SPORTS
SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2018
1B
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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.
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