S PORTS
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Hood River News, Wednesday, April 29, 2015
HRV bounces back with big wins over Hermiston
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
At first, it looked like the Hood River Valley Eagles might
suffer yet another defeat at the hands of a league opponent,
and might find themselves on the outside looking in at the
playoffs.
More than halfway through the first game of Saturday’s
doubleheader in Hood River against the Hermiston Bull-
dogs, the Eagles saw themselves in a spot they’ve been in
probably more times than they would like this season: star-
ing at a multi-run deficit, with precious few innings left to
make it up.
However, like other games this season, the Eagles mount-
ed a comeback that paid off.
After going down 7-2 in the first five innings, HRV (9-10
overall, 2-3 Columbia River Conference), fought back against
the Hermiston Bulldogs (6-12 overall, 0-5 CRC), pouring out
eight runs over two innings and ultimately winning the
game, 10-8. In the second contest, HRV won again, 9-6.
Photo by Ben Mitchell
Keller said HRV “struggled defensively early in the first,
and that led to a struggle to string together hits,” after Her-
miston was able to put up five runs in the first inning, and ZOE MUNN slides to avoid Hermiston’s catcher during a successful attempt to steal home in
HRV was only able to respond with two. Hermiston widened the bottom of the fifth inning of game one. Munn, a freshman, had a huge impact on the
the gap with two runs in the third to make it 7-2.
game, sparking a rally by HRV in the fifth inningto erase a 7-2 deficit to win the game, 10-8.
The game turned around for HRV in the bottom of the
fifth, when catcher Zoe Munn — a freshman who has helped
Pitcher Kaylin Winans iced the Hermiston batters in the third, strik-
the Eagles out of a jam more than once this season — rifled off a single
to right field, then stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, ing out one (and nearly a second) batter, and allowing no hits in a quick
then stole home to narrow the score to 7-3. JoJo Karr, who walked earli- final inning. Winans pitched all seven innings, striking out five batters,
er in the inning, scored on a center field double from Kelsey Wells, mak- walking three, and giving up 10 hits. HRV batters had a total of 14 hits in
the game.
ing it 7-4. Wells was sent
The rally seemed to
home with the aid of a
GAME ONE
take the wind out of
hard ground ball slammed
the Bulldogs’ sails in
to left field by Jessica Karr,
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
the second game, who
and Karr in turn went
trailed behind HRV
home (after advancing to
HRM 5
0
2
0
0
1
0
8
10
2
throughout all seven
second on a wild pitch) off
innings.
HRV 2
0
0
0
4
4
X
10
14
5
a double from Breanna
Just as Hermiston
Weekly — another hard
did in the first game,
ground ball to left — to
GAME TWO
HRV jumped out to a
tighten the game up to 7-6.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
five-run lead in the
The Bulldogs had a one-
first inning. Once
run rebuttal in the top of
HRM 0
1
0
0
0
1
4
6
11
2
again, Munn provided
the sixth to push their lead
a spark for HRV, hit-
out to two, but that soon
HRV 5
1
1
1
0
0
X
9
11
2
ting a home run on the
evaporated after HRV once
second pitch faced by
again went on a four-run
the Eagles, sending
tear and took the lead for
the first time of the game. With bases loaded, Wells sent a fly ball to left one deep to left field. Wells followed up with a triple off a fly ball to cen-
field, allowing DeHart and Munn to score. A fly ball hit by Weekly to ter field, and then was able to advance home on a passed ball to make it
right field was caught by a Hermiston outfielder, but allowed both JoJo 2-0, HRV. Weekly and Jenni Packer, who had gotten on base with a single
and a double, respectively, were sent home off a two-run double by Mak-
Karr and Wells to score after tagging up to go up 10-6.
“We attacked them with great base running to look for every advan-
See SOFTBALL, Page A9
tage,” Keller said of his team’s ability to come back in the game.
Eagles baseball beats Bulldogs, sweeps Saturday’s doubleheader
After resounding 11-1 win, HRV hangs on for
4-3 victory over Hermiston in second game
By BEN MITCHELL
News staff writer
RYAN WARD takes a swing during the second game of Saturday’s
doubleheader against Hermiston. Ward was a perfect three for
three from the plate in the first game and on the mound, struck out
seven batters in five innings.
HRV baseball continues to tally up its
wins in the Columbia River Conference
after having a productive weekend
against Hermiston during a home dou-
bleheader, taking down the Bulldogs 11-1
in the first game, and fending off a late
rally to win the second frame, 4-3.
In what was HRV’s highest scoring
game since a 14-5 win over La Salle on
March 20, the Eagles (12-6 overall, 4-1 Co-
lumbia River Conference), were relative-
ly quiet early in the first game Saturday
afternoon, scoring two runs against the
Bulldogs (8-8 overall, 1-4 CRC) over the
first three innings. Skyler Hunter scored
off a sacrifice fly by Ryan Ward to get
HRV on the board in the first inning, and
Ward scored in the third off a fly ball to
right field sent there by Patrick Harvey
on a single to make it a 2-1 game.
The bats for HRV really got going in
the fourth and fifth innings, when the
team scored a total of 10 runs and put a
cork in the game thanks to the mercy
rule. Hermiston’s offense was almost
non-existent: one run, two hits, and three
errors over the course of five innings. By
comparison, HRV had 13 hits and two er-
rors.
Leading the charge for HRV was Ward,
who was as good behind the plate as he
was from the rubber. Ward was a perfect
three for three at bats, with two singles
and a double, and had a team-high three
RBI as well as scoring one run. Ward
pitched the game’s five innings, during
which he struck out seven batters.
Also putting up hits for HRV were Har-
vey (3 for 4, 3 singles, 2 RBI), Kam Walk-
er (2 for 3, 2 singles, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Adam
Cameron (2 for 4, 2 singles, 2 RBI), Kellan
Duffy (2 for 4, 2 singles, 2 RBI, 2 runs),
and Hunter (1 for 3, single, 3 runs). Riley
Van Hoose and Willie Ishizaka also
scored for HRV.
The second game was a bit of a differ-
ent story for the Eagles, but the ending
was the same.
See BASEBALL, Page A9
RGA gymnasts bring home gold medals from state championships
The 2015 Oregon State Gymnas-
tics Spring Championships were
held in Salem this past weekend
and five Hood River gymnasts, rep-
resenting Riverside Gymnastics
Academy based out of The Dalles,
brought home the gold and then
some.
Out of 26 teams, RGA’s Level 4
team got on the podium in the
third-place spot with a team score
of 111.825.
In the Junior A division, Jacy
Johnston won the state champi-
onship title on the balance beam
with a score of 9.350. She medaled
REGINA SANCHEZ
SPORTS BRIEFS
Horizon boys golf 6th at dis-
trict tourney
Eagles softball rallies and wins both
games of doubleheader in Hood River
Photo by Ben Mitchell
A7
in every other event, claiming sec-
ond on bars with a personal best of
9.625, third on floor with a 9.375,
and sixth on vault. This put her on
the podium in second place all-
around with a 36.775.
Regina Sanchez (Level 4, Senior
B division) tied for first place on
the bars with a 9.525. She placed
fourth on floor and vault and cap-
tured second place all-around with
a 36.750.
Sophia Riviello, in her first sea-
son as a Level 4, took fourth place
on bars with a 9.450 in the Junior B
division.
All around state champion in the
Level 3 Senior C division is Audrey
Fuentes with a score of 37.450. Ac-
cording to Coach Jacque Johnston,
Fuentes captured the all-around
title because of her consistency on
every event. In addition to the all-
around title, Fuentes finished sec-
ond on bars with a 9.575, third on
floor with a 9.475, fifth on beam,
and sixth on vault.
Ava Krentz had a good showing
with a second place on vault with a
9.4 and sixth on bars in the Senior
A division.
On a side note, Johnston and
JACY JOHNSTON
Sanchez earned the marks to move
up to Level 5, while Fuentes and
Krentz will move up to Level 4.
“All of the coaches are super
proud of the entire team from
RGA,” said Jacque Johnston. “Not
only because of their perfor-
mances at the state championship,
but because of their hard work and
great character that they show day-
in and day-out as gymnasts and as
human beings. I feel very fortunate
to coach, and to have our daughter,
Jacy, compete for such an outstand-
ing gymnastics club.”
AUDREY FUENTES
The Horizon Christian School boys
golf team scored sixth at the district
tournament held April 20 at Glen-
doveer Golf Course in Portland. The
team’s four scoring golfers shot 74
strokes better than team’s last outing
at Glendoveer on April 9, dropping
from a total score of 466 to 392.
Scoring for Horizon were Ian Walker,
who shot a team-best 89, along with
Mason Bloomster (96), Alex Tran
(96), and Zack Walker (111). Also
playing for Horizon was Shaun
Wang, who shot a 114. Horizon’s
next outing will be at Quail Valley
Golf Course in Banks on April 29.
Boys tennis stays the course
The HRV varsity boys tennis team
is looking to be in fine form as they
prepare for the district tournament,
which is less than three weeks away.
Last week, HRV endured a rare loss
in a close match against Wilson on
Monday that ended 5-3 in favor of
Wilson. The outing could have gone
either way, as two of the Eagles’ loss-
es came from matches that ended up
going to three sets. On Wednesday,
HRV once again handily beat Pendle-
ton, although the Buckaroos have
had a thin roster all season, so much
so that the team had to forfeit at No.
4 doubles due to a lack of players.
HRV won the match 8-0; individual
players generally beat their oppo-
nents by large margins, with only
one match going to three sets. On
Saturday, HRV was tops at the Sandy
Tournament, scoring 37 points to de-
feat Sandy (32), Molalla (12), and Es-
tacada (6). HRV next hosts The Dalles
on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match.
Girls tennis fighting through
rough patch
The HRV varsity girls tennis team
has had a tough going as of late,
sidelining top netter Maddy Graham
a couple weeks ago due to a twisted
ankle. HRV lost to Hermiston, 7-1 on
April 16, a team that coach Jaime
Rivera called “one of the top teams
in our district.” After a tournament in
Madras, HRV lost to Wilson, 8-0, on
April 20 and then Pendleton, 7-1 on
April 22. One of the bright spots for
HRV came during Saturday’s tourna-
ment at Oregon Episcopal School,
where HRV was able to defeat Crook
County High School, 5-3, with Rivera
noting that the Crook County boasts
“the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked singles
players in the state.” The Eagles will
look to build on that positivity when
they face The Dalles away on
Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Boys lax drops game against
Wilson
The Eagles lost a divisional game
to Wilson at Wilson High School by a
score of 15-5 on Monday evening.
HRV is now 6-4 on the season, with
a 1-2 divisional record. The loss
means HRV is clawing with Lincoln,
Grant, and Oregon Episcopal School,
who all have similar records and
fighting to move up from the middle
section of the Columbia River Con-
ference. HRV has four regular season
games left, including a home game
on Friday at 7 p.m. against OES.
HRV’s last regular season home
game is on Monday at 7 against
King’s Way Christian High School
from Vancouver, Wash., in what is a
non-divisional game.
Girls lax trounces Wilson
For the second time this season,
HRV outshined Wilson High by a
large margin, defeating them by a
score of 16-4 in a game in Hood
River Monday evening. Coach An-
drew McElderry noted the game was
a true team effort, with five players
scoring the team’s first six goals, as
well as six assists on the night, which
he believed was a season high for
HRV. He also praised the team’s abil-
ity to improve their mental game,
their selfless playing style, and the
team’s “composed, consistent, and
patient” play that was exhibited
Monday night. Freshman Kat
McElderry led the way for HRV with
four goals, Lydia McElderry and Erin
Mayer each had three, Riley Bauer
and Sam Davies had two, and Daisy
Dolan and Lauren Trumbull each had
one. Bauer, Dolan, Trumbull, Lydia
McElderry, Savannah Brentlinger, and
Ellen Hudon all had an assist.
Groundballs were spread around
quite a bit, with almost every player
contributing to the effort. Leading
that effort, though, were Mayer,
Bauer, and Lydia McElderry with a
four apiece. Mayer also led in draws,
winning six. Goalie Ella Rand
stopped five of nine shots (55.6 per-
cent). HRV next faces Oregon Episco-
pal School Thursday in an away
game that starts at 7:30 p.m.