WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
Herald Sports
IN BRIEF
Lien, Simmons
lead Lewis-Clark
title surge
Chris Lien opened his
inal round at the Frontier
Conference Champion-
ships in Tempe, Arizona,
with three-straight bird-
ies, and the Lewis-Clark
State senior from Hep-
pner went on to post the
lowest round of the 54-
hole tournament to win
the men’s title on April
20.
Lien made the turn at
ASU Karsten Golf Course
at three-under par for the
day and was ive-under
before hitting bogeys on
two of the inal four holes
to come into the club-
house with a 68. That was
enough to surpass Rocky
Mountain’s Colton Mur-
phy, who entered the inal
round with a four-stroke
lead that disintegrated
when he shot three bo-
geys and two bogeys on
the front nine to make the
turn at seven-over.
Lien inished with a
three-round score of 76-
74-68—218 and Murphy
came in at 76-70-79—
225 to tie for second. L-C
State’s Casey Brown held
a two-stroke lead on Lien
headed into the inal 18
but was hurt but a dou-
ble bogey on No. 5 and a
triple bogey on No. 18 to
inish tied for second with
74-74-77—225.
Lien’s rise to the top
on Wednesday mirrored
that of the team as the
Warriors overcame a ive-
shot deicit to win the
team title with a score
of
304-301-292—897.
Rocky Mountain inished
six strokes back with
309-291-303—903.
Kurt Simmons also
played a huge part in the
Warriors’ surge, and the
senior from Hermiston
shot a one-under 70 for
his best round of the tour-
nament to inish tied for
fourth with 80-76-70—
226. Simmons shot an
eagle on the par-5 No. 10
hole and was on pace to
match Lien’s inal round
until a double bogey on
No. 16.
The Warriors women’s
team inish second by 10
strokes to Rocky Moun-
tain with a three-round
total of 994. L-C State
led by the fourth-place
inishes of Karina Davila
and Kayla Monroe with
242 totals, and Hermiston
native Janci Spoo placed
13th with a 90-87-90—
267.
The men’s team win
secured them a spot in the
NAIA National Champi-
onships to be held May
24-27 at TPC Deere Run
in Moline, Illinois. The
women’s team will need
an at-large bid to qualify
for their championships,
which are May 17-20 at
Savannah Quarters Coun-
try Club in Pooler, Geor-
gia.
Kreps sinks hole-in-
one at Willow Run
Ryan Kreps sank a
hole-in-one during his
round at Willow Run
Golf Course in Board-
man.
Kreps aced the 117-
yard par 3 No. 4 hole on
April 6 using his Ping
9-iron.
Kreps has been play-
ing golf for six years
and it was his first hole-
in-one.
Hermiston senior
chose BMCC from
several other
offers
Tyler Sexton has had
a love for the game of
baseball for as long as
he can remember.
That love has grown
stronger and stronger
over the course of his
high school career, and
now he has the opportu-
nity to take his talents to
the collegiate level for at
least the next two years.
Earlier this month at a
ceremony at Hermiston
High School, Sexton put
pen to paper and signed
on to play baseball at
Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College.
“Every kid has that
dream of playing at
the next level either in
college or the major
leagues,” Sexton said. “I
liked the school and I like
the program, so it’s good
to ind a place where I
feel like I belong.
“It’s deinitely a bless-
ing to be able to maintain
my health so I was able
to play at the next level.”
The Bulldog senior
said he considered sever-
al other schools as well,
such as Yakima Valley
Community
College,
Clackamas Community
College and Columbia
Basin College, but in the
end Blue Mountain won
over his heart.
Sexton said that Blue
Mountain coach Brad
Baker will slot him in as
a pitcher, but also wants
to utilize his powerful
bat and 6-foot-4 frame
at first base.
The decision to attend
Blue Mountain came
with the stamp of ap-
proval from his parents,
father Jim and mother
Kim, who are excited to
have just a short drive to
Pendleton to be able to
watch Sexton at the Tim-
berwolves home games.
“My mom is espe-
cially happy I’m staying
close to home,” Sexton
said with a smile. “(My
family) is going to be
able to make it to home
games since it’s only a
half hour drive versus
Clackamas or Yakima
Valley that were an hour
to four hours away.”
Through 14 games for
Hermiston in his senior
season, Sexton is hitting
.307 (12-39) with 10
RBI, eight runs scored
and a pair of doubles at
the plate. He has also
been very strong on the
mound as a reliever and
starter, throwing 26.2
total innings with a 3.78
ERA while racking up
33 strikeouts to 16 walks
and 17 hits.
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Sorey, Smith continue hot streak
Intermountain
team ropers win
title in Hermiston
Team ropers Trent Sorey
and Calgary Smith are get-
ting hot at just the right time
and continued their climb
in the season standings by
winning the aggregate title
at the Intermountain High
School Rodeo in Hermiston
over the weekend.
Sorey, of Pendleton, and
Smith, of Adams, were the
fastest in each competition
round to win with 12.83
seconds on two head. They
started the weekend with
a 5.56 to win the irst half
of the doubleheader rodeo,
then posted a 7.27 to win the
second half and give them
a streak of three straight
wins. The pair has shot up
the season leaderboard with
37 points on their last four
steers and trail event lead-
ers Zach and Jake Raley by
one point, 48-47, after the
brothers from Brush Prai-
rie, Washington, scored just
nine points in Hermiston.
Smith also won the boys’
Papa Murphy’s All-Around
title and the Boulet Boots
that came with it. He also
won one round of tie-down
roping to inish with 30
points and edge teammate
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Preston Pederson chase down his calf on his
way to a 14.93-second time in tie down roping Friday at the
Intermountain High School Rodeo in Hermiston.
Preston Pederson of Herm-
iston, who inished with 26.
Pederson won two event
aggregate titles — tie-
down, 24.24 on two, and
steer wrestling, 7.6 on one.
He was also the champi-
on cow cutter for the boys
with 284 points on two, but
those points did not factor
into the all-around stand-
ings.
Pederson’s inish in the
cutting unoficially ties him
for the season champion-
ship, but he’s still awaiting
inal word from the Oregon
High School Rodeo Associ-
ation’s number crunchers.
No other Intermountain
team members won event
titles in Hermiston, but
Heppner’s Jacee Currin
was the top girls’ rookie
and inished with 40 total
points while winning the
second round of goat tying
in 7.89 seconds.
Hope Luttrell of Carlton
won the girls’ all-around
with 54 points and was the
aggregate champion in bar-
rel racing with 35.102 on
two, and breakaway roping
with 5.93 on two.
Dawson Branton of Jef-
ferson was the boys’ rookie
champion with 23 points
and won the irst round of
bull riding with an 81-point
ride.
Chase Dougherty of
Woodburn won the bull rid-
ing aggregate with 154 on
two, and other event win-
ners were: Orrin Ouska of
Dundee in bareback, 128
on two; Joe Scott in saddle
bronc, 121 on two; Maria
Millard of White City in
pole bending, 41.050 on
two; Kimmer Severance
of Prineville in goat tying,
16.13 on two; Aimee Davis
of Central Point in girls’
cutting, 286 on two.
Intermountain
team
coach Curtis Pederson said
it was lot of work for the
team to host the three-day
rodeo, but he was happy to
see their effort in working
the rodeo as well as com-
peting.
“We really tried to pro-
duce a good rodeo and we
had a strong showing out
of our own team while they
were working at it and pro-
ducing the rodeo, and that
was nice to see,” he said,
adding the team’s family
members and sponsors also
stepped up big to make it a
successful weekend for all.
“The sponsors that we have
to represent the rodeo is re-
ally what makes the rodeo
ly, and makes the week-
end ly. (The team’s) got
strong Umatilla and Mor-
row County support, from
the whole nine yards we get
a good support group and
good sponsors.”
Next on the schedule for
Oregon’s high school ro-
deo season is the Prineville
doublheader on May 7-8.
Hermiston drops double header against Hood River
By ANTONIO SIERRA
Staff Writer
It was a heartbreaker then
a headscratcher for the Herm-
iston baseball team Saturday,
as the Bulldogs dropped both
games in a doubleheader
against Hood River at Ar-
mand Larive Middle School.
Hermiston had a chance to
leapfrog the irst-place Eagles
in the Columbia River Con-
ference standings by winning
both games, but the Bulldogs
lost the irst game 3-2 before
falling to the Eagles again
19-9 in ive innings in a game
which they looked poised to
win at several times.
Although the 10-run rule
was invoked in the second
game, the inal score didn’t
relect the Bulldogs’ hot start.
After being held to two
runs in the irst game, the
Hermiston bats exploded for
ive runs in the irst inning
and four runs in the second.
Despite the strong show-
ing at the plate, Hermiston
(9-8, 2-3 CRC) wasn’t able to
hang onto the lead against the
third ranked team in the state.
After the Eagles (15-3, 5-0
CRC) went down 1-2-3 in
the irst inning, Hood River
matched Hermiston with ive
runs in the second inning and
four runs in the third.
The Bulldogs continued to
get on base against Hood Riv-
er pitcher Isaiah Enriquez, but
didn’t score after the second
inning.
Meanwhile, the Eagles
continued to rack up runs,
plating six in the fourth and
four in the ifth.
The Hermiston coaching
staff made several pitching
changes, but neither Tyler
Sexton, Slade Gritz, Andrew
James or Kody Moss could
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
The Bulldogs’ R.J. Robles comes home Saturday during
a Columbia River Conference game against Hood River in
Hermiston.
solve the Eagles line-up.
The Bulldogs pitching
staff also had to deal with a
couple of ielding errors and
gusty game conditions that
led to some routine outs be-
coming hits.
Given that both teams
dealt with the windy condi-
tions, Hermiston coach Lance
Hawkins didn’t buy the
weather as an excuse for his
team’s performance.
“That isn’t an issue in my
book,” Hawkins said.
Hood River is well known
for its offense — the Eagles
averaged 7.8 runs per game
going into Saturday’s con-
test — and Hawkins said the
Bulldog defense couldn’t al-
low them to extend innings.
“They teed off on us,” said
R.J. Robles, who played out-
ield in the Game 2. Pitching
for the Bulldogs in the irst
game, Robles kept the Eagles’
potent line-up at bay for most
of the game.
Hermiston scored a run in
the top of the irst and Robles
pitched a no-hitter through
the ifth inning.
But opposing pitcher Pat-
rick Harvey broke up the bid
with a home run and also hit
the decisive double that put
the Eagles up for good.
SOFTBALL
HERMISTON
9-0,
HOOD RIVER 4-10 — At
Hermiston, Ellery Jones hit
a two-run home run in the
fourth inning and Rebecca
Englebrecht hit a three-run
homer in the sixth to lift
Hermiston to a 9-4 win over
Hood River in the irst half of
their CRC doubleheader on
Saturday.
The Bulldogs tallied 11
hits in the win, but couldn’t
keep the production up in the
second game and only had
one runner past irst base in a
ive-hit, 10-0 loss.
In Game 1, Hood River (9-
9, 2-3 CRC) went up 4-0 after
scoring three runs in the top
of the third thanks to a couple
of Hermiston (12-7, 3-2) er-
rors and a Zoe Munn double,
but Bulldogs pitcher Julissa
Almaguer was able to lean on
her defense from there.
Almaguer, who inished
with three strikeouts and
two walks, induced ground
ball after ground ball in the
later innings and the defense
played clean ball to erase
Hood River scoring chances
in the fourth, ifth and seventh
innings.
Jones’ two-run shot in the
third began the comeback and
Hermiston added seven runs
on seven hits in the sixth.
Amanda Barron’s two-out
single scored Mikayla Kopacz
for the eventual game-win-
ning run. Englebrecht (2 for
4), Jones (3 for 4), Kopacz (2
for 4) and Kylie Hinkley (2
for 2) led the Bulldogs hitters.
In Game 2, Hood River
took the lead with a two-out
rally in the irst inning when
Janessa Castaneda capped a
string of four straight singles
with a two-RBI hit to left
ield.
Hermiston pitcher Tay-
lor Betz struck out ive and
walked none, but gave up
14 hits and the Hermiston
defense committed six errors
behind her.
Bulldogs place 3rd at Big River
Lowest round of
the season not
enough for win
By MATT ENTRUP
Staff Writer
The Bulldogs shot their
best round as a team but
couldn’t catch the Pendle-
ton Buckaroos in boys golf
Thursday at Big River Golf
Course.
All ive Bucks came in
between 70 and 77 to break
the school record for lowest
round with a 294 and win
Hermiston Invitational.
Hermiston shot 329 for
its lowest team score of the
year and inished third be-
hind The Dalles (310).
Ander Lind was 10
strokes ahead of his pre-
vious season-best and in-
ished third with a 73.
“It was the irst time
when we dipped down to
what we wanted to do,”
said Hermiston coach Aar-
on Lind. “It’s the lowest
we’ve done in a competi-
tion, signiicantly. … And
we know we can be better
than that.”
Lind said he was happy
to see Jared Thacker shoot
an 80 that was second on the
team, but he knows Thacker
isn’t satisied with the score.
Dylan Martin (85), Kayden
Mecham (91) and Tyler
Cameron (91) completed
Hermiston’s round.
“The kids are working
hard and we’ve still got to
put to some stuff together,
but we’re deinitely moving
in the right direction,” Lind
said.
Mac-Hi placed fourth
with a team score of 344.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Anders Lind tees off on the 6th hole during the Hermiston Invitational on
Thursday at Big River Golf Course in Umatilla.