The Taft High softball team, riddled by illness, injuries and travel, lost for the first time in Oregon this season Thursday in a battle of top-five ranked Class 3A teams, 8-4 at Claskanie.
First baseman Jack Stempel drove home three runs, including one in the bottom of the first inning behind winner Caleb King, to get No. 1-ranked Taft off and running to its 11th straight victory -- 11-1 over fifth-rated Horizon Christian/Tualatin.
Players from five schools got a taste Wednesday of what play in the OSAA Class 4A/3A/2A/1A State Girls Golf Championships will look like next month during an 18-hole preview match at Quail Valley Golf Course in Banks.
Junior reliever Bleiz Kimbrough made the most of a rare start Tuesday with a one-hit, 10-strikeout road shutout of Sheridan for Taft High’s 10th straight victory and seventh in a row shortened by the state’s 10-run mercy rule.
Arce-Torres, who turns 18 Saturday, will join senior golfer Maya Hatton and senior soccer player Naomi Rini at 11:45 a.m. in signing letters to attend colleges on athletic scholarships.
Taft High senior Maya Hatton rallied from two shots down at the turn Monday to catch Salem Academy star and longtime rival Katie Goodwin and win the Special District 2 Preview girls golf tournament in Aumsville.
Playing in warm weather and on quick greens on the home course of the 2016 NCAA champion Oregon Ducks, the Taft High boys golf team used a team-leading 81 from junior Logan Merry to emerge victorious Monday at a non-qualifying event in Creswell.
Huge drops in times were the order of the day throughout the weekend as several swimmers posted their lifetime-best efforts in kicking off the summer swimming season in the Lincoln City Community Center pool.
Sophomore Emma Coulter hit and pitched Taft High to victory with two RBIs and a six-hitter Friday for a key 4-2 home win over Dayton in a showdown between unbeaten West Valley League teams.
