Sports Memory Lane: July 31, 2026

A look back at Yamhill County sports

10 years ago

• All things must come to an end, and for the McMinnville (12U) JBO team, the season ended just short of its goal with a third-place finish in the state tournament held at Hoskins Elementary Field in Sherwood over the weekend. The McMinnville Nine went 2-2 in the tournament with the critical loss coming in the third game of the tournament against the eventual champions, Cleveland, 4-3. That loss put the locals in the losers’ bracket, where they then dropped a second contest to Canby, 14-10 on Sunday morning.

Head coach Trevor Hoskinson said of the tournament, “The kids played hard all weekend. The loss to Cleveland was particularly tough since all four runs were unearned. But I thought that the kids showed great resiliency and never gave up.”

• Mason Smark had a perfect weekend on his home track (the Mac Track), settinga fast time in qualifying, winning his two preliminary heats, and then taking the final heat in the 50 mph L206 class Where does the winner go after winning the race — where else? — to Victory Racing Camp where he will have a week for further honing his driving skills.

His seven-year-old younger brother, Bryce, was second in the Kid Kart class.

In the World Formula Heavyweight class, Mark Reece, also of McMinnville, battled for a fifth place overall out of 15 racers.

25 years ago

• McMinnville’s Mac Attack can finally say it is Oregon’s best.

The 14-year-old Senior Federal baseball team won the Junior Baseball of Oregon state tournament Sunday evening on the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation complex, defeating West Linn 7-5.

Over three summers, Mac has won three league championships, placed second in the 1999 state tournament and won back-to-back state championships the past two years. In the process, it became the first local youth baseball team to have two state championships under its belt.

• Ryan Michaelis homered for the second straight game and Ryan Fitzgerald pitched the complete game Monday, giving the Y-C Tigers a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three American Legion A state sub-tournament series with Tualatin.

Fitzgerald (4-1) hit two batters in the first inning, allowing all four runs on three hits. From there he settled in to allow just four more base runners and faced just one batter over the minimum.

Michaelis, the Y-C catcher, ended the third and fifth innings by throwing runners out at second base. A nifty double play started by shortstop Greg Shutts and relayed through second baseman Joey Posey eliminated a base runner in the second inning.

50 years ago

• Sheridan’s Joni Huntley, an American hopeful in the high jump at the Olympics being held in Montreal, did not fulfill her dreams of a medal. She finished fifth.

Joni, the 5-foot-7 jumper, cleared 6-2 1/2. She holds the American record of 6-2 3/4’ but could not clear 6-3 1/4’ in three attempts. The winner was Rosemary Ackermann of East Germany at 6-4.

• In the opener of women’s slow pitch at Wortman Park, Home Grown trounced Mac Hospital 8-1. Bellwood was destroyed by Darigold 19-0 in the nightcap. Hospital got one more hit in the game than Home Grown did but could only advance one to home plate.

A highlight of the game was Laurie Martin’s grand slam homer in the top of the fourth inning.

Kay Varuska was the lead hitter in Darigold’s win with a double and a home run. Karen Cellars got the only multiple-bag hit for Bellwood as she clouted a triple.