A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018
SPORTS
Hermiston trapshooting finishes 7th in nation
Bulldog
trapshooting
competes well on
national stage
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
Before Hermiston High
School’s trapshooting team
departed for the USA High
School Clay Target League
National Championships in
Michigan last week, Herm-
iston coach Slade Smith
told himself that if Hermis-
ton came home with a top
10 team finish “it would be
something to be proud of
and something to build on.”
This is only the third
year that Hermiston has
been competing in the High
School Clay Target League,
and when it entered the first-
ever USA National Champi-
onships in Mason, Michi-
gan, the team knew it would
face some tough compe-
tition from powerhouse
schools in states such as
Minnesota, Michigan and
Wisconsin that have been
competing in the Clay Tar-
get League for a decade.
Well, Hermiston in fact
did come home proud.
After a No. 1 finish out
of 180 schools in the team
qualifying round on Fri-
day with 484 points, Herm-
PHOTO COURTESY OF SLADE SMITH
The Hermiston High School trapshooting team wrapped up a seventh place finish at the
USA High School Clay Target League National Championships in Mason, Michigan, over the
weekend. Pictured, left to right: Coach Slade Smith, Trevor Wilson, Thomas Mabbott, Blake
Betz, Case Hiatt, Kaden Smith, Tyson Stocker.
iston’s five-man team of
Thomas Mabbott, Case
Hiatt, Blake Betz, Kaden
Smith and Tyson Stocker
slid down the standings a bit
in the finals on Sunday as
they shot 461 points to fin-
ish with a two-day score of
945, enough to stay in the
top 10 to finish in seventh
place.
Smith said that while he
did believe some pressure
did get to some Hermis-
ton competitors on Sunday,
he believes the difference
just came down to other
schools shooting their best
and Hermiston just couldn’t
quite replicate what it did on
Friday.
“Our kids being on top
of the leaderboard going
into the finals should be an
indicator of how outstand-
ing they really did,” Smith
said. “The first-ever team
event in the history of a high
school national champion-
ship was won by HHS and
nobody can ever take that
away from our kids, our
community and our state.
“We did not do terrible
in the championship round.
Others did great and we
did not do our best. It hap-
pens in trapshooting and the
mental part of the sport is
the last piece of the puzzle
to a national title.”
St. Michael-Albertville
High School in Minnesota
won the team championship
with a two-day score of 968
followed by Delano (Minne-
sota) with 959, New Prague
(Minnesota) with 956, Fen-
ton (Michigan) with 951, St.
Peter (Minnesota) with 951,
Chapparal (Kansas) with
950 and Hermiston.
“The Midwest put a lot
of resources into their trap
teams,” Smith said, “and we
are just beginning.”
Mabbott, Hiatt, Betz and
Stocker also made it through
Saturday’s individual quali-
fying round to join the top
400 competitors to go for a
national championship on
Sunday. Hiatt shot 98 tar-
gets and his reverse run tie-
break placed him in 36th,
while Mabbott (97) ended
in 61st, Stocker (90) ended
in 299th, and Betz (91) in
323rd.
But the weekend showed
just how fine the champion-
ship line is in trapshooting,
as Hermiston found out, as
well as the level of compe-
tition there is in the country.
Missing just two or three
targets doesn’t seem like
a lot, but it can be the dif-
ference between winning a
championship or finishing
in 61st place.
“We
expected
big
scores,” Smith said. “I was
very confident that it was
going to take a perfect 200
to win the individual. ... Our
kids broke several 98/100
this week and all of them
broke big scores during the
week. It is the mental part of
the game we need to work
on in order to be consis-
tently 98 or better.
“The top 400 cutoff
was 195/200. That is very
impressive.”
But even though Herm-
iston comes home without
a championship trophy, the
team does bring back a lot of
pride, confidence and a list
of things to improve upon
for next time. Though being
able to call Hermiston home
to the No. 7 high school
trapshooting team in the
United States is still a tre-
mendous accomplishment.
“The community should
be proud of these boys,”
Smith said. “And our goal is
to build community support
and create opportunities for
more of our youth.”
WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
Columbia Juniors represent at regionals
HERMISTON HERALD
I
t’s been an “an emo-
tional
roller-coaster”
for the Columbia Little
League Junior team, in the
words of head coach Travis
Reeser.
The team had just fin-
ished a doubleheader with
Warm Springs, which took
the state championship with
a 7-4 victory over Columbia
on July 5.
Reeser, the team and par-
ents who all made the trip
to Clackamas were gath-
ered around the bus load-
ing up their gear and cele-
brating their efforts. Reeser
was expressing how proud
he was of the team’s efforts
despite coming up a few
runs short when the tourna-
ment director approached
him with news that would
extend Columbia’s season.
Warm Springs handed
back the banner and acco-
lades because it would
not be able to travel to the
regional tournament in Ari-
zona. Instead, it would
be Columbia, who were
then named the new state
champions.
“It was an emotional
roller-coaster,” Reeser said.
“We went from sitting there
talking about what they had
accomplished to pulling all
the parents together to talk
about the situation and the
trip to Arizona.”
In Arizona, Flagstaff
(Arizona) Little League’s
Jordan Wright hit a walk-
off two-run single to lift
Flagstaff over the Columbia
(Juniors 12-11 at the West-
ern Regional on Monday.
Columbia scored five
runs in the top of the first
inning and led 11-7 after
five innings, but Flagstaff’s
offense was just too much
for Columbia’s pitching
and defense as it scored five
runs in the final two innings
LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH
125 E. Beech Ave. • 567-3232
Pastor David Dever
Sun. Bible Classes...................10:00am
Sun. Worship Service..............11:00am
Sun. Evening Worship..............6:00pm
Wed. Prayer & Bible Study......6:00pm
www.hermistonlmbc.com
First Christian
Church
567-3013
775 W. Highland Ave., Hermiston
541-567-8441
Worship Gathering 10:00 am
Children’s Church 10:00 am
First United
Methodist
Church
PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER BROWN
to steal the win.
Zuri Reeser was Colum-
bia’s top hitter in the game,
going 3-for-4 with a dou-
ble, two runs and an RBI,
while Taylor Longhorn was
2-for-4 with a run and an
RBI. Zoe Ramos and Court-
ney Gregerson each had
one hit and two runs scored,
while Myla McAdams,
Alexis Shelby, Jennifer
Flores and Rheanna Rivera
each had one hit. Ramos
and Reeser both pitched in
the game.
The loss wrapped up
Columbia’s stay at the
regional, after it previously
lost to Yuba City (Califor-
nia) 12-7 and Tucson (Ari-
zona) 9-2 on Saturday.
The trip to Arizona
wasn’t cheap, but last week
$20,000 had been raised
and donations were still
coming.
“I’m at a loss for words
just regarding the generos-
ity and support,” team mom
Daena Gaines said, “not
just from the towns these
girls came from, but we got
donations from Pendleton
businesses, even a family
member of one of the girls
that lives in Colorado.
“It was a frenzy but
everyone kind of kicked it
into gear.”
985 N First St ● Hermiston
www.hermistonhomes4sale.com
1520 W ORCHARD AVE
Sunday Worship Service
10:30 am Classes for Kids @ 9:15 am
SEEKING JESUS, SHARING LIFE,
SERVING PEOPLE
www.hermistonnazarene.org
Seventh-day
Adventist Church
Saturdays
Sabbath School........9:30 a.m.
Worship Service......11:00 a.m.
English & Spanish Services
567-8241
COURTESY OF JENNIFER BROWN
Columbia Juniors’ Taylor
Longhorn at the plate.
Hermiston Jr. Academy
1300 NW Academy Lane, • Hermiston
The Full Gospel
Home Church
TRACY HUNTER
541-561-5846
Broker, GRI, ABR, SRS, RENE
LINDA SEAVERT
541-571-3788
Principal Broker, CRS, GRI
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
Worship Service 10:30 AM
Sunday School 9:00 AM
Pastor J.C. Barnett
Children’s Church &
Nursery Available
700 West Orchard Avenue
P.O. Box 933
Hermiston, Oregon
“Proclaiming the Message of
Hope, Living the Gospel of Love”
Columbia Juniors player Taylor Longhorn fields a ball during the 2018 District 3 championship
game in Pilot Rock in June. Longhorn and her Columbia teammates went to Arizona for the
Little League Juniors regional tournament.
NEW BEGINNINGS
235 SW 3rd
Phone 567-7678
Rev. Ed Baker - Rev. Nina Baker
Sunday:
Sunday School........10:00 am
Worship...................11:00 am
Evening Service........7:00 pm
Wednesday Service..7:00 pm
“Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.”
1 Pet. 5:7
Hermiston
191 E. Gladys Ave , Hermiston OR
Sunday Worship 11am • 541-567-3002
Nursery available Check us out on Face Book
Worship Livestream at herfumc.com
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor
Grace Baptist Church
555 SW 11th, Hermiston
567-9497
Nursery provided for all services
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:45 AM
6:00 PM
Wed Prayer & Worship - 7:00 PM
“Proclaiming God’s word,
growing in God’s grace”
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Family service 9am Sunday
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
t. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
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DAILY MASS: Monday-Friday
...............................English 7:00 am
Thursday...............Spanish 6:00 pm
SATURDAY:.........English 5:00 pm
...............................Spanish 7:00 pm
SUNDAY:..............English 9:00 am
..........................Bilingual 11:00 am
..............................Spanish 1:00 pm
Offi ce..............................567-5812
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To share your
worship times call
541-278-2678