Photo by Steve Wilkowske

Northwest Extreme's Shelly Steinke safely slides into third during the team's first-round game with the Northwest Buzz of Woodinville, Wash. The local team went on to win the contest 4-2

By Sean Patterson
of the Herald

Providing an encore to his memorable state track performance, Canby distance runner Eric Logsdon pulled off yet another major accomplishment at the Golden West Invitational last Saturday in Sacramento, Calif.

The 18-year-old Logsdon not only won the 3,200-meter race, he set the third-fastest time in meet history with his clocking of 8 minutes, 47.8 seconds.

The invite was a showcase of some of the most talented high school athletes in the country. In all, 38 states and Canada were represented in the 41st annual event.

"This is quite an accomplishment," Canby track and field coach Tom Millbrooke said of the run. "He's already put his name in some pretty elite company. Now he's doing it against some of the nation's best."

Running second in Saturday's race was the Missouri state 3,200 champion, Matt Tegenkamp, who crossed the line more than five seconds after Logsdon, in 8:52.9.

Logsdon, who graduated from Canby High School earlier this month, ran the meet's fastest 3,200 in the past 20 years. Only Alan Scharsu, who ran an 8:44 in 1978, and Jim Hill, who dashed the course in 8:47.77 in 1979, have posted better times.

Ironically, there is another connection between Hill and Logsdon: In high school, Hill ran for coach Martin Smith, the current head coach at the University of Oregon. Logsdon will run for Smith when he opens his U of O career in the fall.

The Golden West event was the first of two all-star high school meets that Logsdon will run this summer. The second is scheduled for this Friday, when he travels to Raleigh, N.C., for the National Scholastic Outdoor Championships.

No matter what happens in North Carolina, Logsdon has already enjoyed a senior track season for the ages. For the Cougars this spring, he easily won district titles in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters before putting on a show at state.

It was at the Class 4A championships that he put his name in the history books, running the state's second-fastest 3,000 ever when he crossed in 8:10.66. Only the legendary Steve Prefontaine (8:08) has run it faster.

Logsdon followed that up the next day with a victory in the 1,500, recording Oregon's third-fastest time in that event with a 3:51.39.

Poor weather over the weekend - and an unforeseen scheduling conflict at Tigard High School - conspired to limit the Canby American Legion AAA baseball team to two games last week.

Canby, 3-4 on the summer, blasted Milwaukie 13-3 at home Monday before running into some tough luck against Rex Putnam in a 6-3 loss on Tuesday.

The squad was also scheduled to play Tigard Thursday, but a graduation function at Tigard forced the teams to postpone the game. Canby then had a doubleheader with Century rained out Saturday.

In Monday's win, the hosts scored eight runs in the third inning to take a 9-0 lead and break things open.

A walk to Drew Bayless started the rally. From there, Jake Norquist singled, Garret Miyake walked and Josh Cushing lined a two-run single.

Brett Fuge and Jess Driggers followed with hits, and Milwaukie helped the Canby cause by committing an error in right and hitting a batter. After a groundout scored yet another run, Norquist laced his second hit of the inning to tally two more.

For the game, Fuge, Norquist and Driggers each had two hits to support the five-hit pitching of Sean Criss, who went all five innings for the win. The contest was called after five because of the 10-run rule.

"It was nice to see our bats come alive like they did, and Sean did a good job for us on the mound," Canby head coach Marty Hunter said.

The team couldn't buy a break in Tuesday's loss to Rex Putnam, as Canby rapped out eight hits and only had three runs to show for it.

Putnam's three-run rally in the third set the tone for the game.

"That was one of those deals where it seemed everything they hit was finding holes," Hunter said. "They were getting the breaks and we weren't. Normally when we get eight hits, we score more than three runs. We couldn't get those clutch ones."

Canby opened the summer season the week before with an 11-6 defeat of Aloha on June 1. The squad then took part in a David Douglas tournament, where it posted a 1-3 record, losing games to Southridge (18-11), David Douglas (8-6) and Vancouver (9-4) before beating Wilson 6-5 on Sunday.

Highlighting the victory was the pitching of Marco Zamora, who went the distance for the win. Canby scored all six of its runs in the fourth inning and got two hits from Driggers.

The day before, Fuge put on a power display, launching home runs in the games against Vancouver and David Douglas.

Looking ahead, Canby was scheduled to host Hillsboro Monday and visit Clackamas Tuesday before traveling to Westview for a 6 p.m. contest Wednesday.

Canby will also visit Lakeridge Thursday at 6 p.m., host Gladstone Friday at 7 p.m. and host Barlow for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday.

In Legion A play, Canby won its two games Saturday at Centennial before getting rained out on Sunday.

Canby's Senior American baseball team withstood a seventh-inning rally by West Linn to capture first place at the Canby Baseball Invitational June 4.

Canby, sporting a 4-1 regular-season mark and 13-2 record overall, scored five runs in the seventh to break open a close game and take a 6-1 lead in the title game.

West Linn responded with three runs to make things interesting, but Canby managed to stifle the rally in time to pull out a 6-4 victory. Canby pitcher Brett Allee went the distance for the win, scattering six hits.

Also playing key roles for the 13- and 14-year-old squad were Casey Reed, who went 3 for 3 with two RBIs, Zach Snyder, who was 2 for 3, and Scott Davis, who had a hit and drove in a run.

Brett Nehring also had a hand in the victory, belting a hit and driving in two runs.

A little rain - and some stiff competition - did little to put a damper on the Northwest Extreme's visit to the 16-and-under Class A national qualifier contested at North Marion High School last weekend.

The Extreme, made up of players from Canby and Tualatin high schools, wound up fourth in the 28-team softball tournament, claiming the state's highest placement among a field that included four California teams, 12 Washington squads, an Arizona visitor and 10 Oregon representatives.

All told, the Extreme won four of its six games in the double-elimination event.

"That's a great showing considering the competition," Extreme head coach Greg Herman said. "There was one team from California (Tuff E Nuff) that took the 15 or so best players from a 160-player tryout. The tourney field was loaded."

The Extreme opened with a 4-2 defeat of the Northwest Buzz from Washington Friday night at Canby High School, as Toni Herman pitched a complete game and Shelly Steinke went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Tara Sullivan also contributed, going 1 for 3 with two RBIs, and Kristin Thornburg also drove in a run.

Action moved to North Marion Saturday, but the change in venue didn't change the Extreme's good fortune, as the girls beat the Silver Bullets of Beaverton 6-2.

Kate Allen and Lisa Ash each drove in two runs for the winners, and Suzy Edwards went the distance for the victory.

The team followed with a 3-2 win over the California Breeze - a victory highlighted by Sullivan's three-run double - before getting shut out 4-0 by Tuff E Nuff Saturday night.

Rain forced many of the Sunday games to Wallace Marine Park in Salem, where the Extreme put itself in the Final Four with a 10-5 extra-inning defeat of Strictly Softball of Clackamas.

Unfortunately, the girls couldn't maintain their momentum against the Washington Lady Hawks of Seattle, who cruised 6-1 to give the Extreme a fourth-place finish.