S PORTS
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Hood River News, Saturday, April 25, 2015
A7
In extra innings, HRV wins thriller over Pendleton
Eagles hold off Buckaroos, 2-1 in Hood River; go up 2-1 in the season series against league opponents
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
There may not have been much offense to speak of from ei-
ther team, but Tuesday’s home game between the Hood River
Valley Eagles and the Pendleton Buckaroos still provided
plenty of excitement.
After coughing up a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, the Ea-
gles (10-6 overall, 2-1 Columbia River Conference) came back
in extra innings to take out the Buckaroos (5-11 overall, 1-2
CRC), 2-1, in what was a high-tension, defensive battle that
smacked of a playoff matchup.
HRV got on Traner Field’s scoreboard quick after third
baseman/relief pitcher Kellan Duffy knocked a line drive
single into left field, allowing Skyler Hunter to advance from
third base after he singled earlier in the inning.
Neither team could gain traction for the next few innings,
with both Pendleton and HRV getting hits, but leaving run-
ners stranded on bases. In the top of the fourth, with bases
loaded, Pendleton scored the equalizer on an HRV error to
make it a 1-1 game.
After short stints for both teams in the fifth and sixth in-
nings, as well as a short trip to the plate by Pendleton in the
top of the seventh, came close to wrapping the game up in
the bottom of the seventh when it once again loaded the
bases up with just one out. However, Pendleton was able to
shut HRV down again after executing a successful double
play and preventing utility Chase Lariza from scoring what
would have been the winning run, prompting some whoops
from the Buckaroos as they returned to their dugout.
With their 9-8 loss to Pendleton last Saturday fresh on
their mind — which saw the Buckaroos rally in the sixth in-
ning to erase what had been an 8-5 HRV lead — the Eagles
were determined to not let Pendleton skate by once again.
After some stellar play by pitcher Kam Walker, who struck
out six batters and allowed just four hits over seven innings,
Duffy stepped in to relieve Walker, immediately striking out
a Pendleton batter, while HRV’s infield and outfield did the
rest by grabbing two quick outs to end the inning.
To start, HRV didn’t have to do much work to get on the
bag in the bottom of the eighth inning, with Pendleton’s
pitcher promptly beaning Patrick Harvey and Adam
Cameron. With runners on first and second and no outs, out-
fielder Dallas Buckley laid down a bunt in between the pitch-
er and third base line, and Harvey was able to reach home on
a Pendleton error to win the game for HRV. Harvey took off
his helmet and cheered after touching home plate, and the
Eagles’ dugout emptied as players sprinted toward second
base, where they collapsed into a celebratory dogpile.
With the win over Pendleton, HRV is ranked 10th in OSAA
5A, and first in the CRC over 18th-ranked The Dalles, 25th-
ranked Hermiston, and 17th-ranked Pendleton. HRV will
face the Hermiston Bulldogs (8-6 overall, 1-2 CRC) here Sat-
urday in a doubleheader that starts at noon.
Photos by Ben Mitchell
THE FINAL PLAY: In the first frame, Dallas Buckley lays down a bunt, helping Patrick Harvey reach home (seen celebrating in the second frame), which gave HRV and prompted the dugouts to empty and
a celebratory dogpile to form at second base (third frame).
HRV softball produces more offense, but can’t find a way past Pendleton
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
After winning five of their last six to close out non-league
play, the Eagles have not gotten the start to Columbia River
Conference games they were hoping for, dropping their third
straight game to Pendleton Tuesday evening.
Last weekend, HRV (7-10 overall, 0-3 CRC) lost both games
of a doubleheader in Pendleton (9-7 overall, 3-0 CRC), getting
shut out in the first game by the Buckaroos, 0-9, and losing
by a double-digit margin in the second game, which wound
up 15-2.
After producing two runs over the course of two games,
HRV returned to its home turf Tuesday looking to ratchet up
its offense. And while the Eagles were able to put up five
runs off of eight hits, they were no match for the Buckaroos’
bats, which produced 21 hits and 18 runs — three of which
were homers — in the six-inning game.
“Pendleton is a solid team,” said coach Eric Keller. “They
are tremendous athletes that make plays defensively and of-
fensively.”
After Tuesday’s game, Pendleton ranked first out of all 33
5A teams in runs scored this season, with 140. But despite
Pendleton’s prowess, it was HRV that had control in the be-
ginning of the game, not Pendleton.
After the Buckaroos scored a run in the top of the first to
get things rolling, HRV fired back in the bottom of the same
inning when first baseman Breanna Weekly grounded out to
Pendleton’s shortstop, allowing catcher/infielder Zoe Munn
— who had just advanced to third off a stolen base — to ad-
vance home to make it 1-1. HRV added another in a similar
fashion when catcher/infielder Kelsey Wells grounded out to
shortstop again, allowing outfielder JoJo Karr to advance
home from third.
Pendleton responded in the top of the second with anoth-
er run, to make it 2-2, and after a scoreless inning from HRV,
the Buckaroos’ offense kicked into high gear, producing
three runs in the third and four in the fourth to make it 9-2.
The Eagles added another run in the bottom of the fourth
when outfielder Jessie Karr scored off a line-drive single to
right field from outfielder Makena Zeller, but Pendleton con-
tinued to pour it on throughout subsequent innings, scoring
another two runs in the fifth and seven runs in the sixth to
go up 18-3. To start the final inning, Jessie Karr smashed one
to the left field fences to make it 18-4 and Zeller was the final
scorer for HRV, who came home off a fly ball hit to center
field by Jessica DeHart, which was good for a double.
Kaylin Winans pitched the entire game for HRV, striking
out two. Weekly led the team with five putouts on six
chances, and Zeller was solid in the outfield with four
putouts on five chances.
The three losses to Pendleton makes all the more impor-
tant for HRV to come away with wins this Saturday after-
noon when it plays a doubleheader in Hood River against
Hermiston, currently ranked 23rd and only one spot behind
HRV both in the state and the conference. HRV is ranked
third in CRC and Hermiston is ranked fourth, with the sec-
ond and third seeds selected for play-in games at the end of
the season.
“It is going to be a battle between The Dalles, Hermiston,
and us to earn the last two spots in the playoffs,” Keller said.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Kegler’s Corner
Girls lax loses to Lincoln
The girls lax team had what coach Andrew McElderry called a tough
loss against Lincoln Tuesday night dropping the game 14-9 after going
up by two goals in the first half at one point. Savannah Brentlinger led
the way with three goals on four shots, followed by Erin Mayer with
two goals, and Riley Bauer, Daisy Dolan, Ellen Hudon, and Lydia
McElderry with one apiece. McElderry had a team-high six shots as
well as the team’s only two assists of the evening. Victoria Kohner-
Flanagan was tops in the ground ball category with seven, and Mayer
and Savanna Boersma led in draw controls with two each. Ella Rand
stopped eight of 22 shots (36.4 percent).
Girls lax gets revenge against Grant
Photo by Ben Mitchell
MAKING THE CUT
HRV middie Bruce Ostler cuts around a defender during Hood
River’s 15-3 loss to Lincoln on Tuesday at home. Ostler scored two
goals in the game and Levi Glass added another. Coach Matt
Luchsinger said the team had Lincoln “on its toes” at the end of
the first quarter, down 4-3, but weren’t able to match Lincoln’s
ability to grab ground balls in the second half. HRV rallied on
Wednesday to take down league opponent Grant by a score of 10-
5. HRV’s next game will be at Wilson on Monday evening.
Last time the HRV Eagles faced Grant, the Generals snuck by HRV
by a score of 6-5. On Thursday, though, HRV got revenge, beating
Grant by a score of 10-9. McElderry was pleased with his team’s
“great composure” and its ability to hang on the ball; at one point
HRV had possession for 10 straight minutes. Savannah Brentlinger led
with five goals, Lydia McElderry was close behind with four, and Erin
Mayer rounded out scoring with one. Mayer and Riley Bauer split the
ground balls title with four, and Brentlinger, McElderry, Kelli Clarke,
and Laura Scarborough all had a team-high two draw controls. Ella
Rand was good in next, stopping 10 of 19 shots (52.6 percent). HRV
next faces Wilson in Hood River Monday at 7 p.m.
Barajas breaks his own record
Sebastian Barajas shattered his own shot put record at a meet in
The Dalles against The Dalles and Dufur. Barajas threw the shot 54
feet, 6 inches, breaking the school record he had set last week of 51-
10. Overall, both the boys and the girls teams won the meet. HRV next
travels to Bend to compete in the Summit Invitational Saturday.
Hood River 14&U water polo takes bronze at Rose Cup tourney
Hood River Water Polo’s
14&under team traveled to the
Tualatin Hills Aquatic Center
last weekend to play in the Rose
Cup Tournament, an annual
three-day event in Beaverton
that attracted competitive
teams from Canada, Oregon
and Washington. Teams played
against five teams in a round-
robin format on Friday and Sat-
urday, with playoffs on Sunday.
The 14 players on the coed
Hood River team club finished
with a record of 3-2 after the
initial round, with wins
against teams from Tualatin
Hills (16-1), Eugene (13-9), and
Victoria (13-4) and losses
against teams from Bainbridge
Island (3-8) and Bellevue (10-12).
The team had enough wins to
move into Sunday’s playoff bat-
tle for third place.
Playing against a very evenly
matched team from Eugene for
the bronze, Hood River trailed
by two goals at the end of the
first quarter, but picked up
steam to lead by one goal at
halftime. The team kept the mo-
mentum going in the second
half, increasing their lead by
two goals at the end of the third
quarter and then opening their
lead even wider to finish with
an 11-8 victory.
“The team played in their
first Rose Cup tournament last
year, and our kids were a bit
shell-shocked at that time to
learn just how physical water
polo games can be,” said coach
Dave Cameron. “They have re-
ally come a long way in one
year to finish third out of six
teams, especially given the
high level of competition at
this tournament.”
The Hood River Water Polo
Club, now in its fourth year, has
programs for all age groups,
ranging from an introductory
Splash Ball program for ele-
mentary school students to a
senior group of players prepar-
ing for the fall high school
water polo season. Practices
are held at the Hood River
Aquatic Center. Contact
hoodriverwaterpo-
lo@gmail.com for more infor-
mation.
Ruff-N-Tuff wins second half
of Lads & Lassies League
By JEFF OLSON
Kegler’s Corner columnist
Last week the Ruff-N-Tuff team won the second
half of the Thursday afternoon senior Lads &
Lassies League at Hood River’s Orchard
Lanes. Like its big counterpart (the Wednesday
afternoon senior Colts & Fillies), this league does-
n’t have a roll-off for an overall champion — in-
stead it honors the winners of the first and sec-
ond halves. Bowling for the Ruff-N-Tuff squad
were Larry Scroggins, Michael Ross, Allan Ross
and Vicki Ross. The Ruff-N-Tuffers join the 3
Pugs, winners of the first half in the elite win-
ners circle. Bowling for the 3 Pugs were Minnie
Allen, Clifford Beat, Ken Ingram and Gordon
Sim. Congratulations on a job well done! This
concludes action for the Lads & Lassies this sea-
son. As always, thanks to everyone for bowling
this league with us. We love the seniors! Many of
these veterans of the bowling wars are with us
four times a week. More of this senior action will
continue this summer with a cracking good
league run by our eminently capable Hood River
Bowling Association manager, Joyce Eber-
sole. Stay in touch, because that summer league
will start in just a few weeks; sign-ups are avail-
able now at the front desk of the lanes. All seniors
are welcome! And, the very popular senior Monte
Carlo will run as usual on Monday and Friday —
that should give everyone plenty to do this sum-
mer. We look forward to seeing you.
Well, that leaves just one to go. The powerhouse
Wednesday night Fraternal League still has a
couple of weeks left in the season. Right now, it’s
a close race for the third-round lead in the league
between Team Hirata and Your Rental Cen-
ter. This competitive league will have a four-team
roll-off on its last night for the championship be-
tween the winners of the three rounds and a wild-
card team that had the most points, but didn’t win
a round. This is always a donnybrook, worth the
price of admission (just kidding, it’s free!) to
watch the big boys (and girls!) duke it out for
bragging rights in the best league in the
Gorge. Stay tuned. I’ll be there to watch this spec-
tacle, how about you?
League Highs:
Contributed photo
HOOD RIVER PLAYERS who participated in the tournament included (l to r):
Olivia Sumerfield,Teddy Parkinson, Tae Carlson, Leo Kissinger, Chad Klaas, Cor-
bett Blackman, Cole Sischo, Sean Arpag, Sammy Einhorn, Faith Ocheskey, Jack
Schofield,Jamie Robinson,and Madaket Greenleaf.Not pictured:Hannah Roser.
Wednesday evening Fraternal:
Lynn Spellman: 285 game & 740 series
Jeremy Bloom: 258 game & 684 series
Brandon Kawachi: 258 game & 672 series
Bob Reid: 659 series
Bernie Keys: 216, 201 games & 579 series
Fred Bergren: 237 game
Spencer Johnisee: 236 game
Jenna Hert: 200 game