A9
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Coach:
Pirates:
Continued from Page A8
Continued from Page A8
Mitchell spent three
seasons at Hermiston, and
matched wits with Pendle-
ton’s legendary Don Requa.
“Of all the jobs I’ve had, I
enjoyed Hermiston as much
as any,” Mitchell said. “I had
some great games against
Don Requa. We had a great
game my first year. We had
a lead on them, but they beat
us 21-18. It was a great, great
team we had. It was a tremen-
dous effort, one of the best
I’ve had from a team.”
The victory ran Pendle-
ton’s win streak over Herm-
iston to 48 games, but it
was the first time in a long
while the matchup had been
competitive.
Mitchell will play Pend-
leton and coach Erik Davis
this fall, opening the season
Sept. 2 against the Bucks in
Bend.
In his final year at Herm-
iston, Mitchell led the team
to a 6-3 record — the best in
school history at the time —
and a runner-up finish in the
conference.
Mitchell has made a
few stops around the state,
compiling an overall record
of 95-105 over 21 seasons.
His last stop was at North
Medford from 2012-17, where
he went 33-30 in six seasons.
“North Medford was 0-11
in 2011,” Mitchell said. “I
took the job and two years
later we won the conference
and finished 10-2.”
Mitchell also coached
at South Albany (1972-74),
Grants Pass (1975), Hidden
Valley (1978-83) and Oregon
City (1984-85) before head-
ing to Sandpoint, Idaho
(2006-11).
Mitchell coached at
Wickenburg, Arizona, the
past four years, leading the
Wranglers to the state play-
offs three times and a 24-17
record.
Mitchell also coached at
the college level. He was the
head coach at Montana Tech
from 1976-77, and De Anza
College, in Cupertino, Cali-
fornia, from 2000-05. He
also was a long-time assistant
at Humboldt State in Califor-
nia.
Mitchell also served one
year as head coach of the
Zagreb Patriots in Croatia
(2012). The team went 6-0
and only allowed 17 points.
In 2015, he coached the
Uppsala 86’ers in Sweden’s
Super Series league. The
team finished 7-4 and
advanced to the semifinals.
Mitchell was named the
league’s Coach of the Year.
That was just part of the
longest day in the life of a
Riverside Pirate.
The baseball team left
home at 5:30 a.m. and
headed out for its 226-mile
trip to Nyssa. Their bus
broke down 10 miles out of
La Grande. With the track
team right behind them, a
plan was put in motion.
The track team would
pick up the baseball team.
The track team would be
dropped off in Baker City,
and another bus would be
sent to take it home.
With no under bus stor-
age, all of the track and base-
ball equipment was stuffed
onto the bus. Athletes and
ON THE SLATE
Schedule subject to change
THURSDAY, MAY 12
Prep baseball
Sherman at Pilot Rock, 4 p.m.
Prep softball
Grant Union at Pilot Rock (2), 4 pm.
FRIDAY, MAY 13
Prep baseball
Riverside at Umatilla, 1 p.m.
Heppner at Lyle (2), 2 p.m.
Irrigon at Vale (2), 2 p.m. (MT)
Ontario at McLoughlin (2), 3 p.m.
Prep softball
Riverside at Umatilla, 1 p.m.
Irrigon at Vale (2), 2 p.m. (MT)
Heppner/Ione at Union (2), 2 p.m.
Echo/Stanfield at Weston-McEwen
(2), 2 p.m.
Grant Union at Pilot Rock (2), 2 p.m.
Ontario at McLoughlin (2), 3 p.m.
Track and field
Griswold, Ione at 1A-SD3 Champi-
onships, Wasco County, noon
MCC Championships at Hermis-
ton, 3 p.m.
Pendleton at IMC Championships,
Prineville, 4:30 p.m.
Heppner, Pilot Rock, Stanfield/Echo
at District 2A-5 Championships,
Weston-McEwen, 11 a.m.
Irrigon, Riverside, Umatilla at
3A-SD3 Championships, La Pine,
3 p.m.
Prep tennis
Pendleton boys and girls at IMC dis-
trict tournament, Redmond
College softball
Columbia Basin at Blue Mountain
(2), 2 p.m.
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coaches were doubled up
in seats, and they made the
most of it until they got to
Baker City.
“When they first told us
we were picking up the base-
ball team, I thought they
Thursday, May 12, 2022
finished its marathon day,
it loaded up and had plans
on stopping in Ontario for
dinner.
They didn’t get out of the
parking lot.
“We fired up the bus we
to a convenience store to
get something to drink and
make a plan. They ended up
at the Tex-Mex Express for
dinner. It was the only place
still open.
“We got to sit down and
“WE FIRED UP THE BUS WE GOT FROM THE
TRACK TEAM AND THE BUS DRIVER SMELLED
SOMETHING. IT WASN’T GOING ANYWHERE.
WE HAD TO WAIT FOR THE TRACK TEAM
TO COME AND GET US.”
— Tyler Davis, Riverside baseball coach
were joking,” Riverside track
coach Vivianna Colin said.
Everything seemed to be
running smoothly. The first
bus that broke down was
fixed and sent to Baker City.
When the baseball team
got from the track team and
the bus driver smelled some-
thing,” Davis said. “It wasn’t
going anywhere. We had to
wait for the track team to
come and get us.”
The baseball team walked
have a meal together,” Davis
said. “It was fun hanging out
with this bunch of guys.”
When the track team
arrived 3 ½ hours later, the
baseball team was waiting,
cell phone lights beaming to
lead the way.
“The track team had it
worse,” Davis said. “They
had an extra four hours
added on coming to get us.”
With everything and
everyone loaded, the bus
headed for home.
You know it can’t end
there.
The bus’s warning signal
turned on just outside of
Baker City. The bus drivers
bought a bunch of coolant
and got the bus to La Grande,
where another bus was wait-
ing for the last leg of the jour-
ney home.
“The track team said they
don’t want to share a bus
with us again,” Davis said.
“It was definitely memora-
ble.”
In case you are wonder-
ing, Nyssa won the first game
of the doubleheader 13-3.
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MAY 18, 2022
CHAMBER
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Box lunches available to grab after
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