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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 2017)
SPORTS WEEKEND, MARCH 18-19, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON HERMISTON Richards sits down Hillsboro Hermiston lights up St. Helens Bulldogs churn out 14 hits to win home opener By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Parker’s home run gives Pendleton edge in pitchers duel The 2017 softball season did not start the way the Hermiston Bulldogs wanted it to, after Ridgeview handed them an 11-run loss in the season-opener on Tuesday. So when the Bulldogs gathered at the field at Rocky Heights Elementary on Friday for the team’s home opener, there was a little extra motivation to bounce back. And facing the St. Helens Lions Friday, the Bulldogs were able to rebound in a big way with a 16-2 victory in five innings. East Oregonian Lauren Richards struck out 16 batters and Madi Parker hit a two-run home run to lift Pendleton over Hillsboro 2-0 on Friday in a non-league softball game. P a r k e r ’s Softball blast to left came with two outs in the Hillsboro fifth inning with Kirah McGlothan standing on third. McGlothan Pendleton had singled for just the Buckaroos’ second hit of the game off Hillsboro ace Payton Goodrich, then stole second and got to third on a wild pitch. Parker’s hit was the last on the day, but Pendleton (2-0) had enough run support for Richards, who didn’t allow a runner to reach scoring position in any of Hillsboro’s subsequent at-bats and struck out the side in the top of the seventh. She gave up just three hits as well to earn her second win, but did hit a pair of batters and had a walk. “She really beared down and got it done,” said Pend- leton coach Tim Cary. “She mixes it up well, she’s not afraid to throw any pitch, and she was hitting her spots when she needed to. She’s a heck of a competitor.” Goodrich finished with five strikeouts and three walks in Hillsboro’s season opener, and Alexi Brehaut had Pendleton’s only other hit. “We knew coming in that she was going to be tough for us,” Cary said. Today’s game against St. Helens at noon could be a different story as the Lions gave up 16 runs in a loss to Hermiston on Friday. ——— Softball St. Helens Hermiston 2 16 “I think it had a lot to do with the atmosphere here,” Hermiston coach Kate Greenough said. “The girls were excited to have a lot of people here and they were drilling the ball all game.” Hermiston (1-1) tallied a total of 14 hits in the game and four of the 10 batters in the game finished with at least two hits. Sydney Stefani and Ashley Cameron led the Bulldogs with three hits apiece, with Stefani adding three runs scored and an See HERMISTON/3B Staff photo by Eric Singer Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani touches home plate while scoring off a hit by Ellery Jones during Hermiston’s game against St. Helens on Friday at Rocky Heights Elementary in Hermiston. Hermiston won 16-2. Prep Roundup The Rock- ets’ Levi Theime slides into home plate during Fri- day’s game against Joseph/ Enterprise/ Wallowa in Pilot Rock. 0 2 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Rockets split series with Eagles Pilot Rock comes from behind in first half of doubleheader 10-5 11-4 East Oregonian PILOT ROCK — The Pilot Rock baseball team scored six runs in the fourth inning to take a lead it would not relinquish and held off R H E HHS 000 000 0 — 0 3 0 PHS 000 020 X — 2 3 0 P. Goodrich and N. Kinney. L. Richards and K. Solomon. W — Richards. L — Goodrich. HR — M. Parker (PHS). Joseph for a 11-10 win three in the third, Baseball on Friday in the first and when Joseph half of a non-league (1-1), which co-ops doubleheader. with Enterprise and The Eagles got Joseph Pilot Rock Wallowa, answered their revenge in the with three of its second half with a 5-4 own in the top of the win. fourth Pilot Rock Joseph struck first in the opener unloaded. with a pair of runs in the first and “We just talked about, just keep second inning to go up 4-1 through competing and good things will two. happen, we had a lot of baseball The Rockets (1-2) tied it up with to play,” said first-year Rockets Women’s NCAA Tournament Oregon State survives first round scare Long Beach misses last-second shot as Beavers move on Men’s NCAA Tournament Oregon for- ward Kavell Bigby-Wil- liams hangs on the rim after dunk- ing in Ore- gon’s win over Iona on Friday in Sacramento, Calif. First Round #15 Long Beach #2 Oregon St. 55 By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press CORVALLIS — Raven Benton and Long Beach State nearly made history. With five seconds left and the 15th seed 49ers down by a point, Benton let go on a jumper that she thought looked good. All eyes were on the ball as it hit the back of the basket and bounced away, and second-seeded Oregon State hung on for a 56-55 first-round victory Friday. A No. 15 seed had never defeated a No. 2 in tourna- ment history. Afterward Jody Wynn consoled her near-Cinderella team. “I told them they deserved to win — and they felt the same way,” Wynn said. Breanna Brown scored 12 points while Mikayla Pivec and Marie Gulich each added 10 points for Oregon State (30-4), which was also seeded second last season head coach Shane Leasy. “We’re young and so we’re going to make some mistakes, and we seem to be improving and kids are getting better. I’m proud of my kids for just hanging in there and fighting.” Reliever Braydon Postma got the last two outs in the top of the fourth and would get the win with three strikeouts, two walks, four hits and three runs allowed in 3 1/3 innings. Levi Thieme got the last out See PREPS/2B AP Photo/ Timothy J. Gonzalez Oregon State’s Mikayla Pivec (0) gets double teamed by Long Beach State defenders during the first half of Friday’s first round tournament game in Corvallis. when they made a run to the Final Four. Benton finished with 17 points Long Beach State (23-11). Madison Mont- gomery added 15. The 49ers took over the lead on Jessica Gertz’s 3-pointer with 2:48 left, but Sydney Wiese hit two free throws to put Oregon State back in front 56-55 with 1:07 to go. Long Beach State tried to manage the clock, but Benton missed a long jumper with 5 seconds left and Anna Kim’s 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the backboard, ending the upset bid. “It was a good look,” Benton said. “So it felt good.” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said the story of the game was Long Beach. 56 “This is a good team,” he said about the 49ers. “You throw seeds out the window.” The 49ers, who edged UC Santa Barbara 56-55 for the Big West Tournament title and the automatic berth, were making their 12th overall tournament appearance and first since an at-large bid in 1992. Ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll, the Beavers were coming off a loss to Stanford 48-43 in the Pac-12 Tourna- ment final. With four seniors in its starting lineup, Long Beach State was tenacious, pulling in front 27-23 lead on Montgomery’s 3-pointer. Afterward she signaled “10” to the crowd with her fingers, her point total. Oregon State, with a distinct size advantage, reclaimed the lead to go up 29-27, but Benton’s with a 30-29 lead at the break, stunning the large See OREGON STATE/3B AP Photo/Steve Yeater Ducks fly by Gaels Dorsey scores 24 against Iona to lead Oregon into Round of 32 By JANIE MCCAULEY Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With star big man Chris Boucher cheering in a bulky knee brace from the side- First Round lines, Tyler Dorsey scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures, and No. 3 seed Oregon beat 14th-seeded Iona 93-77 Friday in the first-round #14 Iona of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region. The Ducks (30-5) showed they have depth and sheer athleticism to make a special March run, just as #3 Oregon coach Dana Altman hoped this week when he challenged role players to make larger contributions in shot- blocker Boucher’s absence. Iona star Jordan Washington gave his team a huge See DUCKS/2B 77 93
