Grant Union/Prairie City’s Savannah Watterson swings into one of her two home runs during her team’s 8-0 state quarterfinal win over Clatskanie on Friday, May 26, 2023 at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day.

What a year in spring sports. From individual accolades to team state championships, this spring sports season is one I know many will never forget.

We’ll lead with the track teams, who didn’t get nearly as much love this year from us as I would have liked. The county had a pair of individual state placers in Prairie City’s Eli Wright and Grant Union’s Riddick Hutchison.

Both Wright and Hutchison left the state meet in Eugene as placers in the javelin, with Wright finishing fourth in Class 1A and Hutchison finishing third in Class 2A. Wright nearly brought another individual track state title to the county with his second-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles.

Despite the individual accolades of Hutchison and Wright, there were others, including Mallory Lusco and Landon Boyd, who performed well all season but came up just short at the state meet. Congrats to all who competed.

Keeping with the theme of individual accolades, how about Prairie City’s Sawyer Quinton? Quinton carried the banner for Grant County at the state golf championships after winning the district tournament by a Tiger Woods-like 34 strokes.

Wearing Prairie City’s trademark orange pants, Quinton struggled initially in the state tournament before rising nine spots on the final day to finish 25th overall. He accomplished all that as a freshman.

With another three seasons ahead of him, there is little doubt that Quinton can improve on that 25th-place finish.

Speaking of improvement, the Grant Union/Prairie City baseball team improved by leaps and bounds this year. The team finished with a 19-6 record and didn’t lose consecutive games at all during the season.

While the team finished with a better record than last year, they still fell in the second round of the state playoff. Unlike last year’s 13-0 blowout loss to Kennedy, the Pros put a scare into eventual state runners-up Blanchet Catholic while suffering a heartbreaking 3-0 loss.

The team brings almost everyone back next year, losing senior Riddick Hutchison. Head coach RC Huerta has been building this team for a while and the gap between them and the best teams in the state has narrowed. Next season should be fun and interesting.

Finally, you can’t have a spring sports column in Grant County without talking about the Lady Pro softball team. After the disappointment of last season’s loss to Lakeview in the state final, the Grant Union/Prairie City girls finally get to call themselves state champions after their dominant 10-0 win over league foe Weston-McEwen/Griswold in this year’s state final.

The disappointment the team felt last year was evident. You could see it on their faces and hear it in their voices.

This season was all about redemption and clearing up unfinished business from last season. The upcoming season will likely be about maintaining momentum and defending their championship.

They’ve got the firepower to do it, too. The team does lose three seniors, two of whom were all-league selections.

League Player of the Year Savannah Watterson and Pitcher of the Year Drew Williams both return next season. Home-run-in-waiting Halle Parsons and all-league infielder Sivanna Hodge return as well.

Nobody knows how next season will play out, but for Grant Union/Prairie City baseball and softball, one thing is certain: Next season will bring expectations. Expectations both squads are more than capable of fulfilling.