E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021
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Playoff s on the line for local football teams
TigerScots looking
to keep a hold on
BMC’s No. 2 seed
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
ATHENA — The easi-
est way for Kenzie Hansell
to keep the Blue Moun-
tain Conference race to
the playoffs straight is for
Weston-McEwen to simply
win its game on Friday, Oct.
29, against Grant Union.
“That has been our goal
all season long,” Hansell said
of making the state playoff s.
“And, to get better every
week. We have done that.
Not only as a team, but as a
program for the future.”
The TigerScots come into
the game with a 4-1 BMC
record. Heppner, at 5-0,
already has won the confer-
ence title.
The Prospectors are tied
with Umatilla at 3-2. The
Vikings host Heppner on Oct.
29. The top three teams from
the BMC will advance to the
state playoff s.
“Grant Union is a great
program and is well coached,”
Hansell said. “The have an
aggressive defense, they are
disciplined and they do a lot
of things well.”
The TigerScots, which
have a balanced attack
between the run and the pass,
have scored 206 points this
season, and have allowed just
66 points.
The Prospectors have
scored 188 points, but also
have allowed 148.
“It will be a great night for
football,” Hansell said. “This
is what the student-athletes
have worked all season. It’s
nice to fi nish with a game that
has state implications.”
Also that night, the
TigerScots will induct the
1996 football team, Casey
Perkins (quarterback of the
1996 team), John Shafer and
Karen Smith Albert into the
Weston-McEwen Hall of
Fame.
“We are excited to have
the 1996 team come back and
be inducted on a night when
two of the top Blue Moun-
tain Conference teams are
competing for playoff spots,”
Hansell said.
SPECIAL DISTRICT 2
PLAYOFFS — There will be
a full day of football at East-
ern Oregon University on Oct.
29 with four games that have
state seeding implications.
The Ione/Arlington Cardi-
nals (5-3) will play Powder
Valley at 4 p.m. in the third-
fi fth game.
“I wasn’t even sure what
we were doing until today
(Tuesday),” Ione/Arlington
coach Dennis Stefani said.
“It’s for placement in our
league since there are two
sides (East and West). We are
a little dinged up and a week
off would have helped.”
There are six guaranteed
state playoff spots to be had.
In the other games, Elgin
and Lyle/Wishram will play
at 10 a.m. The winner still is in
line for an at-large state berth.
Crane and Imbler will play
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Weston-McEwen’s Levie Phillips (18) carries the ball during
an Oct. 1, 2021, game against the Heppner Mustangs in Ath-
ena. The TigerScots face the Grant Union Prospectors on Fri-
day, Oct. 29, in a game with signifi cant playoff implications.
at 1 p.m. in the fourth-sixth
game, and Dufur and Adrian
will play for 1-2 seeding at
7 p.m.
The one wrinkle thrown
into all of this is Enterprise,
which opted not to play a
crossover game. The Outlaws
have a majority of their team
going to the 94th National
FFA Convention this week-
end in Indianapolis.
The Outlaws still have
a shot at an at-large berth
because of their state rank-
ing. They could snap up the
at-large berth that the winner
of the Elgin-Lyle/Wishram
game is hoping to get.
H E R M I ST ON AT
HANFORD — The Bull-
Bulldogs are going trophy hunting
Hermiston draws
Lake Washington in
fi rst round of state
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The Hermiston
Bulldogs are no stranger to the 2A/3A
slowpitch softball state tournament.
The Bulldogs placed second at state
in 2019, and despite a few hiccups along
the way this season, coach Amy Stone
feels her girls have a good shot at bring-
ing home some hardware.
“The girls just need to show up and
play,” Stone said.
The Bulldogs (13-8) will open the
2A/3A state tournament at 10 a.m.
Friday, Oct. 29, against Lake Washing-
ton at the Gateway Sports Complex in
Yakima
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
“The girls are defi nitely going to Hermiston High School softball head coach Amy Stone pitches to a batter during practice on Tuesday, Oct. 26,
have to come out strong and get their 2021. The Hermiston Bulldogs play Oct. 29 in the 2A/3A slowpitch softball state tournament.
jobs done,” Stone said. “We have noth-
ing to lose. You play game by game and we are one of a few teams that don’t
play your heart out. You make them have a majority of their varsity players
playing. Some play soccer and volley-
beat you, you don’t beat yourself.”
Hermiston earned a spot in the ball and others don’t want to play. The
fi nal eight after splitting its games girls we do have, they have had to work
with University and Mt. Spokane last hard to learn the game, and fi x the
things they can.”
weekend.
All season, outfi elder Eliza Rodri-
“Beating University was pretty
neat,” Stone said. “They came out guez has powered the Bulldogs at the
excited and ready to go. The rough plate. Heading into state, she is hitting
part was we came out fl at against Mt. .701 with seven home runs, 32 RBIs
Spokane. If we would have come out and has scored 36 runs. She also has not
and played, it would have been a much committed an error through 21 games.
Alli Serna has hit .621 with 17 RBIs
better game.”
Hermiston opened the season and 34 runs scored, while Hailey South
winning seven of their first eight hit .600 with four home runs, and Macey
games, then went into a funk, losing Tovar hit .656 with a handful of doubles.
Adding to the fi repower are fresh-
their next six games.
In the fi nal push at the end of the man Rylee Richman, who is hitting
season, Hermiston won fi ve games in a .547 with 12 RBIs and 34 runs scored,
row entering the District 8 Tournament. and Kendyl Inners, who is hitting .636
“The girls got nervous playing with fi ve home runs.
“She has really stepped up this last
against the bigger names and didn’t
trust what they could do,” Stone said. half of the season, which has been
“They let themselves beat themselves.” great,” Stone said of Inners.
Tickets for the state tournament are
What makes the Bulldogs a wild
card in the tournament, is a majority of sold exclusively online. A ticket for the
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
their fastpitch players are not playing entire tournament is $20 for adults and Hermiston High School freshman softball player Rylee Richman
$14 for students/seniors/military. Fans fi elds a throw to fi rst base during practice Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021.
slowpitch.
“It’s kind of neat,” Stone said. “We also can purchase single-day tickets.
Richman has a .547 batting average with 12 RBIs and 34 runs scored.
dogs (1-7) are riding high after
their 63-36 win over Pasco last
week.
Quarterback Chase Elliott
scored a school record eight
touchdowns — fi ve passing,
two rushing and one intercep-
tion return — against Pasco.
The Falcons (1-7) are
coming off a 63-28 loss to
Mid-Columbia Conference
regular-season champion
Kamiakin.
The winner of the Herm-
iston-Hanford game will
host Ferris on Nov. 4, in
an MCC-Greater Spokane
League crossover game.
The loser will travel to play
Ridgeline on Nov. 4.
PENDLETON HAS A
BYE — The Bucks will have
the week off after Parkrose
forfeited to Pendleton last
week.
The Bucks (9-1 overall, 7-0
SD1), which won the Special
District 1 title last week with a
35-6 road win over Ridgeview,
will wait with the rest of the
teams for the 5A state pairings
to come out Oct. 31.
ON THE SLATE
Thursday, Oct. 28
Prep volleyball
Hermiston at Richland,
5:30 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Riverside at Umatilla, 4 p.m.
Pendleton at Ridgeview,
4:30 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Ridgeview at Pendleton,
4:30 p.m.
Riverside at Umatilla, 6 p.m.
College volleyball
Southern Oregon at Eastern
Oregon, 7 p.m.
College men’s soccer
Eastern Oregon at Northwest,
12:30 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Eastern Oregon at Northwest,
3 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 29
Prep football
Ione/Arlington vs. Powder
Valley, 4 p.m., EOU
Hermiston at Hanford, 7 p.m.
Heppner at Umatilla, 7 p.m.
Nyssa at McLoughlin, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Irrigon, 7 p.m.
Grant Union at Weston-McE-
wen 7 p.m.
Prep cross-country
Heppner, Nixyaawii, Pilot
Rock, Riverside, Stanfi eld/Echo,
Umatilla, Weston-McEwen at
3A/2A/1A Special District 5 Cham-
pionships, John Day, TBD
McLoughlin at GOL District
Championships, Milton-Freewa-
ter, TBD
Slowpitch softball
2A/3A Tournament: Hermis-
ton vs. Lake Washington, 10 a.m.,
Yakima
College volleyball
Big Bend at Blue Mountain,
6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 30
Prep volleyball
1A state tournament: Echo vs.
TBD
2A state tournament: Portland
Christian at Stanfi eld
Prep girls soccer
District 8 playoff s: Hermiston at
Southridge, 1 p.m.
College football
Carroll College at Eastern
Oregon, 1 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
Josh Frost named Linderman Award winner
East Oregonian
COLOR A DO SPR I NGS,
Colo. — The Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association Linderman
Award is one of the most prestigious
awards in pro rodeo. It recognizes a
cowboy who won at least $1,000 in
three events, and those events must
include at least one roughstock and
one timed event.
The PRCA announced the
2021 Linderman Award winner
is Randlett, Utah, cowboy Josh
Frost. This past season Frost earned
$130,192 in bull riding, $4,110 in
tie-down roping, and another $1,070
in steer wrestling.
Frost, a two-time Wrangler
National Finals Rodeo qualifi er, said
in the press release the award means
a lot to him, calling it the “most
cowboy award” in the sport of pro
rodeo.
“You have to compete on both
ends of the arena in roughstock and
timed events,” he stated, “so it’s an
award that is hard to qualify for and
especially hard to win.”
Frost now has won back-to-back
Linderman awards. His fi rst came in
2019, then the honor was not awarded
in 2020. He said it’s an award he
shoots for every season, but it was
more diffi cult than ever in 2021.
“Every year I set out with the goal
of being in the running for the Lind-
erman Award,” Frost said. “This
year was a little diff erent, I had a big
goal of trying to be the PRCA World
Champion Bull Rider this year. I
went to as many rodeos as anybody,
so I was on the road a lot and didn’t
get to do as much as I wanted to do in
the other events.”
Kyle Whitaker holds the PRCA
record for most Linderman Awards
won with 10 in his ProRodeo career.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Josh Frost, of Randlett, Utah, rides Magic Mike for 84.5 points
Sept. 15, 2021, on the opening day of the Pendleton Round-Up.
Frost is the recipient of the 2021 Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association Linderman Award.