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