Grant Union/Prairie City/Monument claims district baseball crown
Published 9:00 am Saturday, May 18, 2024
- Heppner’s Shad Greenup makes it safely back to first base as Kingdon Kirby, of Grant Union, fields a throw from the pitcher on May 14, 2024, in Heppner. Grant Union won the game 6-4.
The Grant Union/Prairie City/Monument Prospector baseball team built a six-run lead through the top of the seventh inning and fought off a late-game push by Heppner to claim the 2A/1A Special District 7 title 6-4 on Tuesday, May 14, in Heppner.
The Pros would start strong, with a Talon Van Cleave single in the first inning that brought two runners across home plate for a 2-0 Prospector lead. The Pros would add another run to their tally in the top of the fourth after a Weston Weston Suchorski RBI single brought Kingdon Kirby home plate to make the score 3-0.
The Pros would get more help from Van Cleave in the top of the sixth inning, when he lined a double to drive in Baryn Huerta and put the team up 4-0 with just 1½ innings left to play.
The Pros would be opportunistic in the seventh as Zeke Rookstool and Sheldon Lenz capitalized on an error by Heppner pitcher Caleb George to score the team’s fifth and sixth runs headed into the bottom of the final frame.
The Mustangs did all of their damage in the second half of the seventh with a pair of runners on base and no outs. Heppner hitters would rip off four straight RBI singles to narrow the gap, with the home team trailing 6-4 with two outs and the tying run on first base.
Van Cleave would do his job on the mound, however, getting the Heppner batter to hit a pop fly that wound up in first baseman Kirby’s glove for the third and decisive out, giving the Pros a 6-4 win and RC Huerta his first district championship as the Grant Union/Prairie City/Monument head baseball coach.
Van Cleave took the win on the mound for the Prospectors, giving up six hits and four runs while striking out eight Mustang batters in a full game’s work. Van Cleave also led the Pros at the plate, going 2-5 with three RBIs.
Suchorski was the only other Prospector to drive in a run, finishing 1-3 at the plate with a single RBI.
The Pros ended their regular season on Thursday, May 16, with an 8-3 road win over Burns/Crane to finish with a 19-6 record and the No. 9 spot in the latest OSAA 2A baseball rankings.
The Pros received a bye in the opening round of the state tournament and will host Kennedy in a second-round matchup on Wednesday, May 22. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
