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