WEDNESDAY March 19, 2014

New catcher could be real deal

Exchange student from Panama has Eagle coach excited for 2014 team
Wallowa County Chieftain

By Rocky Wilson

An experienced baseball player from Panama, Sebastian Solis, has Joseph/Enterprise baseball coach Calvin Word licking his chops about what this one exchange student can bring to the plate this spring for the Eagle team. Word says that Solis, primarily a catcher, has been playing baseball year round since he was nine years

old and recently played for the Panamanian Junior National team. Word says his Panamanian newcomer is fast, equipped with a strong throwing arm, and skilled at controlling the game from behind the plate. Described by his new coach as an excellent hitter and talented enough to play any position,Solis will rotate into the role of starting pitcher when senior Blair Beaudoin and sophomore Justin Exon are not lling that post, says Word .

When not pitching, Beaudoin will be on the eld as a shortstop and Exon vying for playing time as an outelder. Other than three seniors and one junior, Words entire co-op baseball team is comprised of underclassmen. And yet, indicates Word, the team as a whole has more experience than many would think. As a whole, 13 of the 17 players out for the 2014 baseball team are returning lettermen, and the experience of the exchange student easily pushes that experience count to 14. Word says ve freshmen started for his baseball team one year ago

and are more seasoned because of that experience. He adds, too, that because of their young ages, those former freshmen gained even more experience competing in Babe Ruth competition. Other potential starters for the JHS/EHS squad include senior Max Greenway at rst base. Stockily built, Word says Greenway came on strong at the end of the 2012 season and can hit with power to all elds. Competing for the ineld position of second base are sophomore Will McCadden and freshman Tate Olsen. See BASEBALL, Page B2

Rich Rautenstrauch/Chieftain

Due to inclement weather the team practiced in the gym. Here sophomore Sam Beckman makes a catch.

TRIPLE

PLAY
By Rich Rautenstrauch
Wallowa County Chieftain

Wallowa Lake park gets new manager

Wallowa County Chieftain

By Elane Dickenson

There is excitement in the air at this years girls softball spring training camp. All three of Wallowa Countys full-sized schools Enterprise, Joseph and Wallowa have combined to make to make what coaches and players are calling a bigger and better, competitive team. The change does come at a cost, however. Last years team that combined only Joseph and Enterprise made for a 2A designation. Now with Wallowa added to the mix, the Cubs ascend to the bigger 3A classication. Coach Travis Huffman said, Weve played a lot of the teams in the past were facing now and

I feel we can compete with anyone in the new league. Were really excited about Wallowa joining us. Assistant coach Cliff Conrad added, We will be athletically stronger and should have nine solid players lling each position. Well be more aggressive in each spot. Last year Conrad also had a wish that Wallowa County had a junior varsity team to ll the ranks of retiring senors. That dream may now come true. Players are also jazzed about the changes. Enterprise senior Amy See BASEBALL, Page B2

Wallowa girls make 2014 Cubs a 3-school team

By Rich Rautenstrauch
Wallowa County Chieftain

Rich RautenstrauchChieftain

Joseph senior Hallie McClure throws the ball to first base during the Cubs first practice of the year at Jensen Fields last Thursday evening.

Wallowa County hoopsters earn honors

Eleven basketball stars in Wallowa County were named to rst and second all-conference teams or earned honorable mentions. In the Old Oregon League, Wallowas Cole Hafer was named to the all-conference second team while teammates Gareth Murray and Chaz Murray received honorable mentions. For the Wallowa girls, Taylor Harsheld, Kristyn Young and Macey Frei all garnered honorable mentions. Young was also named to the all-district second team announced after the district tournament. For Joseph, on the boys side, Cayden DeLury and Wil Story received all-conference honorable mentions with DeLury also being named to the all-district rst team. For the Joseph girls, Breeana Gibson was named to the all-conference second team. On the all-district team, Gibson was named to the second team along with Satorie Albee. Sidney Cooney and Hailee McClure earned all-district honorable mentions. In the Blue Mountain Conference, Enterprise boys Damon Greenshields and Kaden Lathrop gained all-conference recognition with Greenshields being named to the second team and Lathrop getting honorable mention. For the Outlaw girls, Hayley Riggs was named to the all-conference rst team.

Wallowa Lake State Parks new manager crossed the state to step into her new position. Nancy McLeod, who has had a long career with the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, was most recently manager of the Valley of the Rogue State Park. McLeod succeeds Todd Honeywell, who left the head Wallowa Lake post he held for more than seven years the rst of January for a new position as manager of Collier Memorial State Park near Chiloquin in Klamath County. The area is gorgeous here, McLeod said about her decision to apply for the manager position at Wallowa Lake. And also the management staff. I worked with Jim Hutton (the Eastern District manager) many years ago. In addition to the large state park at Wallowa Lake, the management unit McLeod now heads includes Iwetemlaykin Heritage Site just south of Joseph, Minam State Park and the fountain and wayside in the Wallowa River canyon. I wanted to be a park ranger since I was four years old, McLeod said. While she said she had other jobs along the way, shes been working for Oregons parks department since 1991. She started her career as a park ranger of the Joseph Stewart State Recreation Area near Prospect, where she worked for 14 years before moving on to a nine-year stint with the Valley of the Rogue, a three-mile-long park that includes both day use and an overnight campground along the Rogue River between Grants Pass and Medford, where she became manager. McLeod and her husband, Bill, traveled for the rst time to Wallowa County last fall to check out the area and the park. He is remaining in the couples home near Medford, where he works with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, until he retires in a little over a year and then will move here.

See PARK, Page B2

Wallowa County sunrise and sunset March 20 - March 26 (from the U.S. Naval Observatory)
Thursday, March 20 Rise ..................................... 6:52 Set ....................................... 7:02 Friday, March 21 Rise ..................................... 6:50 Set ....................................... 7:03 Saturday, March 22 Rise ..................................... 6:48 Set ....................................... 7:04 Sunday, March 23 Rise ..................................... 6:46 Set ....................................... 7:06 Monday, March 24 Rise ..................................... 6:44 Set ....................................... 7:07 Tuesday, March 25 Rise ..................................... 6:43 Set ....................................... 7:08 Wednesday, March 26 Rise ..................................... 6:41 Set ....................................... 7:08

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