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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2019)
BlueMountainEagle.com Wednesday, May 1, 2019 B1 WEDNESDAY May 1, 2019 McCluskey closes in two wins over Huskies Grant Union wins fi rst eight league games By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Prospector Logan McCluskey, a sophomore, worked some magic at Malone Field, closing two games for the Grant Union/ Prairie City baseball team’s double sweep of the Sher- man/Arlington/Condon Hus- kies on Saturday 7-3 and 9-2. Grant Union’s No. 1 pitcher Warner Robertson, a junior, took on the Huskies for six innings in game one. Sherman’s Wade Fields pitched fi ve innings for the Huskies with Cort Colby fi nishing. Robertson singled in the bottom of the fi rst, driving in leadoff hitter Tristan Morris, who had stolen second base. The Prospectors were up 2-0, when the Huskies bat- tled back with three runs in the top of the third. In the bottom of the fourth, Morris turned the tables when he singled, and Peyton Neault and Russell Hodge scored runs to give Grant Union a 4-3 lead. Robertson struck out a batter in the fi fth with fi rst baseman Roen Langum tag- ging a runner out and Hodge catching a fl y ball for an out in left fi eld. Grant Union moved ahead 7-3 in the sixth when McCluskey singled for an RBI. Then Jacob Vaughan hit up the middle for an inside- the-park two-run homer. With McCluskey back at the mound, Grant Union sealed the win with two strikeouts, and centerfi elder Cole Deiter caught a fl y ball. Freshman Mason Morris pitched six innings in game two. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union/Prairie City Prospector Damion Young scores a run in Saturday’s game one against Sherman/Arlington/ Condon. Grant Union head coach Doug Sharp said Morris’ fast ball “really moves.” Sharp said sometimes the freshman has diffi culty “commanding it, but when he’s on, it’s hard to square him up — he did a great job.” The wind was whipping in the bottom of the sixth inning. When McCluskey came in to pitch, there was one run- ner out, and the bases were loaded. He struck out the remaining two batters and left three runners on base. Sharp said he thinks the Huskies were feeling defeated at the start of game two. “They knew our kids were ready to play,” he said, adding, “Our guys were relentless.” Langum, a senior, said when they got behind in game one, they didn’t get down on themselves. “We came back and talked each other up and won it,” he said. “We probably played the best baseball we’ve played in a long time,” said Vaughan, also a senior, who is catcher. “In the fi rst game, it was our defense, and the second game our offense — we hit really well.” Sharp said, when his team was behind, they continued to play with confi dence. “It doesn’t phase them,” he said. “That’s actually a pretty good team,” he said of Sher- man. “That fi rst pitcher (Fields) was good. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge. The kids kept on battling.” Grant Union was sched- uled to face the Pilot Rock/ Nixyaawii/Ukiah Rockets on Tuesday, April 30, in Pilot Rock, past press time. The Prospectors are ranked No. 6 among OSAA’s 2A/1A teams. They are No. 1 in league (11-6 overall, 8-0 league), and the Rockets are No. 2 (10-4, 7-2). Grant Union beat Pilot Rock 13-4 on April 10 in John Day. “A lot could still happen,” Sharp said. “It’ll be a big game at their ballpark.” Sharp said his top pitch- ers have only an inning or less left of pitches and will have to rest due to pitch- count rules, and likely Pey- ton Neault and/or Damion Young will take the mound. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Gage Brandon set a personal record in pole vault at the small school meet. Athletes set aspirations high at small school meet Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector Madi McKrola is safe, sliding back to fi rst base in Friday’s game against Echo/ Stanfi eld. Prospector softball team sweeps two Girls ranked fi rst among 2A/1A fi eld By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Ranked No. 1 in the state among OSAA’s 2A/1A teams, the Grant Union/Prairie City Prospector softball team swept two league opponents at Sev- enth Street Complex Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, the Prospec- tors faced the Adrian Antelopes for the fi rst time, winning 13-1 and 22-2. Grant Union also swept the Echo/Stanfi eld Cougars 14-4 and 14-1 on Friday. Big highlights for Fri- day included Prospector Tay- lor Allen, a junior, hitting two home runs in game one, and Marissa Smith, a senior, hitting a homer in game two. Grant Union faced a chal- lenge in the third inning of game one when their No. 1 pitcher Macy Strong went down with a migraine and starting center fi elder Baylee Combs came out of the game with fl u-like symptoms. “We had two girls off the bench come in,” said Prospec- tor head coach Zach Williams. Freshman Harli Grove took over for Strong with three strikes, letting the defense work. The score was 14-1 going into the top of the fi fth, and Echo/Stanfi eld scored three runs, but Grove held them off for the 10-run win. Allen pitched game two, and Grove started in left fi eld with freshman Riley Robertson behind the plate. “Those freshmen stepped up and did what they needed to Grant Union Prospector Taylor Allen pitches against Echo/ Stanfi eld in game two, getting the 13-1 win. Grant Union fi rst baseman Marissa Smith throws to pitcher Taylor Allen after tagging an Echo-Stanfi eld runner out in Friday’s game. do,” Williams said. He said, hitting-wise, the team needs to make adjust- ments quicker when facing pitchers with different speeds, “but they did well, and they did enough to get two 10-run victo- ries. I’m proud of them.” Grant Union will face the Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii/Ukiah Rockets at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday in Pilot Rock for more league action. They host Heppner/Ione at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Satur- day, May 4, in John Day for their fi nal league games of the season. By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County track and fi eld ath- letes are honing their skills as they pre- pare for their fi nal meets before district competition. Grant Union, Prairie City and Long Creek’s teams took fl ight April 23 at the Grant Union Small School Meet in John Day, along with four other teams. Taking the top team score for the boys was 2A Grant Union with 180 points, followed by 3A Burns with 160, 1A Crane with 104 and 1A Prairie City with 77. Long Creek, a 1A team, placed sixth with 33 points. The Grant Union girls tied for fi rst with Burns with 201.5 points. Crane placed third with 101 points, and Prai- rie City placed fourth with 36.5. Long Creek and Mitchell-Spray tied for fi fth with 22 points. Jordan Hall, a Grant Union soph- omore, set personal records in all of his events. He placed fi rst in the 110- meter hurdles with a time of 17.13, second in the triple jump with a mark of 39-7 and fourth in javelin with 132-1. Hall, along with teammates Quaid Brandon, Mason Morris and Justin Hodge, shaved nearly one second off their time in the 4x100 relay for their best time of the season. Morris placed fi rst in the triple jump, setting a personal record with a mark of 42-9.5. He was also second in the 200, behind Burns sprinter Klay- ton Nutter. Gage Brandon set season records in his events, which included the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and pole vault. Setting personal records for the girls were Rylee Browning in the 1,500 and 3,000; Lauryn Pettyjohn in the 100 and 300 hurdles; and Sierra Cates in the 200. Abby Lusco and Sophie Brockway added to their marks in discus, and Kaylee Wright and Shelby Brooks added height to their high jumps. Trinity Hutchison set a personal record in the 300 hurdles with fi rst place. She placed fi rst in all her events — the long jump, triple jump and 4x100 relay with teammates Sierra Cates, Carson Weaver and Wright. Wright was also fi rst in all her events, which also included the 100 and javelin. Hutchison was happy with her results. “I’m just enjoying the season so far,” the senior said. “It’s a good day.” Long Creek freshman Carter Bur- nette improved his marks in discus and javelin. “I think our team is doing good overall,” he said at the meet, noting several of his teammates were setting personal records. His teammate Henry Grannis, a junior, said his favorite event is dis- cus. He earned second place in the event behind Grant Union’s Drew Lusco. Grannis said he didn’t beat his pre- vious record, but said, “I’ll do better at the next meet.” James Kreamier set a personal record in the triple jump, placing fourth with a mark of 38-00.50 Long Creek’s assistant coach Peter Case said his team’s running form is “starting to click.” “Our returning runners are doing much better than last year,” he said, noting they’ve added to the skills they learned previously. For the girls, Long Creek soph- omore Dorotha Johnson set per- sonal records in the triple jump, plac- ing second with a mark of 28-00, and in the shot put, placing 10th. She also placed third in the triple jump. Cheers could be heard across the fi eld when Prairie City senior Levi Burke broke his personal record in the high jump with a leap of 6-07, adding 3 inches to his mark. Tristan McMahan shaved off time in his 300 hurdles event, placing third. In his fi rst year of track, senior Syd Holman is giving impressive perfor- mances, and he set personal records in all his events. He placed second in the 100 with a time of 12.01 behind a Burns sprinter. He also competed in the 200, javelin and long jump. “I just wanted to PR,” he said at the meet. “In the long jump, I did well with 18 fl at. I’m happy with that, consider- ing I learned how to do it this week.” Prairie City head coach Nate Barber said he’s glad Holman joined the team this season. For the girls, Abbey Pfefferkorn improved in the 200, placing fourth — fi rst among the 1A athletes — and high jump, placing fourth. Her teammate Mikiah Kimble also set a personal record, fi nishing third in high jump behind 2A and 3A athletes. Rilee Emmel also bettered her javelin throw, and Samantha Work- man added height to her pole vault performance. Barber commented on the sunny day. “Better weather equals better results,” he said. “It defi nitely helps.”
