SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Bulldogs get walk-off win in opener
Hermiston gets a
‘good, team win’
over Ridgeview
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Representing the winning run in
Tuesday’s season-opener against
Ridgeview, Hermiston senior Slade
Gritz stepped off third base to take
his lead, creeping up the baseline to
get every inch that he could.
And
after
“I knew we needed
Baseball
Ridgeview pitcher
to score there and as
Nolan Merritt fi red
soon as I got an oppor-
that 2-2 pitch toward
tunity I was going to
be hauling it as fast as I Ridgeview Hermiston home plate, the
opportunity fi nally
could,” said Gritz.
Sophomore Jordan
came. The pitch
Ramirez was at the
squirted out of the
plate for Hermiston with two outs glove of Ridgeview’s catcher and
in the seventh inning, meaning rolled behind home plate, causing
Gritz represented Hermiston’s the catcher to have trouble locating
last opportunity to win the game the ball. And as soon as Gritz saw
without going to extra innings. And the ball squirt out of the glove,
as Ramirez evened the count at 2-2, he was off, sprinting as hard and
Gritz kept waiting for a chance to as fast as he could toward home
sprint home.
plate where he fi nished off with a
6
7
head-fi rst slide across the plate to
give Hermiston the 7-6 win over
Ridgeview on Tuesday afternoon at
Armand Larive Middle School.
It is the fi rst season-opening win
for Hermiston since 2013, when the
Bulldogs took down Oregon City
by the same 7-6 score and have
since lost two-straight openers to
Ridgeview prior.
“It feels really good to get the
dub,” said Gritz, who went 0-3
with two runs scored at the plate.
“The last few seasons we’ve kind
of choked out of the gates and we
See BULLDOGS/2B
PENDLETON
Richards, Bucks shut out Falcons
Pendleton
pitcher
Lauren
Richards
winds up
for a pitch
early in
Tuesday’s
game
against
Hanford at
Steve Cary
Field.
Prep Roundup
Suns too
bright
for
Bucks
Pendleton baseball
loses twin bill to
Southridge
East Oregonian
KENNEWICK, Wash. —
Despite fi nally getting a third
of his roster out for their fi rst
practices on Monday, Pend-
leton baseball coach T.J.
Haguewood wasn’t making
excuses
for
his
Baseball club after
season-
opening
losses
to
Pendleton
Southridge
(WA)
on
Tuesday.
T h e
Buckaroos
were unable
Southridge (WA)
to get much
going
on
the road and
struggled in
losses of 12-0 and 9-0.
Pendleton’s
pitching
staff had trouble locating
the strike zone and fi nished
in the low 50s for strike
percentage.
Some untimely errors in
the fi eld made things worse,
and Haguewood said the
Suns were able to tack on
runs in extended innings.
On offense the Bucks
(0-2) were slow to start as
well, and Wyatt Hull and
Mason Perez combined for
a no-hitter in the opener,
which ended after the fi fth
inning.
Pendleton’s
plate
approaches improved in the
second game, but they still
fi nished with just four hits
on the day.
“A lot of these guys got
their feet wet in varsity
baseball today,” Haguewood
said. “We made progress
throughout the games, but we
expect our pitchers to throw
strikes and our defense to
make the plays behind them.
“Southridge is one of the
best teams we’ll play all
season. Our plate approaches
got better throughout the
day, and you never like to
start 0-2 but we’ve just got to
keep battling. We’ll be fi ne.”
Daniel Naughton and
Austin Zaugg were the
starting pitchers for the
Bucks and took the losses.
Nick Bower batted 2-for-3 in
Game 2, Hayden Villers was
1-for-1 and Jared Beveridge
was 1-for-2 with a double.
———
0,0
12,9
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
Pendleton softball opens at home with win over Hanford
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
For the third straight season
the Buckaroos opened the season
against the Hanford Falcons, and for
the third straight season Pendleton
opened with a win.
Junior Lauren
Richards
threw
the fi rst six innings
Hanford
of a combined
one-hit
shutout
and
sophomore
Kirah McGlothan
went 2-for-2 at the
plate with an RBI
Pendleton
triple as the Bucks
manufactured fi ve
runs off four hits
for the 5-0 win on
Tuesday at Steve Cary Field.
Richards, making her fi rst open-
ing-day start, struck out fi ve of the
fi rst nine batters she faced and didn’t
0
5
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Kirah McGlothan, of Pendleton, slides into third base during Tues-
day’s game against Hanford at Steve Cary Field.
allow a runner past second base. She
fi nished with six strikeouts, one hit,
a pair of walks and one hit batter.
“It felt like it was the fi rst game,”
Richards said. “We do have a lot of
hope for our season, I think we just
needed to get that fi rst game kind of
out of there. … I don’t get nervous
often, but I set high expectations for
myself so I did get a little nervous at
the beginning.”
Pendleton coach Tim Cary was
pleased with the outcome.
“I thought Lauren did a great job
hitting her spots, and she always
does,” he said. “She had command
of her pitches, worked the ball in,
worked the ball out. I thought she
took charge of the whole game did
exactly what she needed to do.”
Junior Alexi Brehaut kept the
shutout intact in the seventh with a
strikeout and a walk.
Both pitchers were able to rely
on a steady defense, which reserved
its only error for the fi rst play of the
game. Richards came through for
her defense to make up for it, and got
two strikeouts and a grounder back
to the circle to strand the runner.
Like the Falcons (0-1), the Bucks
(1-0) put their lead-off runner on
See BUCKS/2B
Game 1
R H E
PHS
000 00 —
0 0 2
SHS
342 03 — 12 11 0
D. Naughton, W. Morris (3), H. Villers (4).
W. Hull, Mason Perez (3). W — Hull. L —
Naughton.
2B — J. Harvey, N. Weber (SHS). HR —
M. Martin (SHS).
Game 2
R H E
PHS
000 000
0 — 0 4 4
SHS
320 031 X — 9 6 0
A. Zaugg, T. Chichester (5). M. Martin, N.
Grade (3), S. Midili (5), N. Vonomhausen (7).
W — Martin. L — Zaugg.
2B — J. Beveridge (PHS). 3B — A.
Singceton (SHS).
See PREPS/2B
Sports shorts
Cavs anticipating Love’s return
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers
general manager David Griffi n anticipates
forward Kevin Love will return during the
team’s trip that begins Saturday.
Love had surgery on his left knee Feb. 14.
The defending NBA champions
are 7-6 since he was injured and
have been plagued by defensive
and rebounding issues without the
four-time All-Star.
Love is having his best season
since joining the Cavaliers in
2014, averaging 20 points and 11.1
Love
rebounds. Cleveland was outre-
bounded 52-38 in Sunday’s loss to Houston.
Griffi n said Love participated in 3-on-3 drills
Tuesday and the team will monitor how he
responds before deciding on the next step. The
nine-year veteran posted a photo of his uniform
hanging in his locker before the Cavaliers’ game
against the Detroit Pistons.
“I want Trail Blazers
fans and friends to know
I’m doing well and in
the process of getting
better. My family and I
appreciate the prayers
and well-wishes for my
recovery. I’m improving
every day.“
— Cliff Robinson
Former Portland Trail Blazers star
forward announced that he re-
mains hospitalized after suffering
a minor brain hemorrhage last
week. Robinson is being treated
at Providence St. Vincent Medical
Center in Portland.
Capitals snap losing streak,
beat Wild 4-2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin
ended the longest goal-scoring drought of his
career as the Washington Capitals held on to
beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2 Tuesday night and
snap a season-worst four-game
losing streak.
Ovechkin hadn’t scored in 10
games or had an even-strength
goal in 18 before fi ring a
one-timer by league save percentage leader
Devan Dubnyk in the second period. Ovech-
kin’s 28th goal of the season came 1 second
after a power play expired.
Nate Schmidt, Evgeny Kuznetsov and
Jay Beagle also scored for the NHL-leading
Capitals, who recaptured sole possession of
fi rst in the Metropolitan Division.
Goaltender Braden Holtby put on a show,
stopping 32 of 34 shots as the Capitals moved
two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1869 — The Cincinnati Red
Stockings, the fi rst pro baseball
team, is organized by George
Ellard and Harry Wright.
1997 — North Carolina’s
Dean Smith becomes the
career victory leader when
the Tar Heels beat Colorado
73-56. Smith, with 877 victo-
ries, passes Kentucky legend
Adolph Rupp.
2014 — Cal Poly defeats
Cal State Northridge 61-59
for Big West Tournament
men’s championship. Cal
Poly (13-19) becomes the
third team in the last three
years to qualify for the
NCAA Tournament with a
losing record.
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sports@eastoregonian.com