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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 2, 2018)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS SOFTBALL: COLUMBIA RIVER CONFERENCE Prep roundup FOURTH STRAIGHT Pendleton beats Hermiston to clinch conference title East Oregonian By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Ulyses Calvillo scored on Andruw Sorenson’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning as the River- side Pirates defeated the Umatilla Vikings 16-15 on Tuesday afternoon. The run capped a five-run seventh inning for the Pirates (6-13 overall, 2-8 Eastern Oregon League), which at one point trailed the Vikings (7-8, 3-7) 11-3 after three innings. Andrew Zellar led the Pirates’ offense with three hits, while Artemis Corpus and Calvillo each had two hits with a double. The Vikings’ Seth Cranston went 3-for-3 with a grand slam and a double, four runs scored and six RBI. His grand slam came in the seventh inning, which put the Vikings up 15-11 at that point. HERMISTON — Following Tuesday’s 6-1 victory over Hermiston, the Pendleton softball team gathered in right field along with the coaching staff for the normal postgame talk. During this five-minute talk, Buckaroos head coach Tim Cary congratulated his team on the victory — the team’s 18th straight — which also clinched the Columbia River Conference championship outright for the fourth consecutive season. However, there was no grand celebration that followed from the Buckaroos (19-1 overall, 9-0 CRC) for the achievement, nor did the postgame talk linger on that topic, instead moving along to what to fix before the next game. That’s because at Pendleton, winning a conference champion- ship has elevated from simply a goal to an expectation. And while the players do genuinely appre- ciate being a conference cham- pion, this Buckaroos program has its focus set on much bigger things. “It’s really important for us, but we’re not looking to win conference championships, we’re looking to win state championships,” Pendleton senior Alexi Brehaut said after Tuesday’s game. “I think we’re a good group of girls this year and I think we can do it.” Cary added that as a coach that has been around long enough to build the program up to where it is, seeing the level of expectation rise is a treat. “I like to hear that,” he said. “As long as we can keep a good head on our shoulders about it and just keep taking it one day at a time and understand that you still have to play well, and today was not our sharpest day.” The Buckaroos certainly were not as sharp as they were in the See SOFTBALL/2B Pirates beat Vikings with walk-off STANFIELD 15, MAC-HI 9 — At Milton-Freewater, Stanfield’s Adrian Renner went 3-for-5 and was a single short of the cycle to help his Tigers defeat the Mac-Hi Pioneers 15-9 in non-league action on Tuesday. Renner scored a team-high four runs and hit a double, a triple and a home run to pace the offense for the Tigers (16-5). Brody Woods and Justin Keeney each had three hits as well, with Woods adding a home run of his own with three RBI and two runs scored. The Pioneers (6-12) managed only four hits in the game, but drew 18 walks, including Taylor Turner four times. Turner also had one of the team’s four hits with a triple, while Jesus Vela and Devin Humbert both doubled. PILOT ROCK 16, WESTON- MCEWEN 0 — At Athena, Bryson Pierce homered and drove in four runs while Levi Thieme struck out nine batters in four scoreless innings as Pilot Rock thumped Weston-McEwen 16-0 on Tuesday. Six different Rockets (11-2 overall, 6-1 Special District 6) had two hits apiece in the game, led by Pierce’s 2-for-4 day with his homer two runs scored. Other standouts included Logan Weinke going 2-for-4 with a double and two runs and Tanner Corwin going 2-for-3 with three runs. Parker Munck, Brett Speed and Garrett Shell were responsible for the TigerScots’ (4-13, 2-5) three hits in the game. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton third baseman Kalan McGlothan cocks her arm for a throw to first during Tuesday’s game against Hermiston. Bucks pile on runs early to hold off Dawgs Pendleton earned first road win in nearly two weeks to secure place atop league standings By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton pitcher Daniel Naughton winds up for a pitch during Tuesday’s game against Hermiston. HERMISTON — When teams reach the final stretch of their regular season, all aspects of the game should be coming together. Everything from a strong bullpen and solid defense to big at bats from reliable hitters, because chasing down a league title and a playoff berth takes decisive play on both sides of the ball. In the Pendleton and Herm- iston baseball teams’ third meeting Tuesday, that was true for one of the cross-town rivals. This time playing at Herm- iston’s home field, after the two teams split Friday’s doubleheader in Pendleton, the Buckaroos sailed to a 10-3 win behind the bats of three dependable hitters and the arm of a future Division-I pitcher. The Bucks had it all: an early lead, two perfect innings from starting pitcher Daniel Naughton, a 10-run rule that was in play after only three innings, and even some miscues that finally allowed the Bulldogs (7-13, 3-5) to get on the board and extend the game to the full seven innings. But despite Hermiston’s late efforts, Pendleton stays in control of the CRC as the teams get ready for one more round of games between the four-team league. “It is a big win,” Pendleton head coach TJ Haguewood said. “Coming in, obviously, with Hermiston and the rivalry we have with them, they are a good ball club and pulling out a win on the road is always a positive.” It’s the Buckaroos’ first victory on the road since a loss in Hood See BASEBALL/2B IRRIGON 14, STEVENSON 2 — At Irrigon, the Knights belted 17 hits and scored 14 runs to earn a non-league win over Stevenson (WA) on Tuesday after- noon. Lino Covarrubia led the Knights (10-8 overall) by going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and four runs scored. Adrian Roa, Johnny Phillips and Joe Vandecar each went 3-for-3, with Roa registering a double, a triple and four RBI. Matthew Moreno pitched two innings and struck out four and allowed two unearned runs, while Brady Harrington pitched three scoreless innings of relief and struck out three. HEPPNER 15, DUFUR 5 — At Dufur, the Heppner Mustangs picked up their first district win of the season with a 15-5 victory over Dufur on Tuesday. The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Mustangs (6-12 overall, 1-6 Special District 6), which will finish up the regular season at home against Dufur with a doubleheader on Saturday. SOFTBALL RIVERSIDE 14, UMATILLA 4 — At Boardman, Skylar Wightman allowed six hits and four runs and struck out 10 batters to guide Riverside to a win over Umatilla on Tuesday. At the plate for the Pirates (7-7 overall, 4-3 Eastern Oregon League), JoJo Hernandez was a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBI to lead the way. Megan Hegar added three hits with a double, a triple and four See ROUNDUP/3B Sports shorts Mariners to play 2019 MLB opener in Japan NEW YORK — The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners will play an opening two-game series in Tokyo on March 20 and 21, the fifth time Major League Baseball will start its season in Japan. Major League Baseball said Tuesday that Oakland will be the home team for both games. Both the Athletics and Mariners will play Japanese teams in exhibitions on March 17 and 18. The A’s and Mariners also faced each other in the last opening series at the Tokyo Dome in 2012. THIS DATE IN SPORTS Trump honors Army’s football team, jokes about space force WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is honoring Army’s football team at the White House and predicting the service branches of the military could have a new addition: the space force. Trump saluted the Black Knights with the annual Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy on Tuesday, recounting their victory over Navy on a snowy day in Philadelphia. He received a white Army jersey. It’s the first Commander-in-Chief Trophy for West Point since 1996. 1904 — Laska Durnell becomes the first woman to own a Kentucky Derby starter and winner when longshot Elwood wins the 30th Run for the Roses. Elwood is also the first Derby winner whose breeder is a woman, Mrs. J.B. Prather. 1917 — Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds and James “Hippo” Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs pitch a double no-hitter for nine innings, but the Reds win 1-0 with two hits in the 10th. 1939 — Lou Gehrig of the New Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
