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Thursday, May 12, 2022
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A8
What a day to be a Pirate
Riverside is part
of record-setting
game amid
bussing issues
Mike Mitchel/Contributed Photo
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Former Hermiston football coach Mike Mitchell, shown here
during his stint at North Medford High School, where he
coached 2012-17, is the new football coach at Caldera High
School in Bend.
B
Oar dMaN —
T he r ive r side
baseball team was
part of a record-set-
ting game Friday,
May 6, at Nyssa — and it
had nothing to do with its
bus breaking down three
times, or the Pirates return-
ing home 23 hours after they
left.
The Bulldogs and Pirates
combined for 66 runs in the
second game of their East-
ern Oregon League double-
header, tying a 45-year-old
Oregon record for the most
runs in a single game.
dufur and Cascade
Locks combined for 66 runs
in 1977 when the rangers
beat the Pirates 63-3.
riverside’s 30 runs set an
Oregon record for most runs
by a losing team.
“I was happy,” river-
side coach Tyler davis said.
“After that first game, we
were short on pitchers for
the day. We tried to extend
the arms as much as we
could. It was a close game
until we had to go to our
bench.”
riverside scored nine
runs in the first inning, then
gave up 11 to Nyssa.
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Riverside’s Tyler Thomas hits the ball April 8, 2022, against Irrigon. Riverside was part of
a record-setting game Friday, May 6, at Nyssa, with the two teams combining for 66 runs
in one game.
“With the inexperience,
it has been a pretty up and
down year,” davis said. “I
was a little worried how
they would respond. We
hadn’t given up 11 runs in
an inning.”
r ive r side pit che r s
combined to throw 291
pitches, and simply ran out
of arms down the stretch as
the Bulldogs hung on for a
36-30 victory in a game that
lasted nearly four hours.
“They did as good as
I could have hoped for a
bunch of freshmen with
little experience.”
riley Lantis led the
Pirates with three doubles,
five runs scored and seven
rBIs. Will Killion added
four hits, five rBIs and
three runs scored.
See Pirates, Page A9
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Riverside runner Riley Lantis crosses home plate while
playing Irrigon on April 8, 2022. Plenty of Riverside players
made it to home Friday, May 6, on the road against Nyssa —
losing 36-30, a state record for most runs by a losing team.
Former Hermiston coach
on the sidelines in Bend
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
BENd — Former herm-
iston football coach Mike
Mitchell is returning to the
sidelines in Oregon, this
time as the coach at Caldera,
Bend’s newest high school.
“This is a really good
opportunity, and I decided
to come back and put this
together,” Mitchell said.
Caldera, which opened
last year and played a junior
varsity schedule, will make its
varsity debut this year. Mitch-
ell replaces Neil Fendall, who
stepped down to become
the defensive coordinator at
southern Oregon university.
Mitchell grew up in des
Moines, Washington, and
went to Mount rainier high
school. he played football
at Idaho for one year under
dee andros, then followed
andros to Oregon state
Something powerful and beautiful is rising from the ashes across our
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and most unifying strengths — kindness. So elemental, yet so brave.
Awakened by an urgent need for connection and compassion. Kindness
has inspired us to listen. To learn. To lend a hand. To take care of each
other. Now we have the opportunity to keep it lit. Let's not let it smolder.
Let's fan the embers in our hearts. Let's keep kindness at the forefront
of our lives, and live as open examples of it. Kindness inspires kindness.
And here, in our Oregon, that is what makes us —
NeighbORly
[ INSPIRING KINDNESS ACROSS OREGON ]
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O R E G O N C F.O R G /N E I G H B O R LY
university, where he was a
backup quarterback for the
Beavers.
His first job out of college
was as the offensive coor-
dinator at Corvallis high
school, where he coached
a young Mike riley, who
would later coach at Oregon
state university.
The following year in
1969, at just 23 years old,
Mitchell accepted the coach-
ing job in hermiston. at the
time, he was the youngest
coach in the state, and was
inheriting a program that
had gone a combined 0-32
the previous three years.
“Jack Jenkins was the
principal at the time,” Mitch-
ell said. “I told him I wasn’t
ready to be a head coach yet.
he told me I had to get ready
sometime. Best thing that
ever happened to me.”
See Coach, Page A9