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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2015)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 SPORTS Umatilla hires volleyball and assistant football coaches Echo hits skid at softball tourney The Echo Outrage 18U softball team started well, EXW¿QLVKHGLWVZHHNHQGZLWK t h r e e SOFTBALL straight losses at a tourna- PHQWLQ0F0LQQYLOOH The Outrage defeated the Salem Warriors, 8-3, to open play on Saturday, EXWWKHQIHOOWR0LG9DOOH\ Explosion, 13-8. Their late efforts came up just short in a 7-5 loss to Forest Grove Rampage that began Sun- day’s action, and then Echo fell, 9-2, when it ran into the Explosion again in their WRXUQDPHQW¿QDOH 0DF.HQ]LH *RQ]DOHV pitched in the win over Salem, and allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out six and ZDONLQJ¿YH 0DULVVD 3UDWW SURYLGHG the most consistent bat and recorded at least one hit in ev- HU\JDPH6KH¿QLVKHGIRU 9 with two runs and one RBI. *RQ]DOHV IRU DQG .HOO\0F/DXJKOLQIRU drove in a team-high three RBIs over the weekend, and each hit a home run. Erika Parks (4 for 8) hit two doubles, scored three runs and added two more RBIs, DQG.HQ]LH%ODQNHQVKLS IRU DQG .HQGUD +DUW for 7) each hit two RBIs. Blankenship led the team with four runs scored. Umatilla High School will have two new coaches this fall. The Umatilla School Board approved recom- mendations to hire a volley- ball coach and an assistant football coach on Thursday. UHS math teacher and previous volleyball assis- tant coach Sonia Borders was promoted to the head position, and Dan Durfey was hired as an assistant football coach. BASKETBALL: to think outside of the box: How do you get them here? In addition to the Department, who also relationship. Takin’ It to the What do you do (when waining attendance, couldn’t handle it. From Streets, though the same they’re here)?” Thompson said that there, it was shelved. continued from Page A8 One outside-the-box SpudFest, as a whole, But in the early 2000s base concept as Shake n’ three basketball. idea hatched last year was just didn’t have the kind with the arrival of a Bake, is “apples and or- That tournament was of community support Hermiston boys bas- anges,” Thompson said. WR KLUH DQ 0& DW FHQWHU “There really isn’t called Shake n’ Bake, that things like it have ketball coach and new court. Thompson men- and ran the duration of now. Plus, there just athletic director , “fresh any tie from what was tioned trying to attract big- SpudFest from 1994- wasn’t enough man- blood and fresh ideas” done then to what is be- ger and better vendors so 1997. The tournament power to go around. The infused themselves into ing done now,” Thomp- the fan experience is im- was running fine for the tournament was pawned WKH IUD\ ,W ZDV /DUU\ son said. “It was a way proved, as well. first couple of years with off first to the high Usher, then the boys to bring funding for pro- “Everyone kinda does 50 or 60 teams signed school, which didn’t baskeball coach, who grams, bring families to the same things, so were up, but by 1997 partic- have enough staff. It spearheaded Takin’ It to town. That was more of going, ‘What can we do dif- ipation dwindled to just was then , handed it to the Streets. It was Usher its origin. It wasn’t nec- ferently?’” Thompson said. about 10 or 15 teams, the fledgling Hermiston who contacted Hoopfest essarily trying to bring- “I guess were still trying.” Joe Thompson said. But the relationship with Parks and Recreation in Spokane and built a ing back the past.” Hoopfest is at the center of Takin’ It to the Streets. It has been from the be- ginning and will be for the duration. Thompson said Hoopfest is very self-aware about what its become, “the “granddady,” as he put it, and they are not unwilling to use their experience and expertise in helping oth- er, smaller tournaments be successful. That said, it still has a lo- cal focus. The money raised, outside of the local econom- ic impacts at places like restaurants, hotels and gas stations, goes toward high school athletic programs or local AAU teams. Coach- es from schools around the area bring their teams and get a cut of the funds. For Thompson, and many others, it’s about exposure through fund-raising. “It’s a great family week- end,” he said. “It’s a way to bring the kids to town with mom and dad. Whether you’re playing downtown in front of the Herald, or you’re down here at East- side, it’s a great environ- ment: shaded sidewalks are a great way to stay cool; great retailers downtown. It’s a fun, positive environ- ment ... It’s a great way to FILE PHOTO get the family together and bring the town of Hermis- A team member from team Durantulas, pictured in white, takes on a team member from team Never Seen Sunday during the ninth-annual Takin’ it to the Streets three-on-three basketball tournament last summer on Main Street in Hermiston. ton some exposure.” continued from Page A8 were very generous with their time, and Coach Ush- er has talked to them a few WLPHV 6LQFH RXU ¿UVW GD\ we’ve sponsored a court in Spokane and we put our information in their packet in Spokane in that tourna- ment.” They even made up T-shirts with the tour- nament’s name and dates screen printed on them and wore them around the tour- nament. Hermiston isn’t alone in piggy-backing its tour- ney on another’s. Yakima’s Hotshots 3-on-3 tourna- ment advertises on Takin’ It to the Streets’ website for its August event. The proactive expo- sure worked. Participants from 2005’s Hoopfest saw T-shirts, packet information and the sponsored court and thought that would be a fun weekend, too. Usher has kept track of participants and teams and sends them an annual newsletter about the upcoming tourney. 6LQFH WKDW ¿UVW ÀHGJ ling weekend, Takin’ It to the Streets is entering its 10th year, has grown into a 160-team tournament of teams comprised of sec- ond-graders through adults. +RWHOV ¿OO XS 0DLQ 6WUHHW is packed from Northeast 4th Street to Highway 395 DQGDOVR¿OOWKHSDUNEHKLQG (DVWVLGH0DUNHW “There’s been a plateau, DQG ZHUH NLQGD ¿JXULQJ out,” Thompson said. “I know from what I under- stand there are other tour- naments that have had the same kind of thing happen this year where they’ve reached a certain spot where (participants) trying WR¿JXUHRXWWKHFRVWRIIXHO and lodging, they’re having to make choices. You got SOFTBALL: continued from Page A8 other’s teamwork.” That teamwork was on display during a particular- ly grueling district game a couple weeks ago. At the district tourna- ment in Irrigon, Hermis- ton took on host Columbia during the largest heat wave to hit the West Coast in de- cades. Columbia jumped to a quick lead, but the re- silient squad didn’t back down. After a 1 p.m. start, the game was delayed due to the heat. Several Hermis- ton players were complain- ing of heat exhaustion, and the game was delayed to get them hydrated. It took about an hour for the ball- JDPHWRUHVXPHDQGLW¿Q ished around 6 p.m. But the long day seem- ingly had no effect on Hermiston. They rebound- ed for the 11-4 win the next day, and held off a charging STREETS: Columbia squad, 17-14, in the winner-take-all rubber match. “They showed how they can work as a team, and get themselves where they need to go and what they need to do,” manag- HU /RUHQD 6LPSVRQ VDLG ³,W¶V DPD]LQJ WR TXDOLI\ for state). The kids have worked really hard for it and they deserve it.” Offensively, Hermiston appears to be in a good place. In its last three games, the team has scored an average of 15.7 runs. But the real advantage Hermiston has entering the state tourney is its familiar- ity with the heat. Saturday and Sunday’s temperatures in Gresham are predicted to touch 91 degrees, which is approaching standard summer desert tempera- tures. “I think we will do very well with the heat,” Simp- son said. “It’s an advantage. We’ve already played in it.” PHOTO COURTESY HERMISTON LITTLE LEAGUE Top row (from left to right): Breanna Simpson, Manager Lorena Simpson, Regan Hereford, Coach Brandy Findley, Eliza Rodriguez, Kendyl Inners, Coach Crys- tal Inners, Marybeth Hernan- dez, Breanna Reyes-Purcell. Bottom row: Abigail Findley, Akira Pierson, Cayleen Cummings, Alexa Kestler, Kaylee Billsborough. 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