A12 SPORTS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 11, 2022 Pros sweep track invitational By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle Grant Union/Prairie City’s Halle Parsons slides into home on Saturday, May 7, 2022, during the fi rst game of a doubleheader against Weston-McEwen. The Lady Pros won the fi rst game 7-6 in extra innings and took the second game 22-9. Winning a close one calm and executing the game plan was key to the squad winning Saturday’s tight fi rst game. Also, he said, the team did the “little things” right and stayed disciplined at the plate. Williams said that with Saturday being senior rec- ognition day, emotions were high. Not only that, but he said it was also team picture day. Thus, there were many distractions. “(Senior recognition day) is always an emotional day and generally it is hard to fl ip that switch back to the focus of our game plan,” Williams said. “And while it took lon- ger than usual, I think the girls did a good job consider- ing the weather.” The Lady Pros racked up 12 hits in the fi rst game, with freshman Savannah Wat- terson hitting a home run. Anderson and Robertson both had had extra-base hits, as did Addy Northway, Paige Gerry, Drew Williams and Sivanna Hodge, while Harli Grove had a sacrifi ce and an RBI. Drew Williams, the win- ning pitcher, gave up nine hits and three earned runs while fanning seven over eight innings. The squad rode the momentum of the fi rst game into the second contest, dom- inating the Tigerscots in a 22-9 shellacking. Halle Parsons, said Wil- liams, was solid on the mound, while the team hit seven home runs and had an eye-popping 20 hits overall. With three more regular season games left, Williams said the unbeaten Lady Pros need to keep doing what they have done all season long and not let “the moments get too big.” Lady Pro softball team gets a walk-off hit to stay unbeaten By STEVEN MITCHELL Blue Mountain Eagle T he Grant Union/ Prairie City soft- ball team remains undefeated after picking up a pair of wins Saturday, May 7, in a doubleheader at home against Weston-McEwen. The fi rst half of Satur- day’s twin bill saw the top- ranked 2A Lady Pros win their closest game of the sea- son in an eight-inning thriller. With the game knotted up at 6-6 in the eighth inning, a double by senior Riley Rob- ertson put her in scoring posi- tion for junior Raney Ander- son to rope a line-drive single to centerfi eld for a 7-6 walk- off win. Anderson said the win was a team eff ort and that while she and her teammates felt the pressure, they also had fun. “We battled hard,” she said. “Battling in a game like that is so fun.” Close games, she said, are much more intense and keep the team engaged. “There is a lot of pres- sure,” Anderson said, “but you just have to stay calm and do your best. You just have to remember it’s one play at a time. You can’t think about errors or what’s going to hap- pen next. You just have to focus on the present.” Zach Williams, Grant Union/Prairie City’s head coach, said rain was a fac- tor in the game. The wet weather, he said, made it hard to grip the ball. Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle Grant Union/Prairie City’s Raney Anderson, a junior, roped a walk-off single in the eighth inning to win the fi rst game of the Lady Pros’ doubleheader against Weston-McEwen. He said the rain made it particularly hard for a velocity pitcher like Drew Williams. There were a few innings, he said, where Drew did not have the grip to throw any- thing but a fastball, which was questionable. The wet weather also impacted the Lady Pros’ defense. Williams said rou- tine plays became toss-ups of whether they could make a throw to get the out. Games like Saturday’s, he said, came down to the squad having patience at the plate. Williams said the team was swinging at pitches out of the strike zone in the early going. However, he said, the players adjusted, allowing them to work the count and see pitches later on. “We left too many girls on base the fi rst few innings,” he said, “which is unlike our girls, and I really felt like we would break through at some point.” Williams said that staying JOHN DAY — Grant Union’s boys and girls track teams swept the Grant Union Invitational Track Meet on Friday, May 6, in their fi nal action before the district track meet. The invitational honored outgoing seniors and was the fi nal home meet of their careers. Both the boys’ and girls’ competitions featured six teams, including the winning Grant Union squads. The boys fi nished with 194 points, followed by sec- ond-place Enterprise, which fi nished with 140. The girls fi nished the day with 185 points. Burns was second in the girls’ fi eld with 153. Grant County teams Monument and Long Creek also took part in the meet. Long Creek didn’t log a score in the girls’ competition but fi nished with 8 points among the boys. Monument fi nished with 5 points in the girls’ competition but didn’t register a score in the boys’ competition. The Pros ended the meet with 14 top fi ve fi n- ishes in the 17 events contested on the afternoon in the boys competition. Seniors Justin Hodge, Luke Jackson and Mason Morris led the way for the boys. Hodge picked up fi rst-place fi nishes in the 100 meter race, 4x100 relay and javelin and fi nished second in the discus. Jackson picked up a pair of fi rst-place fi nishes in the 200 meter race and 4x100 relay with Hodge and teammates Cashton Wheeler and Morris. Jackson also picked up a second-place fi nish in the 100 meter race. Morris had fi rst-place fi nishes in the long jump and triple jump to go along with his fi rst-place fi nish in the 4x100 relay. Distance runners Brady Dole and Logan Rand- leas left the meet with top four fi nishes in the two distance races. Dole fi nished second in the 1,500 meter race and Randleas was fourth in the 3,000 meters. Field events saw the Pros record a top fi ve fi n- isher in every event contested at the meet. Three of the top four fi nishers in the high jump were Grant Union athletes. The lone outlier was Long Creek’s Nolan Garinger, who fi nished second in the event. Freshman Mason Benge won the event, and fellow freshmen Ryan Coombs and Logan Randleas fi n- ished third and fourth in the event, respectively. Grant Union paired a third-place fi nish in the shot put by Tucker Carpenter with a fi fth-place fi n- ish by Alex Finley in the same event. Lucas Wolf added a fi fth-place fi nish in the discus to Hodge’s previously mentioned fi rst-place fi nish in that event. Pole vault didn’t produce a fi rst-place fi nisher for the Pros but did produce two top three fi nishers with Max Bailey’s second-place fi nish and Quinn Larson’s third. The long jump added two more top fi ve fi nishers to Grant Union’s tally. Riddick Hitchison and Ryan Coombs placed fourth and fi fth in the event. The Pros continued the trend of multiple top fi ve event fi nishers in the triple jump. Wheeler placed fourth and Benge placed fi fth to go along with the fi rst-place fi nish Morris picked up in the event. The Lady Pros were just as dominant as the boys. Despite scoring fewer points than the boys squad, the girls had a top fi ve placer in every event contested at the meet. Grant Union’s seniors fl exed their muscles on a day that was meant to honor them. Carson Weaver, Lauryn Pettyjohn and Katelyn Hughes each had three top fi ve fi nishes on the afternoon. Weaver placed second in the javelin and recorded third-place fi nishes in the 100 meter dash and 4x100 meter relay. Pettyjohn fi nished the after- noon with a second-place result in the 100 meter hurdles, a third-place fi nish in the 4x100 relay and a fourth-place result in the 200 meter dash. Hughes won the javelin and picked up a pair of third-place fi nishes in the 300 meter hurdles and 4x100 relay with teammates Weaver, Pettyjohn and freshman Morgan Randleas. Lady Pro freshmen and sophomores made their presences known in fi eld events, with lowerclass- men placing in all but the javelin. Mallory Lusco’s throws were good for fourth in the shot put and second in the discus. Teammate Morgan Walker was right behind Lusco in the dis- cus, placing third. Randleas notched second-place fi nishes in the triple jump and long jump along with a third-place fi nish in the high jump. The Lady Pros picked up a pair of wins to go along with Hughes’ fi rst-place fi nish in the javelin with Macy Carter winning the pole vault and Katie Rigby winning the triple jump. Grant Union now prepares for the 2A Special District 5 Championship meet at Weston-McEwen on Friday, May 13. Events start at 11 a.m. Pros split pair with Weston-McEwen By JUSTIN DAVIS Blue Mountain Eagle ATHENA — Grant Union’s baseball team split a pair of close games with No. 6-ranked Weston-McE- wen in Athena on Saturday, May 7, to stay at .500 on the season. The fi rst game saw Weston-McEwen score two runs in the fi rst inning and a third in the sixth while hold- ing the Pros scoreless for a 3-0 loss. In the second game, the Grant Union off ense found its rhythm and a little bit of luck to eke out an 11-10 vic- tory. Weston-McEwen built a 6-2 lead heading into the fi fth before the Pros started chipping away. Grant Union would add a run in the fi fth inning and respond to a two- run sixth by Weston-McE- wen with four runs of their own to tie the game at 8 headed into the seventh inning. The Pros would sur- render two runs in the eighth inning only to score three of their own and leave with the 11-10 win. Syrus Workman hit the game-winning single with two strikes and the team down to its fi nal out. The win- ning run scored after a throw- ing error by the Weston-McE- wen shortstop to fi rst in an attempt to throw Workman out and end the game. The Pros’ win marks only the second loss on Weston-McEwen’s record and their fi rst loss to an Ore- gon team on the season. The win also snapped a two-game losing streak for the Pros and pushed their record back to .500 on the season at 9-9. The team will be in action next on Saturday, May 14, at Pilot Rock. The game starts at 4 p.m. SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY, MAY 12 3 p.m.: Grant Union soft- ball, doubleheader @ Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii FRIDAY, MAY 13 11a.m.: Grant Union track, League Championship Meet @Weston-McEwen Track SATURDAY, MAY 14 11a.m.: Grant Union baseball, doubleheader @ Sherman TUESDAY, MAY 17 2 p.m.: Grant Union baseball, doubleheader vs. Lyle 4 p.m.: Grant Union Soft- ball @ LaGrande WEDNESDAY, MAY 18 4 p.m.: Grant Union baseball vs. Baker/Powder Valley Home games in bold Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Monday - Thursday 7am- 6pm Friday 8am - 5pm Friday Sharpe 8am - 5pm Mendy FNP Mendy Sharpe FNP Apppointments available Burnt River School District Audrey Bremner! Eastern Oregon University is pleased to announce the hiring of Audrey Bremner as our new Grant County Business Advisor! To schedule an appointment for no-cost, confidential business advising, you may reach Audrey by calling 541-620-2716 or by emailing eousbdc@gmail.com. Now enrolling students for Fall 2022! Payments may be made at the Tax Collector’s Office at the Grant County Courthouse in Canyon City, or the payment may be mailed and postmarked no later than May 16th, 2022. Please remember that delinquent taxes accrue interest at the rate of 16% per year. If you have any questions, please call the tax office at 575-0107.. PO Box 10 Canyon City, OR 97820 A MAN WAKES UP in the morning after sleeping on... an advertised bed, in advertised pajamas. He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle MyEagleNews.com S286526-1 S283676-1 139101 The third installment of the 2021-22 property tax is due Monday, May 16th, 2022 by 5:00 p.m. Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710