Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 11, 2016 13A
Central: Meet
Central hands Lebanon league loss
begins today
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Itemizer-Observer staff report
LEBANON — Facing the
top team in the Mid-
Willamette Conference,
Central’s softball team hand-
ed Lebanon its first loss in
league play, earning a 10-3
victory on Friday.
Pitcher Erin Cole threw a
complete game for the Pan-
thers, which scored eight
runs in the fourth inning to
break open the game.
Jori Kerr went four for five
with one RBI. Mariah Hyre
drove in two runs on four
hits, including a pair of dou-
bles.
Central also defeated
Crescent Valley 19-1 on May
4. Kerr had three hits, in-
cluding a grand slam. Kylie
Nash and Kyra Noon also hit
home runs. Kerr and Nash
each had five RBIs.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central’s Erin Cole throws against Dallas on May 3. Cole
helped the Panthers defeat Lebanon 10-3 on Friday.
The Panthers opened the
week with a 10-5 loss to Dal-
las on May 3.
Central played Silverton
Tuesday after press time.
The Panthers finish the reg-
ular season at Corvallis
Wednesday (today) at 4:30
p.m. and at Newport on May
18 at 5 p.m.
Central (11-9 overall, 9-7
MWC) entered the week in
fourth place in the league
standings.
BASEBALL SWEPT BY DAL-
LAS: Central’s baseball team
dropped three games to Dallas.
The Panthers fell 15-5 on May
3, 6-1 on May 4 and 8-4 on Fri-
day. The Panthers opened a
three-game series with Corval-
lis Tuesday after press time.
Central plays at Corvallis
Wednesday (today) at 3:30 p.m.
and Friday at 4:30 p.m. before
closing out the regular season
at West Albany Tuesday at 5
p.m. The Panthers entered the
week in fifth place in the MWC,
one game behind Silverton for
fourth and two games ahead
of South Albany.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Dallas baseball sweeps Panthers
Itemizer-Observer staff report
LEBANON — Dallas’ baseball team
clinched at least a home play-in game
after sweeping rival Central last week.
The Dragons defeated the Panthers 15-
5 on May 3, 6-1 on May 4 and 8-4 on
Friday.
Tanner Earhart and Everett Minahan
hit the Dragons’ first home runs since
2014 in the opening game of the series.
Earhart had three hits, including a dou-
ble and a home run. Minahan also hit a
double and a home run during the vic-
tory.
Pitcher Tucker Weaver earned the
win in the second game of the series,
throwing nine strikeouts. He also had
three hits and two RBIs at the plate.
“We’ve been talking about playing
your best baseball at the end of the sea-
son,” Dallas coach Scot McDonald
said. “Early in the season we had some
losses where we weren’t hitting or play-
ing defense like we expect. We’re put-
ting it together now and stringing those
wins together and good things are hap-
pening now.”
The Dragons entered the week win-
ners of five straight and six of their last
seven. Dallas opened its final series of
the regular season against South Al-
bany Tuesday after press time. The
Dragons play at South Albany on
Wednesday (today) and hosts the
Rebels Friday at 4:30 p.m.
Dallas (14-9 overall, 12-6 Mid-
Willamette Conference) entered the se-
Continued from Page 11A
“They will need to come
up big,” Cirino said. “The
competition for second is
very close in all three
throws.”
Ju n i o r Pe t e r Ma s o n
broke the
20-foot
barrier
for the
first time
in his ca-
reer in
the triple
j u m p ,
recording
Mason
a person-
al best mark of 21-4 ½ on
April 30 and is ranked sec-
ond, as is Isaac Burgett in
the 400-meter run; the 4 x
100 relay team of Casey
Brown, Isaiah Abraham,
Jaxon Hutchinson, and
Nick Burgett, and the 4 x
400 relay team of Nick
Burgett, Joshua Peterson,
Isaac Burgett and Juan
Rivera.
Sophomore Bethanie
Altamirano is seeded sec-
ond in girls 200 and 400,
while the girls 4 x 100
relay team of Elizabeth
Chavez, Alex Alvarez, Al-
tamirano and Reba Hoff-
man is
a l s o
ranked
second.
Central
had four
athletes
qualify for
state in
Chavez
2015 — a
number the Panthers hope
to exceed in 2016.
Cirino has stressed that
while seedings give each
athlete an idea of the
competition he or she will
face, once the competition
begins, anything is possi-
ble.
And ultimately it’s which
athletes can dig deep and
perform their best under
pressure that will decide
who moves on to state and
whose season comes to an
end.
“All of our kids are well
aware that anything can
happen and nothing is
guaranteed,” Cirino said.
“Last year, we had a girl
seeded eighth win a league
championship in the long
jump. It will take lifetime
bests for any one of them to
advance to state and they
know that.”
PERRYDALE ROUNDUP
Softball drops
two of three
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas sophomore Treve Earhart, No. 4, attempts to slide into second base.
ries with a chance to pass Corvallis (13-
8 MWC) for second place in the league
standings. The top two teams in the
MWC gain an automatic berth to the
first round of the state playoffs. The
third- and fourth-place teams will host
a play-in game.
SOFTBALL WINS THREE: Dallas’ softball
team went 3-0 last week. The Dragons de-
feated Central 10-5 on May 3, South Al-
bany 10-0 on May 4 and Corvallis 10-6 on
Friday.
Kaelynn Simmons and Yasmine El-Hato
each recorded two hits against the Pan-
thers. Pitchers Emma Classen and Sim-
mons combined to throw a two-hitter
against South Albany as Olivia Nelson,
Ashlee Lichtenberger, Ciara Greisen and El-
Hato had two hits each.
Dallas entered the week on a five-game
win streak and has scored 10 or more runs
in four straight. The Dragons (16-5 overall,
11-4 MWC) hosted Crescent Valley Tuesday
after press time.
Dallas closes out the regular season at
Lebanon on Wednesday (today) and at Sil-
verton on Friday. Both games are sched-
uled to start at 4:30 p.m.
The Dragons entered the week ahead of
Silverton (10-6 MWC) for second place in
the league standings. The top two teams in
the MWC automatically qualify for the 16-
team state playoff bracket. The third seed
will host a play-in game.
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perry-
d a l e ’s s o f t b a l l t e a m
dropped two of three
games. The Pirates lost to
Kennedy 7-0 on May 4 be-
fore defeating Sheridan 17-
4 on Thursday. Perrydale
fell to Santiam 10-4 on
Monday.
Jacki Juarez, Sierra Starr
and Anna McGill recorded
hits for the Pirates against
Kennedy. Stats for Perry-
dale’s other two games were
not reported as of press
time.
The Pirates host Taft on
Wednesday (today) and
Central Linn on Thursday
before ending the regular
season at Taft on Tuesday.
All games are scheduled to
begin at 4:30 p.m.
BASEBALL LOSES THREE:
Perrydale’s baseball squad lost
a trio of games. The Pirates fell
to Kennedy 14-0 on May 3,
Western Mennonite 17-5 on
Friday and Santiam 9-0 on Fri-
day. Perrydale hosts Central
Linn Friday at 3 p.m. before
playing at East Linn Christian
Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The Pi-
rates (1-14 overall, 1-11 Spe-
cial District 2) close out the
season by hosting Country
Christian on May 19 at 4:30
p.m.
Benz: Senior has finished second at state twice
Continued from Page 11A
But that doesn’t mean
Benz isn’t motivated to take
home a district title.
Benz has reached the 5A
state championship meet
in each of her first three
years, culminating with
second place finishes in
the discus as a sophomore
and junior.
As she and her teammates
prepare for the Mid-
Willamette Conference
championships this week,
she wants to make sure her
career ends with a few more
memories.
Benz enters districts
seeded first in both the
shot put and discus, but
she’s far from the only
Dragon looking to book a
trip to Eugene.
Dallas coach Bill Masei
said hurdler Naomi Howe,
seeded second in the 300-
meter hurdles, and Kayley
White
S a y e r ,
ranked
second in
the long
jump and
third in the
triple jump
will also be
s t r o n g
state con-
tenders.
“Those are the three that
I think have strong chances
on the girls side,” Masei
said. “We have some other
girls who can do well and if
they PR, they can make
some noise. I think Jennifer
Webb and Stefani Tallon in
the hurdles can challenge
for a spot to state.”
Junior Aaron White, like
Benz, is also looking to make
a return to state. White
placed fifth in the triple
jump at state in 2015.
White is ranked first in the
boys triple jump and third in
the long
jump.
“I would
say he’s a
favorite to
get back to
s t a t e,”
Masei said.
Junior
Howe
Jacob Dem-
ing is seeded second in the
pole vault, third in the 300
hurdles and 400 and sixth in
the 110 hurdles.
“Jacob is going to have
multiple chances in a bunch
of different events,” Masei
said.
As Dallas’ state hopefuls
vie for their ticket to Eugene,
Benz wants to end her high
school career by achieving a
few more goals.
“A great memory would
be to get first in at least one
of my events at state,” Benz
said. “At districts, I want to
get a school record.”
Tennis: Cable
Boys, girls ready to invade districts
seeded third
DALLAS TENNIS
By Lukas Eggen
Continued from Page 11A
“I’m hopeful we will go
on to state,” boys coach
Patty Youngren said.
Antho-
n y M a r-
tinez, Joel
Robison
and Chris
Polanco
are un-
seeded in
the sin-
g l e s
Teague
bracket as
are the doubles pairs of
Brian Larson and Nathaniel
Miller, Bailey Yates and
Justin Landers and Luis
Vera and Clark Gallagher.
Cable advanced to state
in 2015 in doubles but faces
a new challenge in singles
play against tough compe-
tition.
The top four players and
doubles pairs advance to
the state tournament.
The girls squad sees Pa-
tience Teague enter as the
eighth seed with Kylie
Smith, Tamoka Naru and
Ana Martinez entering un-
seeded.
The doubles pairs of
Renee Bruning and
Danielle Chance, Olivia
Teague and Diana Huerte,
Julia Hamar and Andrea
Garibay, and Annika Riddle
and Alex Trevino enter the
tournament unseeded,
though girls coach Dave
Eble said the Panthers can
surprise.
“Anybody can have a
good tournament,” Eble
said. “We could have peo-
ple win in several rounds in
the main draw and there
are some chances for play-
ers to do well in the conso-
lation. It pretty much de-
pends on how they play.”
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DALLAS — Dallas’ boys
and girls tennis teams could
be ready to make a big im-
pact at the Mid-Willamette
Conference district champi-
onships this Wednesday
through Friday.
Senior Thomas Gniadecki
earned the top seed in the
boys singles bracket, while
the doubles pair of Joe
Gillette and Josh Dudley
earned the seventh seed.
Caedmon Blair, Cole Oace
and Luis Zavala and the
doubles pairs of Evan Koons
and Honorio Colipano,
Travis Wilson and Michael
Friesen, and Ryan Bibler and
Randy Mullins are unseed-
ed, but coach Caleb Gillette
said that doesn’t mean any-
thing once they step onto
the court.
“They know they have to
Road To State
Who: Dallas and Central boys and girls tennis.
What: Mid-Willamette Conference championships.
When: Wednesday, 8 a.m. (girls), 1 p.m. (boys); Thursday, 8
a.m. (boys), 1 p.m. (girls) and Friday, 1 p.m.
Where: Timberhill Tennis Club, Corvallis.
What’s at stake: The top four finishers in singles and dou-
bles play advance to the state championship later this month.
play their
best, but
once you’re
out there,
what mat-
ters is how
you per-
f o r m ,”
Gillette
said.
Gillette
The girls
squad also hopes to make a
mark at the district tourna-
ment.
The doubles pair of Addie
Gillette and Lynn
Gumpinger is seeded fourth
in the girls
bracket,
w h i l e
M e g a n
Ronco and
Amanda
Schafer will
enter seed-
ed eighth.
Dudley
The girls
team’s singles players, Emily
Cuno, Molly Peffley, Morgan
Bateman and Kinzi Boer,
enter the tournament un-
seeded, but coach Jordan
Sollman has high expecta-
tions.
“I think we have a lot of
girls who could potentially
do something at districts,”
girls Sollman said. “We’ve
worked on some things
that we struggled with, es-
pecially that last week of
the regular season, and are
putting ourselves in a good
position to do well.”
The top four in the singles
and doubles brackets ad-
vance to state.
For the Dragons, this
week represents the culmi-
nation of a season full of
growth and learning and
coaches are excited to see
how it all comes together,
“Districts is always fun to
see the girls get really com-
petitive,” Sollman said.
“For a lot of them, this is
what they play for, to get to
this position where they’re
at now and compete with
the very best in our
league.”
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