Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 25, 2015 11A
Polk County Sports
Dream: Draft stock is growing
Continued from Page 10A
“At the start of my fresh-
man year, I knew if I kept
working and getting
stronger, I’d possibly have a
chance,” Williams said. “I
knew since I was tall, if I
could gain weight, I’d have
an opportunity. About my
junior year, I started talking
to scouts to get feedback on
what to get better at during
the offseason.”
Williams had 56 recep-
tions for 950 yards and eight
touchdowns as a senior.
If he is drafted, Williams
will become the first WOU
player to be selected since
former tight end Kevin Boss.
Boss played from 2007-10,
including winning Super
Bowl XLII on Feb. 3, 2008,
with the New York Giants. He
was selected in the fifth
round of the 2007 draft by
the Giants.
As Williams continues to
make his case for a chance
to play in the NFL, he is
optimistic about his
chances as he experiences
a part of a lifelong dream
come true.
“This is still surreal,”
Williams said. “It doesn’t feel
real that this is going on. It’s
been awesome. Hopefully
once draft day comes, good
things happen.”
WOU ATHLETICS/Itemizer-Observer file
Tyrell Williams had 950 receiving yards as a senior.
Wolves drop key doubleheader
Western Oregon drops to third place in conference
S a i n t
M a r t i n’s
and Cen-
tral Wash-
ington.
W O U
plays at
San Fran-
c i s c o
Gardner
State for a
doubleheader Wednesday
(today) before taking part in
the tournament of champi-
ons Friday through Sunday
in California.
The Wolves return home
to host Western Washington
Central’s bats
dominate early
Panthers off to a 4-0 start
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Itemizer-Observer staff report
ELLENSBURG, Wash. —
In a clash of preseason con-
ference co-favorites, West-
ern Oregon’s softball team
dropped a pair of games to
Central Washington, 3-2
and 10-5, on Sunday.
Kelsie Gardner led the
Wolves (10-14 overall, 5-3
Great Northwest Athletic
Conference) going three for
four, including a solo home
run in the first game.
The losses dropped West-
ern Oregon into third place
in the conference behind
PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP
on April 2.
TRACK AND FIELD EX-
C E L S AT P R E V I E W : T h e
freshmen trio of Cody Warn-
e r, D a v i d
Ribich and
Peter Zalk
e a r n e d
first place
finishes at
the Rose
City Pre -
view track
and field
Ribich
meet on
Saturday. Warner won the
100- and 200-meter races in
10.98 and 22.10 seconds, re-
spectively. Ribich finished
first in the 1,500 in 3:55.30,
while Zalk won the pole vault
with a mark of 13 feet, 3½
inches. On the women’s side,
Bailey Beeson and Kylie Rein-
holdt earned second-place
finishes for the Wolves. Bee-
son took second in the 800 in
2:15.84, while Reinholdt
placed second in the triple
jump with a mark of 36 feet,
2¾ inches. WOU will com-
pete at the Mt. Hood Multis
Thursday and Friday in Gre-
sham before taking part in
the Willamette Invitational in
Salem on Saturday.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral softball coach Kendra
George looked for the Pan-
thers to get a quick start to
the 2015 season.
The Panthers (4-0 overall)
did just that, earning a quar-
tet of victo-
ries and
outscoring
opponents
by a com-
bined 40-5.
“It w a s
really fun
to see the
girls out
Huffman
there com-
peting against other teams,”
George said. “We got the
bats going, which was really
encouraging because some-
times it’s hard to get them
going in the beginning of the
season.”
Central defeated Franklin
3-1 on March 17, McKay 14-
0 on March 18, Philomath
15-2 on Thursday and Madi-
son 8-2 on Friday. Jori Kerr
hit two home runs during
the four games.
Ryanne Huffman also hit
a home run as the Panthers
racked up 13 extra-base
hits.
“This is a great way to
build confidence and work
together toward that com-
mon goal in league,” George
said. “We had some big wins,
but we’ll face some tough
competition in league and
we’ll be preparing for that
during spring break.”
Central opens Mid-
Willamette Conference play
at South Albany on Tuesday.
PIRATES EARN SPLIT: Perry-
dale’s softball team earned an
11-4 win over Crow on Thurs-
day. The Pirates, who lost to
Gaston 4-2 on March 17, im-
proved to 2-1 this season. No
details were provided. Perry-
dale (2-1 overall) faces a pair of
road games at Scio on April 1
and at Crow on April 3.
DALLAS DROPS TWO: The
Dallas High softball squad lost
its first two games at the
Medford Spring Break Classic
on Monday. The Dragons fell
to Marist 9-2 and Hood River
Valley 10-6. The Dragons
played La Salle and Liberty
Tuesday after press time. Dal-
las hosts Woodburn Tuesday
at 4 p.m. in the team’s Mid-
Willamette Conference open-
er.
PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP
Pirates’ offense
Dallas excels at home meet rolling early on
PREP TRACK AND FIELD ROUNDUP
Dragons see five athletes win events on Thursday
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Dallas saw
five athletes take first at the
Dallas Icebreaker on Thurs-
day.
Sopho-
m o r e
Aaron Wh-
ite won
the triple
jump with
a mark of
39 feet, 3
inches to
White
lead the
boys.
On the girls side, junior
Naomi Howe placed first in
the 300-meter hurdles with
a time of 52.56 seconds.
Junior Kyleen Benz won
both the shot put and dis-
cus with throws of 36-6 and
109-8, respectively. Fresh-
man Amber Beattie took
first in the pole vault with a
mark of 7-6 and sophomore
Karley Sayer won the long
jump with a mark of 15-9.
Lebanon, West Salem and
Willamette also competed
at the nonscoring meet.
Dallas will compete travel
to Lebanon on April 1.
P I R AT E S C O M P E T E I N
McMINNVILLE: Perrydale’s
track and field squad opened
its 2015 season at the Jim
Barks/Grizzly Bear Open in
McMinnville on Thursday. Sen-
ior Alysia Vergin placed third in
the 100-meter hurdles to lead
the girls, finishing in 18.60 sec-
onds. Jun-
ior Sarah
Clark took
fifth in the
javelin
with a
throw of
93 feet, 10
inches,
while sen-
Vergin
ior Taylor
Rossi placed seventh in the
triple jump with a mark of 26-
8. Junior Logan Shamblin fin-
ished seventh in the boys 800
in 2:27.70. Senior Martin Lopez
took 10th in the 300 hurdles in
54.91 and 13th in the 110 hur-
dles in 19.68. The Pirates were
one of 12 schools at the meet.
Perrydale will compete in the
Tri-River preview April 2 at East
Linn Christian at 4 p.m.
YEAGER LEAS FALLS CITY:
Falls City senior Tristan Yeager
led Falls City’s track and field
team at the Pleasant Hill Ice-
breaker on March 17. Yeager
placed third in the discus with
a mark of 119 feet, 10 inches.
Senior Arlin Schwanke placed
fourth in the shot put with a
throw of 39-8. On the girls
side, freshman Madelyn Hen-
drickson earned a pair of
eighth-place finishes in the
100- and 200-meter runs. She
finished with times of 14.79
and 31.04 seconds, respective-
ly. Hendrickson also took 10th
in the 100 hurdles with a time
of 25.97.
The nonscoring meet saw
10 teams participate. Falls City
will compete at Salem Acade-
my on April 2.
CLASS 5A PREP BASEBALL
Letting his actions speak
Pitcher earning bigger role in team’s rotations
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
Ruben Martinez isn’t a
screamer.
The senior pitcher/in-
fielder isn’t one to fire up
the Central baseball team
with shouts or chants.
“Ruben is a quiet but
hard worker,” Panthers
coach Zach Miller said. “I
have had the pleasure to see
him work his tail off in the
summer with his fielding as
well as winter workouts
with his hitting. He goes
about his business, and I
have never heard him gripe
or be upset if he isn’t in the
lineup that day.”
He may be a man of few
words, but Martinez’s play
is more than speaking for
him early this season.
Martinez has pitched in
two of Central’s first three
games, a 19-1 victory over
Stayton on March 16 and a
3-1 win over Cascade on
March 18.
“I really wanted to focus
on pitching,” Martinez said.
“I kind of struggled last year
in finding the strike zone
consistently.”
In both outings, Martinez
has looked sharp.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Ruben Martinez is earning a bigger role
in the Panthers’ pitching rotations.
“He has come in this year
in our first two games and
shown that he can get
ahead and put hitters away
by locating both the fastball
and offspeed pitches,”
Miller said.
Baseball has been the
lone sport Martinez has
stuck with since he was a
child, and he’s hoping his
final year with the Panthers
is one to remember.
“I think everyone has a
sense of what we need to
do,” Martinez said. “We just
need to keep working hard.”
After a 4-3 loss to Philo-
math on Thursday, the Pan-
thers begin Mid-Willamette
Conference play on Tuesday
at Woodburn.
Martinez’s emergence on
the mound is part of a de-
fensive performance that
Miller has not seen from his
team in recent memory.
Central’s pitchers combined
to throw just 79 pitches
against Cascade.
“Our pitchers are chal-
lenging hitters, and when
they do put it in play we are
making plays to get outs,”
Miller said. “In past years,
our defense has held us
from where we want to be
at the end of the year, so
seeing clean baseball this
early is always nice.”
At the plate, Jackson Hol-
stad, Kyler Fleming, Luke
McBeth and more have
seen success, recording
extra-base hits. While the
Panthers won two of their
first three, Miller said the
real challenge is just getting
started.
“It will be a test with three
games a week against the
same team, but a challenge
we accept and look forward
to next week against Wood-
burn,” Miller said.
Perrydale off to 3-0 start to year
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Through
three games this season, the
only thing stopping Perry-
dale’s baseball squad is the
weather.
The Pi-
ra t e s d e -
feated Gas-
ton 10-4 on
March 17
b e f o r e
cruising to
a 16-0 win
against
Trembly
Crow on
Thursday.
Perry-
dale (3-0
overall)
found itself
holding a
3-2 lead
over the
G r e y -
Janesofsky
hounds be-
fore scoring six runs in the
fourth inning to pull away.
Chad Price and Haylen Jane-
sofsky had two hits and two
RBIs each, while Keenan
Bailey earned the win.
Against Crow, Hunter
Johnson hit a home run,
while Brant Barnes, Troy
Trembly and Johnson hit
doubles during the blowout
win. The Pirates held Crow
to one hit.
Perrydale’s games against
Portland Lutheran on Mon-
day were postponed due to
weather. No makeup date
has been announced as of
press time. The Pirates play
at St. Paul on Tuesday.
DALLAS SPLITS OPENING
GAMES: The Dallas High base-
ball team
defeated
Putnam, 8-3
on Saturday
b e f o r e
falling to
Tigard 5-0
on Monday
at
the
Tigard Tour-
Hatley
nament.
Logan Hatley earned the win
against Putnam. No details
were provided. The Dragons
faced Hillsboro Tuesday after
press time. Dallas plays at
Mountain View of Bend and
Ridgeview of Redmond Friday.
Dallas opens league play at
Lebanon on Tuesday.
Itemizer-Observer
Athlete of the Week
Jori Kerr
Central High
Kerr, a sophomore, helped Central
open its 2015 softball season with a
bang. Kerr hit a home run against McKay
on March 18 during a 14-0 win. She fol-
lowed that performance with a home
run during a 15-2 win over Philomath on Thursday. Against
Philomath, Kerr went 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Kerr’s home runs
helped the Panthers to a 4-0 start as the team prepares to
open Mid-Willamette Conference play.
Cody Warner
Western Oregon
Warner, a freshman sprinter, made the
most of his chance to shine for the West-
ern Oregon track and field team. Despite
running into a headwind, Warner fin-
ished first in the 100- and 200-meter
races at the Rose City Preview on Saturday. Warner won the
100 in 10.98 seconds, while he placed first in the 200 in
22.10 seconds. Warner defeated a 23-runner field in the 100
and a 34-runner field in the 200.
To submit nominations for the Itemizer-Observer Athlete of
the Week, contact Sports Editor Lukas Eggen at 503-623-2373
or leggen@polkio.com by 9 a.m. on Monday.