WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
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DAWGS PLAYOFF RUN ENDS
PHOTOS BY ROBERT MCLEAN FOR THE HERMISTON HERALD
Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani hits a leadoff home run in the first inning of the Bulldogs’ 11-7 loss to Lebanon in the 5A quarterfinals on Friday in Hermiston.
Lebanon beats Hermiston
11-7 in 5A quarterfinals
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
H
ERMISTON — On Friday, a red-
hot No. 15 Lebanon team came
to town off a one-run upset vic-
tory over No. 2 Hillsboro in the
5A first round just two days prior.
The Warriors certainly gave the No.
7 Hermiston Bulldogs a run for their
money as well. After Hermiston took
an early lead, Lebanon fought back
to regain control. The Bulldogs were
looking for a break, and got it in the
bottom of the sixth when they pulled
within two runs.
An RBI double off the bat of Bailee
Noland put Hermiston back in the
game, but half a frame later Lebanon
broke out its bats again to reach the
game winning score of 11-8. The War-
riors (14-14 overall) move onto the
semifinals to face No. 6 Putnam while
the Bulldogs’ season — and member-
ship in the OSAA — comes to an end.
Hermiston battled in Round 1 to
come away with a 4-3 victory to keep
its season alive. The efforts of Julissa
Almaguer on the mound and the bat of
Ashley Cameron aided the Bulldogs’
fourth consecutive win. The young
squad was gaining confidence as they
attempted to make their way deep into
the state tournament for the first time
since 2013. But Lebanon squashed
those hopes with some timely hitting
late in the quarterfinal matchup.
“They fought so hard, and that’s
one thing we do is we fight,” head
coach Kate Greenough said. “They
give it their best, they worked their
butts off and we just ran out of time
today.”
The opening frame favored the
Hermiston’s Ashley Cameron tags out a
Lebanon base runner for the first out of
an eventual double play.
Hermiston catcher Bailee Noland waits to tag out a Lebanon base runner at the plate.
home team. Almaguer, Hermiston’s
starter, put Lebanon down in order and
on offense, Sydney Stefani hit a lead-
off home run to give the Bulldogs (17-
10) an early advantage. Amanda Bar-
ron added an RBI single to the board
in the first which put Hermiston up
2-0.
But that lead wouldn’t last for long.
Over the course of the game there
would be three lead changes and two
ties as both teams continued to battle
back.
First it was Lebanon’s efforts that
helped put up a four spot in the second
to gain control. It was one of the War-
riors’ better innings offensively, and
at the same time not Hermiston’s best
showing defensively.
Two RBI doubles from Taylor
Edwards and Kira Sneddon opened
the game up for the visitors, who went
ahead and had three more two-plus run
innings.
Hermiston was expecting steady
hitting from the Warriors, who brought
with them a veteran roster.
“I thought they’d be a single-type
hitter and that’s what they did. They
did well and we made a few mis-
takes, more than a few, and they took
advantage of them,” Greenough said.
“They’re a team to kind of keep an eye
on, they are tougher than they look.
They’re scrappy and they do the right
things at the right time.”
A two-out rally in the third again
kept Hermiston alive, and ended up
giving the Bulldogs a lead they would
soon relinquish.
“I think we just kind of beat our-
selves,” Greenough said, “but the
girls, they don’t stop and I love that
about them.”
Daisy Maddox’s RBI double high-
lighted those efforts in the bottom of
the frame, as did an RBI single from
Kylie Green and a sacrifice fly from
Noland that start the three-run affair.
That was the last time Hermiston put
up multiple runs in an inning. The
Bulldogs knocked in three more runs
in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings
but it wasn’t enough to catch up to
Lebanon.
Noland was given the loss after four
innings of work. The starting catcher
came in for relief of Almaguer, who
later returned in the seventh inning.
The Bulldogs made their first
appearance back in the quarterfinals
since 2013, and with a young roster
will be bringing some experience with
them as they gear up for the move to
the WIAA.
“I’m pumped for what these kids
are doing,” Greenough said. “I’m so
excited for what they represent and
what they show and as a coach —
we’ve had a great year, I would put
that up against anybody, but not only
that but they are fantastic kids. They
love softball, they love to work hard
and their future is bright in whatever
they do.”
———
R H E
LHS
040 320
2 — 11 9 8
HHS
203 011
1 — 8 9 3
(L) K. Sneddon. (H) Ju. Almaguer, B. Noland (3), Ju.
Almaguer (7). W — Sneddon, L — Noland.
HR: S. Stefani (H). 2B: T. Edwards, K. Sneddon 2 (L); D.
Maddox, B. Noland (H).
Tigers baseball season ends in extra innings
Horizon Christian ousts
Stanfield in the 3A
quarterfinals Friday
HERMISTON HERALD
STANFIELD — At first during
the 3A quarterfinal matchup Fri-
day, it looked like the No. 2 Stan-
field Tigers were poised for another
big victory. The home team got out
to an early 9-0 lead against the
visiting No. 7 Horizon Christian
Hawks.
But after coming to town off
four straight wins, it didn’t take
long for Horizon Christian’s
momentum to pick back up.
A pitching change helped after
four of the six runs in the third
inning were either from walks or
hit by pitches, and certainly the 10
runs in the sixth and seventh inning
didn’t hurt the Hawks, who even-
tually escaped with a 13-12 win to
end Stanfield’s season.
Three different Tigers (22-6
overall) put together a two-hit
night. Adrian Renner, Justin Kee-
ney and Makiah Blankenship led
the offense and also pitched in six
combined RBIs while also scoring
six times.
Keeney recorded the only extra
base hit for Stanfield, a double that
started the short two-run rally in
the ninth to knot the score back up
at 12 runs apiece.
But after the Hawks’ (19-7) sac-
rifice fly gave them the go-ahead
run, the Tigers were unable to
respond.
Stanfield worked through its
bullpen, and ultimately it was
Damien Curiel who was given the
loss. Curiel pitched 3 2/3 innings
giving up three runs off four hits,
walking five and striking out none.
For Horizon Christian, Luke
Klein earned the win after five
innings of work surrendering only
two runs off three hits while strik-
ing out five and walking four.
Brannon Macfarlane was a perfect
3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI
and also scoring twice.
———
R H
E
HC
000 002 802 01 — 13 10
4
SHS
006 301 002 00 — 12 10
2
(H) N. Murrell, N. Brucker (3), L. Klein (7). (S) B.
Woods, S. Keltz (7), A. Renner (8), D. Curiel (8). W —
Klein, L — Curiel.
2B: J. Keeney (s).