WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
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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.