Wednesday, March 23, 2022
A9
SPORTS
Myriad of golfers out for Enterprise this spring
Outlaws have 23
golfers, most in
Kyle Crawford’s
time with the
program
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Golf-
ers are out in abundance this
spring for Kyle Crawford
and the Enterprise golf team,
as the coach said he has the
largest team in the seven
years he has been involved
in the program.
“I have a huge team,”
Crawford said. “I have 23
golfers — 10 boys, 13 girls,
fi ve returning boys and three
returning girls.”
Crawford said he is often
talking with students at the
school, where he teaches,
about coming out for the
team, and wondered about
that being the reason for the
higher numbers.
Another cause, though,
could be athletes wanting to
try a diff erent activity.
“There are a lot of kids
that weren’t doing track,
softball or baseball (this
year). All wanted to do
something new,” he said. “I
have 10 kids who have never
played before. There is some
potential there. (It) depends
on if they stick with it.”
The tricky part will be
getting everyone the atten-
tion they need.
“It’s going to be hard for
me to get as much 1-on-1
time,” he said.
Among
Crawford’s
returners on the boys side are
Dylan Jennings, who already
started the season with a
round of 89 to win in Echo
on March 18. Hopes are high
for the senior — from both
him and his coach.
“I have very high expec-
tations for him. He has high
expectations for himself,”
Crawford said. “It takes so
much repetition, and it’s
more of a marathon than a
sprint, I tell the kids… He’s
been really working on
everything. He worked all
summer on his golf game.
This is his sport he is most
excited about.
“I believe he can win sev-
eral tournaments this year.”
Also back is Alex Alba-
nez, a golfer with ample state
tournament experience.
“He’s always been in the
mix of my top fi ve golfers,”
Crawford said.
Landon
Greenshields
also returns, and is a golfer
Crawford said carries a good
attitude.
“I don’t know that he has
much expectations, I think
he is here to enjoy it, (but) I
do expect him to contribute,”
the coach said.
Crawford’s other return-
ers are Caleb Sheahan and
Parker Siebe.
“He naturally did really
well last year,” Crawford
said of Sheahan. “I think he
just kind of gets it. Parker’s
been golfi ng most of his life.
I think we can throw together
(a) pretty good fi ve golfers.”
Among the fi ve newcom-
ers, Crawford noted two
— Gunnar McDowell and
Nathan Lamb — who could
contend for a spot in the top
fi ve.
“There’s some potential
for those guys to push into
the varsity,” he said.
See Golf, Page A10
Softball team
opens season
with two splits
Chieftain staff
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise runner Zac Knapp rounds a corner during practice Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
Distance a key for Outlaw
tracksters this spring
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The distance
races are where the Enterprise boys
track and fi eld team is likely to be the
strongest this spring.
Four runners, led by senior Zac
Knapp, were among the seven who
competed at the state cross-country
championships when Wallowa Valley
claimed the title in November.
That fi gures to translate to the
track, especially with Knapp entering
the spring as the likely favorite in the
1,500- and 3,000-meter races at the
2A level.
But even with the experience at
the top, head coach Dan Moody said
he has a young team this spring.
“Half of our team is freshmen and
sophomores. I think we have 15 fresh-
men boys and girls, and another 10
sophomores” out of 40 on the team,
he said. “We’re still fairly young.
That’s a good thing.”
One of those who was impact-
ful in cross-county in the fall is Levi
Ortswam. The foreign-exchange stu-
dent placed 15th in the state race in
November and came on strong as the
season progressed.
Moody said there is a range of
possibilities as far as where Ortswam
could land on the track.
“I debated whether to put him in the
(800). I think he could do extremely
THE DALLES — Reece
Nelson and Kale Ferguson
each won two events for the
Joseph boys track and fi eld
team at the season-opening
Mullen Leavitt Invite Friday,
March 18, in The Dalles.
Nelson cleared 6 feet even
in winning the high jump and
posted a mark of 39 feet, 1¾
inches to take the top spot in
the triple jump. He also tied
for second in the long jump
with a distance of 18 feet, 7
inches.
Ferguson posted a dis-
tance of 118 feet, 6 inches
to win the discus throw, and
added a distance of 147 feet,
1 inch to win the javelin by
one inch.
The 4x100 relay team
of Gavin Russell, Matthew
Hoppel, Jayden McNall and
James Burney took seventh
with a time of 51.41 seconds,
and three Eagles — Burney,
McNall and Dylan Rogers
— tied for eighth in the high
jump with a mark of 4 feet, 10
inches.
Iona McDonald had a
strong day to lead the Eagle
girls, winning the 300-
meter hurdles with a time of
1:01.50, and took sixth in the
3,000 in 6:09.72.
Also in the top eight was
Basey Dawson, who placed
sixth in the high jump at
3 feet, 8 inches, and Flora
McDonald tied for seventh at
3 feet, 6 inches.
The Eagles next take to the
track April 1 at the Carnival of
Speed in Milton-Freewater.
Errors hurt Eagles
in season openers
See Distance, Page A10
Nelson, Ferguson win
twice at Mullen Leavitt
Chieftain staff
The Wallowa Valley
softball team had two very
diff erent games in its sea-
son-opening doubleheader
Friday, March 18, against
Weston-McEwen,
drop-
ping its fi rst game, 16-5, but
winning the nightcap of the
twinbill by the same score,
16-5.
In the opener, the Tiger-
Scots roughed up pitch-
ers Aimee Meyers and Liz
Rowley for a combined
13 hits and 16 runs, with
11 charged to Meyers and
fi ve to Rowley. There were
nine unearned runs, though.
Rowley did strike out four
batters. Both pitched 2⅓
innings, as the game ended
in the fi fth.
Off ensively,
Cooper
Nave had two doubles and
drove in three runs, and
Rilyn Kirkland also had
two hits. Both Kirkland and
Rowley scored twice.
In the second game, the
bats came alive, as the Out-
laws pounded out 22 hits,
connected for four home
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Kale Ferguson of Joseph unloads a discus throw Saturday,
May 15, 2021, at the Jo-Hi Invite.
runs and dominated for
their fi rst win.
Nave had two of the
four home runs for Wal-
lowa Valley among her
three hits, and fi nished with
four RBIs. Sophie Moeller
also went deep and fi nished
with four RBIs, and Row-
ley had a home run among
her four hits. Six players —
Moeller, Meyers, Nave, Liz
Rowley, Alex Rowley and
Brianna Rouse — all had at
least three hits.
In the circle, Liz Row-
ley worked the fi rst three
innings for the win, strik-
ing out nine and allowing
three runs on three hits.
Meyers pitched the fi nal
four innings, allowing two
runs on four hits and fan-
ning three.
On Monday, March 21,
the Outlaws split two games
at the John Day Tourna-
ment, falling to Scio, 6-4,
and defeating Lost River,
8-5. Stats were not avail-
able at press time.
The Outlaws continued
the tournament March 22
against host Grant Union.
Chieftain staff
LA PINE — Errors
— the result of having to
be indoors almost daily
until it took the fi eld Fri-
day, March 18 — plagued
the Wallowa Valley base-
ball team in its opening
doubleheader.
The Eagles committed
10 errors in their opener, a
15-6 road loss to La Pine,
then had four in the sev-
enth inning of a 9-3 loss to
St Mary’s.
Still, there were bright
spots on a day where the
pitchers were on a mound
for the fi rst time all spring.
Wallowa Valley scored
four fi rst-inning runs for
the early lead, but the
Hawks responded with
eight in the home half of
the fi rst to set the tone for
the afternoon.
La Pine only outhit
Wallowa Valley, 9-8. Drew
Beachy was 3-for-3 with
an RBI. Kylar McQuead
went 2-for-2 and drove in a
run, and Lane Rouse had a
triple and an RBI. Beachy
also had four strikeouts
on the mound over two
innings and Blade Suto
gave up one run in two
innings.
In the second game,
Wallowa Valley took a 3-2
lead in the fi fth on a two-
run triple by Rouse, and
held the lead until the sev-
enth, when St. Mary’s had
four hits and took advan-
tage of four Eagle errors to
break the game open.
Wallowa Valley had
fi ve hits, with the other run
coming on a Cody Fent
RBI single. The Eagles
also got a good afternoon
on the mound from Jaxon
Grover, who allowed two
runs on fi ve hits in fi ve
innings and struck out two.
Wallowa Valley (0-2
overall) travels to John
Day for single games
Wednesday through Sat-
urday, March 23-26, and
face Nyssa, Valley Catho-
lic, Sisters and Ontario.
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