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B1
Caplinger among MCC tennis elite
Hermiston has two
doubles teams selected
to second team
MID-COLUMBIA
CONFERENCE TENNIS
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Led by junior
Addi Caplinger, Hermiston had fi ve
players selected to the Mid-Colum-
bia Conference tennis team.
The Hermiston girls finished
the season with a 13-1 record this
season, with their lone loss going
to Southridge on April 29.
Caplinger was the Bulldogs’
No. 1 singles player all season. She
lost a three-set match to Kenne-
wick’s Janie Buckingham in the
No. 1 singles semifi nals at the MCC
Championships in three sets.
“Coming in, she had just her
freshman year, where she was
low on the totem pole,” Hermis-
ton tennis coach Jason Sivey said.
“She came out this year and she
was competitive. She was more
dominating than people thought
she would be.”
During the regular season,
Caplinger lost matches to Buck-
ingham, Southridge’s Emma
Hamaker-Teals and Richland’s
Bryn Neal.
Caplinger beat Hamaker-Teals
at the MCC Championships.
Neal, a sophomore, was named
the MCC Player of the Year, while
Southridge’s Chuck Hamaker-Teals
was named Coach of the Year.
On the second team, the Bull-
dogs had the doubles team of
seniors Violet Mitchell and Ashlyn
Hof bauer, who had just one loss
during the regular season.
Mitchell and Hofbauer won the
No. 1 doubles title for the Bulldogs
at the MCC Championships, beat-
ing Kamiakin’s Charly Scherbarth
and Korin Clark 6-2, 6-7, 6-3.
“They lost to Kamiakin during
the regular season, and then beat
them in the MCC Championships,”
Sivey said. “They had a rough
match during the regular season.
It was good to see them come back
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Hermiston’s Addison Caplinger hits the ball during a singles match April 15, 2021, against Kamiakin’s Madi
Forbes at Hermiston High School.
Caplinger
Hofbauer
McClannahan
and show who they really are.”
For the boys, Hermiston’s top
doubles team of Miguel Salvador
and Max Spencer were named to
the second team. They fi nished 7-2
during the regular season.
Salvador and Spencer won
the the No. 1 doubles title at the
MCC Championships, beating
Richland’s Cody Davey and Josh
Cowell 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.
Hanford sophomore Sonny
Bravo was named Player of the
Mitchell
Salvador
Year, while Hanford’s Craig Klatt
was selected as Coach of the Year.
Mid-Columbia
Conference Golf
Hermiston senior Madi McClan-
nahan was named to the girls second
team after averaging a 90 during the
regular season.
McClannahan, who has signed
to golf for Southwestern Oregon
Community College, shot her best
round of 84 during Week 4 at Horn
Spencer
Rapids Golf Course.
She also shot an 85 at the
season-opening event at Canyon
Lakes Golf Course.
McClannahan fi nished tied for
ninth at the MCC Championships
with a 90 at Horn Rapids.
Angela Park of Southridge was
the Golfer of the Year, while Spen-
cer Reiboldt of Pasco and Janet
Schuster of Richand were Coaches
of the Year. Park averaged a 71.8
over the six MCC matches.
Girls
Player of the Year — Bryn Neal,
so., Richland. Coach of the
Year — Chuck Hamaker-Teals,
Southridge.
First team
Bryn Neal, so., Richland; Emma
Hamaker-Teals, sr., South-
ridge; Janie Buckingham, so.,
Kennewick; Addi Caplinger,
jr., Hermiston; Courtney Tran,
fr., Southridge; Paige Beck, sr.,
Chiawana; Carson Fangman, sr.,
Chiawana.
Second team
Leah Thompson, sr., Hanford;
Charly Scherbarth, sr., Kamiakin;
Ashlyn Hofbauer, sr., Hermiston;
Violett Mitchell, sr., Hermiston;
Korin Clark, sr., Kamiakin; Cassia
Vinci, jr., Richland.
Honorable mention
Meigan Crowder, jr., Southridge;
Kassidy Gale, sr., Southridge; Mia
DeGarmo, sr., Southridge.
Boys
Player of the Year — Sonny
Bravo, so., Hanford. Coach of
the Year — Craig Klatt, Hanford.
First team
Sonny Bravo, so., Hanford;
Matthew Morrison, fr., Richland;
Isaac Contreras, so., Kamiakin;
Jackson Clary, jr., Kennewick;
Hayden Jones, jr., Hanford; Sha-
heer Arif, sr., Richland.
Second team
Sam Tacheny, sr., Walla Walla;
Kyle Bachman, jr., Chiawana;
Max Kobiesa, jr., Richland;
Andrew Smith, so., Richland;
Conner Hrebeniuk, sr., Hanford;
Miguel Salvador, sr., Hermiston;
Max Spencer, sr., Hermiston.
Honorable mention
Ken Higgins, fr., Walla Walla;
Humayl Hashmi, so., Hanford;
Edward Ghannam, so., Hanford.
For the boys, Carter Sheets of
Richland was the Player of the Year,
while Richland’s Mike Neidhold
was Coach of the Year.
Hermiston has four players named to MCC baseball team
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The Herm-
iston Bulldogs still are trying to
navigate the talent-rich Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference, but they are
making inroads with four play-
ers earning honorable mention
honors this spring.
Senior Rustin Edmiston was
selected as a pitcher, senior
Spencer Juul at catcher, senior
Gavin Hunter as a relief pitcher,
and junior Chase Elliott as a
utility player.
“That league is really, really
tough,” Hermiston coach Kevin
Moore said. “For Hermiston to
get four kids is outstanding for
our program. Usually when a
team struggles (4-11 record),
they usually don’t get any. We
got four kids on there, which is
fabulous.”
Kamiakin junior Payton
Graham was named conference
MVP, while Richland senior
Mason Brunson was voted
Pitcher of the Year. Richland’s
MID-COLUMBIA CONFERENCE BASEBALL
Hunter
Edmiston
Grant Richardson was named
Coach of the Year.
Edmiston, a right-handed
pitcher, has signed to play at
Yakima Valley Community
College. He threw a team-high
25.1 innings with a 7.737 ERA.
He struck out 25 while walking
19.
At the plate, he hit .311 with
three doubles, one home run, 16
RBIs and he scored 16 runs.
Juul, who has signed to play
at Wenatchee Valley Commu-
nity College, hit .302 over 15
games. He had fi ve doubles, two
home runs, 11 RBIs and scored
10 runs. In the fi eld, he had just
two errors.
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College is the next stop for
Juul
Elliott
Hunter. He hit .324 in 37 at-bats.
He had nine RBIs, scored 11
runs and committed just three
errors. On the mound, he pitched
10 innings with a 2.80 ERA.
“It’s a testament to those
kids who want to play at the
next level,” Moore said of his
seniors. “I cannot be more
appreciative of how hard to
continue to work during the
season and off season. I appre-
ciate them as players.”
Elliott, who will return next
season, played ever ything
from pitcher to second base to
outfi eld. He hit .282 with four
doubles, one home run, seven
RBIs and scored a team-high 20
runs. On the mound, he threw 16
innings with a 6.125 ERA.
Player of the Year — Payton Graham, jr., Kamiakin. Pitcher of the Year — Mason
Brunson, sr., Richland. Coach of the Year — Grant Richardson, Richland.
First team
Pitcher — Mason Brunson, sr., Richland; Cade Puckett, sr., Kennewick. C — Jack-
son Lind, sr., Kennewick. First base — Cade Puckett, sr., Kennewick. Second
base — Trevor Ridley, sr., Kennewick. Third base — Payton Graham, jr., Kamiakin.
Shortstop — Daniel Dickinson, jr., Kennewick. Outfi eld — Nate Gray Jr., jr., Ka-
miakin; Simeon Howard, jr., Kennewick; Carson Craig, sr., Richland. Utility — Will
Kytola, jr., Walla Walla. DH — Devyn Hernandez, sr., Chiawana. Relief pitcher —
Drew JoŠ son, so., Richland.
Second team
Pitcher — Payton Graham, jr., Kamiakin; Cameron Kallsen, jr., Richland. C — Scott
Artzer, sr., Richland. First base — Jayden Gill, sr., Chiawana. Second base —
Trevor Dame, sr., Richland. Third base — Andrew hall, so., Walla Walla. Short-
stop — Eden Blanco, sr., Chiawana. Outfi eld — Joey Weissenfels, jr., Richland;
Kayden Mitchel, sr., Kennewick; Nico Garcia, sr., Pasco. Utility — Matty Carlson, sr.,
Hanford. DH — Kooper Jones, so., Richland. Relief pitcher — Landon Welter, so.,
Kamiakin.
Honorable mention
Pitcher — Will Kytola, jr., Walla Walla; Devyn Hernandez, sr., Chiawana; Rustin
Edmiston, sr., Hermiston; Gaven Mattson, sr., Kennewick. C — Cael Mercado, sr.,
Hanford; Spencer Juul, sr., Hermiston. First base — Ian Kopf, sr., Walla Walla; Troy
Molnaa, so., Richland. Second base — Diego Romero, sr., Chiawana; Brick Springen,
jr., Kamiakin. Third base — Jase Vopalensky, so., Richland; Ivan Palomino, sr., Chi-
awana. Shortstop — Casey Swanson, sr., Walla Walla; Rustin Edmiston, sr., Hermis-
ton. Outfi eld — Dylan Berry, sr., Southridge. Utility — Gaven Mattson, sr., Kenne-
wick; Chase Elliott, jr., Hermiston. Relief pitcher — Gavin Hunter, sr., Hermiston.
SPORTS SHORT
EOU sits 27th in Learfi eld IMG College Directors’ Cup standings
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Eastern
Oregon University’s fall and
winter sports programs in 2020-
21 sits 27th overall in the Lear-
fi eld IMG College Directors’
Cup for the NAIA, according
to a press release.
The Mountaineers, who have
a total of 280.5 points, are the
second highest ranked team
out of the Cascade Collegiate
Conference behind Lewis-
Clark State College (Idaho) at
16th.
In the fall portion of the
standings, the Mountaineers
racked up 141.5 points overall
between the two postseason
sports of women’s soccer and
volleyball. Women’s soccer
racked up 68.5 points en route to
fi nishing ninth in the Learfi eld
Cup standings, while volleyball
led the way with 73 points and
ranked fi fth in the standings.
For the fall portion of the
Learfi eld Cup standings, the
Mountaineers racked up 139
points total between three
sports. The track and field
program for the indoor season
had 83 combined points. The
men led the way with 48.5
points, while the women
secured 34.5 points. Making up
the fi nal 56 points for the Moun-
taineers in the winter was men’s
wrestling, which fi nished 18th
in the standings.
The final release of the
NAIA Learfi eld IMG College
Director’s Cup standings will
come out July 2 and will include
spring sports as well. The Lear-
fi eld IMG College Directors’
Cup was developed as a joint
effort between the National
Association of Collegiate
Directors of Athletics and USA
Today. Points are awarded based
on each institution’s fi nish in
NAIA Championships.
Samantha Flett/Eastern Oregon University Athletics, File
The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team celebrates April 3, 2021, in La
Grande after defeating Lewis-Clark State College to win the Cascade Collegiate
Conference Championship.