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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Tigers 6WDQ¿HOGVWD\VKRWDJDLQVW5LYHUVLGH Fourteen-run fourth propels hunting inning Tigers to blowout for title I went home for Easter this weekend and had a good time with my family making jokes about each other. Most of them ended up being about me. As my dad says, “Ça va.” But while I was there, I told as many people who would listen about this small-school baseball team that’s been hot as Indian curry. I mentioned their run GLIIHUHQWLDO,WROGWKHPDERXWWKH¿UVW game of the season and its dominating nature. I told them I haven’t seen a baseball team this good in awhile. ,NHSWWHOOLQJWKHPDERXWWKH6WDQ¿HOG Tigers and their unbelievable start to the season. Let’s take a look at some team stats ¿UVW7KHHDVLHVWQXPEHUWR¿QGLVLWV run differential, which is posted over at OSAA.org. In six games, the Tigers have allowed 10 runs and scored — wait for it — 91. Ninety-one!. They are yet to score fewer than 10 runs in a game and have scored 20 or more twice. They’re hitting .462 as a Sam team with a team-wide on- Barbee base-plus-slugging of 1.195. FROM THE SIDELINES Their on-base percentage is .545. Their slugging percentage is .651. I don’t even know what to do with these numbers. I can’t quantify them. All I can do is gape and say, “That’s pretty good, right?” Let’s take a look at some individual numbers now through six games. You might want to sit down. Thyler Monkus, a rarity in that he catches and leads off, is batting .667. Let that sink in for a second. He’s 14-for-21 at the plate. He’s got an OBP of .750, a slugging of 1.143, giving him an unreal and unfair OPS of 1.893. He’s got two triples already. He’s got three doubles and a homer. He’s scored 17 runs already. Alone, he’s scored more runs than two teams in the Eastern Oregon League. Dylan Grogan is right up there with the junior catcher. Grogan’s slash line: .611/.652/.889. Again, what do you even do with these? Celebrate them, obviously, but the only word I can come up to describe them is gaudy, and gaudy has some connotations that would VXJJHVWVXSHU¿FLDO7KHUH¶VQRWKLQJ VXSHU¿FLDODERXWWKRVHQXPEHUV7KH\¶UH the real deal. But it’s not just the Grogan and Monkus show offensively. Four other guys — Tony Flores, Brody Woods, Makiah Blankenship and Ryan Bailey — are hitting .500 or better through six games. Each has an OBP of .500 or better. Jason Fitzpatrick is hitting .438 ZLWKDQ23%RIRYHU$OO¿YHKDYH OPSs over 1.000. ,W¶VFOHDUWKDW6WDQ¿HOGLVDJRRG offensive team. But they can play defense, too. Grogan started the 2016 season with a perfect game over Union. He’s tossed LQQLQJVVRIDUDOORZHG¿YHUXQV (four earned) on nine hits while striking out 21 and walking just four. His ERA, at 2.80, seems massive compared to his teammates’. Keith Wampler is the only other Tiger pitcher to allow an earned run, and he only gave up one in 4.0 IP, giving him a 1.75 ERA. Flores has 9.0 IP without allowing an earned run. Woods has tossed 7.0 IP of clean ball, and Bailey and Adrian Renner have hurled clean innings, as well. But here’s the thing about this 6WDQ¿HOGWHDPWKDWLPSUHVVHGPHPRVW,W isn’t the talent and skill. It’s the attitude. After Grogan tossed his perfecto, I tried to get him to talk about it a little. Maybe I’d get a good quote about feeling good and wanting to do it. I don’t even know if Grogan had known what happened until I mentioned it. He was just concerned with the team winning. ³7KHPRVWLPSRUWDQWWKLQJLV6WDQ¿HOG won,” he said. 7KDW¶VKXJH7KLV6WDQ¿HOGWHDPKDG expectations of winning a title last year, and was ousted in the second round of the state playoffs. This team is intent on changing that outcome and winning the 7LJHUV¶¿UVW$VWDWHWLWOHDQG¿UVWVLQFH winning the 2A/1A division in 2011. These numbers won’t stay as crazy as they are now. That’s nearly impossible. But they do indicate the level this 6WDQ¿HOGWHDPLVFXUUHQWO\SOD\LQJDW² a really high level; a state title-winning level. — Sam Barbee is a sports reporter for the Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian based out of Hermiston. He can be reached by email at sbarbee@ hermistonherald.com or on Twitter @ SamBarbee1. Follow Herald Sports @ HHeraldSports. HDUQHGDQGRQHZDONWR¿QLVK off a combined no-hitter. On offense, the Tigers’ bats started off slow against Pirates starter Wayne Killion, man- aging four hits and three runs WKURXJKWKH¿UVWWKUHHLQQLQJV But in the fourth inning, it By ERIC SINGER Staff Writer went off the rails for Riverside, For the sixth time this DV6WDQ¿HOGEDWWHGWKURXJKWKH VHDVRQ WKH 6WDQ¿HOG 7LJHUV lineup twice to put up 14 runs reached the double-digit runs to grab a stranglehold on the game. mark in a game. 6WDQ¿HOG QHWWHG WKRVH UXQV 6WDQ¿HOG REOLWHUDWHG OHDJXH foe Riverside 22-1 in a Co- as 15 men reached base — lumbia Basin match-up last nine hits, four walks, and two Wednesday afternoon, continu- hit-by-pitches — including a ing the team’s incredible tear to stretch of nine of the last 10 in the inning. start the season. Ryan Bailey, Tony Flores, Junior Tony Flores got the start on the mound for the Ti- and Jason Fitzpatrick each had gers and he shut out the Pirates a team-high three hits in the over four innings, allowing no game, while Bailey led with hits and just two walks to go ¿YH5%,V7K\OHU0RQNXVDQG with seven strikeouts. Adrian Keith Wampler each scored Renner came on in relief to four times. It was the second time this SLWFK WKH ¿IWK LQQLQJ ZKHUH he allowed just one run (un- VHDVRQ WKDW 6WDQ¿HOG HFOLSVHG the 20-run plateau, as well as the fourth time that the game ¿QLVKHGHDUO\GXHWRWKHUXQ differential. The Tigers have now scored 91 runs in their six games this season — an average of 15.2 per game — which is the most in all of the OSAA by more than 30 runs. In the same span, the team has allowed just 10 runs — or 1.7 per game — as the pitching staff has thrown a perfect game and a combined no-hitter in the young season. So what is the teams’ secret to the surge? “We’ve just been putting to- gether good games all the way DURXQG´ 6WDQ¿HOG FRDFK %U\- an Johnson said. “We’ve em- phasized good at-bats up and down the order and throwing strikes on the mound ... we ha- ven’t played perfect baseball, but they’ve played pretty well so far.” 6WDQ¿HOGKDVEHHQSURSHOOHG by its wealth of experience as well, as the team returned all but one player from the URVWHU WKDW ¿QLVKHG ZLWK 20 wins and a trip to the state TXDUWHU¿QDOV On the mound, Dylan Gro- gan and Tony Flores have been solid at the front end of the pitching staff, combining IRU ¿YH UXQV DOORZHG KLWV 40 strikeouts and seven walks over 19 innings so far. And in the batters box, 6WDQ¿HOG KDV FRPELQHG IRU D .462 team batting average as the lineup has established itself with tough at-bats every time up. Johnson said with this type of roster he knew a good start was possible, but he did not ex- pect to see this type of outburst. “I didn’t expect us to win by these wide margins, that’s for sure,” he said. “But these kids See TIGERS, A12 Echo uses big innings to down Colton Mackenzie Gonzales strikes out 10 in dominant performance By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer On a chilly Thursday af- ternoon with a biting wind FRPLQJ LQ IURP ULJKW ¿HOG two innings separated the Echo Cougars and Colton Vi- kings in a 3A interconference matchup in Echo. The Cougars scored eight runs in the bottom of the sec- ond, buoyed by three Vikings errors, and plated six runs in the fourth en route to a 14-1 mercy-rule shellacking. “We hit the ball hard to- day,” Echo (2-1) coach Bryan Bailey said. “We had some hard-hit balls. We executed bunts. We executed hit-and- runs. We executed stolen bas- es. Overall, they played well today. I was pleased.” Mackenzie Gonzales tossed an abbreviated com- SOHWH JDPH WRVVLQJ ¿YH LQ- nings, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out 10 and walk- ing just two. Bailey wanted the junior hurler to work on starting at-bats ahead with ¿UVWSLWFK VWULNHV LQVWHDG RI starting behind and going deep into counts, elevating the pitch count. “There’s no doubt that (Gonzales) brings a high stan- dard when she steps in that circle,” Bailey said. “That was our big goal today. I said, ‘Let’s not walk any lead-off hitters and then work from there.’ And she did a great job. She threw strikes. She was consistent. Her defense backed her up.” Thursday, Gonzales was masterful getting ahead of hit- ters. Of the 19 at-bats Gonza- les pitched, 14 of them start- HGZLWKD¿UVWSLWFKVWULNH,Q fact, the worst initial count Gonzales ever faced was 2-0 in the top of the second, an at- bat she ended with a soft pop- up into her own glove. Gon- zales’ third-inning walk came DIWHU D ¿UVWSLWFK VWULNH WKHQ IRXU EDOOV DQG KHU ¿IWKLQ- ning walk started with a ball before going full. *RQ]DOHV ¿QLVKHG ZLWK D strike rate of about 65 percent (91 pitches, 59 strikes). “I trust my defense,” Gon- zales said. “They’re great. They work hard. They put themselves in front of every ball, no matter what.” The junior was also effec- tive with her change-up, al- lowing just one hit on the bru- WDOWKLQJD¿UVWLQQLQJORRSHU off the bat of Cassondra Neff, plating Shelby Marshall for &ROWRQ¶V ¿UVW DQ RQO\ run. “Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t,” catch- er Erika Parks said of the STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Echo junior Mackenzie Gonzales delivers a pitch early during the Cougars’ 14-0 rout of Colton on Thursday in Echo. STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Echo senior Cheyenne +illiard sZings at a pitch during the Àrst inning of Echo’s 14-1 Zin over Colton on Thursday in Echo. bloop single. “She also struck out three hitters with it, too.” Offensively, Echo played complete. Nine different Cougars scored runs. Nine different Cougars had hits. Seven different Cougars had RBI. Parks had two RBI and a double, Cynthia Curiel had two RBI and a double, Alex Pollick had two RBIs and a double, and Cheyenne Hil- liard, Jamie Christopher, Mo- See ECHO, A12
