FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
B3
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • FrIday, aprIL 23, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
WCL BASEBALL
Springfield team
joining in 2022
The West Coast League
on Thursday announced
the addition of the ex-
pansion Springfield Drift-
ers as the league’s 16th
member team, beginning
in 2022.
The Drifters will join
the Bend Elks, Corvallis
Knights, and Portland
Pickles as the WCL’s fourth
Oregon-based team
in the summer college
wood-bat league.
The Drifters, Bushnell
University, and Huddle
Up Foundation comprise
the Springfield Baseball
Project, which is part-
nering with Springfield
Public Schools to reno-
vate the Hamlin Sports
Complex baseball field,
located at Hamlin Mid-
dle School. Beginning in
2022, both the Drifters
and the Bushnell Beacons
will call the Hamlin Sports
Complex home in their
inaugural seasons.
The Drifters join the
Edmonton Riverhawks,
Kamloops NorthPaws and
Nanaimo NightOwls as
the four expansion teams
set to begin play in 2022.
Edmonton, Kamloops
and Nanaimo, along with
the Victoria HarbourCats
and Kelowna Falcons, are
gearing up for the 2022
campaign after with-
drawing from the 2021
season due to continuing
pandemic-related border
and gathering limitations.
The Bend Elks are
scheduled to open the
2021 season on June 3
against NW Star Academy
at Vince Genna Stadium
in Bend. The 2020 season
was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
— Bulletin staff report
GOLF
PREP TRACK AND FIELD
Finally
time for
track
An 800-meter school record
and masks at forefront of first
meet at Summit in 2 years
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
I
t had been nearly two years
since a high school track
and field meet was held at
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Summit High.
Summit’s Ava Carry-McDonald, from left, Morgan Powell and Avery Malace compete in the 100-meter hurdles Wednesday at
Summit High.
On a blue-sky, windless spring af-
ternoon Wednesday, the program
with 17 state titles hosted its first meet
since the Mountain Valley Conference
Championships in May 2019. The
meet included smaller schools Sisters,
Gilchrist and Paisley.
“We had a lot of victories today,”
said Summit coach Dave Turnbull. “I
don’t think we are going to see a ton
of incredible marks, but I am just ex-
cited for all of the kids to have a great
experience.”
Perhaps no other event brought as
much intrigue as the girls 800 meters.
There was a runner who had Turnbull
and a couple of assistants dancing af-
ter a shattered school record, as well as
possible safety issues for runners, who
are still required to wear masks when
competing.
A couple of meters from the finish
line of the 800 and with everyone else
in the race in her wake, Maggie Wil-
liams began to fall.
She was parallel to the track before
skidding across the finish line in a
time of 2 minutes, 8.45 seconds.
“I was pushing so hard and every-
thing went blurry and I just fell,” said
the junior speedster. “But luckily I fell
at the right spot and crossed the line
with my head.”
Once she regained consciousness,
surrounded by coaches and nearby
teammates cheering her on, she said
she was a little scared to be waking
up on the ground. But her attention
quickly returned to her time and
where it placed her in Summit’s sto-
ried record books.
It was the fastest time in school his-
tory, breaking Izzy Max’s 2019 record
of 2:10.54. It is currently the fastest
time in Oregon this year, as well as
the fourth-fastest high school time re-
corded in the country.
“I really wanted to know if I had
broken it,” Williams said. “I was so
excited when I found out. When I
joined the program Izzy Max was a
role model to me in the 800. This year
Turnbull said I could break it so that
has been my goal.”
While thrilled to see a record bro-
ken, Turnbull was also fixated on
freshman Karsyn Walton, a freshman
who was bringing up the rear of the
race in her first ever high school track
meet.
“I’m equally proud of Karsyn,”
Turnbull said. “Those are the victories
… you have a freshman who hasn’t
done track in years and wants to try
the 800, which is the hardest event.
But she comes out and does it. Kids
can move people, and I saw a lot of
kids moving people today.”
Wednesday’s meet also brought to
light the issue of wearing masks while
running.
See Prep Track / B5
Courtesy Jon Tapper
Summit’s Maggie Williams runs in the
800 meters on her way to breaking the
school record on Wednesday.
Bulletin invites
calendar items
The Bulletin is assem-
bling a golf calendar for
the 2021 edition of our an-
nual Central Oregon golf
guide. The guide will be
published later this spring.
Those who wish to
have information included
in the calendar — includ-
ing dates for clinics and
classes, public leagues,
and other tournaments
and events — are encour-
aged to submit that infor-
mation by April 30 to The
Bulletin (sports@bendbul-
letin.com).
— Bulletin staff report
TRACK & FIELD
Tickets for Trials at
Hayward in doubt
The organizing com-
mittee for the 2020 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials from
June 18 to 27 at Hayward
Field has determined that
the tickets held by exist-
ing customers cannot be
fulfilled.
All customers with
tickets will receive a re-
fund, and a revised tick-
eting program with an
updated seat inventory
that is compliant with
new regulations amid the
COVID-19 pandemic will
be announced in May.
“We are confident that
some number of specta-
tors will be able to attend
the event if regulations
allow,” TrackTown USA
CEO Michael Reilly said in
a news release. “Unfortu-
nately, we now know that
we won’t be able to both
comply with important
public health regulations
and fulfill the tickets that
already have been sold.”
The organizing com-
mittee will contact cus-
tomers who have already
bought tickets with de-
tails of the refund policies
and procedures.
— The Oregonian
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Beavers’ lineup flexibility is an asset
BY JOE FREEMAN
The Oregonian
When Oregon State baseball
coach Mitch Canham turned
in his lineup card over the
weekend before a game against
California at Goss Stadium in
Corvallis, it featured some-
thing it had not featured at any
point in 2021:
The same nine names, in the
same order, for a second time
this season.
The coach who might pa-
trol third base one game only
to watch from the dugout the
next, and who prides himself
on keeping practices “random”
with a touch of “chaos,” has
created the most unpredictabil-
ity and curiosity with the most
fundamental aspects of base-
ball — his lineup.
In 35 games this season,
the Beavers have used 34 line-
ups as Canham has mixed
and matched combinations
at every spot in the order. Fif-
teen Beavers have hit eighth.
Twelve have hit seventh. Nine
guys have hit in the nine hole.
Eight have hit second, fifth
and sixth in the order. Six have
hit cleanup, while five have hit
leadoff and third.
The only consistency with
Canham’s lineup has been in-
consistency.
“Random can be fine,” Can-
ham said. “There’s something
to be said about consistency
and knowing where you’re at
… but the reason the lineup is
changed is you’re looking for
the best matchup and the best
flow in the lineup. So I think
on a given day, it can always
change. You’re always trying to
put the best lineup together to
score the most runs.”
Lineups almost always
evolve over the course of a col-
lege baseball season as teams
ride the waves of a 56-game
grind. Coaches have to navi-
gate injuries and days off, and
regularly plot lineups based on
pitching matchups, including
whether they are facing a left-
handed starter or right-handed
starter.
Players ride hot streaks and
work through slumps. Some-
times, when a team is in a rut,
a coach simply wants to mix
things up. And sometimes,
when the schedule is especially
demanding — the Beavers just
played 17 games in 24 days, for
Leon Neuschwander/For the Oregonian/TNS file
Oregon State coach Mitch Canham has used 34 different lineups in 35
games this season as the Beavers have surged to the top of the Pac-12
Conference standings.
example — a coach needs to
proactively consider the men-
tal and physical health of his
players.
Canham has changed line-
ups for all of these reasons —
and more — over the first 35
games of the season. But at the
root of his game-by-game mer-
ry-go-round is a fundamental
belief that baseball is random
and unpredictable, and players
need to avoid complacency so
they remain mentally ready for
whatever comes their way.
See Baseball / B5
NFL DRAFT
FCS draft prospects generally opted not to play this spring
BY STEVE MEGARGEE
Associated Press
There’s a common thread
linking most of the Football
Championship Subdivision
players who expect to hear their
name called in the NFL draft.
They didn’t participate in
their schools’ pandemic-de-
layed spring season.
“Ultimately, it just comes
down to athletes taking care
of their bodies,” North Dakota
State offensive tackle Dillon
Radunz said. “You can go out
and have fun and do that, and
there’s a certain purity to that,
but next thing you know, some
guy tears his ACL in the spring,
and now he misses out on the
spring season, and misses out
on the fall season. Then he has
to wait another whole year and
a half just to play football again.”
When the NCAA an-
nounced that the FCS season
wouldn’t start until February, it
left draft prospects from those
schools facing a dilemma. Do
they stick with their schools for
the spring season or use that
time to get ready for the draft?
Most decided to start prepar-
ing for their future.
North Dakota State quarter-
back Trey Lance said playing
a spring season wasn’t feasible
because of the way the schedule
was designed. The FCS playoffs
start Saturday, less than a week
before the draft.
“I would have had to leave
my team in the middle of the
season (for the draft),” Lance
said. “Here at North Dakota
State, we play for national
championships. That’s the ex-
pectation every single year. So
for me, if I was going to stay in
school and play, I would have
stayed and played the spring
and the fall as well.”
Lance and Radunz will likely
be the first two players drafted
from non-Football Bowl Sub-
division programs next week.
Lance is projected as a top-10
overall pick. Radunz seems
likely to get taken in the second
round.
They helped North Dakota
State win an FCS title in 2019,
the Bison’s eighth champion-
ship in nine seasons. Lance and
Radunz ended their college ca-
reers by playing in North Da-
kota State’s lone game last fall,
a 39-20 victory over Central
Arkansas.
Radunz noted that even if
he had played a spring season
and avoided injury, the move
could have caused long-term
drawbacks. He believed play-
ing a full college schedule in the
spring and an NFL season in
the fall ultimately might have
shortened his career.
“You’re just playing that
much football in a short period
of time, and it’s just not good
for a body, especially at this
high level of play,” Radunz said.
Here’s a breakdown of some
other draft prospects from
schools outside the FBS ranks.
OT Spencer Brown, Northern
Iowa
Brown gained nearly 100
pounds while at Northern
Iowa to develop into a 6-foot-
8, 311-pound prospect. Brown
opted out after Northern Iowa
decided to delay its football
season to the spring, but he did
participate in the Senior Bowl
and had an impressive pro day
performance.
See NFL Draft / B4