SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
A7
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL • PREP TENNIS • SCHEDULE
Making — and
sharing — memories
T
his past year, local
athletes made
memories. They
experienced things they’ll
never forget, for better or
worse.
The Hermiston football
team played in and won
the 5A state football
championship game; the
Hermiston wrestling team
won another state title; the
Hermiston girls basketball
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basketball team had its
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basketball team lost two
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and memorable fashion;
the Echo girls basketball
team hosted a state playoff
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decade.
These are all things the
players, coaches and fans
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a few sports memories
that I’ll never forget. I’ve
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in Pasadena, California. I
was a ball boy when Nate
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I was a bat boy for the
Portland Beavers once.
I’ve sat in the press box
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wins.
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I have is from a game in
which I didn’t even play.
It was my sophomore
year of high school, and we
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town rivals in a win-or-
go-home baseball playoff
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something of a big deal.
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win the state title when
they were seniors, and
they obliged by earning
the top spot in the state for
essentially the whole year.
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be there.
I remember seeing their
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Interstate 5 to the game
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we came to the town of
Centralia. We passed them
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that theirs didn’t — and we
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coach, who wasn’t afraid of
hokey and goofy things to
SAM BARBEE
FROM THE SIDELINES
Sports reporter
Hermiston Little League opens 51st season
More than 600
youth attend
BY SAM BARBEE
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was an omen.
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knew.
The game dragged
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was my age, lost a ball in
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in the top of the seventh
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reliever to take a 4-1 lead
and seemingly seal the
ballgame. I remember
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to give back this varsity
jersey I got days before. I
was sad it was over. I think
we all were.
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happened. Somehow we
got the bases loaded with
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pitch. Normally a singles
hitter with some gap power,
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and hit one to the fence in
left center. This scored the
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who hit the apparently
game-ending dinger, tried
to be a hero and make
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throw sailed high and hit
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We dog piled on the plate,
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literally ripped the bill off
of his hat with his hands.
It’s the most impressive/
terrifying thing I’ve ever
seen.
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best part of the story. On
contact, the 15 or so of
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We had this big 6-foot-6
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me across the face. He had
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I was OK (I didn’t even
feel it from the adrenaline)
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his arms, this time a safe
distance from my head.
When the errant throw
SEE MEMORIES/A8
GO SEE IT
Wednesday, April 8
Boys Tennis
Hermiston vs. The Dalles, 4 p.m.
Girls Tennis
Hermiston @ The Dalles, 4 p.m.
Thursday, April 9
Girls Golf
Hermiston @ Pendleton @ Pendleton CC, 9 a.m.
Tennis
Umatilla vs. Helix, 4 p.m.
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Friday, April 10
Baseball
Hermiston vs. Parkrose (DH), 3 p.m.
Umatilla @ Nyssa (DH), 1 p.m.
Softball
Hermiston vs. Lakeridge, 3 p.m.
Umatilla @ Nyssa (DH), 1 p.m.
Lacrosse
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Tennis
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Golf
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Saturday, April 11
Track
Hermiston @ Willamette Falls Invitational @ Ore-
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Echo @ Dick Horyna Invitational, 11 a.m.
Softball
Echo @ Imbler, 1 p.m.
Baseball
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HERMISTON HERALD
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lights, Hermiston Little
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crowd that packed the space
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Dreams complex off Diago-
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opening day.
“I was very impressed
with the way everyone came
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teered,” he said. “That said,
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a better opening day. The
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Player
agent
Kelly
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players are registered in Little
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one challenger team and 11
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ing to District 3 with Pendle-
ton, La Grande, Milton-Free-
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Umatilla, Irrigon, Boardman
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Hermiston moved from Dis-
COURTESY PHOTO
Hermiston Little President Rich Devin (left) and Field of
Dreams Maintenance Director Jeff Gritz (second from left) give
Rhonda and Jeb Cummings the 2015 Hermiston Little League
Volunteer of the Year award for their help with various projects
and the concession stand.
trict 5, which encompassed
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the rest of central Oregon.
The new lights, which
were recently installed for
the new season, were a ma-
jor project this offseason as
the old ones had to be re-
placed. Devin thanked Good
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Shelco Electric, Winebarg-
er Welding and Irrigation,
Umatilla Electric, Wild
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and Far West Steel and Local
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namental Iron Workers for
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the nine companies each
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pitches to recognize their ef-
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games, Hermiston will also
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nament will be in Klamath
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have been disclosed.
Beginning at 11 a.m. Sat-
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lost his shoe as he ran in from
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it moving.
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joked.
Once each team was in-
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tional anthem. Then, led by
'HYLQWKHERDUGPHPEHUV
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the past six years helping in
any way they can, whether
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ect that needs skilled hands
or organizing one the of the
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Dreams (concession stand)
from night to night, they are
there to help,” he said.
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gram from an idea to a staple,
Thompson said, and Devin
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and willing to do anything,”
he said. “They always have a
helping hand. They’re essen-
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really great people. It’s nice
to have someone who always
has a smile on her face.”
With a large contingent of
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softball, Devin, Schwirse and
the rest of Hermiston Little
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for a new year of ball.
Umatilla tennis splits with Ione
No. 1 boys doubles
match comes down
to tiebreaker
BY SAM BARBEE
HERMISTON HERALD
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the Umatilla tennis team
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to the Ione Cardinals on
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girls won 4-3 and the boys
tied 5-5.
“I think we played OK,”
head coach Calvin Meade
said. “The big thing is we
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really good look.”
On the girls side, No. 1
girls singles player Sidney
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beat Umatilla’s Natali Ar-
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ligott beat Umatilla’s Bren-
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girls singles matches.
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anza Garcia lost to Katelyn
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Garcia beat Hannah Flynn
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and Esperanza Garcia and
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ah Waite and Natalie Grigg
6-1.
On the boys side, Elian
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and Stephen Morris beat
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Alejandro Madrigal lost to
Ione’s Kai Arbogast and
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6-3.
The best match of the
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Alejandro Madrigal, who
normally play singles, took
on Arbogast and Walters,
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“The thing that I liked
was the fact that they never
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terwards was mental prepa-
ration, and they even told
me that.”
In a very evenly contest-
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take control. Neither side
ever led by more than one
game, and the lead changed
hands eight times and there
were eight ties.
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short-lived as Ione, helped
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one. Then, with serve, Ione
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how the match went for its
entirety.
Then, late in the match,
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Umatilla, Ione won the last
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After the match, Me-
ade spoke with his pair of
seniors to see what they
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was they didn’t mentally
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totally agree with that. There
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rors — silly, silly mistakes.
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from a pair of competitive
seniors. And they know
that those are things they
need to work on and will
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when we get to districts and
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Filling in as the No. 1
boys singles player was
Armenta, who took on
German foreign exchange
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a freshman.
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to win a lot,” Meade said of
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play players that are better
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on and improve as a player.
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match he’s played all sea-
son.”
On the girls side, Webb’s
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it’s a great experience,” Me-
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ward into districts and state,
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playing someone who’s as
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and so learning how to close
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rallying back and forth and
waiting for the other person
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players. We have a lot of
season left.”
Umatilla hosts Helix on
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Hermiston softball thrashes Senators
Following a strong of-
fensive performance Friday
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the Hermiston softball team
had its best offensive day of
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Portland despite some tweaks
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Madison Senators at Delta
Park. The win gives Herm-
iston (4-6) after losing three
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in their last six.
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way at the plate, going 3-4
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anna Naylor took the ball in
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hit, while walking three and
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gles.
“The girls are making
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coach Kylee Lete said. “We
tried to capitalize early. The
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ments and making those im-
provements and let the rest
take care of itself.”
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of her normal lead-off role.
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more in the third, with McK-
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slot, all notching base hits.
Those three each scored, as
well.
Hermiston really broke
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and Mikayla Kopacz each
had hits in the frame, and all
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plate safely. Hermiston add-
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+RIEDXHUDGGLQJKHUWKLUGKLW
of the day and Kalene Wheel-
er getting in on the action
with a single.
Hermiston plays again Fri-
day at 3 p.m. against Laker-
idge.
———
HHS
HERMISTON 22,
MADISON 2
043
96 — 22 14 0
MHS
000
02 — 2 4 3
V. White-Elk and M. Dike; B. Naylor, T. Betz and
2B: T. Bohannon (MHS).
WESTON-MCEWEN
11, ECHO 1
The Weston-McEwen Ti-
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JDUV LQ D QRQOHDJXH
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Athena.
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ported.
WESTON-MCEWEN
21, UMATILLA 2
The Umatilla softball
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WR :HVWRQ0F(ZHQ RQ
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1RIXUWKHUGHWDLOVZHUHUH-
ported.
SEE ROUNDUP/A8