Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 13, 2015 13A
Polk County Sports
CLASS 5A PREP TENNIS
Sanna, Cable join forces for districts
New doubles pair hopes partnership leads to a state tournament berth
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE —
From the beginning of the
season, Kevin Cable and
Edoardo Sanna had one
thing on their mind: state.
As Central’s boys tennis
team’s top two singles play-
ers worked toward their
goal, Panthers coach Patti
Youngren said they both had
the look of a potential state
qualifier
at the Mid-
Willamette Conference dis-
trict tournament Wednesday
(today), Thursday and Fri-
day at Timberhill Tennis
Club in Corvallis. But there
was one issue.
“There was probably only
room (for one to qualify for
state),” Youngren said.
She approached Cable
about joining forces with
Sanna in doubles. The pair
agreed and have resumed
their state chase together.
Since making the switch
in mid-April, the results
have been encouraging,
Cable said.
“It’s been going pretty
well,” Cable said. “We’ve
only lost one match to Cor-
vallis, so we’re feeling pretty
good. We just work well to-
gether. We both have a pretty
good serve and both are
pretty good at the net.”
Coming together has also
allowed Sanna to play within
his comfort zone.
“I like (doubles) more
than singles,” Sanna said. “I
was dreaming to have a dou-
bles team this year, but it
was up to my coach.”
There have been growing
pains as they learn to com-
municate with each other
and how to best comple-
ment each other on the
court. But the transition has
been relatively smooth.
“I think it helps that we
are both on the same level,”
Sanna said. “We need to re-
member how we did against
other teams and go from
there.”
The pair likely represents
the Panthers’ best shot at
qualifying for the state tour-
nament, though Youngren
hopes her team has a few
surprises up its sleeve. But
there’s little doubt that for
Central, all eyes will be on
Cable and Sanna.
The big question is
whether the decision to join
forces pays off with a state
berth.
“Last year the boys im-
proved over the two days of
play,” Youngren said. “I’m ex-
cited to be going. … I think
all the players have adjusted
well. My hope is that Kevin
and Edoardo are able to se-
cure a spot at state to fulfill
their dream.”
Girls tennis
The 2015 season has been
something of a building year
for Central coach Dave Eble.
But the district tournament
can bring about some sur-
prises, Eble said.
“The situation challenges
players and sometimes they
respond
with an ex-
treme ef-
fort,” Eble
said.
Renee
Bruning
and Da-
nielle Ch-
ance, for-
Bruning
merly the
team’s top two singles play-
ers, have come together to
form a doubles pair with the
hopes of competing for a
state berth at districts.
Most of all, Eble hopes
his players learn from this
experience to help turn the
program into one of the
league’s contenders going
forward.
“I hope to see some of
the players win some
matches this year,” Eble
said. “If they get into con-
solation, then it would be
good if they could win sev-
eral matches.”
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Edoardo Sanna (left) and Kevin Cable prepare for a new game on Thursday at Dallas.
PREP SOFTBALL ROUNDUP
Dallas extends win streak to four
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — A trio of wins
has Dallas’ softball team
knocking on the door of the
Mid-Willamette Confer-
ence’s top two teams.
The Dragons defeated
Central 7-1 on May 5, South
Albany 7-0 on May 6 and
Corvallis 13-1 on Friday.
Dallas opened its week by
going long twice against the
Panthers. Makena Linn hit a
pair of home runs, while
Yasmine El-Hato also went
deep. Against South Albany,
Dragons Pitcher Keisha
Sickles struck out 10 batters.
Sarah Mitchell hit a two-run
home run and Linn had a
three-run home run against
the Spartans. Kassidy Totten
went 3-for-3 at the plate to
help Dallas extend its win
streak to four.
The Dragons entered
Tuesday’s matchup at Cres-
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas shortstop Kassidy Totten tags Corvallis’ Danielle
Korthuis during the Dragons’ 13-1 victory on Friday.
cent Valley 13-5 in league
play, one game behind
Lebanon and two games
behind league-leading Sil-
verton. Dallas closes out its
regular season Wednesday
(today) vs. Lebanon and Fri-
day against Silverton. First
pitch is scheduled for 4:30
p.m. for both games.
CENTRAL DROPS TWO OF
THREE: Central’s softball team
fell to fourth place in the Mid-
Willamette Conference after
dropping two of three league
games. The Panthers lost to
Dallas 7-1 on May 5 before de-
feating Crescent Valley 10-1 on
May 6 and losing to Lebanon
6-3 on Friday. No details were
provided. Central entered
Tuesday’s matchup at Silver-
ton at 12-5 in league play. The
Panthers close out the regular
season at Corvallis Wednesday
(today) and at Woodburn on
Friday. Central has clinched at
least the fourth seed in the
MWC.
PERRYDALE DOWNS
REGIS TWICE: Perrydale’s soft-
ball team defeated Regis twice
in less than a week, winning
14-8 on May 6 and 10-4 on
Monday. The Pirates improved
to 5-5 in league play. No de-
tails were provided. Perrydale
hosts Dayton’s JV squad
Wednesday (today) at 4:30
p.m. before playing at
Kennedy on Tuesday.
Dallas: Coach is optimistic
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Cameron Gumpinger (left) and Joe Gillette await a serve
during a match on Thursday afternoon at Dallas.
Continued from Page 10A
How far they can go re-
mains the biggest question,
but expectations are for
multiple girls to be playing
into the second and third
rounds, or beyond.
“I’m hoping to get into
the third round,” Brewen
said. “Win or lose, that’s my
goal this year.”
She’s not the only one
Sollman expects to perform
well.
“Our top doubles team
(Abigail Garber and Amelia
Poston) swept the lower
schools,” Sollman said.
“They won the second time
against Lebanon and com-
peted really well against Sil-
verton. Dana Taylor and
Adelaine Gillette swept
every school except for the
Corvallis schools.”
On the singles side,
Brewen, Savanna Poston
and Lynn Gumpinger have
good chances to advance
past the first round, Soll-
man said.
“I think we are all going
to do pretty well,” Taylor
said. “We’re pumped. We’re
playing better than we have
in my years playing tennis
here.”
Sollman started the year
by telling his players to for-
get the past. As Dallas
makes its final preparations,
the Dragons followed that
advice and are excited for
their future.
“Districts can change
things,” Sollman said. “You
never know what could
happen. We have several
girls who have the capabili-
ty to surprise people.”
Boys tennis
The Dallas boys tennis
squad knows its entering
the district tournament as
underdogs. But the Drag-
ons hope a few players turn
heads, Dallas coach Caleb
Gillette said. The team’s top
two doubles pairs of
Cameron Gumpinger and
Joe Gillette, and Nathaniel
Miller and Josh Dudley,
may represent the team’s
best chance at making a
run at districts, while top
singles player Jacob Harus-
tak will also have a shot to
advance.
“It’s going to be a new ex-
perience for two-thirds of
the team, so I just want
them to go into it with a
positive attitude and have
fun while maintaining a de-
sire to fight,” Gillette said. “If
they leave it on the court
then that's all a coach can
ask for.”
This season has been as
much about planting seeds
for the future as it has been
for competing in the pres-
ent. As the Dragons enter
the district tournament,
Dallas knows it faces stiff
competition. But the hope
is the Dragons can throw a
few wrenches into their op-
ponents’ plans.
SPORTS BRIEFS
Mason to compete for Oregon State
CORVALLIS — Kaitlyn Mason will compete at the Pac-12 track and
field championships at University of California-Los Angeles for Ore-
gon State University Saturday and Sunday. Mason, a 2011 Central
High graduate, will participate in the long jump, where her personal
record is 18 feet, 8 inches. She has also competed in the triple jump,
100-meter run and 4 x 100 relay for the Beavers.
Mason will graduate this year with a Bachelors of Science in exer-
cise and sports science.
DHS fundraiser coming Saturday
DALLAS — The Dallas High boys basketball team will host its an-
nual scrap metal drive on Saturday. The team will pick up metal, in-
cluding home appliances, at your home from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit
www.cherrycitymetals.com/recycling for a list of acceptable materi-
als.
Proceeds go to the boys basketball team. For more information:
Tr e n t S c h w a r t z , 5 0 3 - 6 2 3 - 8 3 3 6 e x t . 3 1 0 5 o r e m a i l :
trent.schwartz@dsd2.org.
Six Wolves earn all-region honors
NEW ORLEANS — Six
members of the Western
Oregon track and field
team were named to the
U.S. Track and Field and
Cross Country Coaches As-
sociation All-region team
on Monday.
Junior Badane Sultessa
and freshman Kaleb Dob-
Collier
Sultessa
son were named to the
West Region team in the 800-meter run and 400 hurdles, respec-
tively.
On the women’s side, senior Rebecca Laible (triple jump), junior
Emmi Collier (shot put), freshman Amanda Short (javelin) and
freshman Sheila Limas De La Cruz (javelin) also earned West All-Re-
gion honors.
The 2015 season will conclude May 21-23 at the NCAA Division II
Outdoor Championships in Allendale, Mich.
National qualifiers were scheduled to be released Tuesday after
press time.
Itemizer-Observer
Athlete of the Week
Garret Harpole
Western Oregon
Harpole, a senior, came through for
the Western Oregon baseball team when
it needed him the most. Playing in a win-
ner-take-all game against Northwest
Nazarene, Harpole hit a two-run home
run, giving WOU a 4-0 lead. Harpole’s home run proved to
be the difference as the Wolves held on for a 4-3 victory to
win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament
championship.
Makena Linn
Dallas High
Linn, a junior, played a big role at the
plate for Dallas’ softball team. Linn start-
ed things off by hitting a pair of home
runs during a 7-1 win over Central on
May 5. Just days later against Corvallis,
Linn hit her third home run of the week, this one a three-run
shot during the Dragons’ 13-1 triumph over the Spartans.
Linn’s home runs were part of an offensive explosion. Dallas
hit five total home runs during the week’s three games.
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.