SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2020 | 3B
HAVE FUN!
BEACH SAFE!
BEWARE THE SNEAKER WAVE
They´re called sneaker waves because they
appear without warning, often surging high up on
the beach with d eadly force, and are impossible to
predict. Sneaker waves also carry a large amount
of sand that can saturate your clothes, weighing
you down and making escape diffi cult if not
impossible.
How to play it safe: Never turn your back on the
ocean.
WATCH THOSE LOGS
The ocean is strong enough to pick up even the
biggest log and plop it down on top of you. Some
logs may look small, but even the tiny ones can be
waterlogged and weigh tons.
How to play it safe: If you see a log in the surf or
on wet sand, stay off it.
RIP CURRENTS
Rip currents are strong currents of water that
rush out to sea. They are stronger than even the
best swimmer. These currents can swiftly sweep
unwary beachcombers and waders off their feet
and out to sea. Rip currents may appear as dark,
choppy water. Any time you see debris and foam
fl oating out to sea, chances are you have found a
rip current. Avoid the area.
How to play it safe: Parents keep your kids close
when playing in the ocean. If caught in a rip
current, don’t panic . Swim parallel to the beach
until you are out of the current, then head for the
beach.
KNOW THE TIDES
Incoming tides isolate rocks from headlands and
the shore. Avoid the temptation of strolling
out to an interesting rock without knowing when
the tide rolls back in. Free tide tables are
readily available at state park offi ces, information
centers and many shops and motels.
How to play it safe: Stay off rocks and small,
enclosed beaches.
Know when the tide is coming in by visiting the
tidetable website at the
Hatfi eld Marine Science Center
http://weather.hmsc.oregonstate.edu/weather/
tides/tides.html
HIGH WAVES CAN REACH YOU
Tides and waves can sweep over rocks, jetties and
headlands, knocking you off and carrying you out
to sea.
How to play it safe: Assume nothing is “high
enough” and avoid exposed rocks, jetties and
headlands during strong wave action (like during
and after storms).
BEWARE OF HIGH, STEEP CLIFFS
Assume that all cliff edges are unstable. Wet trails
or soft sand and earth can make for unstable
footing. Rocks can be slippery even when it isn’t
raining.
How to play it safe: Make sure you wear proper
footwear, and stick to the trails. Stay behind guard
fences and railings, and don´t get too close to the
edge.
HEADS UP
Standing at the base of an Oceanside cliff can
be dangerous, especially if it has an overhang. In
some places, winter storms and high waves have
eroded the shoreline, increasing the chance of
collapse and slides.
How to play it safe: Beware of falling rocks, and
don´t climb on bluffs and eroding hillsides. Don´t
walk along the base of cliffs unless absolutely
necessary.
Viks
from 1B
absolutely smashed it for
the Lady Viks, hitting 4
home runs for 4 at bats
and bringing in all 8 runs
that game on RBIs for the
team.
Overton also had 5 put
outs and 1 assist in the
game, which accounted
for 1-2/3 innings’ outs.
“I just can’t emphasize
enough how incredibly
difficult such an athletic
feat is,” explained O’Mara.
“I definitely felt privileged
to be a part of it and hon-
ored to have witnessed
such a phenomenal ath-
letic explosion. Some of
the athletes that play on
my team, I’m not sure
they have enough experi-
ence to understand what
they just witnessed — but
it was pretty amazing.”
Overton’s home runs in
game two made 8 for her
this season, which is No.
2 on Siuslaw’s all-time
home runs hit in a single
season.
According to O’Mara,
“There is no doubt, in a
full-length season with
MHS
from 1B
coach to fill a need in the
community.
“It’s one of my favorite
sports, so I figured I’d try
it out, not knowing what
to expect,” explained Wol-
gamott. “I knew that I had
Coach [Jeff] Greene as a
mentor; he coached me in
high school, and he’s been
doing it for a while — so,
I knew I would have the
option to pick his brain.
And I like challenges, so I
figured, why not?”
Last year, Wolgamott
accomplished a great deal
with his team, taking the
Sailors to the state playoffs
for the first time in nearly
10 years.
This year, he has six
players on his team, but
he’s not worried about the
lack of numbers hurting
the team’s success.
“Last year we played a
the additional non-league
games, Bailey would have
broken the all-time sea-
son home run record for
Siuslaw softball.”
Overton also had a great
first game on Saturday,
hitting 2-3 with a double
and a triple, bringing in 1
run and picking up 3 put
outs and 3 assists.
The Lady Viks finish
the season 1-14, their im-
provement over the short-
ened season was vast.
“For me, that’s way more
important than the wins
and losses at this stage of
development. I definitely
feel better about where
we are considering the
shortened season and the
lack of practice time on
the front end to establish
a lot more basics.” O’Mara
said. “We were still
cov-ering things the last
week of practice that nor-
mally we’d have covered
in the first four weeks. I
feel like we’re about where
we would have been at the
end of preseason games in
a normal year.”
This June, O’Mara
graduates catcher Adri
Edwards, first baseman
Kya Blake, and second
base-man Lizbeth Gar-
cia-Galvan. But fortu-
nately, the rest of the
team will return in Spring
2022. Hopefully, with the
2021-22 school year ex-
pected to be a bit more
normal than this season,
summer ball and pre-sea-
son practices will give the
girls what they need to
have more success next
year.
Baseball:
Siuslaw’s baseball team
played its final double-
header at Junction City
on Friday (May 14) as
well, and also were swept
by the Tigers, finishing
the games 4-18 and 2-12.
In game one, the boys
had a hard time getting
started, falling behind
0-17 by the end of the
third inning. Fortunately,
in the fourth and fifth in-
nings, the Viks were able
to score 2 runs each, with
2 RBIs from Jason Garcia,
1 from Ian Sissel and 1
from Henry Rankin.
“I felt the boys did a
great job of clawing back
a bit in the fourth and
fifth innings,” said Coach
Tom Shinn. “We started
putting some offense to-
gether.”
However, it was not
enough to keep the game
going as the Tigers scored
1 additional run dur-ing
inning four, forcing an
early game after the Viks’
at-bat in the fifth due to
the 10-Run Mercy Rule.
In game two, the Vi-
king scored 2 runs ear-
ly on, but Junction City
took back the lead with 5
runs in the bottom of the
inning — then 5 more in
the second inning. Nei-
ther team scored in the
third or fourth innings,
but the Tigers picked up 2
more runs in the bottom
of the fifth, ending the
game 2-12.
“Defensively the team
played very well,” said
Shinn. “We had one dou-
ble play in the third in-
ning. Ian Sissel did a great
job in left field and ran
down a lot of fly balls.
With this being the se-
niors’ last game, I want to
express my gratitude for
their hard work over the
past four years.”
game with only five play-
ers,” he said, “and we end-
ed up winning that game.
So, I told them there’s no
excuses; if you won a game
last year with only five
players, you can do it with
six.”
Wolgamott said the play-
ers knew coming into the
season that they are going
to be playing a lot. For that
reason, conditioning is go-
ing to be key.
“If we are able to do that,
I think we’ll have a chance
in most games,” Wolga-
mott said.
The Sailors boys’ team
has two freshman this
year, Taylor Hatfield and
Keevyn Walker, both of
whom have been playing
in the Territorial Sports
Program (TSP) together
for a few years.
“They know how to
shoot and dribble, now it’s
just getting up to the speed
of the high school level.”
The Sailors also have
junior Joe Shepard on the
team, who has become one
of Mapleton’s strongest
athletes, playing football
and running track as well.
“He’s been able to show
what he can do and it’s
gained a lot of respect from
his peers. It’s been fun to
watch him grow.”
Mapleton also has three
seniors returning this year.
The first is Jeremy Bend-
er, who had to take last
year off due to a torn ACL
during the football season.
Although he was unable to
play, Bender spent a great
deal of time with the team
and helped coach mid-
dle school during his free
time.
“During practice, he
couldn’t do a whole lot
other than shoot, but that
has definitely paid off this
year — he has one of the
better strokes on the team,
his free throw form is very
solid, and he’s even knock-
ing down open 3-point-
ers,” Wolgamott said.
The Sailors also have se-
nior AJ Moso who, stand-
ing at 6-foot-3, will be one
of the bigger and stronger
players in the league.
Finally, the Sailors have
senior JJ Neece, who has
already had a monumental
year in football and track.
“You can’t teach what he
has — size, strength and
speed.”
In addition, Neece is
just a natural athlete. “You
tell him something once,
he can do it. He has talent,
but he doesn’t think he
knows it all, he listens to
instruction. He’s that kid
you love to coach.”
Wolgamott’s team is
poised to perform well this
year, although it is still un-
clear how the other teams
in the league will shake
out with the top two teams
from last year graduating
a lot of seniors last season.
The Sailors also play a lot
of charter schools — so,
how they look could be
completely different this
year.
The Lady Sailors, led by
Duffy, also have a great
deal to look forward this
season. Last year, the girls
had a much better sea-
son than in Duffy’s first
year, winning seven league
games — and she has three
girls returning from that
team this year.
“The returning girls are
looking really good so far,”
said Duffy, “and then we’ve
got some new girls. We’re
up to seven girls for our
team. It doesn’t sound like
a lot, but we were worried
we weren’t going to have a
team at all.”
On the Lady Sailors’
roster is senior Heather
Wierichs, the team’s only
senior this year.
“She plays our post po-
sition, lower post mostly.
She does a really good job
and battles in the middle,”
said Duffy.
Emily Neece, a soph-
omore who also played
football and participated
in field events for Maple-
ton’s track season, is new
to the team.
“She’s working hard and
taking all of the comments
and criticism and con-
tinuing to improve,” said
Duffy. “And that’s all I can
ask for, just to be willing to
improve.”
Next on the team is ju-
nior Briar Shird, one of the
team’s guards, along with
junior point guard Opal
Burruss who returns from
last season.
“Her skills have contin-
ued to grow,” said Duffy.
Summer Flansberg, also
a junior, will play at the
guard position.
Tiyler Gloe and Sammy
Lynn willbe starting on the
team as freshmen this year.
The boys’ team played
their first game at Siletz
Valley last night (after
press deadlines) and will
return to the court Thurs-
day (May 20) at 5:30 p.m.
at Eddyville Charter.
The girls’ first game is
this Thursday, also at Ed-
dyville Charter, beginning
at 7 p.m.
We are open and
ready to assist you!
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