Hermiston at Kamiakin, 2:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 7
Prep girls basketball
Kennewick at Hermiston, 5:45 p.m.
Vale at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Nyssa at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler 6 p.m.
Griswold at Cove, 6 p.m.
Sherman at Echo, 6 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Condon, 6 p.m.
La Salle at Pendleton, 6:30 p.m.
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
endLeTOn — In a barn just
outside of town, sauren Garton
takes cuts in the batting cage and
works on her fastball.
The Pendleton softball player
needed a place to hone her skills during the
COVId-19 pandemic and the winter months,
and the family barn was the perfect place.
Garton’s hard work paid off. She recently
signed to play at dixie state university in st.
George, utah.
“I’m really, really excited,” Garton said.
“They have always been at the top of my list.
after a tournament, I got in touch with the
coach (randy simkins) and he made me an
offer. I went on an official visit (at the end of
september). I just felt so right. It was just so
clean and felt so safe.”
The outdoor activities that will be right
out her front door also was a selling point for
Garton.
“When I was thinking about where I
wanted to go to college, I wanted somewhere
warm, and that there was something else to
do,” Garton said. “I wanted outdoor things.”
Garton was one of five players recently
signed by simkins.
“Our 2022 signing class has the chance to
be special for Trailblazer softball,” simkins
said in a press release. “They are all great
people, very good students, extremely
talented and have an unmatched work ethic.
It will be a challenging journey for them
because our graduating seniors have expe-
rienced tremendous success and have left a
winning legacy.”
The 5-foot-10 Garton, who pitches and
plays second base, was signed as a pitcher for
dixie state. If given the chance, she’d also like
to play in the outfield.
“Garton is a special talent who will come
in and compete for innings right away with
our pitching staff,” Simkins said. “She has
put up big strikeout numbers with her high
school and travel ball teams. she’s also a very
good hitter who will add depth to our lineup
offensively. We’re excited to see her compete
at the d1 level.”
Garton shares the excitement.
“They are one of the most competitive
ON THE SLATE
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton’s Sauren Garton steals third base before stealing home plate after a missed catch
April 27, 2021, against the The Dalles Riverhawks in Pendleton.
teams,” she said. “I also love the logo (a bison
head) and the colors (red, white and blue), they
are so american.”
While her letter of intent says dixie
state university, by the time Garton gets to
dixie state, the name of the school will have
changed to utah Tech university.
“WHEN I WAS
THINKING
ABOUT WHERE I
WANTED TO GO
TO COLLEGE,
I WANTED
SOMEWHERE WARM,
AND THAT THERE
WAS SOMETHING
ELSE TO DO.”
— Sauren Garton, Pendleton softball
“It’s all tied around the ties to the Confeder-
acy,” dixie state President richard Williams
told the Deseret News. “It first started with the
Confederate flag, went to a Rebel nickname
and to the mascot. every president that had
preceded me has had something that they’ve
had to change. We haven’t changed the right
thing, which is going to be the name of the
institution.”
A star from the start
Garton has played varsity softball for the
Bucks since she was a freshman. Her soph-
omore year was wiped out by the pandemic,
and her junior year was jam packed into just
a few weeks.
“I’m excited for my senior year,” Garton
said. “We have a lot of seniors. My high school
catcher is Bri youncs. she has caught me from
elementary school on. We work really well
together.”
during her junior year, Garton hurled 44
innings through 12 games and finished with
a 6-0 record. she gave up 20 hits and seven
earned runs, but struck out 95 and walked 18.
she had an era of 1.114.
Garton and Kylie Parsons were named
co-Pitchers of the year in the Intermountain
Conference. Garton also earned second-team
all-state honors as a pitcher.
At the plate, Garton hit .476, with five
singles, five doubles, six triples and four home
runs. she also drove in 18 runs and scored
26 times.
The Bucks won the IMC regular-season
title with a 9-0 record, but dropped an 8-4
game to ridgeview in the district title game.
They finished the season 15-2.
Garton has played summer ball in Califor-
nia, and this summer will join the The norCal
Choppers.
See Garton, Page A11
Prep boys basketball
Pendleton at La Salle, 7:15 p.m.
Kennewick at Hermiston, 7:30 p.m.
Vale at Irrigon, 7:30 p.m.
Nyssa at Riverside, 7:30 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Stanfield at Pilot Rock, 7:30 p.m.
Griswold at Cove, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Imbler, 7:30 p.m.
Sherman at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Condon, 7:30 p.m.
College women’s basketball
EOU vs. Warner Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
College men’s basketball
EOU vs. Warner Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
Preps boys wrestling
Echo/Stanfield, Heppner/Ione, Riverside at Jo-Hi
Invitational, noon
Hermiston at Rollie Lane, Nampa, Idaho, TBD
College men’s wrestling
EOU at Arizona Christian, 4 p.m.
SATURDAY, JAN. 8
Prep girls basketball
McLoughlin at Ontario, 3 p.m.
Heppner at Grant Union, 4 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Union, 4 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 4 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 4 p.m.
Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler at Ione/Arlington, 4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
McLoughlin at Ontario, 4:30 p.m.
Heppner at Grant Union, 5:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Union, 5:30 p.m.
Elgin at Nixyaawii, 5:30 p.m.
Echo at Bickleton, 5:30 p.m.
Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler at Ione/Arlington,
5:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Stanfield, 4 p.m.
College women’s basketball
EOU vs. Multnomah, 3 p.m.
College men’s basketball
EOU vs. Multnomah, 5 p.m.
Preps boys wrestling
Echo/Stanfield, Heppner/Ione, Riverside at Jo-Hi
Invitational, noon
Hermiston at Rollie Lane, Nampa, Idaho, TBD
College men’s wrestling
EOU at Embry-Riddle (Arizona), 6 p.m.
Prep swimming
Pendleton at Jay Rowen Invite, Redmond, TBD
MONDAY, JAN. 10
Prep girls basketball
Stanfield at Enterprise, 5 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Stanfield at Enterprise, 6:30 p.m.