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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2017)
Polk County Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 3, 2017 WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP Softball headed to conference tournament Itemizer-Observer staff report CORVALLIS — Needing two victories to clinch a spot in the Great Northwest Ath- letic Conference softball championship, Western Ore- gon won three of four games last weekend. The Wolves split with Saint Martin’s, winning 9-5 before losing 5-4 on Satur- day, and sweeping Central Washington 5-1 and 4-0 on Sunday. In game one against SMU, Mercedes Green hit a three- run home run in the second inning to give WOU the early lead. Destiny Kuehl added a solo home run in the third inning, and Green added a three RBI double in the fifth inning. Against Central Washing- ton, the Wildcats loaded the bases in the first and third innings, but pitcher Chan- dler Bishop held them to one run. Hailee Watilo hit a home run in the second game. WOU enters the GNAC championship in Lacey, Wash., in fourth place. WOU plays top-seeded Central Washington Thursday at 2:30 p.m. The winner plays the winner of Saint Mar- tin’s/Western Washington. The loser plays the loser of that matchup in an elimina- tion game. The champi- onship game will be held on Saturday. BASEBALL WINS FOUR OF SIX: Western Oregon’s baseball team won four of six GNAC games last week. The Wolves defeated Saint Martin’s 5-3 and 5-1 on April 26, and Central Washington 6-4 and 11-7 on Friday. WOU lost to Central Washington 13-11 and 8-6 on Saturday. In game one against Saint Martin’s, Joey Crunkilton hit a triple in the bottom of the eighth inning. Nyles Nygaard followed with an RBI double, and Justin Wakem hit a sacrifice fly to break a 3-3 tie. Pitcher Brady Miller threw a complete game in the second contest, throwing eight strike- outs over seven innings of work. Wakem went five for seven against Central Washington, in- cluding a two RBI single in the ninth inning of the first game of the series, helping the Wolves break a 3-3 tie. WOU found itself trailing 7-4 in the seventh inning in game two before the Wolves reeled off seven unanswered runs to end the game. Western Oregon played Saint Martin’s Tuesday after press time. The Wolves are scheduled to host Northwest Nazarene for a pair of double- headers Thursday at 1 p.m. and Friday at noon in the team’s final regular season games. WOU (25-13 overall, 24-10 GNAC) entered the week in first place. The top four teams in the conference advance to the GNAC Championships May 10- 12 in Portland. AVGI SIGNS WITH RAIDERS: Former Western Ore- gon tight end signed with the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. Avgi, an undrafted rookie, will compete in a rookie mini- camp later this spring. Wolves: Softball last played at home April 20, 2016 Continued from Page 11A “It affects time spent in the classroom,” Sargent said. “It affects relation- ships with professors. It affects their evenings be- cause they have to spend time trying to get back on track with school. I think it’s kind of taking a toll this year on our relation- ship with our faculty. Our faculty have been, for the most part, really wonder- ful in handling this and helping our student-ath- letes handle this, but this is a crazy way to go about it.” Student-athletes already must deal with missed class- es. Adding in unexpected absences just makes balanc- ing school work and prac- tice/game schedules even more difficult. There is extra time mak- ing up missed assignments or tests and having to work with professors so that missed classes have the least amount of impact possible on student-ath- letes. Shuffling the schedule around has also taken a toll on the field of play. “We’ve had six games dur- ing a week sometimes,” Walker said. “That put some strain on us physically. It puts extra stress on the pitching staff. We have to move guys around a little bit, but we are doing every- thing we can to be success- ful.” Extra travel, late nights getting caught up on school work, and injuries have made an already grueling schedule even more diffi- cult. “They’re tired,” Sargent said. “They’re exhausted from traveling and having to makeup school work. It’s draining on them. That’s hard to watch as a coach be- cause there’s nothing you can do to help that. You’re helpless in that situation. They’re working so hard at everything but they don’t get that return on their work with a chance to compete at home.” A SIMPLE SOLUTION? Given current facility con- ditions, the baseball and softball teams are complete- ly at the mercy of weather conditions, a fact coaches aren’t particularly pleased with. “I hope (the weather) isn’t something we just have to deal with because it’s not the best student-athlete experi- ence,” Sargent said. There is a possible solu- tion — one that coaches say would rid the programs of many of the issues its facing: Turf. “I think that’s the ultimate answer,” Walker said. “Being in the northwest, you get tough weather. This allows you to get games.” Installing turf — and lights — would allow West- ern Oregon to handle Ore- gon’s weather. “I believe it’s almost in- evitable that most of the programs will go to turf or partial turf to make sure students aren’t missing classes because they have to, all of a sudden, resched- ule a game,” Sargent said. “If we have lights for our fields, we could practice at night so students wouldn’t have to miss any classes and our players could stay for a whole practice. We could play games later in the day so they don’t have to miss classes while we’re at home.” Walker also said drainage issues would need to be ad- dressed as well. While coaches agree turf seems to be the future, there is one hurdle to clear: Money. Coaches said there have been discussions in the past about installing turf. Whether those discussions lead to action is up in the air. The baseball team has one final chance to play at home — with scheduled games against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Friday. If those games happen as planned, at long last, it will be home sweet home for the Wolves. “Our players have done a great job sticking with it, dealing with all the time on the road,” Walker said. “They deserve a chance to play in front of people on campus, whether that be friends or family.” FALLS CITY TRACK AND FIELD CENTRAL ROUNDUP Kempfer leads Falls City track and field Baseball sweeps Woodburn Itemizer-Observer staff report TAFT — Falls City senior Nathan Kempfer finished first in the boys 1,500-meter run on April 25 at the Tiger Invitational to lead the boys track and field team. Kempfer finished with a time of 4 minutes, 49.36 sec- onds. Junior Madelyn Hendrick- son won the girls long jump with a leap of 13 feet, 10 1/4 inches. Amara Houghtaling took second in the 100 in 14.62. The Mountaineers will compete at Dayton High S c h o o l We d n e s d a y (today) at 3:30 p.m. and at Sheridan Thursday at 3:45 p.m. PERRYDALE ROUNDUP Lux leads track team Itemizer-Observer staff report PORTLAND — Perrydale’s track and field team com- peted at the Portland Chris- tian Invitational on Satur- day. Alyssa Lux took fourth in the girls long jump with a leap of 14 feet, 11 inches. Jacob Pope led the boys with an eighth-place finish in the javelin (139-1 1/2). The Pirates will compete at Sheridan Thursday at 3:45 p.m. BASEBALL DROPS TWO: Per- rydale’s baseball team lost to Kennedy 13-3 on Friday and West- ern Mennonite 12-6 on Saturday. “You have to be consistent and we have been trying to get to that point,” coach Steve Mabry said. “Dan and David Domes have led the offensive attack. J.J. Avila has been picking up his production. Dustin Silver pitched four strong innings.” Perrydale hosts East Linn Christian Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and Western Mennonite Friday at 4:30 p.m. before playing at Santiam Monday and returning home to host St. Paul Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Itemizer-Observer staff report INDEPENDENCE — Central’s baseball team swept Woodburn, winning 11-0 on April 25 and 9-0 and 10-4 on Friday. “We (used) a lot of young pitchers last week and I thought overall they com- peted very well,” coach Reed Rainey said. “Brendan Lesmeister and Ruben Cedillo were good, and Josh Rodriguez pitched a com- plete game shutout on Fri- day. We played good de- fense the entire week. Peter Mendazona was terrific at shortstop.” Central also found suc- cess at the plate. Jackson Holstad hit two home runs, and Mendazona had five hits during the series. The Panthers (11-7 over- all, 8-7 Mid-Willamette Conference) entered the week in a tie for fourth in the MWC. Central played South Al- bany Tuesday after press time. The Panthers play at South Albany Wednesday (today) before hosting the Rebels Friday at 4:30 p.m. “This week will be a very LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central pitcher Erin Cole throws against Silverton on Friday afternoon. important week for a lot of teams,” Rainey said. “We need to have a good week to keep pace with everyone else, but I like how our pitching is lined up this week and we are swinging the bats much better now.” SOFTBALL DEFEATS COR- VALLIS: Central’s softball team defeated Corvallis 12-6 on Monday. The Panthers lost to Silver- ton 7-5 on Friday. Central entered the week with an 11-7 record overall and 7-5 mark in MWC play, good for third place. The Panthers hosted South Albany Tuesday after press time. Central hosts Crescent Valley Wednesday (today) at 4:30 p.m. before hosting Lebanon Friday at 6:15 p.m. and Dallas Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the team’s final home game of the regular season. GIRLS TENNIS FALLS TO CRESCENT VALLEY: Central’s girls tennis team lost to Cres- cent Valley 5-0 on Thursday. Three singles matches (Julia Hamar, Kylie Smith and Ana Martinez) were not finished due to rain. Central hosts Silverton Thursday at 4 p.m. in the team’s final match of the regu- lar season. The boys tennis team lost to CV 8-0 on Thursday and fell to South Albany 8-0 and 7-1 on Monday. The two teams fin- ished a match that was post- poned on April 23 due to weather. Chris Polanco earned the team’s lone victory. The boys tennis team plays at Silverton Thursday at 4 p.m. The MWC district champi- onships begins May 10 at Tim- berhill Tennis Club in Corval- lis. Track: Burgett hopes to crack 50 seconds in the 400 Continued from Page 11A He finished 10th and, though he also placed fifth as part of the 4 x 400 relay, state left a sour taste. “I’m a year smarter and more experienced this year,” he said. Burgett has his sights set on returning to state — and wants to crack the 50 second mark in the process. “He’s a cerebral kid in terms of the way he ap- proaches things,” Cirino said. “He likes to talk race strategy and discuss the dif- ferent possibilities that can happen during a race. He’s close to mastering the men- tal part of race.” That race strategy can be seen right from the starting gun. “Last year, I was more conservative with my starts,” Burgett said. “This year, I’m starting out faster and learn- ing to control myself during the race so I can have a strong finish as well.” Returning to state in the 400 will be difficult, but Ciri- no knows that Burgett is ca- pable of surprising. “This league has some of the fastest 400 runners in the state,” Cirino said. “But if we can see improvement like we saw at the end of last year, we could be in for something special.” DALLAS ROUNDUP Baseball takes two of three from Silverton Itemizer-Observer staff report SILVERTON — Dallas’ baseball team took two of three games from Silverton. The Dragons lost 7-5 on April 25 before winning 8-7 and 9-3 on Friday. “Jaret Stewart, Clay Coxen and Josh Sherman were great on the mound,” coach Scot McDonald said. “Tan- ner and Treve Earhart and Cody Kessler each had three hits in the final game.” Dallas entered the week one game behind Crescent Valley for first place in the Mid-Willamette Conference. The Dragons and Raiders opened a three-game series Coxen Earhart Tu e s d a y after press time. Dal- las plays at Crescent V a l l e y We d n e s - day (today) b e f o r e hosting the Raiders Friday at 4:30 p.m. T h e Dragons open a t h r e e - game se- ries at Cor- v a l l i s , which entered the week tied with Dallas, Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. “This is a big week for us,” McDonald said. SOFTBALL EXTENDS WIN STREAK: Dallas’ softball team remained unbeaten in league play, defeating Lebanon 8-6 on Friday, Corvallis 14-1 and Woodburn 20-6 on Saturday and South Albany 14-1 on Monday. The Dragons entered the week on a 11-game win streak and have outscored op- ponents 114-30 during that stretch. Dallas (11-0 MWC) played at Crescent Valley for a doubleheader Tuesday after press time. The Dragons play at Corvallis Wednesday (today) before hosting Silverton Friday at 4:30 p.m. Dallas plays at Cen- tral Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. GIRLS TENNIS FALLS TO CORVALLIS: Dallas’ girls tennis team lost to Corvallis 6-2 on Monday. Karlie Dalke won in singles play while the pair of K loe Totten and Mak ayli Laizure earned a doubles point for the Dragons. Dallas played South Albany Tuesday after press time. The Dragons host Lebanon Thursday at 4 p.m. in the team’s final match of the regular sea- son. Boys results were not report- ed. Dallas will compete at the MWC District Tennis Champi- onships at Timberhill Tennis Club in Corvallis beginning on May 10. B OYS T R AC K W I N S RO B ALLEN T WILIGHT INVITA- TIONAL: Dallas’ boys track team took first at the Rob Allen Twilight Invi- tational at Lebanon High School on Friday. The girls placed third. C o d y Webb won the boys 100-meter Cross run in 11.24 seconds and the 110 hurdles in 15.01. Trevor Cross took first in the 1,500 (4:13.63) and Jacob Dem- Webb ing placed first in the 300 hurdles in 39.74. Deming also won the pole vault (14 feet, 6 inches) and the long jump (22- 4¾). Jenifer Webb won the girls 100 hurdles in 16.23. Hailey VanWell took second in the high jump (4-8) and triple jump (35-6½). Dallas’ varsity athletes are off until the MWC Championships May 12-13 at Lebanon High School. First event begins at 3 p.m.
