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WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Bucks top Dawgs for the last time In Hermiston, Pendleton hands the Bulldogs a 10-6 loss to close out rivalry By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER HERMISTON — In their last four losses, the Hermiston Bulldogs scored a combined eight runs — all of which came in the fifth inning or later. The last time Hermis- ton baseball tallied a win was April 27 in Pendle- ton. The 3-2 victory over the Buckaroos was Pend- leton’s second league loss of the season, and Friday the two teams squared off for the last time. This time, the runs came early. Hermiston took a 6-3 lead after two innings, and had momen- tum on its side as the Bulldogs tried to split the season series with their cross-county rival. But the unfortunate departure of starting pitcher Lukas Tolan tilted the scales in Pendleton’s favor and the Bucks came away with a 10-6 win to bring the Bulldogs’ season to a close. Despite giving up four runs on six hits, Tolan showed his power on the bump with two big strike- outs to stop the bleed- ing in the first inning and another strikeout to help escape the second. “He dominated us the first time he faced us,” Pendleton’s Shaw Jerome said. “He’s got a little bit of a different spin on the baseball. He’s a tough pitcher to go against.” After trying to chase down a foul ball in the fourth, Tolan injured his planting leg and was replaced in favor of Dan- iel Gossler. Right out of the gate, Daniel Naughton brought in a run to start the seven spot that gave the Bucks (16-8 overall, 10-2 Columbia River Confer- ence) the lead for good. Nick Bower took a pitch to the body and with the bases loaded was awarded the walk to tie the game at six runs apiece, and then a balk advanced all runners to give Pendleton its first advantage since the top of the first inning. “We kind of got fortu- nate that he (Tolan) came out of the game and cap- italized on it,” Jerome said. Jerome was the last player on either team to score, and his three-RBI triple to right field was what changed the ball game. For Jerome, it was STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston pitcher Julissa Almaguer focuses on the strike zone during Friday’s upset against Pendleton. Dawgs stun Bucks STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Caden Schwirse sprints to third base in the Bulldogs’ 10-6 loss to Pendleton on Friday in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Jordan Ramirez slides into third base as Pendleton’s Daniel Naughton waits for the throw in the Bulldogs’ 10-6 loss to the Bucks on Friday in Hermiston. just a matter of stepping back and finding the sweet spot. But for the Bulldogs (7-17, 3-9) it was a game ender. It took Gossler out of the game, and stained his record with the loss after just 2/3 innings of work. “Daniel has been splen- did. He hasn’t pitched very much on the mound, but he came in and he competed and that’s all you can ask for,” Herm- iston head coach Kevin Moore said. “Unfortu- nately, he didn’t get the calls and he didn’t get the outs when we needed outs and when that happened Pendleton — that’s why they are the CRC champs, they took advantage of our mistakes and blew the game open and we couldn’t get the momen- tum back.” Andrew James closed out the game for Herm- iston, allowing only one hit while striking out four and walking three in 3 1/3 innings toeing the rubber. Pendleton’s Ryan Rus- sell started the game for the Bucks but after sur- rendering six runs on five hits while walking two and striking out none, Ryan Stahl came in for five innings of relief. Hermiston answered Tyler Chichester’s two- RBI single in the top of the first inning with effec- tive base running and smart at bats. Jordan Ramirez got the Bulldogs on the board by scoring on a passed ball after getting on base with a double to left field. Landon Jones followed that up with an RBI sin- gle and Gossler hit a sac- rifice fly to give Hermis- ton its first lead over the Bucks since that win back in April. A balk called on Russell advanced the lone base runner on third and ended the scoring with Hermiston taking a 4-2 lead. Tucker Zander kept things close with an RBI single in the next inning, but again the Bulldogs responded and doubled Hermiston snaps 24-game rivalry skid on Noland’s walk-off hit By ERIC SINGER STAFF WRITER their edge over the Bucks. Trevor Wagner and Caden Schwirse each brought in runs in the sec- ond to push the lead to 6-3, but it would only last 1 1/2 more innings. With the win, Pendle- ton takes the season series 3-1 and will now prepare to face La Grande in the postseason. SENIOR GOODBYES Before the start of the game, Hermiston’s eight-man senior class was honored. The Bull- dogs that suited up for the last time include Brylee Dufloth, Dustin Mad- dox, Joel Mendez, Garron Anderson, Joey Gutier- rez, Schwirse, Tolan and Gossler. “Sometimes good things have to come to an end, and tonight it came to an end,” Moore said. “So, I just hope those seniors learned a little bit more about baseball. I’m happy that A) I got to know them personally and B) I got to coach them. “Each one brought something special to the table and that’s all you can ask for. All of the seniors were special, and to me that’s the most import- ant thing. ... For some, it’s the end of their base- ball career and for others, a couple of them might go on so I hope the best adventures for them.” ——— R H E PHS 210 700 0 — 10 9 0 HHS 420 000 0 — 6 8 1 (P) R. Russell, R. Stahl (3) — J. Duso. (H) L. Tolan, D. Gossler (4), A. James (4) — W. Noland. W — Stahl, L — Gossler. 3B: S. Jerome (P). 2B: Q. Doherty, D. Naughton, S. Jerome (P); J. Ramirez 2 (H). HERMISTON — Bailee Noland could feel the nerves running through her body as she stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs and her Hermiston team trail- ing 4-3 to its rival Pendle- ton, Noland, a sophomore, glanced at the diamond to see the tying run standing on third base and the win- ning run at second base. She stepped in the box to face Pendleton’s all-state pitcher Lauren Richards, with a great amount of pressure riding on her bat. After watching a first- pitch fastball sail down the middle of the plate, Noland locked in on the next pitch. She then unloaded a big swing and thumped the ball back up the middle, skip- ping just under the glove of Richards and rolling into the outfield. After rounding first base, Noland gave a big fist pump as she watched Kalei Smith and Sydney Ste- fani come across to score to give Hermiston a 5-4 walk- off victory — its first win over Pendleton since May 8, 2012, a span of 24 consecu- tive games. “I’m so choked up right now, it’s so awesome,” said Noland, who was in elemen- tary school during Hermis- ton’s previous victory over Pendleton. “I’m just excited that our team, like all of us pulled together and we played with more heart than anything. And when Sydney crossed the plate, my whole heart just dropped. And then my team was running after me and I just knew that we finally did it. We beat Pendleton.” Noland has been one of the top hitters and run pro- ducers for the Bulldogs (15-9 overall, 6-6 Colum- bia River Conference) this season, settling into the No. 3 spot in the batting order. When Noland batted in the seventh, though, she was 0-for-3 on the day — but head coach Kate Greenough had no doubt that Noland could come through. “She is so competi- tive and she will do any- thing; she can to give you her best,” Greenough said. “She’s had so many roles to fill on this team, but she just says ‘OK coach’ and she will do whatever she can. I think her teammates love that. She’s awesome.” Hermiston’s seventh-in- ning rally got started with Smith’s one-out single, fol- lowed by Stefani reach- ing on a Buckaroo (23-2, 11-1) error to put the win- ning run on base. Sam Ati- lano then followed up with a perfect sacrifice bunt, which brought Noland to the plate. “We just told them to stick to our plan,” Gree- nough said. “We talked all week about making plans in your at-bat, and those last four kids completely bought in to what they needed to do.” Pendleton’s offense was rather lethargic for most of the game, with five of the seven innings seeing four batters or less at the plate. The Buckaroos did score the first runs in the game in the third inning on an RBI sin- gle by Richards and a two- run home run off the bat of Kalan McGlothan for a 3-0 lead. Hermiston then got its offense going and tied the game in the fourth inning on a two-run double by Jan- nelle Almaguer and a RBI single from Kylie Green. The Buckaroos took the lead See SOFTBALL, Page A11 Hermiston’s Arnold signs LOI to continue lacrosse career The two-sport athlete will trade in his purple for crimson By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER HERMISTON — Tayler Arnold never thought he’d be going to a Division I school for lacrosse. In fact, he only picked up the sport in fifth grade after getting bored on the baseball field and having some friends already in the sport. From there, he played through- out middle school and at Herm- iston High with his father, Jacob Arnold, as his coach. “It was just getting started in Hermiston,” Tayler Arnold said. “So, I figured what the heck, I’ll try it. I was getting kind of bored just standing around in baseball and I was hooked pretty much as soon as I started playing it.” His talent on the field didn’t come naturally, though. Jacob Arnold remembers the learning curve his son had to go through in the first couple years in the sport. “When he first started play- ing, his first two years were — it was funny,” Jacob Arnold remem- bered. “He was the big, tall kid out there trying to make his way around all these kids. His third year is when he really took off and that’s when I think he really started to know he could do very well with this game.” Now getting ready to play at the collegiate level, Tayler Arnold was first introduced to Montana because of its wildlife biology pro- gram. After further research and a visit in February, the Arnolds decided UM was the right fit. “We were looking at the foot- ball team and the lacrosse team and then we were looking at all the things the lacrosse team has done and it seemed pretty fun, so we put in to them and they said, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you down there,’” the two-sport ath- lete said. Montana is graduating a couple of their defenders and have liked what they’ve seen in the Bull- dog. Tayler Arnold will be join- ing the Grizzles, who compete in the Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League. UM won the national championship in 2007 and the Copper Cup in 2015. STAFF PHOTO BY ALEXIS MANSANAREZ Hermiston’s Tayler Arnold (bottom right) signs his Letter of Intent to play lacrosse at the University of Montana alongside his coach, and father, Jacob Arnold (bottom left) and the rest of the Arnold family.
