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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2015)
A10 Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, April 29, 2015 WEDNESDAY April 29, 2015 Lady Pros crack down in Umatilla Entire GU team contributes to good hitting day By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle UMATILLA – The Grant Union Lady Prospector bats were cracking last Saturday as they shut down the Umatilla Vikings. “The games were positive over- all,” said head coach DeAnna Nash. Sydney Stearns pitched a near-shutout Game One, 21-2, get- ting six strikeouts and giving up one walk and two hits. Cody Jo Madden took the mound to throw a 23-0 shutout in the second game. She had five strikeouts, gave up no walks and four hits. “Our hitting stats were impressive overall,” Nash said. The Prospectors had 22 hits in the first game and 27 hits in the second game, with many extra bases. “It was a very positive road trip, and everyone contributed,” the coach said. Nash expected this week’s game to be a test for the team. Grant Union faced Irrigon, a team with only three losses on the season, in a nonleague doubleheader at home on Tuesday, past press time. The Pros host Vale in a league doubleheader Friday, beginning at 1 p.m. It also will be senior recognition day. Grant Union’s Janelle King slides in safely at third in a game earlier this season. The Eagle Angel Carpenter Garrett Hitz vaults to school record S EASON O UTLOOK Team spirit: Lady Pros’ chemistry is in the zone Track teams compete at Pepsi Invite By Angel Carpenter Team stays competitive in 3A mix Blue Mountain Eagle UNION – Last Saturday was a monumental day for 3UDLULH &LW\ WUDFN DQG ¿HOG athlete Garrett Hitz. Hitz, a junior, broke the school’s 40-year pole vault re- cord at the Pepsi Invitational in Union, reaching a height of 12-7 1/2. Andy Anderson, now the mayor of Mt. Vernon, previ- ously held the record which he reached with a 12-6 mark in 1975. Prairie City head coach Joe Weymouth said while this was a goal Hitz had set, the athlete has even higher achievements in mind. ³+H¶V QRW ¿QLVKHG IRU WKH year,” Weymouth said. “He’s still working hard – that’s what he does.” Weymouth said Hitz’ ul- timate goal is to eventually beat the state 1A track record for pole vault, which is 14-1 1/2. “He has a pretty good Blue Mountain Eagle Contributed photo/Nancy Hitz Prairie City’s Megan Camarena hits the 27-foot mark in shot put at the Pepsi Invitational in Union. shot,” Weymouth said, adding that Hitz also has another year in high school to improve. Hitz is gearing up for an international Down Under other highlight from Union 6SRUWVWUDFNDQG¿HOGHYHQWLQ was senior Michel Hitz Australia in July. Weymouth added that an- See TRACK, Page A18 Team looks forward to road game Friday By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle PRINEVILLE – The Grant Union baseball team hit a rough patch against two 4A teams last week, but the Pros are ready to move on. The Prospectors lost a game to La Grande, 2-12, on April 21 and were shut out by Crook County last Friday, 0-12. ³:H GH¿QLWHO\ GLGQ¶W SOD\ to our potential or our abil- ity,” said head coach Brian The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Wade Reimers, left, catches La Grande’s flyball with teammates Brady Burch and Dillon Winters in action. Delaney. “We need to get back to playing the way we were with 2015 COUNTY Dayville/Monument team ball and moving run- ners,” he said. “Relaxing on defense and not panicking – once we can do that, we’ll get over that mental barrier.” Grant Union hosted 2A Ir- rigon in a nonleague double- header on Tuesday, past press time. Irrigon began the week at third in Special District 6, and Grant Union was third in Special District 7, ahead of Joseph/Enterprise. The Prospectors travel Friday to Joseph for a league doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m. Delaney expected Irrigon to be good competition. “It’ll be a good double- header for us going into Fri- day’s league game – to shake off the rust and get the bugs out,” he said. JOHN DAY – The Lady Prospectors are on an up- swing as they head into the home stretch of the softball season. The team – which merg- es Prairie City and Day- ville players into the Grant Union squad – sat third in league as of Monday, up IURP¿IWKSODFHWZRZHHNV ago. Head coach DeAnna Nash has 28 girls on her varsity and junior varsity teams. She’s joined by as- sistants Les DeHaven, Ash- lee Brockway and Kennedy Nash – the latter two trav- eling with the junior varsi- ty team. “We don’t really sep- arate out the varsity and JV,” coach Nash said. “Different kids suit up for both depending on who’s available. We have a good mix of girls – 28 kids, one team.” The roster includes sev- en juniors, eight sopho- mores and eight freshmen. Four seniors – Babe Nash, Mariah Meyerholz, Sydney Stearns and Jord- den Cameron – provide leadership, which coach Nash says has been “the biggest thing this year.” “It’s cool because we’ve had this group of seniors together for awhile now, and we have such a huge team this year,” Babe said. “We seem to have a good team chemistry this year.” Meyerholz agreed. “There is a lot of po- tential for this year and the coming years – it’s a young SPORTS SCHEDULE Baseball Grant Union Friday, May 1 Grant Union @ Enterprise/Joseph Joseph 1 p.m./3 p.m. Grant Union vs. Vale John Day 1 p.m./3 p.m. Friday, May 1 PC, Day, Mon, LC @ Grant Union Track Meet John Day 10 a.m. Friday, May 1 Grant Union @ Buffalo Peaks Golf Course Union 10 a.m. Softball Long Creek P ROSPECTOR S ENIORS By Angel Carpenter Pros hope to shake off losses to 4A foes Prairie City 2015 Friday, May 1 Track Golf Babe Nash Sydney Stearns Jordden Cameron Mariah Meyerholz team,” she said. Stearns said she’s sad that her high school soft- ball career is nearing the end, but added, “I’m glad that my last year is with this team.” She added, “We’ve started off league well, and I’m excited to see what the season brings.” Cameron, who played varsity softball the last three years, said she’s en- joyed it. “We all get along really well,” she said. “We’re like a family, more than in any other sport – I’m excited to see where we go this sea- son.” New to the Prospector team are two players from other schools: sophomore Ravyn Walker from Day- ville School and freshman Brianna Zweygardt from Prairie City School. “Both are great kids, and they’ve been accepted by the team,” said coach Nash. “It’s been a good mix of kids, and they’ve meld- ed well.” See PROS, Page A18