Carbaugh's corner: Athletes make one last push at season's end
May 21—LA GRANDE — It's that time of year when local athletes begin traveling around the state for playoffs and championships.
After a long season of sports, the first for me as a reporter at The Observer, many local athletes are wrapping up a full year of accomplishments with playoffs approaching in baseball, softball, track and tennis.
First and foremost this weekend are the track and field athletes, who are competing in Eugene during the time of Saturday's print version.
Several 1A and 2A teams will have athletes in attendance, while La Grande sends a sizable group on both the boys and girls sides.
While most of the Tigers' girls runners are underclassmen, many will likely place near the top in their respective events.
On the diamond, things have heated up as well for La Grande. The baseball team is riding an extensive winning streak into the postseason — a large group of upperclassmen look poised to make a run at a state title.
For the softball team, a winning season has included strong performances from its senior core as well several underclassmen stepping up into important contributing roles. Union/Cove will look for a late push on both the baseball and softball diamonds, as the softball team has put together a 16-5 regular season.
At Eastern Oregon University, the softball team wrapped up the program's winningest season in the school's history.
The Mountaineers finished just one game shy of a trip to the NAIA World Series final site, but have little to be ashamed about this season — the team piled up nine wins against ranked opponents and competed alongside the top programs in the country.
As the spring wraps up, Eastern's track athletes are set to travel to Gulf Shores, Alabama, to compete in the NAIA Outdoor Championships, which begin on Wednesday, May 25, and conclude on May 27.
As always, our recap coverage of local games will be available online at our website and other noteworthy stories will be published in the print editions.
Davis Carbaugh covers news and sports for The Observer. He can be contacted at dcarbaugh@lagrandeobserver.com.
