SPORTS
MOMENTS: Next prep season starts in 12 weeks
Saturday, June 9, 2018
ace Levi Thieme, lost only three games
in 2018 — including the 7-1 loss in the
final round, breaking a 15-game win
streak. The girls were shut out for the
first time all season, dropping the title
game 10-0, but closed out the season
23-4.
Continued from 1B
Instead, Hermiston will move into a
league with WIAA’s Class 4A foot-
ball champions, Richland, and 3A
playoff contender Kamiakin.
And the Bulldogs also won the
final rivalry matchup with Pendleton
to continue the decade-plus of domi-
nance after getting pushed around by
the Buckaroos for more than half a
century.
“We did have a good year,” Herm-
iston athletic director Larry Usher
said. “I know there are some other pro-
grams that probably had some higher
expectations and would have liked to
have done a lot better but overall, it
was a good year and you say it was a
good year mainly because you won a
state championship in football, which
is kind of the crown jewel.”
LOCALS ON THE LINKS
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
BUCKS SOFTBALL,
PIRATES SOCCER
DOMINATE TO WIN
TITLES
Bryson Pierce (30), of Pilot Rock,
goes to the hoop during the dis-
trict championship game against
Stanfield on February 17.
There was no stopping the River-
side boys soccer team in the fall. The
Pirates went unbeaten with a 17-0-1
overall record and defeated Catlin
Gabel 4-1 to win the 3A/2A/1A state
championship for the second time in
school history. They also scored dou-
ble-digit goals in five separate games,
shut out their opponents nine times
and ended the season with 100 more
goals scored (116) than goals allowed
(16).
Then just last week, the Pendleton
softball team capped off its own dom-
inant season on the softball diamond
by defeating Putnam 7-0 to win its
third state championship in school his-
tory. With a lineup boasting firepower
at every spot the Buckaroos scored the
third-most runs in the state (313) and
with starting pitcher Lauren Richards
and a solid defense they allowed only
2.3 runs per game. Oh, and they had a
22-game win streak as well.
Weston-McEwen’s Jacob Speed
had an incredible performance in
Eugene as he brought back four state
championship medals in all four of
the events he competed in — the 100-
meter dash, 200 meters, 400 meters
and 4x100 relay. Also winning gold
in 1A-3A schools was Helix’s Hannah
Christman in the 1A girls 800 meters,
Weston-McEwen’s Katie Vescio won
the 2A girls 800 meters and Umatilla’s
Patty Burres in the 3A girls 400 meters
On the final day of state competi-
tion, Hermiston’s Tyler Rohrman won
gold in the 5A boys 110-meter hurdles
with a new state meet record of 14.09
seconds. And Pendleton’s Emanuela
Casadei — a foreign exchange student
from Italy — recorded a personal best
in the 5A girls javelin throw, a mark of
145 feet, 4 inches, which was at least
six inches better than the rest of the
field.
HAPPENINGS AT
HAYWARD FIELD
The 2018 OSAA state track and
field championships marked the last
time high schools would get to com-
pete at the Historic Hayward Field
as its been known for decades. With
a construction for a remodel in the
works to prepare for the 2021 World
Championships, prep standouts got
one last chance at make their mark on
the legendary grounds. The local ath-
letes did not disappoint.
ROCKETS DOUBLE
THREAT AT STATE
In the 2A/1A softball and base-
ball state championships, teams, fans
and practically all of Pilot Rock made
the four-hour drive west to watch the
Rockets in both games. The softball
team made its fourth straight finals
appearance — an unprecedented feat
for the 2A level — and the boys made
their first since 2000. However both
had to settle for silver medals, which
is still a tremendous accomplishment.
The Rocket baseball team, behind
On the golf course this year, Riley
Lankford of Pilot Rock won his fourth
consecutive district golf title for the
Nixyaawii boys golf team. Lank-
ford finished the two-day tournament
shooting 152 — carding a 77 on Day
1 and a 75 on Day 2. He followed that
with a career-best third-place finish at
state with a 36-hole score of 142.
On the girls side, the Heppner Mus-
tangs set a school record at districts
after finishing with a 720, good for the
district team championship.
The girls team finished state in sec-
ond place with a 36-hole score of 737.
The Mustang boys followed with a
trip to state, their second-ever appear-
ance, and placed fourth (712).
STREAKS COME TO AN
END...
Perhaps the No. 2 moment of the
year for Hermiston athletics, behind
the football state title, is the softball
team’s 5-4 win over Pendleton on
May 15. The win, which came on a
walk-off single from Bailee Noland,
snapped a 24-game losing streak for
the Bulldogs against the rival Bucka-
roos which dated back to May 8, 2012.
But that wasn’t the only notable
streak to come to an end. The Nixy-
aawii girls basketball team’s incredible
two-year run ended in the 1A cham-
pionship game with a loss to Country
Christian, ending the Golden Eagles’
56-game win streak. Pilot Rock boys
basketball ended a nine-year drought
by winning the district championship,
and a five-year drought of missing the
playoffs. And Pendleton’s boys bas-
ketball team’s three-year reign as con-
ference champs ended with Hermiston
bringing home the trophy.
...AND STREAK STAYS
ALIVE
It is no stretch to say that the Hep-
pner football program is one of the
best and most consistent in the state.
This past fall, the Mustangs went 6-4
overall to win the conference champi-
onship and secure a spot in the play-
offs for the 21st consecutive season,
which ties them with 6A school Jesuit
for the state record.
East Oregonian
Page 3B
BASEBALL: Hermiston
hangs on to beat La Grande
Continued from 1B
offense is coming along but
my defense I need to get back
into more and get my double
play stuff. And a little pitch-
ing, too.”
The tournament, now in its
third year, serves as a fund-
raiser for the Ashlee Hodgen
Memorial Scholarship, cre-
ated in Ashlee’s honor after
her sudden passing at the age
of 24 in July of 2015. Ash-
lee, the daughter of long-
time Pendleton assistant base-
ball coach Mike Hodgen, was
a staple around Bob White
Field throughout her lifetime
as a fan of Pendleton base-
ball and helper to Mike with
groundskeeping work.
“It’s all for Ashley and it’s
the real reason why we’re
here,” Hodgen head coach
Wes Armstrong said. “Just to
support her memory and allow
kids to come out and play ball
and have a good time.”
Hodgen
Distributing
(1-0) played its best for Ash-
lee against Baker on Friday,
as the team tallied 16 hits to
score the 14 runs to pick up
the win. Quinn Doherty and
Zander had a team-best three
hits each, with Zander scoring
twice and driving in two runs
and Doherty scoring two runs.
Zander had a RBI double that
was part of a nine-run fourth
inning for Hodgen, where 14
batters recorded an at-bat.
Curtis Simons, Ty Beers
and Kyle Field each had two
hits in the game as well.
“Good approaches at the
plate,” Armstrong said. “We
moved runners and guys were
productive.”
Chris Large, fresh off of
a solid junior campaign with
the Buckaroos, pitched three
innings of one-hit, one-run
baseball and notched four
strikeouts to earn the win.
Zander pitched two solid
innings of relief and struck
out three. Both pitchers com-
manded the strike zone well
with more than 67 percent
strikes thrown on their com-
bined 90 pitches, a comfort-
ing sight to Armstrong and the
Hodgen coaching staff.
“It’s the first time we’ve
had a live game in two weeks
and some of the younger play-
ers, they haven’t played in
like three weeks,” Armstrong
said, “so seeing our pitchers
being able to come out here
and pitch the way they did
without facing live batters for
a few weeks, it’s promising.”
The tournament runs
through the weekend, with the
championship game at 4:30
p.m. on Sunday at Bob White
Field. Hodgen returns to the
field on Saturday at noon to
face Redmond, and then will
play Mead (WA) at 5 p.m.
————
R H E
BAK
010 01 —
2 4 1
HDG
410 9X — 14 16 4
(B) C. Lay, W. Robertson (4) Hester (4) and
M. VanArsdall. (H) C. Large, T. Zander (4) and
R. Esparza. W — Large, L — Lay.
2B — C. Large, C. Simons, R. Stahl, T.
Zander (HDG).
HERMISTON 13, LA
GRANDE 12 — At Pend-
leton, the Hermiston Legion
baseball team started its run
at the Ashlee Hodgen Memo-
rial Tournament with a thrill-
ing 13-12 win over La Grande
at the BMCC baseball field on
Friday.
Landon Jones led Herm-
iston’s offense, going 3-for-4
with a double, three RBI and
three runs scored. His two-run
double in the fifth inning tied
the game at 7-7 and he then
had a RBI single in the sixth
to boost Hermiston to a 11-7
lead. Jordan Ramirez, Wyatt
Noland and Sergio Rosales
each had two hits for Hermis-
ton (1-6).
Hermiston has two tour-
nament games on Saturday
now, first against The Dalles
at 9 a.m. at the BMCC field
and then against Pasco at
2:30 p.m. at Pendleton’s Bob
White Field.
————
R H E
LAG
302 020
5 — 12 8 6
HRM
202 054 X — 13 12 0
(L) B. Kincade, No. 17 (5). (H) R. Edmiston,
E. Randolph (3) and W. Noland; W. Noland (5),
J. Ramirez (7) and T. Wagner.
2B — L. Jones, G. Hunter (HRM); 3B — P.
Cooper (LAG).
CONGRATULATIONS
Pendleton High School Girls Softball
State 5A Champions!!