Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • April 19, 2017 11A
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Baseball takes three of four from Montana State Billings
Itemizer-Observer staff report
BILLINGS, Mont. — West-
ern Oregon’s baseball team
won three of four games
against Montana State
Billings. WOU won 14-7 and
8-7 on Friday before split-
ting the final two games, los-
ing 18-2 and winning 8-3 on
Saturday.
Torreahno Sweet had a
team-high four hits during
the first game on Friday.
Nyles Nygaard recorded
three hits and four RBIs. The
Wolves trailed 7-6 in the
eighth inning before scoring
the final eight runs.
The Wolves rallied from a
6-2 deficit in the second
game on Friday. WOU pitch-
ers combined to throw 11
strikeouts during the game.
Sweet drove in the game-
winning run with a high-
bouncing ball in the top of
the seventh inning that al-
lowed Cody Dykstra to score
from third.
After losing 18-2, WOU re-
covered to win the final
game of the series, thanks in
part to Sweet, who had three
hits, and Jay Leverett who
had two hits and four RBIs.
Pitcher Trey Smith threw
four strikeouts over seven
innings to earn the win on
the pitcher’s mound.
The Wolves played at
Saint Martin’s Tuesday after
press time. WOU hosts Con-
cordia for a pair of double-
headers Saturday at 1 p.m.
and Sunday at 1 p.m.
SOFTBALL WINS THREE:
Western Oregon’s softball team
took three of four games
against Concordia. The Wolves
split a doubleheader on Thurs-
day, losing 3-1 and wining 6-4
before winning two games on
Friday 6-1 and 10-1.
Destiny Kuehl and Zoe Clark
each hit a home run during the
first game on Friday. Kuehl hit a
three-run homer in the third
inning, while Clark hit a two-
run home run in the sixth in-
ning.
Kuehl added two more
home runs in the final game of
the series.
WOU plays at Western Wash-
ington for a pair of double-
headers on Friday and Satur-
day and at Simon Fraser for a
doubleheader on Sunday.
Western Oregon will play at
Saint Martin’s on April 26.
GRAY LEADS TRACK AND
FIELD IN CALIF.: Competing
against a mix of Division I and II
programs, Western Oregon’s
track and field team took part
in the Bryan Clay Invitational in
Azusa, Calif., on Friday.
Wesley Gray won the men’s
triple jump with a mark of
14.85 meters.
David Ribich posted the
fastest Division II time in the
1,500-meter run with a time of
3 minutes, 42.21 seconds,
breaking his own school and
conference records.
Rachel Huffman took 13th in
the women’s shot put with a
throw of 12.62 meters.
WOU also sent athletes to
the Beach Invitational on Satur-
day in Long Beach, Calif.
Alani Troutman finished
15th in the men’s long jump
with a leap of 7.28 meters.
WOU is off until April 28-29
when the Wolves will compete
in the Oregon State High Per-
formance meet in Corvallis.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Prowl: Central defeats
Softball extends win streak
Dallas and Silverton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
LEBANON — Dallas’ soft-
ball team extended its win
streak to five games as the
Dragons defeated South Al-
bany 10-0 on April 11 and
Lebanon 15-8 on Thursday.
Pitchers Kaelynn Sim-
mons and Emma Classen
combined to throw nine
strikeouts against South Al-
bany. Lauren Wallace had
two hits and four RBIs.
Dallas racked up 15 hits
against Lebanon and scored
nine runs in the top of the
fourth.
Ashlee Lichtenberger and
Emily May each drove in
two runs. Simmons threw
eight strikeouts over five
and a third innings of work.
The Dragons entered the
week 7-4 overall and 6-0 in
Mid-Willamette Conference
play.
Dallas was scheduled to
play Corvallis Tuesday after
press time. The Dragons
play at Silverton, which en-
tered the week in second
place in the MWC, Wednes-
day (Today) before hosting
Central Friday at 4:30 p.m.
and Woodburn Tuesday at
4:30 p.m.
DEMING, CROSS LEAD
TRACK TEAM AT VIKING RE-
LAYS: Dallas’ track and field
teams competed at the Viking
Relays at North Salem High
School on Friday.
Jacob Deming finished sec-
ond in the boys 300-meter
hurdles in 41.15 seconds.
Trevor Cross took second in
the 3,000 (8:58.72). Cody
Webb placed third in the 100
(11.27).
Jenifer Webb, Stefani Tallon
and Kayley Sayer led the girls
team. Webb took third in the
100 hurdles (16.45), Tallon
placed third in the 300 hurdles
(49.95) and Sayer finished
third in the triple jump (32
feet, 5 inches).
Dallas will compete at
Lebanon Wednesday (today)
at 3:45 p.m.before traveling to
the Central Coast Invitational
at Siuslaw High School Friday
at 4 p.m. and the Centennial
Invitational at Centennial High
School Saturday at 11 a.m.
The Dragons will travel to
Central on April 26.
BASEBALL SPLITS WITH
CENTRAL: Dallas’ baseball
team split two games against
Central last week. The Dragons
lost 5-3 on April 11 before
earning a 5-4 win on Saturday.
“They were two good games
and each one came down to
which team got the big play,”
Dallas coach Scot McDonald
said. “(Jaret) Stewart pitched
awesome all week and so did
Clay Coxen. The kids are get-
ting better and love to com-
pete. Central is a good team
with veteran players.”
Dallas was scheduled to
play South Albany Tuesday
after press time. The Dragons
host the Rebels Wednesday
(today) at 4:30 p.m. before
playing at South Albany on
Friday. The Dragons play at Sil-
verton on Tuesday.
GIRLS TENNIS DEFEATS
WOODBURN: Dallas’ girls ten-
nis team defeated Woodburn
6-2 on Thursday. Addie Gillette
and Kenzi Boer earned singles
victories.
Lynn Gumpinger and Julia
Del Olmo, Amanda Schafer
and Megan Ronco, Kloe Tot-
ten and Makayli Laizure and
Morgan Bateman and Peyton
Fa s t s we p t t h e d o u b l e s
matches.
The Dragons’ match against
Lebanon on April 11 was post-
poned due to weather.
Dallas played Central Tues-
day after press time. The Drag-
ons will play at Crescent Valley
Thursday at 4 p.m. before
hosting Corvallis Tuesday at 4
p.m.
The boys tennis team will
host Crescent Valley Thursday
at 4 p.m. and travel to Corvallis
Tuesday at 4 p.m.
B OYS G O L F F I N I S H E S
FOURTH: Dallas’ boys golf
team placed fourth at Tukwila
on Monday. David Jones and
Xavier White each shot a 96 to
lead the Dragons.
Dallas is within half a point
from qualifying for the region-
al tournament. The Dragons
will close the regular season at
Mallard Creek in Lebanon
Monday at 4 p.m.
Continued from Page 10A
“There were a bunch of
nerves when I was a fresh-
man,” Amador said. “As my
confidence built up, I don’t
worry about nerves any-
more. I learned not to try
and force things or rush
things.”
That confidence is preva-
lent throughout the team.
Against Dallas on April 11,
Central rallied from a 3-2
deficit in the sixth inning.
“We were able to get a
couple hits and score when
we needed to,” Amador said.
“We stuck with our game
plan and didn’t give up.”
The rain did its best to
dampen the games between
the two rivals.
The teams started a sec-
ond game on April 11, but
postponed the completion
of the game until Saturday
due to weather. A third game
was cancelled on Monday
due to weather conditions.
Changing schedules on
the fly is par for the course
so far this spring, but it can
wreak havoc on players who
are never quite sure if a
game will actually happen.
“The weather can be
tough because it interferes
with your rhythm,” Amador
said. “It’s hard when you’re
expecting to play and then
you find out you’re not.
When the weather is bad, we
try and get on the turf when
track’s not there, and we
spend lots of time in the bat-
ting cages.”
De s p i t e b a t t l i n g t h e
weather, the Panthers (8-3
overall, 5-3 MWC) entered
the week in a tie for third
place in the league standings
behind Crescent Valley and
Corvallis.
Central is in a prime spot
to compete for a league title,
but Amador knows the Pan-
thers can’t be passive letting
this chance go by.
“We have to see how
much potential we have to
make it far,” Amador said.
“Sometimes, when we’re up,
we can kind of take our foot
off the gas when we should
keep going. Against teams
we know we can beat, we
sometimes put it on cruise
control. We need to go all
out every inning.”
Dallas: Dragons place
fourth at Cross Creek
Continued from Page 10A
Each golfer has worked
hard to improve and, each
time out on the course,
Landis can see their games
come together a little bet-
ter.
“I have seen a lot of
growth in general,” Lan-
dis said. “The short game
has been one of the
biggest things we have
tried to improve. We also
have seen some signifi-
cant improvement with
our ball striking, so that
is exciting to compare
from where they were a
year ago.”
The biggest thing hold-
ing them back may not
have anything to do with
how their swings look —
it’s battling the mental
stress that a round of golf
can bring and, instead,
trusting everything they’ve
practiced and learned.
“(We need them) to stay
out of their own minds
and not overthink things,”
Landis said. “Golf is very
mental, and so if they con-
tinue to trust their swings
and decisions, they will
overcome the challenges
they will face.”
If they can do that, a lot
can happen between now
and the end of the season
— and Landis said her
golfers will be ready to try
and pounce at every oppor-
tunity.
“I just want us to be able
to compete at our best,”
Landis said. “We have a
c o u p l e o f c o n f e re n c e
matches left, and one thing
about golf, you never know
what could happen.”
Dallas will compete at
Tukwila in Woodburn Mon-
day at 10 a.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central’s Joshua Rodriguez delivers a pitch against Dallas on April 11.
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Softball rolls to victories
Itemizer-Observer staff report
ALBANY — Central’s soft-
ball team earned a trio of
victories. The Panthers de-
feated Woodburn 19-3 on
April 11 before beating
South Albany 6-2 and 17-4
on Thursday.
The Panthers entered the
week with a 7-5 record over-
all and a 3-3 mark in Mid-
Willamette Conference play,
good for fourth place.
Central has scored 125
runs, the most in the MWC.
The Panthers played
Crescent Valley Tuesday
after press time.
Central hosts Lebanon
on Wednesday at 4 p.m. and
Silverton Thursday at 4 p.m.
before playing at Dallas Fri-
day at 4:30 p.m.
The Panthers return
home to host Corvallis
Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
GIRLS TENNIS DEFEATS
LEBANON: Central’s girls ten-
nis team defeated Lebanon 5-
2 on Thursday.
Diana Huerta earned a vic-
tory in singles play. Olivia
Teague and Lauran Martinez,
Annika Riddell and Katelyn
Trevino, Lexy Barba and Dalila
Negrete, and Reann Kelley and
Mattie Barry swept the dou-
bles matches.
Kylie Smith was leading her
singles match 6-0, 1-0 before
being rained out.
The boys tennis team lost to
Lebanon 6-2. Zach Stone
earned a three-set victory in
singles play. Cade Magill and
Antonio Marinez earned a win
in doubles play for the Pan-
thers.
Central’s boys and girls ten-
nis teams played Dallas Tues-
day after press time.
The boys host Woodburn
Thursday at 4 p.m. before play-
ing at South Albany on Tues-
day.
The girls travel to Wood-
burn on Thursday before host-
ing South Albany Tuesday at 4
p.m.
LOV R I E N L E A D S G I R L S
GOLF TEAM: Abby Lovrien
led Central’s girls golf team at
Cross Creek Golf Course on
Monday. Lovrien shot a team-
low 150 over 18 holes.
Patty Torres recorded a
177, and Michelle Morris fin-
ished with a 185. The Pan-
thers did not have enough
golfers for a team score.
Central will compete at Tuk-
wila in Woodburn Monday at
10 a.m.
The boys golf team finished
sixth at Tukwila. Andrew Love
led the Panthers with an 89.
BURGETT TAKES FIRST AT
RELAYS: Central’s track and
field teams traveled to the
Viking Relays at North Salem
on Thursday.
Isaac Burgett won the boys
400-meter run in 51.33 sec-
onds. The 4 x 400 relay team
of Burgett, Sterling Hutchin-
son, Jose Herrera and Zachary
Meyer also took first in
3:28.44.
Isseah Kamis took third in
the high jump (6 feet).
The girls 4 x 400 relay team
of Naomi Vega, Sophia Henke,
Beatriz Trujillo and Bethanie
Altamirano placed third in
4:17.97. Bailie Hartford fin-
ished fifth in the girls 3,000
with a time of 11:36.74.
Central will compete at Cor-
vallis Wednesday (today) at
3:30 p.m. before hosting the
John Oliver Invitational Friday
at 3:30 p.m. The Panthers will
also host Dallas on April 26.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas and Central split two games last week. A third game was postponed due to
weather. The Dragons and Panthers entered the week with 5-3 records in league play.
PREP TRACK AND FIELD
Houghtaling leads Mountaineers
Itemizer-Observer staff report
AURORA — Falls City’s
track and field team com-
peted at the North Marion
JV Invite on Thursday.
Amara Houghtaling won
the girls 100-meter run in
14.36 seconds.
Brittney Potts took first in
the high jump with a mark
of 4 feet, 6 inches, and
Madelyn Hendrickson took
second in the long jump
(13-9) and the 100 hurdles
(18.74).
Austin Burgess placed
second in the boys 400
(56.01), and Jeremy Labrado
finished second in the long
jump (17-10).
The Mountaineers will
compete at Sheridan Thurs-
day at 3:30 p.m. before trav-
eling to the Tiger Invitational
at Taft High School on April
26 at 3:30 p.m.
Kimberly (Green) Thayer
of Meridian, ID and a Kindergarten
teacher, formerly of Independence and
a 1990 graduate of Central High School
has been training hard for the last few
years to qualify for the 2017 Boston
Marathon which was held Monday, April
17th. She is the daughter of Mr. & Mrs.
Gary W. Green of Independence.