East Oregonian : E.O., July 19, 2016, Page Page 2B, Image 10

Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
PENDLETON
Diamondjaxx win Battle of the Bats tournament
East Oregonian
TACOMA, Wash. — The
Pepsi Diamondjaxx went a
perfect 5-0 at the Battle of
the Bats tournament over
the weekend, claiming the
championship following a
2-1 victory over City Gold in
the title game on Sunday.
In the championship,
Blake Davis and Blake Been
each drove in one run to carry
the offense. In the top of the
second inning, Davis drew a
bases-loaded walk to bring
in Brett Swanson to give the
Diamondjaxx the 1-0 lead,
and then Been ripped an RBI
single in the sixth inning to
bring home Yeager for the
2-0 lead.
Four pitchers combined
to give up just one run and
ive hits in the game, with
Gabe Umbarger lasting
three innings as the starter,
followed
by
Matthew
Demianew (two innings),
Chris Large (one inning),
and Cameron Sandford (one
inning). Large gave up the
The Pepsi
Diamond-
jaxx pose
following
their cham-
pionship
victory at
the Battle
of the Bats
tournament
in Tacoma,
Washington
on Sunday.
#notforsale
Contributed photo
from Travis Zander
complete game on 86 pitches,
allowing just two hits, one
run and one walk with three
strikeouts to help the team to
a 3-1 victory. Sandford also
tossed a ive-inning complete
game in the semiinals on
Sunday, allowing just one hit,
one run, and three walks with
seven strikeouts.
Demianew was also
reliable out of the bullpen,
pitching seven innings over
three games while giving
up just one run and four hits
with two walks and seven
strikeouts.
HODGEN TAKES 7TH
PLACE
only run to City Gold in the
bottom of the seventh, started
the inning with a single and
a walk against him to force
a pitching change. Sandford
came in and allowed the run
to score on a ielder’s choice,
but then struck out the next
batter to end the game and
clinch the championship.
Cameron Sandford and
Quinn Doherty each had
impressive showings at the
plate for the tournament, as
Sandford went 6-16 (.375)
with two runs scored and
4 RBI while Doherty was
5-12 with ive runs scored
and two RBI.Blake Been and
Justin Duso each went 4-9 at
the plate for the tournament,
with Been also scoring four
runs with one RBI and Duso
turning in three RBI.
The Diamondjaxx also
had the beneit of some excel-
lent outings from several
pitchers, led by Ryan Stahl’s
start in the quarterinals
on Sunday. Stahl tossed a
TACOMA, Wash. — At
the Battle of the Bats tourna-
ment, Hodgen Distributing
inished in seventh place out
of 27 teams in their divison
after a close 6-5 loss to
Cascade Crush on Sunday in
the ifth-place game.
In that game, Hodgen
faced a 6-2 deicit as they
came to bat in the bottom
of the seventh inning and
scrapped together a string
of good luck to push across
three runs. In that inning,
Shaw Jerome and Caleb
Cary touched home on a
RBI double to center ield
by Kaden Clark to cut the
lead to 6-4. Next up, Joe St.
Pierre singled into right ield
to score Clark to cut the lead
to just 6-5 with two outs.
But the rally ended there
as Nick Bower grounded
into a ielder’s choice to the
shortstop for the inal out of
the game.
Avery Deutz had the hot
bat for Hodgen in the game
with a 2-3 game while Jared
Beveridge, Hayden Villers,
Clark, and St. Pierre each
contributed one hit apiece.
Austin Zaugg had a decent
start on the mound, giving up
three hits and one unearned
run over four innings with 48
pitches. Villers pitched three
tough innings in relief and
gave up ive runs and three
hits in three innings.
3-ON-3: Hermiston’s Crafton lys high for second dunk contest victory
Continued from 1B
for sure. I played in college
and that’s what I was known
for, and as you get older
you don’t get as high off the
ground as you used to, that’s
why I don’t enter the dunk
contest,” he laughed.
Six competitors took the
court to go for the 3-point
contest, with the top two
advancing to the champi-
onship. As the defending
champion, Paola was the
last to go of the group. The
irst three competitors made
a combined nine 3-pointers,
before Brandon Castro
found a rhythm and sank 11
on 24 shots (46 percent) to
set the tone. Tim Cave then
followed up Castro’s perfor-
mance with nine 3s, which
meant Paola would need to
hit 10 shots to advance to the
inals.
Once the clock started,
Paola’s
experience
in
the event showed as the
45-year-old started out at a
steady pace with his smooth
jump shot as to not tire him
as easily. After making
two of his irst seven shots,
Paola found a groove and
sank seven of his next eight
attempts to tie him with
Cave before swishing two
more home to advance to
the inals with 11 makes on
21 total shot attempts (52
percent).
In the inals Castro was
the irst to shoot and he
jumped out to a quicker pace
that forced several missed
shots early and resulted in
just two makes out of 12
shots in the irst 30 seconds.
Castro rebounded a little in
the latter half of his round
with ive makes on 12 shots
to inish with seven.
Seeing that mark, Paola
said he wasn’t too focused
on the number as much as
just inding a rhythm and
shoot like he knew how.
“I’m 45 and been doing
it a long time and you can
tell when the kids get in the
inals and they tense up a
little bit,” Paola said. “You
just have to go out there and
relax and pretend nobody is
there just like you’re in the
gym shooting with a friend
or something because when
you’re tensing up everything
is short. It helps a lot and
makes me calm down to not
think too much.”
And calm he was. He took
the court one more time in
the inals just as smooth and
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Keegan Crafton, of Hermiston, won Saturday’s slam
dunk competition during the 3-on-3 basketball tourna-
ment on Main Street.
relaxed as he was in Round
1, sinking ive 3-pointers in
the irst 30 seconds of the
round. As time ticked down,
he swished home his sixth,
seventh, and eighth made
TEAM NAMES: Care Bears, Milk
Studs two of the most entertaining
Continued from 1B
Maybe’ after the hit pop
song, and made up shirts
to wear that had the team
name on the front and each
player’s phone number on
the back.
Some of the more orig-
inal team names this year
included ‘Curry up and
shoot’(high school girls divi-
sion), Vicious Ninjas (sixth
grade girls), Antler Addicts
(second/third grade boys),
Java Junkies (Men’s 6’
recreational), Shake-n-Bake
Kings (seventh grade boys),
and God Squad (11th/12th
grade boys).
However, perhaps the
best two team names of
the tournament ended up
facing off against each other
in the eighth grade boys
championship with the Care
Bears and the Milk Studs.
The Care Bears, based out of
Yakima, Washington, went
undefeated in the tournament
and won the title with a 20-9
victory over the Milk Studs,
a local team from Hermiston.
“(Our name) came out of
a two-hour basketball game
in the driveway where we
were just tossing around
names,” said Milk Studs
coach Brett Conner. “The
kids were throwing around
candy names, I tossed
around ‘Milk Duds’ and it
eventually formed into ‘Milk
Studs’ and it stuck.”
Both teams even went as
far as to create jerseys for the
tournament, with the Care
Bears donning pink tank
tops with the Care Bear logo
printed on the front, and the
Milk Studs donning purple
jerseys with a small logo on
the front.
BULLDOGS GET
FEISTY
The Care
Bears (in
pink) and
the Milk
Studs
face off
during the
eighth-
grade
boys
champi-
onship
game
during
the Takin’
it to the
Streets
three-
on-three
basketball
tourna-
ment.
Staff by Kathy
Aney
When the 11th and 12th
grade boys championship
game got underway on
Sunday afternoon, it had the
look of a Hermiston varsity
basketball practice.
The two teams battling
for
the
championship,
Purosho and Splash, were
comprised of mostly Herm-
iston Bulldogs, including
Chance Flores, Dayshawn
Neal, Jerry Ramirez, and
Thomas McCullough. That
aspect added extra intrigue
to the game for the players.
“I knew it was going to be
really competitive ... we play
with them a lot,” said Flores.
“Some of those guys are on
varsity too so it was good
to go against them. I would
deinitely rather play against
guys I know, it makes it
more fun.”
The
game
was
highly-competitive
and
ultra-physical from the start
with plenty of pushing,
shoving, and physical play
to go around for both teams.
Team Purosho, with Flores
and Ramirez, found success
on the offensive glass with
second-chance points and
ran out to the early lead.
Splash, headed by Neal and
McCullough, made a run in
the middle stage of the game
with some sharp-shooting by
Neal, but ulitmately Purosho
came out on top with a 20-11
victory for the title.
“We won this bracket
last year and it feels good to
repeat,” Flores said. “I love
the tournament ... we never
get a cakewalk.”
———
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or (541) 966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter @
ByEricSinger.
shots to clinch the title,
resulting in a big cheer and
numerous high-ives from
the several hundred people
that had gathered around to
watch.
In the slam dunk contest,
Hermiston native Keegan
Crafton took home the
championship in a rather
anti-climactic competition
with two dunks that garnered
some big cheers from the
crowd.
Crafton, a 2015 Herm-
iston graduate, misired on
his irst attempt of the irst
round, but followed up with
a big up-and-under reverse
dunk that drew a near-per-
fect score of 28 from the
three judges. The only other
competitor to slam home a
dunk was one that went by
the name ‘Miguel’ with a
24 score that sent him to the
inals by default.
In the inals, ‘Miguel’
went for success over
lash by throwing down a
two-hand straight-on dunk
that garnered a score of 25.
That brought Crafton back
to the court, and the crowd
instantly was behind the
hometown guy.
Crafton started from the
left wing, tossed the ball in
the air to cause a big bounce
and then proceeded to grab
the ball at its highest point
and throw down a vicious
two-hand dunk to send the
crowd into a roaring cheer.
The dunk received a perfect
30 score from the judgest to
claim the victory.
“There was no planning
in that at all,” Crafton said
with a wide grin. “I had no
idea what I was going to do,
I just thought it up there on
the court.”
It’s the second time that
Crafton has won the event,
after he claimed victory in
2014, and he says he loves
coming back for the event
each year.
“It’s absolutely exhil-
arating,” he said. “I love
every minute of this.”
Crafton and Paola each
received Takin’ it to the
Streets Nike dri-it shirts and
basketball shorts for winning
the events.
Action for the Takin’ it
to the Streets tournament
picks back up again on
Sunday afternoon with the
inal games of bracket play
and championship action
for each of the 20 different
brackets on Main Street in
Hermiston.
————
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or (541) 966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter @
ByEricSinger.
WILDHORSE: Pendleton’s Megan
George earns top net score with 128
Continued from 1B
Hegarty (ive-over 149).
After tying with Simmons
for the lead in round one,
Christensen struggled to a
10-over 82 score Sunday.
Hegarty
dropped
ive
strokes, but was able to
inish the back-nine with a
pair of birdies.
Although everyone in
the group is plenty familiar
with the course, no one
knows it as well as Dick.
He’s worked at the course
for years and his three
Wildhorse Amateur titles -
Staff photo by Will Denner
2005, 2006 and 2014 – are Kurt Simmons reads the green during the Wildhorse
the most in the tournament’s Amateur Championship on Sunday in Pendleton.
18-year history.
Dick said if he has any sheet,” Simmons remem- inished with a top net score
advantage on the course, it bered. “He goes, ‘Here you of 128.
comes on the putting greens. can have this. I don’t need
Simmons earned a $750
Simmons estimated he took this anymore.’”
credit to the Wildhorse Golf
35 putts Sunday, while Dick
Nathan Som (three-over, pro shop as a result of his
dropped a couple 20-foot 147) improved by eight win. He said the irst thing
putts.
strokes Sunday to inish he’ll buy with his winnings
“On
number
eight third. Megan George, a is a new pair of golf shoes
(Nathan) handed me the pin 15-handicap golfer, won for his father, Roger.
SOFTBALL: First game is Friday
Continued from 1B
“We’ve talked many
times that we’re there to
win, not just vacation with
our friends for 10 days,”
Garton said.
Garton added that the
team has already seen an
outpour of support from
the community and local
businesses, whether it was
sending their best wishes
along or helping them in
fundraising to make the trip
to California. SeaPort, with
the help of Pendleton airport
manager Steve Chrisman,
who’s daughter Ella is on the
team, donated two planes to
ly the team from Pendleton
to Portland to help with
travel. Another inancial
boost was the anonymous
donation of $1,000 that was
earmarked to help cover the
cost of the 15-passenger van
that the team needed to rent
for their 10-day stay.
Also, DG Gifts donated
its labor to help transform
the team jerseys from
simply saying ‘Pendleton’
to help them become Team
Oregon.
“It’s exciting for the girls
that they were able to add
Oregon and add their names
on the back so they can keep
them afterwards,” Garton
said. “It’s just a memorable
experience for everybody.”
The team is having a
sendoff party Tuesday night
from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at the
Eastern Oregon Regional
Airport, and everyone from
the community is invited to
attend. There will be cake
and refreshments in the
terminal provided by the
airport.
“It’s been a fun ride
and we’re super greatful
to be able to do this with
the community and these
families,” said Garton.
———
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or (541) 966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter @
ByEricSinger.