B1
WEDNESDAY
May 22, 2019
WE’RE NUMBER 1!
Courtesy Photo/Jessica Anderson
WE’RE NUMBER 1! The Wallowa Valley Outlaws combined softball team shows the world they have what it takes to be number one in their league after defeating Nyssa and Vale,
15-5 and 9-8 respectively, at district championships over the weekend.
OUTLAWS WIN DISTRICT TITLE
Softball squad
upends Vale on
path to playoff s
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
How do you go from third
place to the league title in
one weekend? Beat all your
opponents at district play and
walk off with the trophy.
After their lopsided 14-2
win over Irrigon on Tues-
day, May 14 to even get
into districts, the Outlaws
went to district in Vale,
where they steamrolled over
Nyssa, 15-5, on Saturday,
May 18 and followed with a
9-8 squeaker over formerly
undefeated Vale.
Despite what appears an
easy game, Coach Gary Gas-
sett said the battle was very
close until the later innings.
The Outlaws were down 4-2
in the third when Rylin Kirk-
land hit a two-run rocket out
of the park that locked the
score at 4-4. Going into the
fi fth inning, freshman bat
hero, Liz Rowley, blasted a
two-run shot, her third in two
games, for a 6-4 lead. The
girls added some insurance
with fi ve runs in the sixth
to break the game open and
added four more in the sev-
enth for kicks.
Coach Gassett said the
squad had 17 hits — one of
their highest totals of the
season.
“We put it on ‘em,” he
said. “Everybody in the start-
ing lineup got a hit, and it
was our second consecutive
game with no errors.”
Hurler Lexie Gassett went
the distance for the Outlaws.
The senior scattered fi ve
earned runs on 11 hits while
chalking up a strikeout and
2014
DUTCHMEN
a free pass while throwing
only 78 pitches.
Claire Farwell went 2 for
4 with a double and three
runs scored while Gassett
helped her cause with a 2 for
4 plate performance while
scoring three runs. Freshman
batmeister, Rowley, went 3
for 4 with fi ve RBIs from her
homer and a two-run double.
Kirkland was 1 for three with
two RBIs on her homer and
two runs scored. Samantha
McFarland was 3 for 5 with
two RBIs and a run scored
while Aysia Salim was 2
for 5 with a double and two
RBIs and two runs scored.
The 9-8 victory versus
undefeated Vale proved even
more exciting. The game
started on an ominous note
when Gassett, in her second
start of the day, took a mon-
ster line drive to the chest.
“She was down for a
while,” said father and
coach, Gary Gassett. “We
didn’t know how badly hurt
she was.” The coach had
Gassett switch places with
centerfi elder Liz Rowley.
Rowley pitched the rest
of the game for the win.
The freshman fanned eight
while handing out seven free
passes and allowed seven
earned runs. “She did a tre-
mendous job,” Coach Gas-
sett said.
Vale led the Outlaws 1-0
after two innings, but in the
third, the Outlaws scored
four to make it 4-1. The loud
bat of McFarland doubled
home two runs and Rowley
cracked in two runs with a
single. Vale tied the game in
their half of the frame. The
fourth inning saw the Out-
laws adding two runs and
after fi ve innings the Out-
laws led 6-5.
The
Outlaws
added
another run in the sixth when
Kirkland singled in Gas-
sett for a 7-5 lead. But Vale
scored two in their half to
even score at 7-7. With two
outs in the seventh inning,
Aysia Salim singled while
Ella Anderson walked. Claire
Farwell’s bat exploded and
doubled the two runners
home for a 9-7 lead.
In the bottom of the sev-
enth, Rowley struck out the
fi rst hitter, but the next hitter
launched a triple while a sin-
gle brought her home. With
the tying run now at fi rst
with one out and the third
and fourth hitters at the plate
and on deck, respectively,
Coach Gassett didn’t know
what to expect. The third hit-
ter pounded a scorching line
drive that McFarland caught
at fi rst base and doubled off
the runner.
“Oh my God, I think we
won!” Gassett said to assis-
tant coach, Andy Plew.
Farwell’s bat spoke vol-
umes for the sophomore as
she went 3 for 4 with a dou-
ble, triple, and three RBIs
along with two runs scored.
Despite the chest injury,
Gassett went 2 for 5 with
RBI and a run scored while
reliable Rowley went 2 for
4 with two RBIs and a run
scored. Kirkland was 2 for 3
with a double, a run scored
and RBI. McFarland went 2
for 4 with a double and two
RBIs. The Outlaws laced 14
hits in the game.
In his fi nal comments on
the seventh inning, Coach
Gassett said, “It was one of
those innings it happened so
quickly. I don’t think McFar-
land knew what happened. “
The Outlaws play their
fi rst state playoff game at
home versus Yamhill-Carl-
ton on Wednesday, May 22.
Steve Tool/Chieftain
Wallowa Valley Outlaws freshman Liz Rowley trots home after a grand
slam — her second homer of the game during a 14-2 home stomping
of Irrigon on Wednesday, May 15. The game determined who went to
the district championships. The Outlaws went on to defeat all-comers
at district to clinch fi rst place.
Holy Rowley!
Freshman drives
in six for win
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
Thanks to a grand slam and
two-run homer by freshman
phenom Liz Rowley, the Wal-
lowa Valley Outlaws are guaran-
teed a slot in the state playoffs.
The Outlaws torched the Irrigon
Vikings’ vessels in a home post-
season game 14-2 on Tuesday,
May 14.
Senior Lexie Gassett handled
the pitching duties for the Out-
laws giving only fi ve hits and
two earned runs over the fi ve-in-
ning game, fanning fi ve and
walking two.
Offensively, Rowley hit her
fi rst home run in her fi rst at bat,
launching a rocket to straight-
away center and well over the
fence. Her second blast, with the
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bases loaded, went over the left
fi eld fence. Like the fi rst shot,
teammates mobbed Rowley as
she crossed the plate.
Rowley wasn’t the only one in
on the home run act. Catcher Jes-
sie Teeney slammed a two-run
shot in the third. the score stood
at 11-0 by the end of that frame.
Six girls had multi-hit per-
formances despite the shortened
battle. Rowley went 2 for 4 with
six RBIs while Teeney went 2 for
3 with three RBIs. Aysia Salim
went 2 for 3 with an RBI as did
Beth Anderson without the RBI.
Claire Farwell went 2 for 4 with
an RBI while Gassett pounded
Vikings pitching for three hits in
four trips to the plate and three
RBIs.
Defensively, the squad didn’t
give up a single error.
“It’s great to have a game with
no errors,” coach Gary Gassett
said. “The whole game turned
out pretty good.”
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