E AST O REGONIAN
Saturday, June 11, 2022
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
Bucks have 5 named
to IMC first team
Ready for the next chapter
Pendleton’s
Taber headed
to WWCC
for softball
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
en dLetOn
— State cham-
pion. Intermoun-
tain Conference
Player of the
Year. Multi-sport athlete.
Good teammate. What’s not
to like?
Walla Walla Commu-
nity College softball coach
Logan Parker finds Pend-
leton’s Chloe Taber the
complete package.
“One of the biggest things
that drew me to her is her
athleticism,” Parker said. “I
like recruiting multi-sport
athletes. They are very well
rounded and those traits
transition to softball. I have
a good feeling about Chloe.
She will fit right in right
away. On her visit, I could see
her presence with the players.
It makes my job easy.”
Taber played right field
for the Bucks, who won the
5A state title June 4 with a
2-0 win over Wilsonville.
Pendleton finished the
season 28-2.
“She is a great player,”
Pendleton coach Tim Cary
said. “Good batter, good
on defense and a good base
runner. She is the whole
package.”
Taber, who grew up
Atilano
Bradshaw
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Pendleton’s Chloe Taber throws the ball in from right field
May 3, 2022, at Steve Cary Field, Pendleton, while playing
Hood River. Taber has signed to play softball at Walla Walla
Community College.
playing volleyball, basket-
ball and softball, was lean-
ing toward playing college
basketball. Her mom Kim
(nee McLeod) played basket-
ball at Hermiston High
School and Blue Moun-
tain Community College.
She also was an assistant at
Pendleton while Taber was
in high school.
“My mom is kind of
sad,” Taber said. “Basket-
ball was one of the first
sports I learned how to play.
I didn’t know I wanted to
play college softball until
two months before school
Guerrero
ended. Tim and his coach-
ing staff helped me be a
better player than I was two
years ago. I was going to go
and play college basketball,
but I felt more comfortable
on a softball field and felt I
would have more success on
the field.”
Taber is going from
one successful program
to another. The Warriors
went 34-0 in the Northwest
Athletic Conference East
this spring, and finished 46-4
overall. They finished fourth
at the NWAC Tournament.
“When I went for a visit,
Sandoval
Trevino
B1
I felt welcome, and coach
Parker really stuck out to
me,” Taber said. “He has
had great programs. It feels
great to be there. I’m very
excited about it.”
For the Bucks, Taber hit
.500 over 30 games. She
had 52 hits, including six
doubles and three triples.
She also drove in 23 runs
and scored 38 times. She
did not commit any errors
in the field.
“She’s fast, hits for
power from the left side and
meshed with my girls from
the start,” Parker said. “She
has that winner’s mentality.
She has all the right pieces.”
Taber has been playing
softball since T-ball, but it
was never her first love.
“A l l t h roug h h ig h
school, basketball was my
main focus,” she said. “I
didn’t even play softball
my sophomore year. I didn’t
even sign up. Even though
there wasn’t a season, that
was dumb of me. I think the
year off helped me realize
the love for softball that I
had.”
Bei ng na med I MC
Player of the Year helped
Taber see that softball was
her true calling.
“That was a confidence
booster,” she said. “I think
from the beginning we
knew what we were capa-
ble of, for sure. Once we got
into league play, we didn’t
know if teams were bad or
we were that good. We got
things put together overall.
It was nice to end the season
with the kids I played sports
with since I was a little kid.”
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PendLetOn — the
Pendleton baseball team had
five players selected to the
Intermountain Conference
first team, and four of them
will return for another season
with the Bucks.
Senior Collin Primus was
named a first-team infielder,
as was junior Payton Lambert.
Also named to the first team
were utility player Andrew
Demianew, designated hitter
Easton Corey and pitcher
Luke Bensching — all of
whom are juniors.
Hood River’s Mason
Spellecy was named Player
of the Year, while teammate
Jake Von Lubken was selected
as Pitcher of the Year. Max
Reitz of Hood River was
named Coach of the Year by
his peers.
The Bucks finished the
season 16-11 (with one tie).
They were second in the IMC
with an 11-4 record. They lost
in the 5A state quarterfinals to
Lebanon 4-3.
Primus hit .414 on the
season with a team-high
41 hits, which included 12
doubles, three triples, one
home run and 26 RBIs. On
the field, he had 12 errors in
28 games.
Demianew, who played
a variety of positions from
catcher to outfielder, hit .398
with 37 hits, eight doubles,
three triples and a team-high
28 RBIs. He had a fielding
percentage of .941 with just
seven errors in 28 games.
Lambert led the team with
Bensching
Corey
Demianew
Lambert
f ive home
runs — half
of the team’s
tot al for
the year —
among his
29 hits. He
hit .326 with
Primus
five doubles,
two triples and 27 RBIs.
An elbow injury derailed
Corey’s pitching for the year,
but he helped the Bucks at
the plate, hitting .275 with 22
hits, including seven doubles
and 18 RBIs.
On the mound, Bensching
pitched a team-high 43
innings over 12 games. He
finished with a 3-3 record
with one save. He struck out
42, walked 18 and had an
ERA of 2.93.
Pendleton also had first
baseman Dylan Gomez and
outfielder Aiden Gunter
selected to the second team,
while catcher Jace Otteson
and infielder/pitcher Karson
Lani were named to the
honorable mention team.
Winebarger
Hermiston lacrosse players
dominate All-Central team
Bradshaw earns
first-team honors
at 2 positions
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Her miston Bulldogs
raked in the awards for
the Region 6 All-Central
lacrosse team, placing six
men on the first team.
The Bulldogs finished the
season 15-2 overall. They lost
a 12-2 game to Mercer Island,
Washington, in the 3A state
semifinals.
Senior Carson Bradshaw
was a first-team midfielder
and the top face-off man.
Bradshaw scored a team-
high 65 goals and added
41 assists. He also had 281
ground balls and won 259 of
298 face-offs (86.9%). He has
signed to play at Rockhurst
University in Missouri.
Senior Vinny Trevino was
a first team attacker. He was
second on the team with 47
goals. He also had 30 assists
and 53 ground balls. He has
signed to play at Newberry
College in South Carolina.
Francisco Atilano was
See Lacrosse, Page B2
THE PENDLETON BRANCH OF D.A. DAVIDSON & CO.
Congratulates
Michael Hales, CFP ®
Financial Advisor
Hermiston’s Cannell earns
first-team MCC golf honor
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermis-
ton freshman Nadalie Cannell
and senior Jocilyn Morrison
were selected to the Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference golf team.
Cannell was named to the
first team, while Morrison
was an honorable mention
selection.
Jillian Breedlove of Pasco
was named Player of the Year,
Cannell
Morrison
while Janet Schuster of Rich-
land, Washington, was named
Coach of the Year.
During the regular season,
Cannell finished sixth among
the Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence golfers with an average
of 82.5 per round.
Of the six matches played,
her lowest score was an 80 at
Zintel Canyon in Kennewick.
Cannell was the top Herm-
iston golfer each week, while
Morrison was No. 2. Morrison
averaged a 100.7 per round.
Her best week was a 93 at
Horn Rapids Golf Course,
mjhales@dadco.com | (541) 304-7065
Michael Hales has earned his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL
TM
PLANNER
certifi cation from the CFP Board of Standards,
Inc., which is a highly regarded credential in our industry.
Michael’s achievement allows him to serve clients concerning
retirement planning, estate planning, insurance, and other
comprehensive wealth management issues.
In a partnership approach and with guiding principles of
communication, education, tailored solutions, and trust,
Michael serves his clients. We commend Michael on these
accomplishments.
See Golf, Page B2
SPORTS BRIEFING
Two Mac-Hi players make
all-Greater Oregon League
softball second team
MILTON-FREEWATER — McLough-
lin High’s softball team placed two play-
ers on the all-Greater Oregon League teams
following the season.
Pioneers freshman infielder Rylee Herndon
and senior infielder Darby Rhoads were named
to the all-GOL second team.
League Most Valuable Player went to
Ontario junior Annabelle Navarrete, and
Coach of the Year to La Grande’s Cody Bowen.
— EO Media Group
111 S. Main St. | Pendleton, Oregon | dadavidson.com