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Tuesday, June 18, 2019
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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.