Pros take three from Union/CoveThe Grant Union/Prairie City/monument baseball team ended the regular season with a trio of wins against Union/Cove over a two-day span to head into the postseason with an unblemished, 12-0 league record.

The first game, on Wednesday, May 1, saw pitcher Talon Van Cleave strike out 11 Union/Cove batters and surrender no hits en route to a 10-0, five-inning mercy rule win.

The Prospectors tallied three runs in the opening frame, capitalizing on a pitching error to score their first run before a Ryland Beil single brought two runners across home plate for a 3-0 Pro lead. The team would continue to capitalize on Bobcat errors in the second inning, scoring two of the inning’s four runs following an error by the Bobcat second baseman.

Up 7-0, the Pros got their final three runs in the fourth inning and leaned on Van Cleave’s dominant outing on the mound to end the game 10-0 after four and a half innings of play.

Pacing the Pros offensively was Beil, who finished 1-2 at bat with a team-high two RBIs. Three other Prospectors — Weston Suchorski, Kingdon Kirby and Lukas Blood — all finished with an RBI in Wednesday’s game against the Bobcats.

The Pros then hit the road for a two-game set against the Bobcats on Friday, May 3, defeating the host team by a combined score of 22-4.

The first game of the series saw the Pros again lean on a dominant pitching performance, this time from Sheldon Lenz, to hold the Bobcats at bay. The Grant Union senior struck out 10 Bobcat batters while surrendering three runs over the course of seven innings to help guide the Pros to a close 5-3 win.

The Pros started the first game hot, scoring scoring all of their five runs in the third and fourth innings. Union/Cove would attempt to rally, scoring a run in the fourth and a pair in the sixth to trail 5-3 headed into the seventh and decisive inning.

The Bobcats would put one runner on base in the seventh but would ultimately fail to draw any closer, leaving the Pros with a 5-3 Game 1 win.

Syrus Workman led the team offensively in the first game, finishing 1-3 at the plate with a walk and two RBIs.

The final game of the two-game series saw the big bats of Suchorski and Kirby carry the Prospectors to a dominant 16-1 victory.

With the Pros up 3-0 to start the second inning, Suchorski would net three of his game-high six RBIs with a towering three-run homer that put the Pros up 6-0 headed into the third inning of play.

The Pros would keep the scorekeeper busy in the third inning, scoring nine runs in the frame, including a two-RBI double from Suchorski and a three-run homer by Kirby to take a commanding 15-0 lead through three innings of play.

Fittingly, Suchorski would nab the final RBI for the Pros in Game 2, a fourth inning sacrifice fly that brought catcher Baryn Huerta across the plate for the 16th Prospector run of the game.

The Bobcats had one final chance to make a run in the fifth inning before the game was stopped due to the mercy rule, but only managed a single run in the bottom of the inning, resulting in a 16-1 victory for the Pros.

Taking the win for the Pros on the mound was Kirby, who pitched four innings, striking out five Bobcat batters while allowing three hits and no runs.

Offensively the Pros were led by Suchorski, who finished a perfect 3-3 at the plate to go with his six RBIs. Blood and Kirby each batted in three runs for the Pros, and senior Sheldon Lenz finished the game with a pair of RBIs.

With the three wins, the Prospectors end the regular season with a 16-6 overall record and a 12-0 record in league play. The 14th-ranked Pros will now head into league postseason play starting on Tuesday, May 7, and concluding on Tuesday, May 14.

Times and opponents for league playoffs are still to be determined.

Lady Pros lose a pair to Lady TigerscotsThe much-anticipated rematch between last year’s class 2A softball finalists didn’t go the way the defending champions had planned while possibly setting the stage for a postseason reckoning as the Grant Union/Prairie City Lady Prospectors fell to Weston-McEwen 5-3 and 4-2 in a pair of league games on Friday, May 3, in Athena.

The first game saw the Lady Pros jump out to a 2-0, third inning lead following an Addy Northway solo home run coupled with a Reece Jacobs RBI double. The Lady Tigerscots would answer in the bottom of the fourth inning via a two-run homer that left the game nodded at two runs each headed into the fifth inning of play.

A pair of RBI singles and a fielding error in the fifth pushed the Lady Tigerscot lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the frame.

An RBI single from Savannah Watterson in the top of the sixth would put the Lady Pros within striking distance at 5-3 headed into the final inning. The Lady Pro defense did their part in helping give the team a chance at a late game rally, registering three straight outs in the top of the seventh.

It was not to be, however, as the Lady Pros failed to reach base in the bottom of the seventh to fall 5-3 to their league rivals in Game 1.

Leading the Lady Pros offensively in Game 1 was Northway, who finished 3-4 at bat with a home run. Savannah Watterson made the most of her plate appearances, finishing 1-1 with an RBI and three walks.

Drew Williams took the loss for the Lady Pros despite a valiant effort in the circle. Williams struck out 12 Lady Tigerscot batters while surrendering five hits and four runs in six innings of work.

The second game of the series saw the Lady Pros maintain a slim 2-0 lead through most of the contest before a pair of seventh inning home runs led to a 4-2 walk-off win for the Lady Tigerscots.

Up 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh with one out, the Lady Tigerscots would cut the Lady Pro lead in half after a solo homer to left field left the game at 2-1.

A Lady Tigerscot single and walk would put the tying and winning runs on base before another two-run home run eliminated the need for small ball, giving the state runners-up a 4-2 walk-off win while handing the Lady Prospectors just their third loss of the season.

Northway again led the Lady Pros on offense in Game 2, finishing 3-4 at bat with an RBI. Gracey Kenyon also had a strong game for the Lady Pros, finishing 1-2 at bat with an RBI.

Halle Parsons took the loss in the pitcher’s circle for the Lady Pros, striking out three Lady Tigerscot batters while surrendering 13 hits and four runs in just over six innings of work.

Despite the losses, the Lady Pros have a stellar 17-3 overall record with a 9-2 record in league play.

The Lady Prospectors will look to return to form on Tuesday, May 7, when they visit Union/Cove for a league matchup before a Saturday, May 11, doubleheader against Irrigon at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day.

The game against Union/Cove is set to start at 5 p.m. The doubleheader against Irrigon is set to get underway at 11 a.m.

Tigers prep for postseason in BakerThe Dayville track and field team was the only Grant County team that didn’t participate in the Grant Union Invitational on Friday, May 3, competing for the final time before the district meet against 22 other squads in Baker City at the Ray Uriarte Invite.

Neither the boys nor the girls logged a team score in the event for Dayville, with Baker winning the boys competition with 97 team points and Powder Valley winning the girls competition with 71.5 team points. La Grande also took first-place honors in the girls adaptive competition, finishing with 20 team points across two events.

The highest individual placer for the Tigers in the boys competition was Preston Fretwell, who finished 18th in the pole vault with a jump of 9 feet, 6 inches. Jasmine Athens was the highest finisher for the Dayville girls, finishing 26th in both the shot put and javelin.

The Dayville track and field squad will be in action next on Friday, May 10, for the 1A-SD4 Special District Championships at the Baker Athletic Complex in Baker City. Start time is scheduled for 10 a.m.