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SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep roundup Home run propels Hermiston softball past Sherwood Irrigon softball gets narrow victory, Stanfield baseball sweeps Burns East Oregonian HERMISTON — Behind the bats of Bailee Noland, Daisy Maddox and four other Bulldogs, the Hermiston softball team continued their winning ways with a 9-2 victory over Sherwood on Friday. The visitors out of the Class 6A Three Rivers League couldn’t keep up with the Bulldogs (6-2), who recorded 17 hits on the day. The scoring started early for Hermiston as the Bulldogs took control of the game from the first inning. Noland hit an RBI single to put Hermiston on the board, Janelle Almaguer followed that up with an RBI double and Maddox rounded out the scoring with a ground out that sent Ashley Cameron home. Sherman’s only runs came in the second when the Bowmen (2-8) hit two RBI singles to the left side with the bases loaded. Almaguer was able to get Hermiston out of the inning with her lone strikeout in 6 1/3 innings of work. Almaguer earned the win after spending nearly the entire game in the circle giving up 10 hits and walked two. After being held scoreless in the second, the Bulldogs put runs on the board the rest of the four innings played. In the bottom of the third, Maddox and Hallee Pennington both hit RBI singles to put Hermiston up 5-2. Noland continued her success at the plate with an RBI double that scored Sydney Stefani in the fourth and another lone run was scored in the fifth off the bat of Kylie Green. In the sixth, Noland hit a solo home run over center field that gave Hermiston an 8-2 advantage and a walk capped off the scoring five batters later. Millie Emery was given the loss for Sherwood after allowing ten hits and four runs while striking out two in 3 2/3 innings. ——— R H E SHS 020 000 0 — 2 10 0 HHS 302 112 X — 9 17 1 (S) O. Dirks, M. Emery (3). (H) Ja. Almaguer, P Dufloth (7). W — Almaguer, L — Emery. HR — B. Noland (H). 3B — K. Smith, S. Stefani (H). 2B — E. Watson (S); B. Noland (H). See ROUNDUP/4B Staff photos by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Daniel Gossler gets tagged out at home by Heritage’s Xavier Ulrich as Andrew James looks on in the Bulldogs’ 5-0 loss to the Timberwolves on Friday in Hermiston. ’Dawgs end DH with win Hermiston splits games with Heritage to wrap up non-league play By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian H Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez throws the ball to first to turn a double play after tagging out Heritage’s Zach Butterfield in the Bulldogs’ 5-0 loss to the Timber- wolves on Friday in Hermiston. ERMISTON — Friday was the Herm- iston baseball team’s final chance to work out the kinks before it enters Columbia River Conference play next week, and after a forgettable first of two games against Heritage (WA), the Bulldogs showed off their bullpen and power at the plate. After dropping Game 1, 5-0, to the visitors from Vancouver, Hermiston bounced back to split the doubleheader after a 6-0 win capped off its final non-league matchup. “Even though we lost the first game, I’m still proud of the way we came back and won the second game,” head coach Kevin Moore said. The first game was not a total lost cause. The Bulldogs (4-8) had some timely hitting and used their baseball IQ to get into scoring position. After the Timberwolves (4-3) scored a lone run in the second off a passed ball, Hermiston responded with two singles to each side of the outfield. Daniel Gossler took first after hitting a hard ground ball to left field and Joey Gutierrez followed sending the ball streaking to the opposite side. Gossler advanced to third and remained there until two outs were on the board. The Bulldogs were aggressive in their base running, and as Gutierrez stole second, Gossler tried to knot the score but was caught stealing home to end the inning. Hermiston would go on to leave three more on base throughout the game, while Heritage slowly built up their lead in the third, fifth and sixth innings. However, each run was preventable. “We’re giving up unearned runs when we should be giving up earned runs and errors are killing us,” Moore said. “In that first game we give up five unearned runs and we lose 5-0 because we played sloppy defense, vice versa, we played better defense the second game versus the first game.” The Bulldogs were cleaner their next time out, committing only two errors compared to the four from Game 1 and nearly quadrupled their offensive output from four hits to 14. See BASEBALL/4B Resilient Spieth rallies, stays in contention at Masters By MARK LONG Associated Press Third Round TODAY Noon - 4 p.m. TV: CBS Fourth Round SUNDAY 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. TV: CBS AUGUSTA, Ga. — Given Jordan Spieth’s past experi- ences at Augusta National, there was no reason to panic. It was the front nine. It was the second round. It was nowhere near the worst he’s been through at the Masters. So Spieth remained calm despite losing a two-shot lead on the first two holes. He excused it as typical “punches” from a daunting golf course in difficult conditions. He responded by making two birdies over the final six holes, helping him recover from the inauspi- cious start. He finished with a 2-over 74 that left him 4 under for the tournament. “I’ve taken a lot of punches on this golf course, and in tournaments in general,” Spieth said. “I told (caddy) Michael (Greller), ‘Look, when this course plays tough, I’m good for a double here or some bogeys there. Let’s make these the only ones.’” Spieth began the day at 6 under. He squandered that before more than half the field teed off. The 2015 Masters cham- pion pushed his tee shot at the par-4 first way right. He failed to get his second shot back to the fairway and then left his third one short of the green. He missed an 11-footer for bogey. He pulled his second tee shot left and then missed a 5-footer for par. It opened the door for everyone else on the lead- erboard. It also could have been a devastating start for Spieth. But he took it in stride, chatting with his caddy and talking to himself to not get See MASTERS/2B AP Photo/Charlie Riedel Jordan Spieth hits from a bunker on the seventh hole during the second round at the Masters golf tourna- ment Friday in Augusta, Ga. Sports shorts THIS DATE IN SPORTS Pittsburgh Pirates 99-year-old usher retires after 81 seasons PITTSBURGH (AP) — The oldest usher in the major leagues is calling it a career after 81 years on the job. The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Friday that 99-year-old Phil Coyne, who has been working home games for the organization since 1936, will not return this season. He turns 100 later this month. Coyne worked thousands of games for the Pirates through the decades, following along as the franchise moved from Forbes Field to Three Rivers Stadium to PNC Park. Coyne worked in sections 26 and 27 down the third base line at PNC Park. The team gave him a No. 99 jersey with his name on the back last summer and the Pittsburgh City Council designated Aug. 29, 2017, as “Phil Coyne Day.” F MLB serves up a frosty start to new season, more snow coming rom Yankee Stadium to Great American Ball Park to Comerica Park, the big winner so far this season is the wintry mix. Nine games already postponed amid a chilly spring, several others held in frosty settings. It was 27 degrees at Coors Field in Denver on Friday, when snow and sleet caused a one-hour delay and brought out ski masks for the Rockies’ home opener against Atlanta. Cleveland also opened in bitter and blustery conditions, beating Kansas City 3-2. “I think my lipstick was frozen,” longtime Indians fan Rita Hoppert said. “All wins are nice wins. It got really cold.” 1963 — Jack Nicklaus, at 23, becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters, beating Tony Lema by a stroke. 2007 — Vince Carter and Jason Kidd are the first teammates with triple-dou- bles in the same game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in 1989. 2003 — Syracuse, led by freshman Carmelo Anthony, wins the NCAA tournament, 81-78 over Kansas. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com