SPORTS
WEEKEND, MAY 6-7, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Bucks
close
in on
playoffs
Bulldogs hold off Eagles
Hermis-
ton’s Caden
Schwirse
fi elds a
throw from
teammate
Jordan
Ramirez as
Lucas Viuh-
kol, of Hood
River, slides
into second
base during
Friday’s
game at
the Armand
Larive base-
ball fi eld.
Pendleton baseball and
softball earned wins
over The Dalles
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
East Oregonian
THE DALLES — Daniel
Naughton pitched a complete game
and Wyatt Morris hit the cover off
a ball for a home run as Pendleton
baseball picked up a 5-1 win over
The Dalles on Friday to strengthen
its playoff bid.
Morris’ homer went over the
fence in left fi eld,
over the street
Baseball
and fi nally settled
on a neighboring
lawn to knot the
Pendleton
score at a run
each in the third
inning. Naughton
and Pendleton’s
defense made sure
The Dalles did no
The Dalles
more damage, and
Morris brought in
the go-ahead run
in the fourth inning
when he drew a bases-loaded walk.
Naughton was in control all
game, and retired the fi rst two
Riverhawks of every inning except
the sixth. He still opened that frame
inducing a ground-out, and allowed
just four hits while striking out seven
and walking two.
The Dalles’ run in the fi rst inning
was unearned when the Bucks
dropped a fl y ball with a runner on
and two outs.
“He did a good job of getting
out in front the entire game,” said
Pendleton coach T.J. Haguewood.
“That’s what we expect out of our
pitchers and he threw really well
today, and The Dalles didn’t really
hit him that hard, we made routine
plays behind him.”
Except for a couple instances
Pendleton didn’t hit the ball that
hard, either, and also totaled just
four hits.
The Bucks took a 2-1 lead into
the top of the seventh inning, then
added some insurance when Austin
Zaugg doubled and scored two
batters later on a single by Naughton
to make it 3-1.
A wild pitch moved runners to
5
1
See BUCKS/2B
Hermiston wins crucial game against league-leader Hood River
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
With a mere three games
remaining in the regular season,
the Hermiston baseball team gath-
ered for Friday’s game needing all
the wins it could get as it aims to
earn a postseason berth.
However, getting a win on
Friday would not be easy as
standing
in
H e r m i s t o n ’s
Baseball
way was the
Columbia River
Conference
leader
Hood Hood River
River
Eagles.
Though, that did
not intimidate
the
Bulldogs
who had beaten
Hermiston
the Eagles in
the teams last
meeting on April
18. And just like
the prior meeting, Hermiston was
the team that came out on top on
Friday as the Bulldogs came back
from an two-run defi cit in the fi rst
inning and held off the Eagles for
a 5-4 victory on a blustery day at
Armand Larive Middle School.
“We’re ecstatic for the W,”
Hermiston assistant coach John
Christy said afterward. “I felt like
we played loose and played our
game rather than tighten up and
let the moment take a hold of us. I
feel like we did a good job of just
being relaxed and coming back.”
The Bulldogs (10-13, 4-6 CRC)
rode a fantastic pitching perfor-
4
5
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez rounds third base during Friday’s
game against Hood River Valley at the Armand Larive baseball fi eld.
mance by junior Lukas Tolan,
who lasted six innings and struck
out four while allowing nine hits
and just three runs. He allowed
two runs in the fi rst inning helped
by a defensive error, and gave
up one unearned run in the sixth,
which bookended four innings of
mastery. Tolan allowed fi ve hits
in those innings, but stranded six
runners to keep his team in the
game.
“I just knew I had to trust my
defense and it would all work
out,” Tolan said. “I knew I had
to hang in there and they would
make some plays of me.”
“Lukas really pitched his butt
off today,” Christy said of his
pitcher. “The second inning on, he
really focused on working down
and letting his ball move and he
settled right in there.”
Though it was very early,
perhaps the biggest moment of
the game for Hermiston came
in the bottom of the fi rst inning.
Having surrendered the 2-0 lead
in the top of the frame, the Bull-
dogs managed to get a run back
thanks to an RBI single up the
middle by Wyatt Noland which
helped the Bulldogs re-gain some
momentum.
“When I think about that fi rst
inning, giving up two but getting
one back was huge for us,” Christy
said.
The Bulldogs then tied the
game in the second inning on an
RBI groundout by Jordan Ramirez
which scored Daniel Gossler from
third base.
As the game moved along, the
high winds that rolled through the
area continued to get stronger,
with gusts of 20-25 miles-per-
hour blowing straight out toward
centerfi eld. Those winds made it
tough on both defenses, especially
for fl y balls and in the fourth
inning it played into Hermiston’s
favor.
A fl y ball to center fi eld off the
bat of Joel Mendez should have
been the Bulldogs’ third out, but
the wind kept pushing it further
toward the fence which twisted
Hood River’s centerfi elder around
and caused him to drop the catch,
giving Hermiston new life.
That brought Jordan Ramirez
to the plate with two outs and
runners on second and third with
only one thing on his mind.
“If the pitcher throws me a fast-
ball down the pipe, I’m hitting it
to the outfi eld,” Ramirez recalled
See BULLDOGS/2B
Prep Roundup
Locals looking to strike in Round 2 at district golf tournament
Greb second in girls’
fi eld, boys tightly
packed after 18
East Oregonian
REDMOND — Haley Greb
is six strokes off the lead after the
fi rst round of the Special District
2 tournament on Friday at Eagle
Crest Resort.
Summit’s Olivia Loberg came
out hot and was three under through
fi ve holes. She fi nished one-under
with a 71.
Greb was second and fi nished
with her second birdie of the round
for 77. She also chipped in for a
birdie on No. 9.
Pendleton coach Terry Prouse
said Greb wasn’t happy with her
iron play and spent some time after
the round working on them.
“She hit a lot of balls and we
worked on some things,” Prouse
said, “so hopefully she’ll be able
to come out and do something
tomorrow.”
Crater’s Haley Brown was third
with 80.
Pendleton was third as a team
with 375, and Summit leads with
351 with Bend in second with 361.
“I thought considering the
course the kids managed pretty well
today,” Prouse said.
Hermiston is in fourth with 393
and is led by Sonja Peterson with
94.
The Pendleton boys were tied
for third with The Dalles after 18
holes and shot 345 as a team. As in
the girls’ tournament, Summit leads
with a score of 323. Marist Catholic
is second is the 342, Thurston is
fi fth with 351 and Hermiston is
sixth with 355.
Pendleton’s top shooter was
Jared Geier with 81 that puts him
in sixth, but just two strokes off the
lead.
Ridgeview’s Isaac Buerger and
Summit’s Eric Wasserman had 79,
and three players shot 80.
Pendleton’s Brayden Pulver and
Nathan Som are also in the title hunt
with 83 and 84, respectively.
Hermiston’s Jared Thacker was
just six back with an 85 to lead the
Bulldogs, Anders Lind shot an 86
and Kayden Mecham had an 88.
The fi nal round is today.
———
Special District 2 State Qualifi er
at Eagle Crest Resort, Redmond
Team Leaders
GIRLS
See PREPS/2B
Sports shorts
Cutler retires from NFL, moves
into broadcast booth with FOX
NEW YORK (AP) — Another former NFL
quarterback is headed to the broadcast booth as
Jay Cutler joins Fox.
Cutler was hired Friday by the network as an
analyst to work on its No. 2 NFL
team with Kevin Burkhardt and
Charles Davis.
Last month, CBS replaced Phil
Simms as its top game analyst
with Tony Romo.
Unlike Romo, who would
have been in demand to play
Cutler
quarterback had he chosen not to
leave the fi eld, Cutler drew little interest as a
free agent. So, at age 34, he heads to the booth.
Cutler spent the last eight seasons as a
Chicago Bear after breaking into the NFL with
Denver. He was 68-71 as a starter with a career
passer rating of 85.7, 208 touchdowns and 146
interceptions.
“That mega fi ght really
hurt boxing … But I
think if you have a
Mexican fi ghter in the
ring especially two
Mexican fi ghters you’re
guaranteed fi reworks.“
— Saul “Canelo” Alvarez
Former middleweight champion
on boxing’s fallout from the Floyd
Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao
blockbuster fi ght ended with boos.
The sport is back on an upswing,
though, and Alvarez’s fi ght
against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on
Saturday will be in front of what’s
expected to be the largest indoor
crowd for a bout in Las Vegas.
Golf gets a makeover with the
inaugural GolfSixes
(AP) — Walk-out music. Pyrotechnics. A
long-drive competition. Shot clocks. Mic’d-up
players.
Golf gets another
makeover this weekend when
the European Tour rolls out its
latest attempt at innovation,
the inaugural GolfSixes
tournament at the Centurion Club in St Albans,
southern England.
Played over two days, GolfSixes is a
six-hole match play event featuring two-man
teams from 16 different countries competing
for a prize fund of 1 million euros ($1.1
million).
“It’s an innovative way to get young kids to
play, bring it out of the old age a bit and into
the new age,” England player Andy Sullivan
said. “It’s based around being more fun, more
relaxed, but still being competitive.”
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1895 — African American
jockey James “Soup” Perkins
guides Halma to a wire-to-
wire victory in the Kentucky
Derby. The 15-year-old joins
fellow African American
jockey Alonzo Clayton as
the youngest jockey to ride a
Derby winner.
1973 — The New
England Whalers beat the
Winnipeg Jets 9-6 to win the
fi rst World Hockey Associa-
tion championship.
2011 — James Hylton, at
age 76, becomes the oldest
driver to make the fi eld in
NASCAR’s top three series by
qualifying for the Nationwide
event at Darlington Raceway.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com