News and notes from local high school athletics

May 12, 2023 — The Siuslaw Viking baseball team put itself in prime position for a spot in the OSAA 3A State Baseball Championship playoffs after taking two of three league games from Sisters last week. 

On May 2 the Outlaws made the long trip to Florence from eastern Oregon only to have their bats shut down by Andrew Jensen-Norman in the 3-1 Siuslaw victory. The senior pitched a complete game, only allowing 2 hits, 2 walks and a run over 7 innings while striking out 3. He was also 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI. 

Coach Tom Shinn was especially impressed by his team’s defense.

“We had no errors in the game,” commented Shinn. “It was an all around great defensive effort.”

Three days later, on May 5, the Viks made their own long road trip to Sisters for a doubleheader against the Outlaws on their diamond.

Game 1 was all Sisters. Senior Ian Sissel had Siuslaw’s lone hit and the Viks fell 10-0.

Game 2 was a back and forth battle. Sisters scored 3 runs in the 1st inning. Siuslaw would get 1 in the 3rd, 1 in the 4th and 3 more runs in the 5th to take a 5-4 lead. Sisters picked up 1 in the 5th to tie it and the game went to extra innings. 

After the Viks loaded the bases in the 8th, Jensen-Norman singled to drive in the go-ahead run. The Viks would score one more to go up 7-5 when the Outlaws came to bat for their last at-bat. 

Sophomore Joel Sissel would shut down Sisters for the last two innings to earn the win. Freshman Micah Blankenship started on the mound for the Viks and went 6 strong innings. 

“Taking 2 of the 3 games in this series is a big positive for us,” said Shinn. “We still sit behind Sisters in the league rankings, however, if we end up tied with them at the end of the season we now hold the tiebreaker by taking the series. This gives us some strong momentum heading into the Pleasant Hill series in the final week of league play.”

The Viks faced Pleasant Hill on May 9 after press deadlines then will wrap up the league season tonight at home for a very important doubleheader against the Billies. First pitch of game one is at 2 p.m. May 9 is also Senior Night. In between games one and two seniors the team’s three seniors, Jensen-Norman, Noah Dotson and Victor Reyna-Ayala, will be honored.

The Siuslaw girls golf team wrapped up its season last week when it hosted the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 3 Championships at Florence Golf Links.

Junior Jenna Young was low golfer for the Viks with a two-day score of 246. Junior Mya Smith was next with a score of 281, followed by freshman Kyriana Masterman with 284. Marist was district champion with a team score of 733 and will move on to the OSAA 4A/3A/2A/1A State Championship at Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis. 

The Siuslaw track and field team continued its stellar season with high marks at the Regis Community Twilight Meet on May 5. The Viking boys were team champions with a score of 124, well ahead of second place Santiam Christian’s 96 points. The girls team was 11th with 28 points.

Individual highlights include, from the girls side, sophomore Maya Wells who was second in the 1500 with a personal record time of 5:05.06. Freshman Danin Lacouture was second in the shot put with a toss of 31’10.

Top Viking boys performance goes to Jonathon Rose. The senior launched the discus an amazing 142’11, the longest of his career and the longest, by over ten feet, in the 3A classification this year. There were a few other winners on the boys side, including senior Sam Ulrich who won the 800 and 1500 and was also part of the first place 4x400 team. Senior Hunter Petterson was also part of that winning 4x400 team. He also won the 200. Sophomore Ray Brito Xilot and senior Jacob Blankenship were also members of that winning 4x400 team.

Senior Kyle Hughes continued one of the greatest pole vaulting seasons in Siuslaw history winning the event with a 14' vault. 

Next up for the Viks is the Wally Ciochetti Invitational in Cottage Grove. Events begin at 2 p.m.

The Mapleton track and field team completed at Crow on May 5 at the Country Cinder Classic. Freshman Ramil Beers won the 100 with a time of 12.3 seconds. On the girls side fellow freshman Natalee Stevens won the 400 with a personal record time of 1:06.3. 

Sophomore Evelynn McMaster had an impressive showing at the event, PR’ing in all four events she entered — shot put (23’5.5), discus (59’4), javelin (54’) and hammer (40’).

Other highlights include a PR in the long jump from freshman Caleb Cody (12’10.25).

Finally the Siuslaw softball team played a tough three game set against the Sisters Outlaws. First, on May 2 at home, the Viks fell 16-12. Junior Meika Shappell scored 4 runs on 3 walks in the game.

A few days later, on May 5, they headed to Sisters where they played two close games in a doubleheader but lost both by just one run each, 11-10 and 9-8. Sophomore Sophia Montoya was 2-3 in game one with 2 runs and an RBI. Fellow sophomore Claire Lindell was one of the offensive stars of game two, going 3-6 with 2 runs and an RBI. Another sophomore, Abby Riggs, also played great with 3 hits, 3 RBI and 2 runs.

The team faced Pleasant Hill on Tuesday after press deadlines and wraps up their season today against those same Billies. The teams will play two games and in between the Viks will celebrate Senior Night. 15 minutes after the completion of game one seniors Sunshine Armer and Kristin Wall will be honored as they complete their Siuslaw softball careers.