WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
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Stanield championship
game a masterpiece
Cougars earn 5 irst team honors
By MATT ENTRUP
The Echo Cougars had
a tremendous season in the
Eastern Oregon League,
inishing second in the dis-
trict and earning a trip to
the state tournament. The
Cougars were well rep-
resented in the all-league
teams, earning ive irst
team selections, one second
team selection and one hon-
orable mention.
The irst team selections
were pitcher MacKenzie
Gonzales (11-8, 2.49 ERA,
122 K’s, 117.2 IP), catcher
Erika Parks (.301 avg., 19
RBI, 27 runs, 19 stolen bas-
es), irst baseman Kenzie
Blankenship (.402 avg., 7
HR, 32 RBI, 10 doubles),
outielder Hannah McCa-
rty (.400 avg., 37 runs), and
designated player Raychal
Campana (.391 avg., 12
RBI).
four hits gave the Tigers
the lead. Woods came
Now that the dust next with a sacriice ly to
has settled in Corvallis center, and it appeared the
and Keizer from anoth- Tigers just might continue
er amazing inish to the their high-scoring romp
high school sports year, through the postseason
it’s good opportunity to after all.
take another look at what
Should have known
may have been the best better.
3A baseball game
Although Stan-
of the season.
ield would chase
The Stanield Ti-
Draper from the
gers’ 5-4 win over
mound after three
Santiam Christian
innings, the Eagles’
in the 3A champi-
bullpen proved up
onship had every-
to snuff and lefty
thing a spectator
Hunter Bain gave
could ask for in a Matt
his team four score-
Entrup
game.
less innings of relief
It had a back
to keep the Tigers
story. The two teams had within striking distance.
met about a month prior
Stanield added its
with the Eagles earning third run in the third when
a come-from-behind 2-1 Grogan hit a sacriice
win with a walk-off home ly to bring Monkus in,
run by star pitcher Dru and Monkus then made
Draper in the bottom of a nice double play in the
the seventh inning.
bottom half of the inning
It had historical sig- by catching a popped-up
niicance. The Tigers bunt and then slinging the
had four players on the ball to irst just ahead of
team who had watched a sliding Chance Ottinger.
their older brothers win
As I rushed to get the
titles on that same ield Rockets’ game story writ-
in 2011, and assistant ten and delivered, Bain
coach Trevor Morris was stranded a pair of Tigers
also on that team. Two of in both the fourth and ifth
them (Dylan Grogan and innings, and Grogan had
Thyler Monkus) were bat a pair of strikeouts to go
boys in that game.
with a pickoff at irst by
“It means a lot be- Monkus to highlight two
cause now (our brothers) more scoreless innings by
can’t rub it in our faces,” the defense.
Monkus said.
But then in the sixth,
It had heart. The game the Eagles sucked the ex-
was the inal one in the citement from Stanield’s
third base box for Tigers dugout with a three-run
coach Bryan Johnson, surge led by (who else?)
who announced at the be- Draper, who inished the
ginning of the season that game 2 for 4 with three
he would be taking a job RBIs. After a Stanield
outside of the district at error gave the Eagles a
the end of the school year. new lease on life, the
His contributions to Stan- Tiger killer appeared to
ield baseball, athletics in have done it again with a
general, and the commu- bases-clearing double into
nity will ensure he’s long the gap that tied the score
remembered and sorely 3-3 and lipped the mo-
missed.
mentum back to Santiam
It had action. Oh boy, Christian.
did it have action. Dou-
“We had to take a
ble plays, hits in the gap, minute because we kind
a game-saving play at of topped off there and
the plate, a failed suicide stopped talking in the
squeeze, great clutch dugout,” Woods said.
pitching and three extra
“The fans are great.
innings; the only thing They were so loud. They
this game was missing helped us get back into
was the long ball.
the game,” Bailey said.
It was also painful-
Grogan got the Tigers
ly long for those of us in out of the inning with
the press box nervously a ly ball to right ield,
watching deadlines as the where Jason Fitzpatrick
shadows crept across the was having a good game
inield at Volcanoes Sta- as the team’s only senior
dium.
starter. Fitzpatrick went 2
“For a sport that you for 5 at the plate and in the
just stand there, I don’t seventh inning had a slid-
know if I’ve ever been ing catch in foul territory
that tired,” Grogan said.
near the dugout called
The game was a minute off (some would argue
shy of three hours, which wrongly) for being out of
actually ended up being a play.
good thing as well.
Grogan pitched out of
I had just come from a jam again in the seventh
watching the Pilot Rock and stranded Ottinger at
Rockets beat the Union second with a ly to Justin
Bobcats for the 2A/1A Keeney in center. Keeney
softball title in true-cham- would come up big for the
pion form. There would Tigers later in the game.
be no Rocky Balboa sto-
The top of the eighth
ry for the Eagles, as the started off great for the
Rockets beat them mer- Tigers as Bailey singled
cilessly, 9-2, for the ifth to lead off, stole second
time this season.
and went to third on a ly-
With just enough time out by Renner.
to make the drive from
But with one out and
Corvallis to Keizer for the runners on second and
start of Stanield’s game, third (Woods had walked
that left me transcrib- and also advanced on
ing interviews with the Renner’s ly), Johnson
Rockets’ Tehya Ostrom made his irst risky call of
and Bekah Roe as Stan- the game with Fitzpatrick
ield took a 2-0 lead in the at the plate.
irst inning on a single by
Having already put
Ryan Bailey and sacriice down a perfect bunt for a
ly from Brody Woods.
single earlier in the game,
The Tigers came out Fitzpatrick was asked to
hitting Bobcats ace Drap- do it again with the added
er hard, a good sign after pressure of sending Bai-
he’d gone the distance ley on the pitch. The pitch
and held them to one run came in low and outside,
in their last meeting.
and when Fitzpatrick was
Monkus was hit by a unable to make contact a
pitch in the game’s irst rundown ensued that end-
at-bat, and Tony Flores ed with Bailey tagged out
followed with a double at home by pitcher Daniel
to put runners in scoring Hendrix.
position right away. A
Fitzpatrick
then
rare strikeout by Grogan grounded out to the pitch-
followed (he more than er for the third out, and
made up for an 0-for-3 the writing was starting to
day at the plate later),
See TIGERS, A10
then the irst of Bailey’s
Staff writer
Hermiston Herald
33 runs).
The Riverside Pirates
were represented by pitcher
Skylar Wightman on sec-
ond team and irst baseman
Sadie Hasbell an honorable
mention.
———
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Echo junior Mackenzie
Gonzales delivers a pitch early
during the Cougars’ 14-0 rout
of Colton in this ile photo.
Inielder Cheyenne Hil-
liard was Echo’s lone sec-
ond team selection (.402
avg., 25 RBI, 27 runs) and
outielder Jamie Christo-
pher was named honorable
mention (.253 avg., 19 RBI,
EOL All-League 2016
SOFTBALL
Player of the Year: Jessica Lambert, sr.,
Weston-McEwen
Pitcher of the Year: Jessica Lambert, sr.,
Weston-McEwen
Coach of the Year: Jeff Griggs,
Weston-McEwen
FIRST TEAM
Pitchers
MacKenzie Gonzales, jr., Echo/Stanield
Jessica Lambert, sr., Weston-McEwen
Catchers
Erika Parks, sr., Echo/Stanield
Sydney Peal, jr., Weston-McEwen
Inield
Isabelle Dillow, sr., Weston-McEwen
Jordyn Lambert, fr., Weston-McEwen
Hannah Mizuta, jr., Vale
Asucena Trujillo, sr., Nyssa
Outield
Amie Coffman, fr., Weston-McEwen
Hannah McCarty, jr., Echo/Stanield
Lexi Mulvany, jr., Vale
First Base
Kenzie Blankenship, sr., Echo/Stanield
Utility
Mariah Moulton, so., Grant Union
Designated Player
Raychal Campana, sr., Echo/Stanield
SECOND TEAM
Pitchers
Kelsey Hawley, jr., Vale
Skylar Wightman, so., Riverside
Catchers
Gracie Jacobs, fr., Vale
Brianna Zweygardt, so., Grant Union
Inield
Cheyenne Hilliard, sr., Echo/Stanield
Bailey Hillmick, jr., Weston-McEwen
Amanda Trenkel, jr., Vale
Rayvn Walker, jr., Grant Union
Outield
Charmayne Bennett, so., Weston-McE-
wen
Darby Gassett, jr., Enterprise/Joseph/
Wallowa
Jocelynn Smith, sr., Grant Union
First Base
Natalie Williams, sr., Enterprise/Joseph/
Wallowa
Utility
Ashley Hill, jr., Weston-McEwen
Designated Player
Natalie Stearns, jr., Grant Union
HONORABLE MENTION
Pitcher
Cody Madden, so., Grant Union
Catcher
Madison Mitchell, jr., Nyssa
Inield
Madison Plew, so., Enterprise/Joseph/
Wallowa
Outield
Jamie Christopher, sr., Echo/Stanield
Whitney McClellan, so., Grant Union
Sicily Simpson, jr., Elgin/Imbler
Kelsy Weber, sr., Vale
First Base
Sadie Hasbell, jr., Riverside
Olivia Olvera, sr., Nyssa
Utility
Bridgett Dunham, sr., Umatilla
Lucy Trujillo, jr., Nyssa
Designated Player
Sydnee Thomas, fr., Vale
TIGERS TAKE TITLE IN THE 10TH
Stanfield comes up
big in crunch time
to win program’s
second state
championship
By MATT ENTRUP
Staff Writer
The Stanield Tigers
stopped Santiam Chris-
tian’s comeback bid cold
with a play at the plate, and
when the game went into
extra innings scored the go-
ahead runs on hits by Ryan
Bailey and Brody Woods to
beat the Eagles, 5-4, in 10
innings Friday in the OSAA
3A state championship.
Dylan Grogan pitched
eight innings for the Ti-
gers and Woods came off
short rest to throw the inal
two for his third win of the
postseason.
It was the second state
title for the Tigers under
head coach Bryan John-
son, who coached his i-
nal game for the Tigers on
Friday, and got one last ice
shower as the team cele-
brated on the ield.
“It couldn’t have ended
any better. I’m just so hap-
py we were able to get one
for these kids,” said John-
son, who also coached the
Tigers to the 2A/1A title in
2011. “Both teams, you’ve
got to give them credit. We
fought, they fought, that’s
what great teams do.
“It’s nice to beat the
private school, too. No of-
fense to the private school
but it means something for
Oregon public schools.
They have a great pro-
gram.”
Stanield scored two
runs in the irst and one
in the third, but Santiam
Christian rallied to knot it
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Stanield’s Dylan Grogan (20) and Brody Woods embrace
at home plate after Grogan scored the go-ahead run in the
top of the 10th inning of the Tigers’ 5-4 win against Santiam
Christian in the state 3A championship baseball game on
Friday in Keizer.
3-3 in the sixth.
The Eagles appeared to
have the winning run in
the bottom of the eighth
inning when Dru Draper
hit a hard ly to the gap
in right-center with a run-
ner on irst. Tanner Macal
rounded third and looked
to have a clear path to
the plate, but Tony Flores
took the relay from Jus-
tin Kenney and delivered
a perfect ball to catcher
Thyler Monkus for the
game-saving out.
“That was the most ex-
citing thing ever. Tony
made a great throw,”
Monkus said. “ Everybody
thought the game was go-
ing to be over right there
but he made a great throw
and got him out.”
The Tigers inally broke
the tie with no outs in the
top of the 10th.
Grogan was hit on
the shoulder by Santiam
Christian reliever Daniel
Hendrix to start the at-bat,
then scored from irst when
Bailey got his fourth hit of
the game on a double down
the third-base line.
“Honestly I didn’t even
see the ball when it came
off the bat,” Grogan said.
“I think I tracked it down
at second (base) and once
I seen it down and where
it was played at by the
left ielder I just went on
home.”
“I had two strikes and I
was going to hit it wherev-
er it was pitched,” Bailey
said. “It just happened to
be down the line and (Gro-
gan) was on his wheels. I
kind of slowed down when
I got to second actually be-
cause I was watching him. I
saw that he was going to get
there and that’s more adren-
aline than I’ve ever had go-
ing, I think.”
Woods followed with a
single for his irst hit of the
game that scored Bailey.
Woods inished with two
RBIs, Monkus scored twice,
and Jason Fitzpatrick and
Flores both went 2-for-5 for
Stanield as the only other
Tigers with multiple hits.
Grogan started on the
mound and lasted eight com-
plete innings, but left with
the score 3-3 after throwing
123 pitches. He struck out
nine and walked four, and
none of the Eagles’ three
runs were earned.
“Grogan pitched a great
game. He just competed and
battled and went as long as
he can,” Johnson said.
Woods allowed just two
hits and one unearned run in
the bottom of the 10th.
“Earlier this week my arm
was sore, but today I iced it a
lot and I’m ine now,” Woods
said. “Those clutch hits, the
amazing plays our players
made in the ield, it’s just
amazing, best feeling in the
world, probably.”
He got the inal out on a
grounder to Flores at short-
stop, who threw to Bailey
at irst to end the game after
two hours and 59 minutes.
“It was tiring, one of the
most tiring baseball games
ever,” said Grogan, who
moved to third after leaving
the mound. “For a sport that
you just stand there, I don’t
know if I’ve ever been that
tired.
“It was a fun game, those
are the games you want to
watch.”
It was also a win that
could make Thanksgiving
dinners a little more interest-
ing in a few Stanield house-
holds. Grogan, Monkus,
Bailey and Adrian Renner all
became the second in their
family to win a state title for
the Tigers.
“The dog pile is the best
thing in the world, honestly.
It was insane,” Grogan said.
“Our brothers are always
talking about the dog pile is
the best thing, and it honestly
was.”
“Unreal, absolutely unre-
al,” Bailey said. “The fans
are great. They were so loud.
They helped us get back into
the game. That was tough,
they’re a solid team.”
———
R H E
SHS 201 000 000
2 — 5 11 4
SC 000 003 000
1 — 4 6 1
D. Grogan, B. Woods (9) and T. Monkus.
D. Draper, H. Bain (4), D. Hendrix (8) and G.
Carley. W — Woods. L — Hendrix.
2B — A. Flores, R. Bailey (SHS); T. Macal,
D. Draper 2 (SC).
IN BRIEF
Special Olympics
recognizes winners
A handful of people and a business
were recently recognized during the
Hermiston/Pendleton Special Olympics
Program No. 510 annual Awards Des-
sert.
More than 60 people attended the
May 17 event at The Arc Building in
Hermiston, which honored recipients of
the 2015 sports season.
Award winners included Remick
Arey, female coach of the year; Cal
Harris, male coach of the year; Randy
Brown, accepting on behalf of Master
Printers of Pendleton as business of the
year; Jonathan Kinsel, male athlete of the
year; Andrea Eiden, female athlete of the
year; and Michele Keitzke, volunteer of
the year.
Special Olympics provides year-
around training and athletic competitions
for children, youth and adults with intel-
lectual disabilities. There is no charge
for athletes to participate. More than 100
athletes, coaches and volunteers are cur-
rently training in golf, bocce` and track
and ield for upcoming regional compe-
titions.
For more information about volun-
teering or participating in Special Olym-
pics, call local program coordinator Stu
Bance at 541-376-8132.
Hermiston woman wins
family showdown
A family showdown resulted in
Yvonne LaCoursiere taking the grand
prize during the 15th annual Thousand
Yard Shoot in Ione.
The Hermiston woman was awarded
a long-range rile scope and $100 cash
after beating her brother, Paden LaCour-
siere, and father, Pete LaCoursiere, in a
inal shoot-out. It was the second year in
a row LaCoursiere won the event.
The winner for the open-site 500 yard
target was Jules Martino of Silverton,
who received $100. Bill McGovern won
the gun rafle, a Tikka Caliber 6.5 Creed-
moor, sponsored by Garner’s Sporting
Goods in Pendleton.
The annual event, formerly known
as the TV Shoot, is a fundraiser for kid’s
prizes at the ishpond and other games
during the annual Ione Fourth of July
Celebration.
United Way tees up
benefit golf tournament
A four-person golf scramble will
beneit the United Way of Umatilla and
Morrow Counties.
The event is Friday, July 29 with a
shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. at Wildhorse
Golf Course, located off Interstate 84
at Exit 216, Mission. The cost is $100
per person. The entry fee includes green
fees, golf cart and lunch. People can sign
up individually or as a team. There will
be cash awards for contests and pro shop
certiicates for team prizes.
Money raised from the event will
help support local food banks, children’s
programs and services for seniors.
A registration form is available at www.
umatillamorrowunitedway.org. For more
information or to register, contact 541-276-
2661 or unitedwayumco@eoni.com.