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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports GIRLS WIN WILDHORSE INVITE Bundled-up Bulldogs squeeze out 7-stroke win By ERIC SINGER STAFF WRITER M “It might be the best team score we’ve had at this course, especially with the conditions.” Joshua Browning, Hermiston head coach STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston senior Grace Blackhurst tees off on the ninth hole Monday at the Wildhorse Invitational in Mission. ISSION — Sixty-eight golfers from 10 different high schools descended on Wildhorse Resort Golf Course on Monday afternoon for the annual Wildhorse Invite, and all 68 were put to the test as con- stant 20 mph winds and chilly temperatures presented a big challenge all day long. Among the local schools com- peting were Hermiston, Pendle- ton and Mac-Hi. Despite the conditions, and while being bundled up in layers of sweatshirts and jackets to keep warm, some golfers were still able to put together some solid rounds, including the Hermiston girls team. The Bulldogs squeezed out the victory by just seven strokes over Pomeroy by a score of 405-412. Hermiston head coach Joshua Browning was very pleased with the outcome, given the tough conditions the golfers faced, while the Bulldogs’ five- girl team was pretty surprised by the win. “It feels great,” Brown- ing said. “The conditions were pretty tough but they stuck with it. I talked to a couple of the girls during the round and they were having a hard time. So (win- ning) was unexpected for them. I thought they were still in it throughout, but it was still unex- pected in the end.” Hermiston was led by senior Grace Blackhurst and freshman Madison McClanahan in the round. Blackhurst finished only four shots off the lead with an 88, still good enough for third place, while McClanahan’s 98 put her in the top five at fourth place. Rounding out the Bulldogs’ scorecard was Leslie Browning with a 106, Mykah Kramwiede with a 113 and Morgan Brown- ing, who carded a 126. “It might be the best team score we’ve had at this course, especially with the conditions,” Browning said. For the boys, Hermiston fin- ished fifth with a score of 378, led by Garrett McClanahan and Cody Thacker each with 90s, Blue Blackhurst’s 91, and Con- ner Scott’s 107. PREP ROUNDUP Local highlight competition in Riverside/Irrigon Tournament HERMISTON HERALD IRRIGON — No one was safe from heavy winds at Irrigon High on the afternoon of March 27. Spectators bundled up in blan- kets were still cold, dogs were shivering and baseballs went flying during a doubleheader that capped off the first day of the Riverside/ Irrigon Tournament. Games were split between Boardman and Irrigon, and the Knights welcomed the Heppner Mustangs for the team’s second meeting of the young season. The Knights dug themselves into an early hole after Heppner got four runs on the board in the top of the first starting with an RBI single from Tyler Carter and ending with another from Kevin Smith. Irrigon scored a lone run in the bottom of the inning, but Hep- pner would score another handful of runs in the second to extend its early lead to 7-1, but Irrigon put up 23 runs in the next two innings combined. In the second, the Knights took control of the ball game and never let up. Irrigon went through its lineup twice and eight different batters scored. Johnny Phillips sent a bomb over center field for a two- run home run and both Lino Covar- rubia and Adrian Roa hit RBI tri- ples to help push the score to 23-7 in favor of the Knights. After shut- ting out Heppner in the third and fourth, Irrigon cemented its vic- tory with three more RBIs from Keith Flemming, Caleb Adams and Mathew Moreno. The Knights would face an even tougher opponent in Game 2. Stanfield entered the evening matchup off a 14-4 victory earlier in the day over Willamina. At first Game 2 was eerily similar to the first when the Knights found them- selves in an early hole after Stan- field’s Adrian Renner hit a grand slam and Brody Woods followed with a two-run homer to complete the 10-run inning. The double-digit lead and heavy winds continued but this time it didn’t favor Irrigon, as the Tigers ran away with an 18-7 victory. Irrigon was able to stay alive, getting runs on the board to stop the 10-run rule from coming into effect but its efforts weren’t enough to keep Stanfield at bay. Irrigon continued play in the Riverside/Irrigon Tourna- ment on Wednesday and handed Weston-McEwen a 15-5 loss. After a slow start that allowed the TigerScots to get up 2-0, the Knights (3-3) answered with at least one run in over the next five innings. Leading the way was Gumbert, who went 2-for-3 at the plate and recorded four RBIs. Three other Knights each had three RBIs on the day — Fleming, Brady Harrington and Moreno. Meanwhile, Stanfield dropped its game to Kennedy after having the lead through nearly the entire first half of the game but ultimately fell 10-8. . For Riverside, the Pirates had a doubleheader first playing Scio, which Riverside handed a 7-4 loss, and next it followed with a matchup against Willamia, where the Pirates escaped with a 2-1 Game 1 victory. The Pirates (3-3) used that momentum in Game 2, where the runs from both teams were all scored in the first inning. Freshman Andrew Zeller pitched a no hitter en route to the victory. For more information visit www.hermistonherald.com. Softball teams compete in two-day tournament BOARDMAN — Echo’s Ken- dra Hart pitched a shutout in her first career varsity appearance in the circle to lead the Cougars to victory in Day 2 of the Riverside/ Irrigon Tournament. As the designated visiting team, Echo put its bats to work early and built up a 3-0 lead after the first inning. The Cougars (2-1) then added two runs in the third and fourth innings, and put the run-rule into effect after tallying four more runs in the fifth. All the while, Hart was having a day in the circle. She struck out 12, allowed only one hit and walked two in her first win. Behind the plate for Echo was Alex Putnam, who also had an RBI triple in the fourth to push the Cougar’s lead to 6-0. Putnam was brought home by Annie Barnes for the only other run of the inning. Barnes finished the day 2-for-3 with two RBIs. For Irrigon, after winning its first game on Tuesday, the Knights returned to action for a double- header against Grant Union and Knappa. In Game 1, the Knights were defeated by Prospectors, 8-6 and again in Game 2, lost by a narrow margin to the Loggers but this time by only one run. The 8-7 loss to end the day moved Irrigon to 4-6 on the season. Stanfield tennis struggles against a talented Mac-Hi MILTON-FREEWATER — On Thursday, the Mac-Hi girls and boys tennis teams welcomed Stan- field for a day of tennis in some of the best conditions this week. The Pioneers swept the Tigers with the girls winning 4-3 and the boys 4-0. The league victory had some close matches, head coach Danny Sanchez said. “I was very pleased on how Mac-Hi persevered and fought hard through some tough matches,” he added. “It will give them valuable experience further down the season by playing these close matches.” For the girls, Mac-Hi only dropped one match when Stan- field’s Brianna Cornejo defeated Leslie Diaz 8-1. Janelle Martinez, Banyan Moss and Dani Angel all earned points for the Pioneers with victories over the Tigers. Stanfield had its most success in doubles play when the duos of Amanda Carrillo and Cornejo and Ita Gomez and Payton Henning defeated their Pioneer counter- parts for much needed points for the Tigers. Areli Ramos and Joanna Landa ended up winning their doubles match over Stanfield’s Zore Geh- reke and Zoe Russell — it was Mac-Hi’s only doubles win. On the boys side, the Pioneers came away with some very close matches. In singles, Bryan Abrego and Jamie Gomez narrowly escaped with wins. Both went into a tiebreak where Abrego defeated Noel Montez 9-8 (7-2) and Gomez got the win over Uriel Carrillo 9-8 (7-4). Both doubles pairs defeated Stanfield to complete the sweep. ——— Girls Singles Janelle Martinez (MH) def Amanda Carillo (ST) 9-7 Brianna Cornejo (ST) def Leslie Diaz (MH) 8-1 Banyan Moss (MH) def Ita Gomez (ST) 9-8 (7-2) Dani Angel (MH) def Payton Henning (ST) 6-2 Girls Doubles A. Carrillo/B. Cornejo (ST) def J. Martinez/D. Alvarez (MH) 8-4 I. Gomez/P. Henning (ST) def S. Harris/A. Uribe (MH) 9-8 (8-6) A. Ramos/J. Landa (MH) def Z. Gehreke/Z. Russell (ST) 6-4 Boys Singles Bryan Abrego (MH) def Noel Montez (ST) 9-8 (7-2) Jamie Gomez (MH) def Uriel Carrillo (ST) 9-8 (7-4) Boys Doubles A. Pio/K. Carrillo (MH) def U. Carillo/R. Carillo (ST) 8-2 R. Castillo/R. Perayda (MH) def N. Montes/ R. Carrillo (ST)