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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2015)
SPORTS APRIL 25, 2015 HERMISTONHERALD.COM A10 SATURDAY, LACROSSE • WADEKAMPER • SCHEDULE • ROUNDUP Shaping Subbing one family for another up to be a Wadekamper retiring as HHS good spring volleyball coach W e are officially into the league portion of the local baseball and softball teams’ schedules, so that means it’s time for a look around the area. Starting with Hermiston, the Bulldogs are both in a good place. The baseball team is in the middle of a tight race for the Columbia River Conference title. Before Tuesday’s conclusion of the opening home-and- home three-game series, all four CRC teams are 1-1 in the league, and Hermiston is currently second with 1-2 records. The Bulldogs have a negative run differential (65-72) but have won three of four and are coming off a split with The Dalles. It’s been a bit of a struggle to find some dependable pitching, but RJ Robles and Chase Root have come forward in recent weeks to be a couple of solid options at the top of the rotation. When Hermiston’s pitching is good, the team wins. When allowing three runs or fewer, the Bulldogs are 7-0; when allowing four runs or more, Hermiston is 1-6. Hermiston will need to shore up its pitching staff to hang with an upstart Hood River club and a talented, yet sputtering, Pendleton squad. The Hermiston softball team, similarly, has had to find some pitching along the way after a couple of rocky performances early on. Two righties have started to make cases for primary pitcher roles: Taylor Betz and BY SAM BARBEE SAM BARBEE FROM THE SIDELINES Sports reporter Breyanna Naylor. But for Hermiston, the focus this year is competing, staying in games, maintaining focus. Perhaps the Bulldogs lost a bit of focus late in a 5-4 loss at The Dalles when the Riverhawks walked- off with a home run. But what is certain is this Bulldog team is better than last season’s version. As of Monday, the Bulldogs are 6-9 (0-2), but they were a couple breaks from sweeping first place and fifth-ranked The Dalles. It’s a promising start to a league schedule that will push the Bulldogs. I’d expect them to be a tough out. Umatilla is still in its rebuilding phase. Unfortunately, neither the softball nor the baseball team has won a game, but they’re both really young teams. Fourteen of Umatilla’s 17 baseball players are freshmen or sophomores with no seniors. This is fixing to be another long year, and those are no fun. But I’ve seen things on both teams that bode well in the future. On the baseball side, juniors Josh Dever and Cory Landon and sophomore Diego Soto are good players. It’s a little harder to depend on just two or three guys in baseball, but it can be done. This might not be the year, but they’re coming. Further south, the Stanfield baseball team is absolutely cruising. SEE SPRING/A11 GO SEE IT Saturday, April 25 Boys Tennis Hermiston @ Capital Tournament, 8 a.m. Girls Tennis Hermisotn @ Capital Tournament, 8 a.m. Track and Field Hermiston @ 30th Annual Kiwanis Invitational, 10 a.m. Stanfield @ Union, 11 a.m. Umatilla @ Condon, 11 a.m. Baseball Hermiston @ Hood River Valley (DH), 12 p.m. Softball Hermiston vs. Hood River Valley (DH), 12 p.m. Umatilla vs. Grant Union (DH), 1 p.m. Sunday, April 26 No events scheduled Monday, April 27 Softball Umatilla @ McLoughlin, 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 28 Baseball Hermiston vs. Hood River Valley, 4:30 p.m. Umatilla @ Heppner, 4 p.m. Stanfield @ Dufur, 4:30 p.m. Softball Hermiston vs. Hood River Valley, 4:30 p.m. Lacrosse Hermiston vs. Southridge (WA), 5 p.m. Tennis Umatilla @ Sherman County, 4 p.m. Stanfield @ Ione, 4:30 p.m. Track and Field Stanfield @ Weston-McEwen, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29 Girls Golf Hermiston @ Corvallis, 8 a.m. Boys Golf Hermiston @ Hood River, 10 a.m. Track and Field Hermiston @ Viking-Grizzly-Knight-Bulldog In- vitational @ Kennison Stadium, 4 p.m. HERMISTON HERALD When Becky Wadeka- mper was a senior hoop- ster at Northwest Nazarene University, she was asked to switch positions. It was a small decision, but one that was hard for the se- nior shooting guard. She was asked to move to point guard, a position she had never played, which put her decidedly out of her com- fort zone. She agreed, though with some resistance, because it was best for the team. Years later, Wadekamper finds herself in a situa- tion similar to the one she faced in college. She must choose between comfort or discomfort. Her team is her family, and she chose discomfort. Wadekamper is retiring after four years as the Hermiston head vol- leyball coach. She cited a heavy workload that starts in January of each year and ends in November with the volleyball season. She said she also wants to watch her daughter, Breena, actually play volleyball, something she hasn’t had many oppor- HERALD FILE PHOTO Hermiston volleyball coach Becky Wadekamper talks to her Bulldog team during practice in this file photo. Wadekamper is retiring as volleyball coach of the Bulldogs. tunities to do. “When I initially took the job as head coach, I en- visioned I would finish my daughter’s career out and would be done, both of us,” Wadekamper said Thurs- day as she and her husband, Scott, drove to Boise to watch Breena and son Tyler play in a tennis tournament. “It just kind of wears on you over the years. In junior high, I was probably able to watch two of her matches, and even though she was in our program last year, I still had responsibilities at the gym, so I just wasn’t able to sit down and participate in that for any length of time.” So, before the 2014 sea- son even ended, Wadeka- mper notified Hermiston Athletic Director Blaine Ganvoa and her team of her intentions. Wadekamper said the decision was diffi- cult. She said she isn’t overly emotional — she doesn’t shed tears easily — but this decision was a tough one. Coaching was a point of identity for her. “When I was talking to my husband originally about it, I said, ‘Well, I’m not 100 percent sure,’ and he’s like, ‘Well, you only have to be 51 percent sure,’ ” Wadekamper said. “But after I thought about it, he’s right. I don’t know I could make a decision that I’m 100 percent sure (about). There’s going to be a per- centage of me that will al- ways miss (coaching). The offseason coming on has al- ready been hard on me. I’m not a sideline person very SEE WADEKAMPER/A11 Bulldogs dominate Burns Lacrosse team shuts down Nadzitsaga, but coach not satisfied with performance BY SAM BARBEE HERMISTON HERALD Slowly but surely, the Hermiston lacrosse program is improving. After a 10-1 win over Nadzitsaga, out of Burns, at Sunset Elementary Friday, the Bulldogs are 7-6, have won three straight and four of five games and have the first winning record in more than four years. Noah Davis led the Bull- dogs with three goals, Brady Christensen netted two goals, Fidel Contreras had two and three other Bulldogs scored a goal apiece. Christensen also finished with two helpers. Despite the win and the obvious improvement, head coach Scott Hammond still wants more. “I felt like we didn’t play with very much energy at all,” he said following Fri- day’s win. “For a lack of a better term, I felt like we played down to our compe- tition instead of raising our level and playing up to our expectations and potential.” SAM BARBEE PHOTO Hermiston’s Noah Davis (21) shoots on goal as Nadzitsaga’s Beau Petersen defends during the Bulldogs’ 10-1 win Friday evening. Those are strong words after Hermiston dominated about every aspect of Fri- day’s contest. Hermiston took 47 shots to Burns’ 12. The Bulldogs claimed 43 groundballs to Burns’ 22. Hermiston had more penalty time and Na- dzitsaga’s goalie Taylor Klus had more saves with six than opponent George Westfall’s three, but Hermiston largely controlled possession, too. Still, Hammond believes his team was better than it played Friday. Senior for- ward Davis agreed. “I think our defense was really slow, no intensi- ty — no intensity on either side of the field, really,” he said. “It was spurts of it.” Notable absences on Herm- iston’s defense didn’t help. Starting defender Jessee Rodelo was out after suffer- ing a concussion at La Sal- le Prep Tuesday, and usual goalie Chris Jones was in- jured there, too. Hammond suggested that his lack of depth forced some play- ers into the lineup who just weren’t quite ready for the rigors of varsity play. “We really struggled to adapt, to be honest,” Ham- mond said. “We’re so thin that that puts some kids in a position to play who nor- mally wouldn’t be or would be swinging (or) playing jv. Getting them acclimated to the level and physicality of a varsity game was something we’re still working on, still trying to get them there. I don’t feel like we responded great, but we’re trending in the right direction.” Twice Hermiston spurted its way to the big league. In the second quarter, Tucker Salinas and Chris- tensen scored goals within 21 seconds of each other to take a 5-1 lead. In the third quarter, Hermiston jumped all over Burns, netting four goals in a minute to take a commanding 9-1 lead. Christensen, Davis and Con- treras each put one in the net in that fourth quarter, with Davis getting two past Klus. The win has Hermiston sitting at least a half game ahead of Mountain View for fourth place in the High Desert Division. Hermiston plays the Cougars in its final game of the regular season in SEE BULLDOGS/A11 Stanfield split earns Tigers top spot in EOL EO MEDIA GROUP A doubleheader split with Vale propelled the Stanfield Tigers into first place in the Eastern Oregon League Friday, with the Tigers dropping the open- er 11-5 and claiming the nightcap 6-4 in Vale. With the split, Stanfield (10-5, 5-1) moves into first place over Vale, who fell to sec- ond. Stanfield started fast with three runs in the top of the first, capped by a three- run shot off the bat of Dylan Grogan. Vale responded in a big way, however, scoring all 11 of its runs in the first three innings of the opener. The Vikings plated four in the first, four in the second and three in the third to lead 11-3. It was all they would need. In that first inning for Stanfield, Thyler Monkus walked and Ryan Bai- ley reached when he was plunked. Then, with one out, Grogan parked a 1-0 fastball over the left field fence to put Stanfield up 3-0 with considerable mo- mentum. Vale wasted no time in coming back. The Vikings’ first three batters reached base, and the fourth plated Vale’s first run with a sac- rifice fly. Grogan’s three RBIs were the most for the Ti- gers, and Tony Flores pitched in with one himself. Grogan only lasted 2.2 in- nings on the mound, allow- ing 11 runs, eight earned, on six hits while walking six and fanning five. In re- lief, Hunter Barnes went the final 3.1, allowing just one hit and striking out three. ——— VALE 11, STANFIELD 5 SHS300 110 0 — 5 7 2 VHS443 000 X — 11 7 0 D. Grogan, H. Barnes and T. Monkus; Rodriguez, Romans and Schoorl 2B: Schoorl (VHS), Romans (VHS), Weber (VHS). 3B: Schoorl (VHS), Hasselbach (VHS). HR: D. Grogan (SHS). STANFIELD 6, VALE 4 In the nightcap, Stanfield scored three runs in the last two innings to secure a 6-4 comeback victory over Vale. Klay Jenson struck out nine over seven innings and came through offensively, singling home the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth. It was Jenson’s only hit of the game. Ryan Bailey was 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Jenson al- lowed just four runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking four. Stanfield took a 2-0 lead after the top of the first in- ning when Monkus walked and scored on an error, and Grogan was beaned and scored on a wild pitch. Jen- son would hold down the big bats of Vale until the bottom half of the fourth when the Vikings plated two with a double, a triple and a sac fly. It would remain tied at two until the sixth. Bailey singled, moved to second when Barnes bunted, and scored on Jenson’s laser up the middle. Keith Wampler walked, and then Steven SEE ROUNDUP/A11