SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
A9
Pros slug out state win
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
COQUILLE
— The
Prospector baseball season
continues.
The Pros made the long
trip to Coquille for a fi rst-
round matchup with the Red
Devils at 3:30 p.m. on Mon-
day, May 23. They left town
with a 6-2 victory to extend
their season for at least
another week.
The Grant Union/Prairie
City squad put up three runs
in the fi rst inning and another
three in the top of the seventh
to take a commanding 6-0
lead headed into the bottom
of the fi nal frame. The Red
Devils would try to mount a
late comeback in the bottom
of the seventh, however, scor-
ing a pair of runs before the
Pros ended the rally attempt
to secure the 6-2 win.
Parker Neault pitched the
entire game for Grant Union.
Neault gave up fi ve hits while
surrendering no earned runs
and striking out 10 batters.
Freshman Ryland Beil had
a breakout game off ensively
for the Pros. Beil fi nished 2-3
at the plate with three RBIs.
Beil also drew a walk. Kobe
Fell fi nished 4-2 at bat with
a pair of runs scored and an
RBI. Trever Gabbard fi nished
with the best batting average
of the day for the Pros, going
3-4 at the plate. The Pros
logged 14 hits in the game and
struck out only twice.
After a slow start and hov-
ering at or near .500 for most
of the season, the Prospec-
tors appear to be playing their
best baseball at the right time.
The Pros have won eight of
their last nine games and have
pushed their season-long win-
ning streak to fi ve games.
The Pros have outscored their
opponents 87-9 during the
fi ve-game win streak.
Grant Union baseball coach
RC Huerta says he feels “really
good” following the state road
win. “We limited our mistakes,
and we played well,” he said.
“I’m proud of the boys and our
coaching staff .”
The tournament continues
and that leaves little time to
celebrate. Up next for the Pros
is a date with second-ranked
Kennedy on Wednesday, May
25, in Mount Angel.
Coach Huerta says the
boys “understand what lies
ahead” in Kennedy. “They’re
a powerhouse,” Huerta said.
Despite that, Huerta has
his team streaking and full
of confi dence. “They’re con-
fi dent but not cocky,” Huerta
adds. Huerta’s motto of “every
game is a championship
game” has gotten his team to
the second round of the state
playoff s and may take them
further into the tournament
than anybody thought possible
a month ago.
Bend-area golf course getting a second life
By MARK MORICAL
The Bulletin
BEND — One of the most
popular public golf courses in
Central Oregon could easily
now be a housing development.
But homeowners surrounding
River’s Edge Golf Course in
Bend were determined to not let
that happen.
Now that they still have their
course, they want to make it
great again.
“I think people are pretty
excited about the new owner-
ship,” said Jeff Kramer, presi-
dent of the corporation of home-
owners associations that now
owns the course. “We’re doing
a lot of things for the course,
and taking care of it in the way
that it hasn’t quite been taken
care of the last several years.
People are excited to see some
of the changes.”
Kramer said they hired a
new superintendent and are
focused on greening up the
course, improving the put-
ting greens and redoing the tee
boxes and bunkers.
“We’re doing various things,
just to make it a more fun and
enjoyable place to play for a
range of golfers,” Kramer said.
About a year ago the home-
owners were told that the fair-
ways around their homes would
be plowed up and turned into
a a Pahlisch Homes housing
development with 400 homes.
But last fall a settlement was
reached with the former Riv-
er’s Edge owner to abandon the
development plans and preserve
the golf course.
Business owner Wayne Pur-
cell sold the course to the group
of homeowners associations
that surrounds the 141-acre golf
course for $500,000, according
to an email sent to homeown-
ers. The settlement preserves
River’s Edge as a “playable
18-hole, par-72 golf course in
perpetuity.”
Kramer, a retired lawyer
who lives near the golf course,
was the lead plaintiff in the law-
suit. He purchased his home in
November 2019 and moved
into the house in April 2020,
one year before the announced
sale of the golf course.
The lawsuit arose because
residents said they bought
their homes based on adver-
tising and other promises they
were buying into a golf course
community.
“We had broad community
support from all the homeown-
ers, fi nancial support and ulti-
mately the voting to approve
the settlement that we were able
to negotiate,” Kramer said. “We
couldn’t have done this without
that broad community support.
And we had strong facts and we
had an excellent lawyer.”
As land becomes increas-
ingly valuable and housing
increasingly scarce in Central
Oregon, other golf courses in
the area may soon face the same
dilemma as River’s Edge.
“Every course is diff er-
ent, but as land becomes more
valuable, and as the pressures
to build homes and accommo-
date newcomers to the commu-
nity grows, then it’s going to be
tempting for people who own
golf courses to try to do what
we avoided here,” Kramer said.
“Yeah, I think we’ll see this
being more of a threat to other
golf courses.”
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Grant Union’s Justin Hodge wins the 2A 100-meter dash at the OSAA State Track and Field
Championships on Friday, May 20, 2022, at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Hodge runs
to state title
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
EUGENE — Grant Union senior Jus-
tin Hodge is a state champion once again.
Hodge captured the 2A 100 meter state
championship at the University of Ore-
gon’s Hayward Field in Eugene on Fri-
day, May 20, with a time of 11.39. The
100 meter championship is Hodge’s sec-
ond of the year following his 152 pound
state title in wrestling.
Hodge and 4x100 relay teammates
Luke Jackson, Cashton Wheeler and
Mason Morris came up just short of add-
ing another state championship to Grant
Union’s tally, finishing third in the event
at the state meet.
Jackson notched a pair of strong indi-
vidual finishes at the meet, finishing
fifth in the 200 meter dash and 400 meter
race. The Grant Union boys tied for sev-
enth place with 29 points but were only
two points shy of a trophy: Sheridan,
Weston-McEwen and Heppner finished
in a tie for third place with 31 points.
Prairie City’s Eli Wright just missed
out on a state championship of his own in
Eugene. Wright placed third in the jave-
lin at the 1A level and second in the high
jump. Wright’s height in the high jump
was 6 feet, 5 inches. The state champion
from Glendale won the title with a height
of 6 feet, 6 inches.
The Grant Union girls didn’t regis-
ter a score at the meet but did gain valu-
able experience for next year’s cam-
paign. Freshman Morgan Randleas was
the highest finisher of the group, placing
ninth in the long jump.
Junior Janie Koopman was the lone
Prairie City girl at the state meet. Koop-
man finished 10th in the long jump and
missed the final heat of the 400 meter
race by half a second.
When asked what his second state
championship meant to him, Hodge said
it means a lot.
“I put a lot of work into it,” he said.
“I’ve got to thank all the teammates that
pushed me to be a state champ. You can’t
just walk on and be a state champ. Over-
all, I really enjoyed it. I’m glad I get to be
a state champ for Grant Union.”
Hodge competed in the 100 meter dash
all four years of high school and looks at
his state title win as the culmination of
all the work he’s put into the event over
the past four years.
Hodge said he plans on playing foot-
ball at the College of the Siskiyous in
Weed, California, after graduating high
school. The message Hodge wants people
to take away from his story is that if you
work hard enough, “you’ll get it.” He also
wanted to thank his teammates across all
sports, adding, “They all pushed me to
get better.”
Razzle Dazzle golf tournament sees record turnout
team of Sarah Shinkle, Mary
Kerns, Maxine Day and Sta-
cey Radinovich. The fi rst
net-winning team was the
team of Lacy Avera, Jeanette
Radinovich, Debbie Raney
and Melody Miller.
Finlayson said she wanted
JOHN DAY — The Jack-
son Razzle Dazzle Ladies
Golf Tournament returned to
the John Day Golf Club on
Saturday and Sunday, May
21 and 22.
Longtime Grant County
residents Greg and Mel-
ody Jackson sponsor the
tournament.
Thirty-eight players com-
peted in the event this year, a
record for the Grant County
tradition, lead organizer
Melissa Finlayson told the
Eagle.
The format for the tourney
is 18 hole individual stroke
play on Saturday. On Sun-
day, the format is a nine-hole
scramble, where the golfers
are paired depending on their
scores from Saturday.
Lacy Avera took fi rst
Kathleen Lee/Contributed Photo
A record number of golfers turned out at the John Day Golf Club this weekend for the Jackson’s
Razzle Dazzle Ladies Golf Tournament on May 21-22.
gross and Sarah Shinkle took
second in the fi rst fl ight.
After that, the fi rst net went
to Teresa Lindgren, while the
second went to Deb Oatman.
Celia Tacy won the fi rst
gross on the second fl ight
and Kelly Nichols took sec-
ond. Meanwhile, Linda Tay-
lor took the fi rst net while
Mandi Dowell and Stacey
Radinovich tied for the sec-
ond net.
Karie Grasty took the
fi rst gross on the third fl ight,
Linda McClellan took sec-
ond, and Maxine Day and
Shanon Tacy took the fi rst
and second net, respectively.
The fi rst gross-winning
team on Sunday was the
to thank everyone who
helped make the tournament
a success this year.
“So
many
wonder-
ful folks,” Finlayson said,
“came together to make
this year one for the record
books.”
Monday - Thursday
7am-
6pm
Monday
- Thursday
7am-
6pm
Friday
8am
- 5pm
Friday Sharpe
8am - 5pm
Mendy
FNP
Mendy
Sharpe FNP
Apppointments
available
S283676-1
139101
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
SPORTS SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 25
3:30 p.m: Grant Union softball vs. winner of Neah-Kah-Nie vs. Bandon
Home games in bold
REMEMBERING OUR
SOLDIERS
“The United State flag does
not fly because the wind
moves past it... The United
States flag flies from the last
breath of each military member
who has died protecting it”
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This Memorial Day
honor those who has
served and protected
this great country.
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