Sports...briefly

The junior from White Salmon joins the Mountaineers after a two-year stint with former EOU head coach Rob Cushman and one-time Columbia High assistant Steve Amrine at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif.

Feather River (15-7 in Mace's two years there) was among the California junior college ranks' leaders in rushing in 2004 with more than 3,800 yards on the ground.

Mace played guard for the Golden Eagles after a stellar career at Columbia High during which he earned Trico Division honors in football (as a center) and was a conference and regional champion in wrestling.

Also while at Feather River, Mace, a liberal studies major, served as parliamentarian of the school's Varsity Club, a community service organization for FRC student-athletes.

Mountaineers Coach Jim Fenwick hopes Mace will provide leadership on the field and in the weight and conditioning room. He said of the JC recruit: We're glad to have him and his work habits in our program."

Fenwick desribed Mace as a lineman who "has some size, strength and experience that can help us with depth at our young offensive line."

Fenwick also noted that "the fact that he is from a good program like White Salmon, that is close to home, should help us keep him involved in the football program through graduation."

Eastern Oregon, an NAIA school that finished 6-4 in 2004, plays in the Frontier Conference. It begins practicing for the 2005 season on Aug. 11.

Swimming:

Erin Jones of White Salmon and Jessie Robertson of Trout Lake combined for four top-10 finishes at the Oregon Swimming 2005 Speedo 11-and-over Long Course Championships, held July 28-31 in Eugene's Amazon Pool.

Jones' highest finish (9th) came in the 400-meter freestyle for 14-year-old girls, in a time of 4 minutes, 56.34 seconds. She also placed 10th in the 200 breast stroke (3:02.29) and 400 indivdual medley (5:45.41), and 14th in the 100 breast stroke (1:26.86) and 200 medley (2:44.16).

Robertson earned her best ranking (6th) in the 50-meter backstroke for 12-year-old girls, in a time of 37.90 seconds. She also took 12th in the 100 backstroke (1:22.05).

0

Baseball:

Baker City ousted Columbia Gorge of The Dalles from the eight-team Oregon state American Legion A tournament Sunday in Gresham, rallying from a six-run deficit for an 8-7 victory.

The Jr. Hustlers (26-11) led, 7-1, after White Salmon's Nick Reeves singled to drive in Jered Larsen in the top of the fourth inning.

But Larsen, the team's starting pitcher, couldn't hold Baker City off. After allowing just one run and two hits through four innings, Larsen gave up seven runs in the fifth and sixth. They came via six hits and five errors.

Reeves was among Columbia Gorge's offensive standouts in the elimination game. The Jr. Hustlers' catcher went 2 for 3; his first hit was a first-inning double that scored Larsen.

In his last at-bat in the seventh, Reeves was issued a lead-off walk and moved into scoring position on a single by Will Neuberger. But, with three outs to burn, Columbia Gorge couldn't get the tying run home.

The Dalles fell into the tourney's consolation bracket after dropping its opener, 9-4, to host Barlow--a team it beat twice during the regular season-- on Friday. However, the Jr. Hustlers stayed in contention with a 5-0 victory over Roosevelt Malarkey Roofing on Saturday.

Right-hander Jared McDonald of White Salmon pitched the complete-game shutout, yielding just one hit while striking out eight in seven innings of work.

McDonald also contributed with his bat, executing a suicide squeeze bunt in the second inning that brought in Columbia Gorge's first run.

"He laid down a beautiful bunt," Jr. Hustlers Coach Rory O'Halloran said. "He was absolutely perfect on that."

High Schools:

Wednesday, Aug. 17, is the first day of practice for high school football teams, according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (www.wiaa.com).

Players must have at least 12 practices to be eligible to play in their school's first game of the 2005 season.

Practices for volleyball and boys and girls soccer teams can start on Monday, Aug. 22.

Players of these sports must take part in at least 10 practices before they can play in a regular-season match.