Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2019)
E AST O REGONIAN Tuesday, June 18, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A7 Hodgen Distributing goes 2-1-1 at West Valley Tourney By BRETT KANE East Oregonian yaKIMa — On Friday, Pend- leton’s 17u american Legion Hod- gen distributing ended day one of yakima’s West Valley Tourney with a 9-9 tie against the yakima Junior Beetles. Pendleton held a healthy 7-1 advantage for the first three innings before yakima posted two back- to-back four-run innings to even things out. The game remained a tie due to the tournament’s time limit restrictions. yakima pitcher angel Morales threw a full game and struck out nine. Cooper Roberts and Tucker Zander scored two runs each for Pendleton, and Ty Beers drove in three RBIs. Pendleton got their first victory of the tourney the following day, when they scored eight runs in the fifth inning of a game against Baker City to defeat them 13-8. Baker tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the third after Beers threw a wild pitch, allowing a run. Roberts doubled on a fly ball to center field that scored two runs, aiding Pendleton in their fifth-in- ning comeback. a 5-2 win over the northwest Futures capped off saturday for Pendleton, but their weekend would ultimately end in defeat, when they fell 7-3 to West Valley on sunday. Pendleton got on the board to even the score at 1-1 after Curtis simons scored on nic sheley’s sac- rifice fly in the top of the fourth, but West Valley put up six more runs in the following three innings to put the game away. Pepsi Diamondjaxx WaLLa WaLLa — Pendle- ton’s 16u american Legion Pepsi Diamondjaxx took home a five-in- ning, 14-2 blow out over Moses Lake on Friday. It would be their first win of the See Baseball, Page A8 Photo courtesy of Wendy Sorey Trent Sorey of Pendleton won the Oregon High School Rodeo Finals tie-down roping title this past weekend in Prineville. Sorey will compete July 14-21 at the Nation- al High School Finals Rodeo in tie-down and team roping. Sorey takes home state tie-down title By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian Staff photo by Brett Kane Garrett Poynor poses with his 1934 Chevrolet after finishing the Legends race at the Hermiston Raceway on Saturday. By BRETT KANE East Oregonian M ost kids start driving on their own when they turn 16. Gar- rett Poynor started when he was 4. now 14, the Richland native sped his 1934 Chevrolet Coupe around the oval in heated competition during Hermiston Raceway’s Home- town Heroes event on saturday evening. although he hasn’t even started high school yet, Poynor participated in the Legends division — a class typically driven by adults. “It’s just addicting,” Poynor said. “you can’t beat that adrenaline rush.” While most cars that hit the Herm- iston Raceway are built and tuned-up by the hands of their drivers and crew, Legends models come straight from a manufacturer. any repairs or new parts that are needed come straight from the factory. While this gives drivers without the mechanical know-how the chance to race, it’s also one of the toughest divi- sions to compete in, according to Race- way owner Greg Walden. “It’s lightweight, but has more horse- power,” he said. and that’s exactly what Poynor likes about it. Although he finished sixth out of the nine racers in the division on saturday, Poynor is well aware of his potential. He came in off a third-place finish from the Raceway’s last event earlier this month. “I love the Hermiston Raceway,” Poynor said. “The racers are compet- itive, and friendly. They race how I’d want to be raced.” The first wheel Poynor ever sat behind was that of a go-cart. This year is his first behind a real car, as well as his first competing at the Hermiston Raceway. But he’s not the first in his family with a need for speed. His father John is also an experienced driver, and now helps his son throughout each race. “For his rookie year, we’re going to start with this track to support Hermis- ton and the Hermiston raceway. That’s our goal for this year,” John Poynor said. “We want to promote the Waldens. They’re good people. They treat their fans and racers good. If it’s within their means to improve something, they will. and if it’s not, they will soon.” a passion for racing has been main- tained in the Poynor family for genera- tions. Poynor’s uncles Chris and Kelly are also on his pit crew — Chris is the crew chief and Kelly is the tire specialist. “They’re night-after-night working on this car,” John Poynor said. “It’s that way for a lot of the racers out here.” Poynor crossed the finish line with a See Racing, Page A8 Bucks help South defeat North in Les Schwab Bowl Pendleton center everett Willard was named co-captain By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian HILLsBORO — It was a mod- ern day david vs. Goliath matchup saturday at the 72nd annual Les schwab Tires Bowl at Hillsboro stadium. The south, comprised mainly of 5a division players, evened the series record with the north (mainly 6a players), posting a 33-28 victory in a game that was not as close as the score. “It was not your typical all-star game,” said Pendleton center ever- ett Willard, who played for the south. “We were playing with a chip on our shoulder. I knew that the north had notoriously domi- nated the past few years.” Joining Willard on the south team were Pend- leton teammates Blake davis, Ian Bannister and aiden Patterson. Bucks coach erik Willard davis served as an assistant coach (receivers and special teams). “It was a phenomenal week,” coach davis said. “a really, really fun week. Being around that staff and those kids — I took in every last second. It was a blast.” The south led from the start, and held a 20-8 lead after the first quar- ter, and 20-15 at the half. “We felt the north wasn’t giving us the respect we deserved,” Wil- lard said. “In the first (quarter), we had to take it to them, and we did.” The South missed a field goal late in the game with a 33-28 lead, and the north took over deep in its own territory in the waning seconds, but could not get the ball down field. silverton’s Ben Willis sacked North quarterback Jackson Laurent of Lake Oswego with 10 seconds remaining to seal the win. “We had them pinned pretty deep,” Willard said. Davis finished with two catches for 23 yards, while Patterson had tackles from his linebacker position, and Bannister (cornerback) helped shut down the north receivers. “all four Pendleton kids started,” coach davis said. “That was earned. They represented Pendleton really well.” at 6-foot, 265 pounds, Wil- lard said he was by far the smallest offensive lineman on the south. “They were all outstanding players,” Willard said. “I wasn’t sure what kind of playing time I was going to get that first practice. There were two other centers, but they were more comfortable at guard.” undersized or not, Willard made an impression on the coaches. He was named a co-captain for the game along with nate Overholt of Wilsonville, Isaiah Porter of Tigard and Connor Mcnabb of scappoose. “The morning of the game, we had a run through,” Willard said. “I was pretty surprised when then called my named. I guess I didn’t consider myself with all the d-I commits we had.” Coach davis said Willard earned the honor. “Our offensive line coach (Todd Kaanapu of Churchill) made that decision,” davis said. “From day 1, Everett was one of the first kids on the field, and he was solid, consis- tent and a leader. He did everything right, every time. He earned it.” Willard, who played every offense down, snapped the ball to Overholt, the Oregon Gatorade Player of the year, and deMonte Thomas of Churchill. “nate is legit,” Willard said. “any talk of him being over hyped, that is gone. I’ll never forget this. It was a great week.” PRIneVILLe — Pendle- ton’s Trent sorey won the Ore- gon state High school Rodeo Finals title in tie-down rop- ing, and Heppner’s Jacee Cur- rin won the girls all-around title this past weekend. It is the third state title for sorey, a recent PHs graduate. He won the team roping title as a freshman with Calgary smith, and the tie-down title as a sophomore. The top four in each event advance to the national High school Finals Rodeo from July 14-21 in Rock springs, Wyo. sorey, on his trusty horse Ruby, was second in the first go, and won the short go-round at state. That, added to the points he had already earned, gave him a total of 161. The second-place man had 136 points. “They were some pretty good calves,” sorey said. “They were all pretty even. none of them were lick you in the lips, you still had to put in the work.” sorey and his team roping partner Brady White of Burns, finished second overall with 258 points. They won the first go-round of the rodeo. “I’m pretty excited,” said Sorey, who also was fifth in the all-around standings. “Brady has never been to nationals before. It’s a new experience for sure. you get to meet a lot of new people from all around the united states. I already know 10 guys who will be on my col- lege team (Weatherford Col- lege). It’s a lot of fun.” sorey, who is competing on his permit this season in the PRCa, will make a stop at the elgin stampede on his way to Wyoming. Currin, who will attend Montana state university, will go to nationals in five of the six events she competed in. she did not place in the top four in team roping. Currin won the all-around title with 542 points, 91 better than the second-place cowgirl. she was second in pole bend- ing, goat tying and cow cutting, third in barrel racing, and fourth in breakaway roping. Jett Stewart of Heppner fin- ished third in the rookie all- around standings. stewart and his team-roping partner fin- ished fifth, eight points from a trip to nationals. Blake Betz of Hermiston fin- ished seventh in steer wrestling. He had an outstanding week- end at state, winning the first go, placing second in the sec- ond go, and winning the short go, but he did not have enough points throughout the regular season to put him among the top four.