Jake Waldner delivers a pitch to the plate for the Les Schwab Royals on Monday. Waldner has played Little League baseball in Grant County for several years, but this was his first pitching start.<BR><I>The Eagle/Tim Adams </I>

JOHN DAY – Opening night for the Grant County Little League majors baseball and softball players and their dedicated fans proved to be about typical for early spring in Eastern Oregon, as four teams squared off at the Seventh Street Athletic Complex for the first games of the season on Monday, April 18.

Gusty winds and intermittent sprinkles of rain kept players and fans bundled up in blankets and insulated hunting clothes, but nothing could deter from the excitement of opening night for the 2005 season.

At Mosier Field, the Les Schwab Royals hooked up with the Jackson Oil Mariners, while the Winner’s Choice Mariners squared off against the Prairie Drug Indians on the softball field.

Opening night had its usual share of errors and mental mistakes by all four teams, but aside from a few red faces, more from the cold than from dropping a ball or swinging at a pitch out of the strike zone, the 2005 Grant County Little League season got off to a roaring start.

After falling behind in the early going, Jackson Oil rallied for a 5-3 win over Les Schwab, while in softball action, a lot of runs crossed the plate as Prairie Drug beat Winner’s Choice 33-11.

– Tim Adams, the Eagle