SPORTS
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018
1B
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PENDLETON
Prep tennis
Bulldogs hold off Bucks
Bucks
clobber
Suns
Pendleton plays
tough against
Hermiston in last
home match
Buckaroos make
some timely
improvements,
sweep Southridge
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Herm-
iston coach Jason Sivey
and Pendleton coach Rocky
Dillenburg were both in
constant movement around
the West Hills tennis courts
just north of Pendleton
High School on Wednesday
afternoon, watching their
teams go head-to-head in a
final tuneup for the district
tournament.
And after the match was
completed with a 5-3 Herm-
iston victory, both coaches
came away with plenty of
positives and still numerous
things to work on.
“Today wasn’t our best
match,” Sivey said, “but
we haven’t been beaten in
conference (play). So that’s
definitely an accomplish-
ment.”
Dillenburg added, “I
thought our girls played well
enough heading into districts,
and that’s all you can ask for
at this point.”
The last time the two
teams met back on April 17
in Hermiston, the Bulldogs
shut out the Buckaroos in
an 8-0 victory. However, the
Buckaroos came out with a
greater intensity and put some
pressure on the Bulldogs to
make it an entertaining day.
The home Buckaroos
picked up two of their three
victories in singles action
and one in doubles. At No.
1 singles, Bethany Flanagan
took down Lindsay McAl-
lister in straight sets 6-4,
6-1. Flanagan, a sophomore,
was a little disappointed
she didn’t get a rematch
with Hermiston’s usual No.
1 player Mackenzie Hill,
who was dropped to No.
2 Wednesday, but she was
still thrilled to pick up a
win against the Bulldogs for
another positive step in her
second season.
“I felt really good about
this one,” Flanagan said,
smiling. “I wish I could
work more on my strokes
and hit harder like some of
their players do, but I do
feel like I’ve worked better
on controlling the ball and
placing it better.”
“I’ve been impressed
all season with Bethany,”
See GIRLS TENNIS/3B
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston’s Mackenzie Hill returns a volley from Pendleton’s Abby Williams during the Bulldogs’ match
against the Bucks on Wednesday in Pendleton. Hill won the match 6-0, 6-0.
Dawgs sweep Bucks to finish off regular season
Hermiston hosted its
final dual, honored its
seniors with a shutout
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermiston’s
Patrick Wicks admitted Wednesday
that four years ago, he wasn’t the
dominant player he is today on the
court. In fact, Wicks — one half of
the Bulldogs’ No. 1 duo — wasn’t
all that good in singles.
Luckily, his now-partner and life-
long friend, Thomas McCullough,
shared the same struggle.
“We both weren’t really good at
singles our freshman year,” Wicks
said. “So, we started doing doubles,
and then we kept getting better, and
this is where we are now.”
After being two of three seniors
honored on Senior Day, the pair took
the court to face rival Pendleton and
handed the Bucks a 6-0, 6-0 defeat to
get Hermiston’s day going.
“I’m feeling pretty good about
that game,” Wicks said.
For McCullough, the match was a
360 from the last time they faced the
Buckaroos on April 17 where they
pulled off a 6-4, 6-3 win.
“It wasn’t like today, it was
nothing like today,” he said. “We
still won but it was probably the
worst tennis we’ve ever played. It
was bad.”
What neither school had two
weeks ago were the conditions
they were playing under today — a
70-degree day with the sun shinning,
no breeze and few clouds overhead.
“We’re more of sunny day kind
of players,” McCullough added.
But it was more than just the
weather that was working for the
Bulldogs that have the best chance at
making a deep postseason run.
The two didn’t give up a set
against Elton Harrison and Noah
Butler and played much more sound
See BOYS TENNIS/3B
PENDLETON — After
Tuesday’s win over Herm-
iston, Pendleton coach Tim
Cary said that the Buckaroos
did not play their sharpest
game and had plenty of
things that needed to improve
before the next game.
The Buckaroos returned
home to host Southridge
(WA) for a non-league
doubleheader on Wednesday
and appeared to make some
of those improvements,
thumping the Suns 10-0 and
20-2 at Steve Cary Field. The
Buckaroos (21-1 overall)
tallied a total of 26 hits on the
day and clubbed seven home
runs to run away with their
19th and 20th consecutive
wins.
“Quite the day at the plate
for us today,” Cary said. “A
lot of great hitting going on,
it was nice to see some of the
bats break out. Hopefully we
keep that going throughout
the rest of the week.”
Alexi Brehaut was one
of many standout hitters for
the Buckaroos, as she tallied
five total hits and hit a pair
of home runs in the second
game. Kalan McGlothan
homered twice in the second
game as well and she ripped
a double in the opener. Also
homering for Pendleton were
Rylee Gentner, Kila Solomon
and Kirah McGlothan.
In the opener, Pendleton
held a modest 4-0 lead after
four innings before Gentner’s
solo homer sparked a six-run
inning to close out the five-in-
ning win. Lauren Richards
pitched all five innings and
allowed only one hit with 10
strikeouts.
Then in the finale, the
Buckaroos took the win out
of the Suns from the start
as the home team scored 11
runs in the bottom of the first
inning and never looked back.
Richards threw a perfect two
innings before giving way to
Brehaut to finish off the final
three innings in the circle.
Richards added two hits at
the plate while Ellie Nirschl
went 3-for-4 with a double
and Gentner also doubled.
The games between the
Buckaroos and Suns were
originally scheduled to be
played on March 22, but
were rained out and moved
to Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Pendleton stays home to
host The Dalles for a league
game at 4:30 p.m.
————
Game 1
R H E
SHS
000 00 —
0 1 2
PHS
201 16 — 10 8 0
(S) S. Stover and M. Kinsey. (P) L.
Richards and K. Solomon. W — Richards,
L — Stover.
2B — Ka. McGlothan (PHS). 3B — Ki.
McGlothan (PHS). HR — R. Gentner (PHS).
Game 2
R H E
SHS
000 20 —
2 4 1
PHS
(11)41 4X — 20 18 2
(S) S. Stoner, Gibson-Rose (4) and Bau. (P)
L. Richards, A. Brehaut (3) and K. Solomon.
2B — L. Garcia (SHS); R. Gentner, E.
Nirschl (PHS). HR — Ka. McGlothan 2,
A. Brehaut 2, K. Solomon, Ki. McGlothan
Sports shorts
Justify installed the early 3-1
favorite for Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Bob Baffert
had no chance to fret over the Kentucky
Derby draw.
By the time the Hall of
Fame trainer managed to get
into Churchill Downs, the
process was halfway done
and Justify had landed in the
No. 7 post on Tuesday.
Justify was made the
early 3-1 favorite for the Derby, with
Europe-based Mendelssohn the second
choice in a full field of 20 horses.
Six horses have won from the No. 7 post,
most recently Street Sense in 2007.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Betts homers 3 times,
passes Williams
BOSTON — Mookie Betts heard the name
Ted Williams, and that was enough for him.
Betts belted three solo homers and J.D. Mar-
tinez also went deep, powering the Boston
Red Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City
Royals on Wednesday.
It was the fourth three-homer game for the
25-year-old Betts, snapping a tie with Wil-
liams for most three-homer games in fran-
chise history. Betts broke into the majors
with the Red Sox in 2014, so he was well
aware of the significance of the connection
to the Hall of Famer.
1902 — Alan-a-Dale, ridden
by Jimmy Winkfield, wins the
Kentucky Derby by a nose over
Inventor giving Winkfield his second
straight Derby victory. Winkfield is
the last African American rider to
win the Kentucky Derby.
1969 — Jockey Bill Hartack
wins his fifth Kentucky Derby,
aboard Majestic Prince, tying Eddie
Arcaro’s record.
1980 — Genuine Risk, ridden
by Jacinto Vasquez, becomes the
second filly to win the Kentucky
Derby, beating Rumbo by a length.
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