by Wayne Lee – Sports Editor
The Lady Eagles traveled to Medford’s Lithia Driveway Field for the annual North Medford Spring Break Tournament where they played four games in two days. Eagle Point opened the tourney March 23 against Hood River, which also has the Eagles as their mascot. Brylee Leonardo took the mound for Eagle Point and threw a complete game 5-1 victory, giving up just one run on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
The Lady Eagles began the game with Elaina Almaraz working a base on balls. She then stole second and advanced to third on an error by the catcher. Kady Ledbetter followed with a single up the middle to drive in the run. Allison Martin smacked a double to center to score Ledbetter and Eagle Point had a 2-0 lead.
Hood River responded with a run in the top of the second when they were able to turn a lead-off single into a run with a ground out, wild pitch and another ground out to score the run. The Lady Eagles responded with a run in the second thanks to a walk, a single and an error and then added another run in the bottom of the fifth when Riley Jacoby hit a one-out double to center and then went to third on a passed ball and scored on a ground out to third.
Kady Ledbetter led the offense going 2×3 with two RBI and a run scored. Allison Martin was also 2×3 with a double and an RBI and Riley Jacoby went 1×3 with a double and two runs scored.
Eagle Point then took on Dallas and it didn’t go well. Currently ranked seventh in the state, the Dragons romped to a 15-1 victory that was ended after the top of the fifth. Dallas opened with a run in the first and then added six more in the third. The Lady Eagles were able to push across a run in the top of the fourth on a solo home run by Jacoby, but Dallas exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the inning to seal the game.
The next day, Eagle Point responded with a pair of victories, defeating Sprague High School 10-3 and then toppling Sheldon 6-4 to go 3-1 for the tourney. In the opening game, the scoring was fast and furious as the two teams combined for 11 runs in the first three innings.
Mady Dean led off the game with a walk and went to second on a single by Almaraz and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Ledbetter then hit a single to right to drive in both runners for a 2-1 lead. The Olympians (or Olys as they’re called) added a run in the bottom of the second due to a pair of Eagle Point errors. However, the Lady Eagles came back in the third with a four-run outburst for a comfortable 8-3 lead.
The inning began with three consecutive one-out singles before Almaraz drew a walk to drive in a run. Walks and wild pitches scored two more runs to make it an 8-3 margin. Eagle Point’s final two runs came in the top of the fourth when Naomi Jackson was hit by a pitch but was later thrown out at second on a dropped pop fly to the shortstop. Reese Zirkle stole second and scored on single to left by Leonardo. Almaraz added a two-out single to drive in the final run of the game.
The game was ended after five innings. Leonardo got the win going 4.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and had eight K’s. She threw a total of 75 pitches, 60 for strikes. Almaraz led the Lady Eagles offense going 3×3 with three doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Kady Ledbetter went 2×3 with 2 RBI, Leonardo went 24 with an RBI and two runs scored while Zirkle was 2×4 but stole three bases and scored three runs.
Eagle Point then closed out the event with a 6-4 win over Sheldon. The Lady Eagles jumped ahead early with a second inning rally that began with a leadoff double by Kady Ledbetter up the middle and moved to third on an error, putting Allison Martin on first. Kolbi Ledbetter walked to load the bases. After a ground out and a pop out, Olivia Skogseth slapped a single up the middle to score two runs. Naomi Jackson scored on a wild pitch and Eagle Point was up 3-0.
The Lady Eagles added two more runs in the fourth thanks to a leadoff double by Kady Ledbetter, who moved to third on a ground out, scored on an RBI single by Leonardo. Skogseth then lashed an RBI triple down the right field line to make it a 5-0 game.
The Irish were able to score four in the fifth to make it close but that was all the offense they could muster. The fifth inning was more of the same for Eagle Point as Kady Ledbetter hit a lead-off double and sister Kolbi knocked her in on a sharp ground ball hit to third. Skogseth then blasted a triple down the right field line to clear the bases.
The Irish mounted a rally in fifth, scoring four runs due mostly to bunts and errors but that was as close as they could get while Eagle Point added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to seal the win.
Kady Ledbetter led the team going 3×3 with three doubles and sister Kohlbie went 1×2 with a double and scored twice. Skogseth was 2×3 with a triple and three RBI. Leonardo got the win tossing a complete game allowing just one earned run, striking out three, giving up three hits and two walks.
Baseball
Spring break began last week, and that meant tournament time for Eagle Point High School baseball and softball. The baseball team traveled to Phoenix, AZ for the annual CBNI Tournament where they played four games over four days against schools from Arizona, Colorado and Washington.
The Eagles opened the tournament against the Pueblo Central Broncos from the state of Washington. It was a scoreless battle for five innings until the Eagles erupted for a pair of runs in the top of the sixth and held on for the 2-0 win. Starting pitcher Ryan McFall put the team on his shoulders and threw a complete game shutout, giving up just two hits and one walk while striking out seven. He then went 2×3 at the plate. Collin Stockton went 1×3 with an RBI. He also stole a base and scored a run. Sean McFall also went 1×3 with a stolen base and an RBI while Nathan Mallari went 1×2 and scored the other remaining run.
The Eagles then took on Ralston Valley from Colorado where they dropped an 8-3 decision to the Mustangs. Eagle Point got the early lead with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. Collin Stockton singled up the middle and stole second before Sean McFall walked. Braden Nugent then lashed an RBI single to right, driving in Stockton for a 1-0 lead.
With runners on first and second, Mason DeVry singled to right, driving in a run and putting runners at first and third with two outs. Colton Pierce then stepped to the plate and hit a single to left to drive in McFall and make it a 3-0 ballgame. Unfortunately, Eagle Point never scored again. The Mustangs were able to get a run in the second, a run in the fifth, and one in the top of the seventh to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
After 102 pitches, Nugent was done after giving up five hits, two runs (one earned), striking out 10 and walking just three. Sean McFall came on in relief and gave up four runs on four hits (all earned) before handing the ball off to Carson Robinson for the final two outs. He gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk before getting the final two outs.
The Eagles then took on the Brighton, CO Bulldogs March 25 and were shut down 9-1. After a scoreless first inning, Brighton lashed out 10 hits and scored nine times, thanks to four Eagle Point errors, which led to four unearned runs, all before the Eagles could put a run on the board in the bottom of the sixth. The one high point was a one-out triple by Braden Nugent followed by a run-scoring double up the middle by Sean McFall to put Eagle Point on the board
The final game of the tournament pitted Eagle Point against the West Point AZ Dragons. The Eagles jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but one bad inning allowed the Dragons to score five times in the bottom of the fourth and hold on for the win.
The game began with a lead-off single by Ryan McFall who then advanced on a wild pitch. Robinson walked and McFall then stole third and later scoring on a ground out by Stockton for the Eagles’ first run. Sean McFall followed with a sacrifice fly to left to drive in Robinson to make it a 2-0 game. Eagle Point then added a run in the third with a lead-off double by Ryan McFall. A sacrifice bunt by Robinson moved McFall to third, who then scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 advantage. However, that was the sum total of the Eagles’ offense. In the meantime, the Dragons’ offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth with two singles and a sacrifice bunt that put runners in scoring position. A weak fly ball to right scored the runner from third and a walk loaded the bases. A single scored West Point’s second run, and an error allowed two more runs to score for a 4-3 lead. A walk and a sacrifice fly to right knocked in the fifth run for the Dragons as they coasted to the win.
Nugent went 2×2 for the Eagles with a double and a walk. Ryan McFall went 2×4 and scored two of the team’s three runs while Stockton went 1×3 with a walk and an RBI. Stockton also took the loss, throwing six innings, giving up five runs on five hits with six walks and three strikeouts.
