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Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, May 27, 2017 College Softball Oregon opens super regional with win Associated Press Collin Andrew/The Register-Guard via AP Oregon pitcher Megan Kleist throws to Kentucky on Friday in Eugene, Ore. EUGENE — Megan Kleist allowed three hits and struck out eight over seven innings as Oregon downed Kentucky 4-0 on Friday to open the NCAA super regional in Eugene. The winner of the three-game series advances to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City. Gwen Svekis went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI for the third- seeded Ducks (51-6), who are vying to advance to the World Series for the fourth time in six seasons. Meagan Prince allowed all four runs and five hits over 5 2/3 innings in the loss for Kentucky (39-18). Prince walked a pair of Ducks then hit Nikki Udria with a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Mia Camuso and Madi Bishop each drove in a run with a groundout and Shannon Rhodes scored on an error in Oregon’s three-run sixth inning. Kleist, a sophomore right-hander, improved to 20-3 this season with the win. STANFIELD: Woods’ three hits leads offense Continued from 1B weren’t going to lose ... once we see the pitcher once and we start getting our timing down is when we strive.” Barnes was undoubtedly the player of the game for Stanfield (24-2), as the desig- nated hitter had a perfect 5 for 5 day at the plate with a double, a home run and four RBIs. His home run, the first of his prep career, came in the fifth inning, crushing a high fastball way over the left field fence. “The last couple weeks the coaches have been really stressing our approach at the plate, to hit what we’re looking for and not swing at the bad pitches,” Barnes said. “I knew I was seeing the ball well so I was just trying to simplify things ... I wasn’t expecting to hit that by any means so it was a great surprise for me.” Stanfield’s offensive barrage helped overcome a sluggish start on the mound from Brody Woods, who allowed a total of nine runs and seven hits in three-plus innings. He battled with the command of his fastball, which allowed Taft (16-9) to sit on the fastballs. “They’re a good team and they hit the ball well,” Woods said of Taft. “The strike zone was pretty small at times, but when I threw strikes they were all over it.” But Woods picked himself up in the bottom of the third when he ripped a double to right field that scored a pair of runs which tied the game at 5-5. The game didn’t stay tied for long, though, as Jenson battled through a 10-pitch at-bat and ended it with an RBI single to center Staff photo by E.J. Harris Stanfield’s Ryan Bailey attempts to avoid the tag from Taft pitcher Mike Zacarias in the Tigers’ 23-11 win against the Tigers on Friday in Stanfield. to score Woods and give the Tigers a 6-5 lead. “I just knew I really didn’t want to strike out there,” Jenson said of his at-bat. “I’ve ben struggling hitting lately and I knew if I battled enough the pitcher would throw me a mistake that I wanted and I found the mistake and hit it.” But even after Stanfield’s 12-run inning, Taft was not ready to wave the white flag. Taft’s hitters really made Woods work to start the fourth inning, working a leadoff walk followed by two hits to score a pair of runs. Then two more walks had the bases loaded with zero outs and chased Woods from the game. “Taft is the best hitting team we’ve seen all year long,” Stanfield coach Brad Rogers said emphatically. Dylan Grogan came on in relief and allowed just one inherited runner to score, striking out two and getting a groundout to end the inning with a 14-9 lead. Grogan went on to pitch two more innings, piling up three more strikeouts as he shutdown any momentum that Taft had left. Thyler Monkus and Tony Flores were the lone Tigers that failed to record a hit, though Monkus reached base safely four times with two walks, two hit-by-pitches and scored four runs. Woods made up for his pitching with a three-hit day that included a triple and a pair of doubles, also adding a team-best five RBI and four runs scored. Jenson also had a three-hit day with a double, four RBI and three runs scored. Grogan was the only other Tiger with more than one hit, as he went 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the first inning and added three runs. “I feel like we’re peaking at the right time,” Barnes said. “And as a team the last couple games we’ve hammered the carp out of the ball so I’m excited to see what’s to come.” UP NEXT Stanfield will host No. 4 St. Mary’s, Medford in a 3A semifinal contest on Tuesday at Madigan Field. ———— QFinals R H E THS 041 400 2 — 11 11 7 SHS 20(12) 450 X — 23 16 4 W — B. Woods, L — Zacarias. 2B — Knott, Zacarias (THS); R. Bailey, K. Jenson, B. Woods 2, H. Barnes (SHS). 3B — B. Woods, A. Renner (SHS). HR — H. Barnes (SHS). ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. Pilot Rocks’ Ayana Aguilar swings on a two-run RBI double in the Rock- ets’ 11-1 win against Lost River on Friday in Pilot Rock. Continued from 1B R H E LR 000 01 — 1 1 3 PRHS 243 02 — 11 11 1 M. Gartman, M. Hartman (3) and K. Saluskin. T. Ostrom and R. Oates. W — 2B — M. Gertman (LR); A. Aguilar (PRHS). 6, CROOK MAC-HI COUNTY 3 — At BUCKAROOS: Continued from 1B SOFTBALL: Crook County upsets Mac-Hi going 3 for 4 with three runs and two RBI, and Rhyanne Oates added a 2 for 4 game with two runs. Fitzpatrick said the team’s 11 hits was great to see, but their nearly flawless defense and strong pitching are what give him hopes for a trip to their third-straight title game. “Our defense has played good and we’ve been getting excellent pitching from Tehya,” he said of their one unearned run allowed in 10 inning in the postseason. “She likes to step up in big games, and she’s been doing it. Hope- fully our defense and pitching continues to carry us. “Overall we’re playing well. We’ve jut got to make an adjustment because it’s a definite step up in competi- tion level for the next game.” The Rockets will host No. 3 Union in the semifinals, a rematch of last season’s championship. The teams have played five times already this season with Union winning three of those games. “It’s going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes,” Fitz- patrick said. “Both teams are pretty evenly matched and they know each other well, so there’s no surprises. In my opinion the state cham- pionship should be decided on Tuesday. It’s too bad we didn’t meet in Corvallis.” The semifinal will be played in Pilot Rock on Tuesday. Game time had not been determined by press time. ——— Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton’s Madison Parker slides into second base between two Hood River players who scramble for the ball during Friday’s state playoff game at Steve Cary Field. Pendleton won 4-2. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pilot Rock’s Tehya Ostrom throws from the pitching circle in the Rockets’ 11-1 win against Lost River on Friday in Pilot Rock. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Milton-Freewater, a four-run fifth inning gave No. 6 Crook County enough cushion to pull off the upset of No. 3 Mac-Hi on Friday in the Class 4A OSAA softball state quarterfinals. Back-to-back errors with runners on base allowed the Cowboys to break what had been a 2-2 tie going into the fifth inning, and then Emma Ackley made it 6-2 when she brought in two more on a double to center field. Mallory Copeland doubled to lead off the bottom of the frame for Mac-Hi, and then courtesy runner Tara Hodgens took third and scored on passed balls. The Pioneers stranded a runner at second in that at-bat, and after turning a double play in the top of the sixth inning, had two on with no outs in their next time up to the plate. A ground-out, strikeout and pop-out ended the threat though. Mac-Hi had one on with one out in the seventh, but two ground-outs sent Crook County into the state semifi- nals. Copeland pitched three innings of relief and was credited with the loss after allowing two runs on two hits with one strikeout and no walks. Sydney Earls and McKenna Stallings also were tagged for a pair of runs, but only three of Crook County’s runs were earned. Micha Fortune went 3 for 4 and Copeland went 2 for 3 to lead the offense. Brooke Smiley added two RBI. ——— R H E CCHS 200 040 0 — 6 3 2 M-H 200 010 0 — 3 9 6 W — M. McCormick. L — M. Copeland. 2B — H. Smith, E. Ackley (CCHS); M. Copeland, B. Smiley (M-H). going to be a very low-scoring game and it might be a while before either team scored. But I always have a feeling that whoever scores first is probably going to end up winning this game.” The first four innings went to the pitchers, and Hood River’s Hannah McNerney had a no-hitter going into the fifth, but Aspen Garton stepped into the batter’s box and ended that with a one-out single she ripped to the gap in right field. “We were going insane,” Richards said. “We only had one out and so that was huge to start that rally. We can all feel it, we know some- thing good was going to happen.” Kila Solomon then dropped a single into the outfield on the next at-bat to give Cary the situation he’d been looking for. He made the switch on the bags to bring in Fell, and when Madi Parker hit into a fielder’s choice that put runners on first and third with two outs, Cary gave the signal. “Obviously when you play a team four times during the year you know exactly how they’re going to run their defense on first and third, so we prepared for it,” he said. “(Fell) knew what was going on. She kind of looked at me and I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’” The throw went to second, but the Eagles couldn’t field it cleanly and Fell scored without a challenge to make it 1-0. “We’ve been working on that the last couple days in practice,” Cary said. “We’d practiced it the last two days and we made sure it was certain people at third base that were doing it. “We figured we’d be able to get that run in, and sure enough it worked out thank goodness. If the catcher would have pump faked and rifled down to third we probably would have been caught.” An infield single by Kirah McGlothan brought Parker around, and then McGlothan made it 3-0 when the Eagles couldn’t quite get to a bouncer up the middle by Richards on the next at-bat. McNerney retired the next batter, but the damage was already done. Garton said facing some slower pitching in the team’s last couple games had them trying to play catch-up to McNerney at first, but their confidence never wavered. “We’ve seen her now five times, and we knew that we could hit her coming into this game,” she said. “I think once one good thing happens, it was bound for lots of good things to happen. I know that my teammates always have my back like I always have theirs. So we just needed one person, I guess, to start it up.” Hood River responded in the sixth when McNerney launched a two-run home run to center field with two outs, but a fly to right ended the comeback a run short. Pendleton added an insurance run in the seventh when Alexi Brehaut reached on a double, then pinch runner Carissa Cooley knocked the ball loose on a play at the plate to give the game its final tally. “It’s very very important for every player on this team to understand that we need every single one of them to win these games, and it was clear because we did empty out the bench and use pinch runners and courtesy runners,” Cary said. “We couldn’t have done it without them. The bench is very very important and I hope they understand that.” Hood River’s lead-off batter in the seventh watched a third strike, then Richards got a pop-up to first for the second out before fanning the final batter. She issued just one walk, but it came in the third inning and helped Hood River load the bases with two outs after a pair of slap singles. Richards kept the shutout intact by getting a pop-up to second. “I really tried to let me defense help me out a lot,” she said. “I can really rely on them, I love that, and it got us this far.” Richards, a junior, said her second postseason start was a bit less nerve- racking than her first — a 4-0 win over Corvallis. “Definitely, it was a lot easier,” she said. “The first game I think we all had a little nerves, which is normal, but we got that out of the way and we came and got it done this game.” After playing at home the first two rounds, she’ll pitch in front of her first road crowd of the postseason on Tuesday in the semifinals when Pendleton plays at No. 2 Marist Catholic. It’s the fourth-straight semifinals appearance for the Bucks. A game time had not been determined by press time. Marist Catholic beat No. 7 Putman 6-1 on Friday, and No. 15 Hermiston 9-1 in the first round. ——— R H E HRV 000 002 0 — 2 5 4 PHS 000 031 X — 4 5 0 H. McNerney, K. Winans (6) and Z. Munn. L. Richards and K. Solomon. W — Richards. L — McNerney. 2B — A. Brehaut (PHS). HR — H. McNerney (HRV). Staff photo by Kathy Aney Carissa Cooley, of Pendleton, goes into a slide at home plate as Hood River’s catcher tries to tag her during Friday’s state playoff game at Steve Cary Field. Cooley was ruled safe.
