JOHN DAY — The Grant Union/Prairie City baseball team defeated the Ontario Tigers 13-3 Friday, March 25, as the Prospectors took two out of three games at the Les Schwab Grant Union Tournament last week.

RC Huerta, the Prospectors head coach, said the game started a bit slow for his team, but the squad showed resiliency and played well overall.

Huerta said the team’s defense has been picking up and the Pros have been hitting the ball well.

“We’ve been making good plays, and it’s encouraging to see that,” Huerta said.

One of those good plays occurred toward the end of the game when Prospector catcher Riddick Hutchison tagged out Ontario’s James Dyan at home to keep Grant Union’s comfortable lead intact.

Hutchison said after the game that he thought the 2-A Prospectors were going to have their work cut out for them in facing a 4-A Ontario team, but overall he thought the team played well.

“We got the sticks swinging,” Hutchison said.

Huerta said he likes to get the Prospectors as many opportunities as possible to play good teams.

Grant Union/Prairie City started the three-day tourney at the Seventh Street Sports Complex on Wednesday, March 23, with a 13-6 loss to the 4A Sisters Outlaws.

The Prospectors followed that up on Thursday, March 24, with 16-6 win over the 3A Nyssa Bulldogs.

Friday’s win was Grant Union/Prairie City’s third. The Prospectors are 3-3 this season.

Grant Union/Prairie City’s next game is a conference matchup on the road against the Stanfield/Echo Tigers at 11 a.m. Saturday. April 2.