The INDEPENDENT, May 4, 2006
Page 13
Vernonia Sports Report
by Ben Schorzman
BASEBALL
After dropping two against
Northwest League opponents
two weeks ago, the Loggers
looked to get back in the win-
ning track in a double-header
against the Portland Christian
Royals on April 18. The first
game was, literally, a marathon,
going 11 innings before being
decided on a home run. The
Royals jumped out early, taking
a 3-0 lead going into the sec-
ond inning. The Loggers came
right back, getting two on Se-
nior Tim Hein’s single. But the
Royals scored again in the
fourth inning, stretching the
lead to 4-2. In the top of the
fifth, Vernonia got a solo home
run from Senior Ben Schorz-
man to cut the lead to one, but
PC answered, scoring three in
their half. Down 7-3 going into
the sixth inning, the Loggers
put up seven runs, led by
Freshman Byron Schorzman's
two run home run. With the
Loggers needing only six outs
to get the win, Coach Steve
Schorzman called on the Log-
gers shut down man, Senior
Russell Lende. The sixth was a
breeze for Lende, who struck
out two. The seventh was a dif-
ferent story. After getting a
quick out, Tyler Nicholson sent
a hanging curve ball over the
left field fence to cut the lead to
two. Lende managed to get an-
other out, but then a runner on
third scored on an overthrow,
making the score 10-9 Vernon-
ia. Alex Lemieux got a hit and
managed to make it to second
base. Then Jesse Severson hit
one to right field, scoring
Lemieux from second. Then the
scorelessness began, with
each side getting chance after
chance but never capitalizing.
Finally, Troy Hernandez put a
two out pitch from Lende in the
eleventh inning over the fence,
winning the game 11-10. The
Loggers came out in the sec-
ond game wanting to get the
taste of defeat out of their
mouths. Junior Brent Thomp-
son led off the game with a
home run. But Sophomore Je-
remy Lende couldn’t hold the
lead, and the Loggers fell 2-1
after five innings because of
darkness.
Vernonia came back the
next day in a double header
against Seaside. Up 8-7 going
into the seventh inning, the
Loggers self-destructed, losing
8-12. The second game was an
improvement but still not what
the Loggers wanted. After sev-
en innings, with the score tied
at three, the game was called
on account of darkness and
both teams left the field disap-
pointed.
April 25 saw Vernonia finally
get back on the winning track
against the Portland Lutheran
Blue Jays. PL is 0-17, but has
one of the best pitchers in the
league in Junior Scotty Burris.
The Blue Jay’s woes are
caused by a lack of defense,
hitting, and the overuse of Bur-
ris. (One week he pitched every
inning of the three games they
played. An arm just can’t take
that kind of use.) The first game
was a nail biter, but really
shouldn’t have been close. The
Loggers clung to a 1-0 lead go-
ing into the fifth inning when the
Blue Jays scored two. At this
point, Burris was throwing a no-
hitter but, due to an error in the
first inning, a run had scored.
Finding themselves down, the
Loggers answered, with Ben
Schorzman not only breaking
up the no-hitter with a single,
but scoring a run on a Jeremy
Lende double that put the Log-
gers up by one. PL answered
again, tying the game up in the
seventh inning. After a score-
less eighth for PL, Vernonia
scored the winning run on an
error by the third baseman.
Burris pitched a great game for
the Jays, striking out 15 Logger
batters. The second game was
better, but still not up to the
team’s standards. Although the
team won 10-4, the Loggers let
PL hang around. Russell Lende
picked up the win for Vernonia,
striking out 13 Blue Jays in five
innings.
April 28, Vernonia traveled to
Knappa for a double-header.
The number two ranked team
in the state had no problems,
with Vernonia taking them-
selves out of both games early.
Knappa swept the two games
11-1 and 7-1. Davis and Rus-
sell Lende took the losses for
Vernonia.
SOFTBALL
The Lady Loggers continued
their winning ways, extending
their winning streak to six
games. At Portland Christian
on April 18, the game was clos-
er then expected. Up 7-2 going
into the bottom of the sixth in-
ning, the Royals came back
with six runs, taking an 8-7
lead. With their undefeated
league season on the line, the
Loggers responded with three
runs in the top of the seventh,
led by Junior Nandi VanMeter’s
go-ahead RBI single. Junior
Christina Sohler hit well for the
team, going 2-3 with two runs
scored, a RBI, and two walks.
On the mound, Brittney Lin-
dauer went six innings, giving
up six earned runs, and striking
out nine.
In a possible State Playoff
preview, the Lady Loggers
hosted an excellent Regis
Rams team on April 19. Ver-
nonia’s ace, Junior Joreigh
Landers, threw an outstanding
game, announcing that Vernon-
ia is one of the best in the state.
She allowed only one run on
three hits, and struck out 15 in
the 3-1 victory. Vernonia
jumped out early, scoring three
runs in the first three innings,
led by Senior Kristin Cota’s two
runs.
The team added three more
wins to their record with an
easy 10-0 win over De La Salle
on April 25, followed by a com-
plete domination of the Neah-
Kah-Nie Pirates on April 27. In
a double-header with the Pi-
rates, the Loggers won the first
game 26-0, batting around
more than once in the first in-
ning. In two at bats, Landers
was 2-2 with a triple and a sin-
gle and three RBI. The second
game was much the same, with
Lindauer pitching for Vernonia
and getting the 19-3 win.
Vernonia continued their
success the next day at Knap-
pa with two more wins. The first
win came relatively easily, with
Vernonia winning 15-1 behind
the strong pitching of Landers.
2nd Town Hall Forum
Long Range Planning for
Vernonia Schools
May 16, 2006, 7:00 p.m.
at Vernonia Middle School
But the second game was very
different. Knappa wouldn’t go
away after the 14 run beating,
and stayed with Vernonia the
entire game. It took some good
hitting and some excellent
pitching by Lindauer for Ver-
nonia to get the 5-0 win.
TRACK
With two meets remaining
before Districts, the track team
is continuing to improve. Be-
hind the solid performances of
Junior Colton DeWitt in shot
put, Junior Nicole Franz in the
3000, Senior Laura Brookins in
the three throwing events, and
foreign exchange student Rob
Champion in the Long Jump
and 200, and 100 meter
sprints, the Loggers are hoping
to sneak a couple more people
into the State meet this year.
Champion has been the real
success story for the team this
year, placing in the top three in
the 200, and 100 meter sprints
every time. Even in the Long
Jump, an event he’s never
done before, he jumped an
18’7”, which is a state qualify-
ing jump. Another pleasant sur-
prise is Sophomore Michael
Calhoun. After a very success-
ful Cross-Country season, Cal-
houn has cut his 1500 meter
time to 4:51, 13 seconds better
than his personal best.
“Michael will eventually be-
come one of the best 1500 run-
ners in years at Vernonia,”
were Coach Byron Brown’s re-
marks about the sophomore.
Franz has also kept up her
dominance from last year’s
State qualifying fun, winning
most of her races so far this
year.
Coach Brown is very im-
pressed by this year’s group of
kids and says they are very tal-
ented with lots of potential, “It’s
been a pleasure to coach this
team. The real challenges will
come in the next two weeks.
Our athletes have a lot of pride
and I’m sure they will do their
best.”
GOLF
The golf team has played in
a lot of meets this season, but
due to some conflicts in sched-
uling, I haven’t been able to get
results. The next paper will
have top finishers and team
scores.
Cub Scouts get to meet the birds
Elizabeth, from the Audubon
Society, with Hazel the owl.
A special visit from the Port-
land Audubon Society fascinat-
ed Cub Scout Pack 201 and
their families, April 19. Follow-
ing a slide show presentation
about Birds of Prey, the scouts
were able to observe and
touch various wings, talons
and skulls.
The best part of the night,
according to the boys, was
meeting Hazel, a four-year-old
Spotted Owl who was rescued
around the age of one. She is a
permanent resident at the
Audubon Society. At the end of
the presentation the boys were
given the opportunity to spon-
sor Hazel with part of the pro-
ceeds from the visit. The
monies will help with her care
and diet of mice.
Each youngster was also
given a couple of owl pellets
collected by rural Vernonia res-
ident Jim Prpich, from his resi-
dent barn owl.
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