A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017
Herald Sports
Tigers perfect in
Game 1, sweep
Weston-McEwen
STANFIELD — The
Stanfield Tigers welcomed
the Weston-McEwen Ti-
gerScots to Madigan Field
for a doubleheader on Sat-
urday and sent the Tiger-
Scots back to Athena with
a pair of losses.
In Game 1, Stan-
field’s Dylan Grogan and
Ryan Bailey combined to
throw a five-inning, per-
fect game on the mound
and the Tiger (4-1) bats
backed them up well for a
13-0 victory. Grogan start-
ed the game and tossed 58
pitches in four complete
innings, striking out 11
TigerScots while Bailey
threw a perfect fifth in-
ning with one strikeout.
In
Game
2,
Weston-McEwen
bat-
tled throughout the early
stages of the game, but
the combination of Stan-
field’s offense and own
defensive miscues led to
a 12-run fourth inning to
lead Stanfield to an 18-4
victory.
The Tigers offense
belted 25 hits between
the two games and seven
of the starters had at least
two hits. Tony Flores had
perhaps the most pro-
ductive day going 5 for 8
with three runs scored and
seven RBI, while Brody
Woods went 4 for 8 with
three runs and four RBI.
Thyler Monkus had a
team-high six runs scored
from his lead-off spot in
the lineup.
Woods started Game 2
on the mound for Stanfield
and threw 65 pitches over
three innings and allowed
four hits, four runs (two
earned) with six strike-
outs. Klay Jenson pitched
two scoreless innings with
three strikeouts and just
one walk allowed.
Stanfield will travel
to The Dalles on Thurs-
day for a doubleheader
with Jefferson starting at
Noon.
Hermiston
wins big at
Track Classic
Hermiston boys,
girls each earn
team wins
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
PENDLETON
—
Twenty five high school
track teams from across
Eastern Oregon and south-
east Washington descend-
ed on Pendleton High
School for the 26th annu-
al Buck Track Classic on
Thursday afternoon, most
of which were competing
for the first time in the
2017 season.
It was the largest
group of competitors in
the event’s history, ac-
cording to Pendleton
assistant coach Nicole
Stewart, which made for
a great — and long —
day of competition for
the local athletes. The
athletes were also lucky
that Mother Nature de-
cided to be kind to them,
after rainy weather earli-
er in the week gave way
to clear skies and sunny
weather for the meet.
“I was a little scared
earlier (in the week), but
thankfully the sun opened
up,” Hermiston’s Ty-
ler Rohrman said of the
weather. “I’m just glad
we’re running in the sun.”
Out of the 25 teams,
the Hermiston Bulldogs
walked away as team
champions in both the
girls and boys events with
the help of a strong perfor-
mance in the sprint events
and in the field events on
Thursday.
On the girls side, Herm-
iston earned a whopping
164.42 points which was
way ahead of second place
Nyssa (80.42) and third
place Pendleton (54.84).
And for the boys, Herm-
iston won with 141 points
while La Grande followed
in second with 115 points,
Weston-McEwen (59) fin-
ished third and Pendleton
(52.5) in fourth.
Rohrman, who won the
boys 100 meter hurdles
by more than half a sec-
ond with a time of 15.33,
said that competing in a
meet with 25 teams early
in the season can pay big
dividends for the athletes.
“It helps you really get
into track season,” he said.
“You go to a dual meet and
it’s just two teams, it goes
by really fast, but here it
teaches you to manage
your body, your time and
to know when to warm up.
“And to deal with the
atmosphere because this is
totally different with a lot
more people here watch-
ing and it’s a lot of what
we’ll deal with later in the
season.”
————
Hermiston winners
Boys
100 meters — Alexis Mercado (Herm-
iston) — 11.55
1500 meters — Isaac Sanchez (Hermis-
ton) — 4:17.50
110 meter hurdles — Tyler Rohrman
(Hermiston) — 15.33
4x100 Relay — Hermiston (Garcia,
Rohrman, Earl, Mercado) — 44.49
Shot put — Elias Arenas (Hermiston)
— 47-11.00
Triple jump — Hiram Maciel (Hermis-
ton) — 38-08.50
Girls
100 meters — Scout Reagan (Hermis-
ton) — 12.90
200 meters — Audrey Lincoln (Hermis-
ton) — 27.25
400 meters — Elsa Torres (Hermiston)
— 1:03.62
100 meter hurdles — Madison Wilson
(Hermiston) — 15.99
4x100 Relay — Hermiston (Wilson,
Torres, Reagan, Lincoln) — 50.66
4x400 Relay — Hermiston (Fuentes,
Ortiz, Reagan, Torres) — 4:20.99
Shot put — Maddy Juul (Hermiston)
— 35-01.00
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Bulldogs hold off Lava Bears
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston Bulldogs softball
team is depending on several
freshmen and sophomores to
have big seasons in order to
reach its goals in 2017.
So for coach Kate Gree-
nough, there was nothing
better than seeing so many
of her underclassmen come
through big in support of
junior Julissa Almaguer
in a 4-1 win over Bend at
Rocky Heights Elementary
on March 29.
Underclassmen account-
ed for five of eight Herm-
iston (2-2) hits, freshman
Ashley Cameron was 2-for-
3 with two triples, and sev-
eral players made key de-
fensive plays to help hand
the Lava Bears (4-1) their
first loss of the season.
Almaguer pitched a
shutout through five in-
nings and struck out four
of the first six batters she
faced, but found herself un-
der pressure from the Lava
Bears in the top of the sev-
enth when an error on an in-
field pop-up loaded the bas-
es with one out and brought
the batter representing the
winning run to the plate.
Despite the momentary
lapse, though, Almaguer
was able to rely on her de-
fense to get out of the jam
and freshman third base-
man Sam Atilano caught
a pop-up in foul territory,
then corralled a hot ground-
er in time to tag third for the
force out to end the game.
“We tried to make things
exciting at the end there but
they played defense and they
kept pushing and they never
gave up, and that’s what I
like about this group,” Gree-
nough said. “We’re young,
but I have some really in-
tense leadership.
“Julissa just fights,
she just keeps going and
doesn’t give up. Pitching is
hard, especially when you
get into little pickles like
that, or situations where the
bases are loaded and you
don’t know what happened.
But she doesn’t give up, and
it’s really settling I think to
her infield, to her defense to
know that they can trust her
to keep fighting.”
Gritty walk-off saves split
Hermiston avoids
doubleheader
sweep against
Mountain View
By ERIC SINGER
Staff writer
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston baseball team
gathered at Armand Larive
ball park on Monday, hop-
ing to begin its spring break
with a pair of wins as it
hosted Mountain View for
an afternoon doubleheader.
However, the Bulldogs
played sloppy in the first
game, resulting in a 13-2
defeat and then stared at a
5-0 deficit after three com-
plete innings of the second
game, resulting in the pre-
game hope shifting to un-
easiness. And before Herm-
iston came to bat in the
fourth inning, senior Slade
Gritz saw his teammates’
body language and realized
he needed to step up and
say something.
“I called everyone to-
gether in the dugout and
said ‘We’re not going to
lose two to this team,” Gritz
recalled. “We have to figure
it out and start putting the
ball in play.”
The meeting worked for
the Bulldogs, as Hermiston
began to chip away at the
Mountain View lead and
ended up winning the game
7-6 on a walk-off single by
Gritz to split the double-
header. Gritz came to the
plate with the bases loaded
and one out inning while
tied at 6-6, and on the first
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Mountian View’s (4) dives back to first base as Hermiston’s Kody Moss attempts to make the
tag in the Bulldogs’ 7-6 win against the Cougars on Monday in Hermiston.
pitch he ripped a hit up into
the wind that carried it over
the Mountain View out-
fielder’s head for the win.
Mountain View (2-4)
had intentionally walked
Lukas Tolan to bring Gritz
to the plate to make it a
force out at home plate,
which made Gritz deter-
mined to end the game with
a win for his team.
“I remember as soon as
they (Mountain View) said
they’re going to put (Lu-
kas) on I thought ‘Well,
they messed up,” said
Gritz, who finished 2 for
3 with three RBI in Game
2. “I just knew I needed
to get my job done and he
(the pitcher) threw a fast-
ball right down the middle,
made a mistake and I capi-
talized on it.”
Hermiston (2-2) was the
ones making the mistakes
in the first game, as the
Bulldogs tallied six errors
defensively while the pitch-
ers put 12 Cougars on base
via a walk and hit-by-pitch-
es. And at the plate, Herm-
iston managed just four
hits, two of which came
within the first two at-bats
of the game.
The Bulldogs were play-
ing for the first time in 13
days, though Hermiston
coach Lance Hawkins said
that he hoped that hav-
ing a break would allow
the Bulldogs to be roaring
and ready to go instead of
showing rust.
“We work really hard in
practice and when I don’t
see any of that hard work
paying off, it’s a little dis-
appointing,” Hawkins said.
“We work on hitting the
ball up the middle every
day, and in the first game
our first two guys did it and
then we never did it again.”
In Game 2, Hermiston
got a much better effort
from its pitchers as Brylee
Dufloth started and Wyatt
Noland finished it. Dufloth
allowed four hits, five runs
(four earned) and walked
two in four innings, while
Noland gave up one run and
two hits in three innings to
get the win.
Hermiston heads to
Keizer this weekend to take
part in the Volcano Spring
Break Tournament, and
will play a doubleheader on
Friday against Cleveland at
11:30 a.m. and then against
Summit at 2 p.m.
Bulldog Invitational proves to be mental game
UMATILLA — With its
straightforward layout and
short fairways, Big River
Golf Course proved decep-
tively tough for participants
at the Bulldog Invitational
on a sunny Thursday by the
banks of the Columbia.
Without too many haz-
ards, the players’ mental
approach became amplified,
and those that overlooked
the par-70 course paid with
high scores. No golfers
broke par, and 75 was the
lowest score to be turned in.
Four golfers hit that mark
as Pendleton’s Haley Greb
won the girls’ title, and The
Dalles’s Chase Snodgrass
won a two-hole playoff
against Hermiston’s Jared
Thacker and Pendleton’s Na-
than Som for the boys’ title.
Snodgrass, a senior, hit
par on both extra holes
while Thacker and Som fell
behind with bogeys as they
replayed hole No. 1.
“I felt like I did what I
could with the game that I had
today,” said Thacker, a senior.
“I felt like I gave away some
strokes, but that’s golf.”
He said after the way his
first tee shot went, he was
pretty happy to shoot 75 on
a day several players came
into the clubhouse com-
plaining about hard greens.
“It could have been a bad
day. I hit it out of bounds and
I was like, ‘Aw shucks. Well,
come turn it around.’ And
that’s what I did,” he said.
“We were prepared but my
putting was a little off today,
but I also made some pret-
ty sweet ones. I was able to
knock in (two) birdies which
was pretty exciting for me.”
Led by Snodgrass, Mark
Felderman’s 77 and Tyler
Vasser’s 79, The Dalles won
the boys team title with a
score of 314. Hermiston was
second with 320, and Pend-
leton was third with 325.
Anders Lind shot 76 for
the Bulldogs, and Hermis-
ton coach Aaron Lind said it
was a great way for his team
to head into spring break.
“We lost to The Dalles
(Thursday) by six strokes,
and we lost by 50 strokes
a week ago to them at their
place,” he said. “So it is a
move in the right direction.
… They’re motivated. I feel
bad because I’ve got players
that apologized, ‘I know I
let you down.’ Hopefully we
have a big spring break, we’re
going to play some hard
courses, and this is a positive
that we can just run with.”
Pendleton won the girls
team title over Hermiston
377-400. Hermiston’s low
score was a 93 by Grace
Blackhurst.
The next tournament on
the schedule for the teams is
at Wildhorse Golf Course on
Monday, April 3.
——–
Hermiston Scores
BOYS — Jared Thacker 75, Anders Lind
76, Tyler Cameron 87, Augustus Blackhurst
87, Kayden Mecham 82.
GIRLS — Sydney Adams 99, Lexie
Lambert 114, Sonja Peterson 98, Grace
Blackhurst 93, Makenzie Lind 110.
Three goals in 29 seconds sink Bulldogs at home
HERMISTON — The
Hermiston lacrosse team
stood just 50 seconds away
from its first win of the sea-
son, as it led the Hood River
Eagles 6-5 until the Eagles
began a furious final surge.
The Eagles scored the ty-
ing goal with 49.5 seconds
left and then scored two
more goals in a 28 second
span to stun the Bulldogs
with an 8-6 victory Friday
night to spoil Hermiston’s
home-opener at Kennison
Field.
“Fifty seconds,” Hermis-
ton coach Jacob Arnold said
after the game, shaking his
head. “We played a solid
four quarters and that was
our battle last year to have a
complete game, we just fell
short tonight.”
Hood River’s tying goal
came with a man advan-
tage as Hermiston (0-3)
had a player in the penalty
box, and Arnold said that a
missed slide from one of the
defenders is what opened up
a lane for the Eagles’s Jack
McCaffrey to slip towards
the net and fire the ball into
the net. Then Hood River
(1-0) won the ensuing fa-
ceoff and sped right down
the field where Cale Brown
zipped one into the net for
the go-ahead goal with 32.5
seconds left.
And the next faceoff
went Hood River’s favor as
well, just like last time, the
Eagles went right down the
field where Brown scored
the final goal of the game
with 21.6 seconds left to
make it the final 8-6 score.
“Winning the faceoffs
gave them the man ad-
vantage coming down the
field,” Hermiston junior de-
fender Jake Palmer said, “so
when they have four guys
against our three it’s kind of
tricky for us to defend on the
quick passes. And they had
fast, crispy passes there and
finished them pretty good.”
While Hermiston did not
get the result it wanted, they
were more pleased with the
overall effort put forth than
in its two previous games
against McNary and Rich-
land (WA) where the Bull-
dogs lost by a combined
score of 27-12.
“The first two games we
weren’t completing basic
passes,” Palmer said, “and
I feel in this one we really
came together and started
to coordinate passes and
coordinate the plays and
it showed it’s starting to
work.”