Notebook

Staff and wire reports

Playoff berths and playoff positioning in the Mid-Willamette Conference softball race are still up for grabs as the regular season comes to an end today.

Corvallis and Lebanon are deadlocked at 12-8 in conference play, tied for fourth and the final berth from the conference.

Corvallis, however, holds the tiebreaker by virtue of winning two of three games with the Warriors.

The Spartans are home against Silverton at 4:30 p.m. The two teams have split their two games this week, with CHS winning 5-4 at home on Tuesday before falling 5-0 at Silverton on Wednesday.

A Corvallis win will assure the Spartans a playoff berth, and could give Crescent Valley the second seed, should the Raiders complete a sweep of Lebanon.

CV (15-5) is in third heading into today’s 4:30 p.m. finale at Lebanon. Silverton and West Albany are tied for first with 16-4 records.

If CV and Silverton finish tied, the Raiders get the higher seed by virtue of taking two of three from the Foxes.

Should Silverton and West Albany finish tied, Silverton gets the top seed by sweeping the Bulldogs. West Albany closes out against South Albany.

If Corvallis gets in, it would start the 5A playoffs on the road on May 16.

If CV finishes third, it would also play on May 16, but would get a home game. A second seed would mean a first-round bye before a road game on May. 20.

Baseball

The top four seeds in the MWC are set with CHS (18-2) owning the top seed heading into today’s finale at Silverton.

West Albany (15-5) wrapped up second place with a win at home against South Albany on Wednesday.

Dallas (13-7) is third heading into today’s finale against winless Woodburn.

CV (12-8) after falling to Lebanon on Wednesday, will be fourth even if it finishes tied with Dallas as the Dragons won two of three against the Raiders this season.

OSAA news

The Oregon Supreme Court said the state’s school board must further review whether high school basketball tournament schedules should be adjusted to accommodate a team’s Saturday Sabbath.

The Oregon School Activities Association claimed that scheduling around Portland Adventist Academy during the tournament would cause undue hardship for other fans, participants and member schools.

Portland Adventist players, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, observe a Sabbath from sundown Friday through sundown Saturday.

The state’s high court on Thursday upheld a decision by the state Court of Appeals, which ordered the case sent back to the Oregon State Board of Education. The school board has twice sided with the OSAA’s scheduling position, and both of those decisions have been overturned by the appeals court.

Portland Adventist, which first asked the OSAA to adjust its schedule in 2000, was allowed to play in the 3A boys state tournament in March after it was granted a petition for temporary relief by a Multnomah County judge.

The Cougars lost to eventual state champion Regis in the semifinals at Willamette University in Salem. The third-place game was moved to Saturday evening at South Salem High. Typically the third-place game would be played during the afternoon because the championship games are played at night.

Portland Adventist had elected not to play in the state tournament for the previous four seasons, even though the team qualified, for religious reasons.

Tom Welter, executive director of the OSAA, said the association will need to study the ruling with its legal counsel and executive board, as well as the board of education.

“It appears that the Oregon Supreme Court drew a line in the middle of where they (the players) thought the line ought to be and where we thought the line should be,’’ Welter said.

Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo said in a statement that accommodating “students’ religious beliefs is an issue we take very seriously and we intend to consult with the Oregon Department of Justice in order to understand today’s ruling, but we will certainly follow the direction of the Oregon Supreme Court.’’