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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2017)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, March 25, 2017 Prep Softball Rockets, TigerScots get wins East Oregonian Photo contributed by Debbi Green The Pendleton dance team Rhythmic Mode finished second at the state championships March 18 at the Moda Center in Portland. Pendleton earns silver at state dance Photo contributed by Debbi Green Photo contributed by Debbi Green The Hermiston dance team Stardust performs at the state cham- pionships March 18. The team finished fifth. From left to right, Kacey Robbins, Giliana Adams, Vanessa Schmidt, Ashleigh Bolling, Terika Christensen, and Remington Christensen dance for Rhythmic Mode at the March 18 state championship. TIMBERWOLVES: Shared heritage aids coach in recruiting Continued from 1B with the Timberwolves during the month of March. Thirteen high school seniors from Hermiston, Pendleton, Umatilla and Riverside will join the BMCC men’s and women’s soccer teams in the fall. Ten of them will be part of the first men’s season in program history, while three local girls will join a women’s team still looking for its first win in Year 2 of its history. “That’s what we want to do with both programs, is to bring in as much local talent as possible, and I think that’s going to show especially on the men’s side. More than half of the guys on the roster now are from Eastern Oregon,” said Mota, who had six locals that were freshmen on last season’s women’s team. “The fact that we were able to do this just draws more interest and motivates those future potential recruits to come to BMCC first. So it’s an exciting time.” Three of Mota’s recruits were honored Wednesday at Umatilla High, as Luis Vallejo, Jacqueline Ortega and Yesenia De La Cerda- Flores took part in a signing ceremony that capped a presentation to the student body about making the right choices and working hard for their goals. “I always thought I was going to go to the pros, but this is the next step,” said Photo courtesy of Art Mota Blue Mountain men’s and women’s soccer coach Art Mota, second from right, poses with RIverside High School seniors (from left) Bryan Altamirano, Rubi Salazar and Adolfo Bedolla after the trio signed National Letters of Intent to play soccer at BMCC in the fall at a ceremony earlier this month in Boardman. De La Cerda-Flores. “When they first instituted the team I was like, ‘Oh, this would be really interesting for me.’ And I wanted to join.” Vallejo, a three-year starter for the Vikings, said getting in at ground level also piqued his interest. “I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to be a part of the first (men’s) team,” he said Vallejo. “My coach (Pedro Ortiz) told me he thought I had what it takes to play at the next level so I contacted BMCC.” Also signing with the Timberwolves in recent weeks have been Riverside’s Rubi Salazar, Bryan Altamirano and Adolfo Bedolla, Pendle- ton’s Jonathan Wolotira and Evan Brandhagen, and five Hermiston Bulldogs with more to come. Mota said he could have as many as eight players from Hermiston by the time the recruiting period ends, and has already gotten commitments from Elias Arenas, Isaac Munoz-Ortega, Anthony Carrillo, Andy Cocuera and Giovanni Madrigal. Mota said it’s not by acci- dent that so many of his new recruits come from Latino backgrounds. “That’s another reason why I was offered this position,” said Mota, who is Latino. “They felt like if the players that we wanted to bring in could identify with their coach and relate to their coach culturally, linguistically — I can speak their language, I can speak to their parents in their native language. That’s been a huge draw, because getting the parents to buy in is half the battle.” Several of those recruits were also attendees at BMCC’s clinics held last November, and Mota said that those eight-hour, one-day clinics were more than enough to determine which players had the tools to succeed at the next level. “They were very coach- able, showed good skill, and ever since then we’ve main- tained contact with them,” Mota said of Ortega and De La Cerda-Flores. “They showed interest from the get-go, and so I’m really glad that they’re joining the program.” Riverside’s Salazar, Altamirano and Bedolla also found their way onto Mota’s radar at the clinics. “We were impressed by all of them,” Mota said. “All of them are coming from good support systems, good families.” It also gave the players a chance to get a feel for Mota’s coaching style, which for some is much different than what they’ve had in the past. Ortega said it was one of her main reasons for choosing the T-Wolves. “It’s more intense, and I need it to step up my game,” she said. “I know that it’s going to be a totally different style of play but I’m ready to train and hopefully I can be a good thing for the team.” With so many local players on board, Mota is hoping for more local interest and support on the sidelines as well. Schedules for the men’s and women’s teams haven’t been released yet, but the season typically gets going with its first games in early September. “I just wish we could start tomorrow,” Mota said. “I’m so excited about the program.” ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0838. PILOT ROCK — Rockets freshman Ayana Aguilar pitched through a second-inning jam and got a big show of support from her offense as Pilot Rock notched a win in her varsity start 15-4 in six innings over Gaston on Friday at the Pilot Rock Tournament. It was the second game of the day for the Rockets, which lost to Scio 7-1 earlier. “Scio’s one of the best 3A teams in the state, we knew they were going to be tough,” said Rockets coach Darin Fitzpatrick. Pilot Rock (2-1) didn’t give starter Tehya Ostrom its best game in the field, either, and committed four errors. Olivia Zeiher hit a home run for Scio (4-0). There were no errors against Gaston (1-3), although Brooke Jordan did hit a home run during a four-run second inning to take a 4-2 lead. Fitzpatrick left his freshman in, though, and was rewarded for his confidence. “I let her continue to work out of trouble, and we played good defense behind her,” he said. “After that she didn’t allow another run, so it was good to see the freshman step up.” Bekah Roe, Jacey Wilson, Sara Weinke and Stacy Fitzpatrick (3-for-4) all hit doubles for the Rockets. The Rockets host Weston- McEwen and Enterprise today at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ——— R H E SHS 210 100 3 — 7 7 0 PRHS 000 100 0 — 1 6 4 K. Pollard and N. Mikolas. T. Ostrom and R. Oates. W — Ostrom. L — Pollard. 2B — T. Ostrom (PRHS). HR — O. Zeiher (SHS). (6 innings) R H E GHS 040 000 — 4 6 0 PRHS 230 037 — 15 18 0 T. Bassel, B. Jordan (1) and A. Heisler. A. Aguilar and V. Walker. W — Aguilar. L — Jordan. 2B — B. Roe, J. Wilson, S. Weinke, S. Fitzpatrick (PRHS). HR — B. Jordan (GHS). WESTON-MCEWEN 5, ENTERPRISE 4 — At Pilot Rock, the TigerScots won both of their games Friday at the Pilot Rock Tournament, and also beat Gaston 12-1 in five innings. Bailey Hillmick pitched for the win over Enterprise and Whitney Roggerio (2 for 4) hit one of three doubles for the TigerScots (2-1). Weston-McEwen then scattered 12 hits to support Lambert in the circle against Gaston. Sydney Peal (2 for 3) and Charmayne Bennett each hit home runs and had three RBIs. Lambert (3 for 4) hit a double and had three RBIs, and Hillmick (2 for 2) reached base four times and scored three times. Weston-McEwen plays at Pilot Rock at 11 a.m. and then faces Scio at Pilot Rock at 3 p.m. ——— R H E WMHS 200 030 0 — 5 5 3 EHS 000 201 1 — 4 5 3 W — B. Hillmick. L — Plew. 2B — W. Roggerio, E. Burke, J. Lambert (WMHS); Plew (EHS). (5 innings) R H GHS 000 01 — 1 3 3 WMHS 400 53 — 12 12 3 W — J. Lambert. L — C. Hall. 2B — J. Lambert, C. Cain, B. Hillmick (WMHS). HR — S. Peal, C. Bennett (WMHS). E DAWGS: Giusti scores hat trick, Christianson adds two goals for Hermiston Continued from 1B 2:33 left in the second Hermiston scored again when Luke Walchli, holding the ball behind Hood River’s net, flipped a pass over the net to an awaiting Bradlee Giusti on the doorstep who caught it and whipped it past the goalie to make it a 3-2 game. In the second half, Hood River got an insurance goal to make it a 4-2 game with 2:24 left in the third quarter, but a mere 18 seconds later Christiansen found the back of the net again. The senior attacked the net from the right side, fought through a hit and then zipped a backhander into the net to make it a 4-3 game. Hermiston would tie the game with just over one minute left on a goal from Walchli, as the junior snuck in from behind the net and beat the goalie low. “Those guys never quit,” Arnold said of his team. “We’re a good team and we have a great group of kids that can play the game and keep battling no matter what.” The Bulldogs kept the scoring going in the fourth quarter, as just 25 seconds in Walchli found Giusti again right in front of the net with Staff photo by Kathy Aney Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Bradlee Guisti (1) scoops up the ball during Friday’s lacrosse game against Hood River at Kennison Field. Hermiston’s Beau Blake (25) and Jake Palmer (20) defend the goal against a charging Hood River player Friday at Kennison Field. another behind the net pass to give Hermiston its first lead of the game at 5-4. After Hood River tied it at 5-5, Giusti earned himself a hat trick with a highlight-reel goal, attacking the net from the left before absorbing a big hit from the Eagle defender, jumping in the air and snapping in a goal from a tough angle to put Hermiston back on top with 7:55 left. direction. While Hermiston did not get the result it wanted, they were more pleased with the overall effort put forth than in its two previous games against McNary and Richland (WA) where the Bulldogs lost by a combined score of 27-12. “The first two games we weren’t completing basic passes,” Palmer said, “and I feel in this one we really “I don’t know how it went in, honestly,” Giusti said of his goal with a big grin. “I just squeaked it in and got lucky I guess.” After that goal, Hermiston was playing determined to not let Hood River get the momentum back and kept it going for the majority of the period. However at the 2:30 mark, the Eagles flipped a switch and started to tilt the field back in their came together and started to coordi- nate passes and coordinate the plays and it showed it’s starting to work.” “It really builds our confidence because we haven’t played up with a team like Hood River for a long time,” Giusti added. “So we’re going to try and take the best of it and put it together next week and go get Southridge and see if we can get the dub.”