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.