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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2019 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports ROUNDUP Bulldogs fall to Bombers By BRETT KANE STAFF WRITER Hermiston couldn’t over- come the visiting Richland Bombers on Friday, losing both ends of a doubleheader 7-6 and 13-4. “We’re improving,” said coach Kevin Moore. “And that’s our goal: to improve game in and game out.” The Bulldogs mounted a comeback in the fi rst game, but they fell short. The Bombers scored fi ve runs in the top of the second to pull away, but the Bull- dogs wouldn’t give up eas- ily, responding with three runs of their own in the third inning. Ethin Randolph and Trevor Wagner each had RBIs to aid in the rally. Hermiston would score two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, dropping the game by just one run. “They put up some quick numbers,” Moore said of Richland. “Then, we battled back. It just wasn’t enough.” Seth Prewitt allowed seven runs off six hits from the mound in the opener. He struck out one Bomber, and walked three. Meanwhile, Richland pitcher Kirby Nel- son struck out four, and walked only one. In Game 2, the Bombers shot ahead early with seven runs in the top of the fi rst. “We started out rough and gave up a lot of free passes,” Moore said. “When we do that, the other team will usu- ally come around and score. Our arms got tired and we struggled. We dug ourselves a hole.” Jordan Ramirez struck out fi ve Bombers and allowed four runs off fi ve hits. He also walked six players. “We’re doing a lot of good things,” Moore said, “but there’s still plenty to work on.” HERMISTON 7-14, PASCO 8-10 — In a bat- tle of Bulldogs baseball, Hermiston led 6-5 in the fourth inning in the fi rst game of their doubleheader March 26 against Pasco, but allowed three more runs to give Pasco an 8-7 win to start the day. In game one, Ethin Ran- dolph was 1-for-3 with a run and three RBIs, and Trevor Wagner was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Hermiston bounced back in Game 2 for a 14-10 vic- tory. Three runs in the sec- ond inning would keep them ahead for the long haul. Jor- dan Ramirez was 2-for-5 with three runs and four RBIs. Randolph was a hard hitter to shut down, going 4-for-5 with three runs. Boys soccer WALLA WALLA 2, HERMISTON 1 — The Bulldogs suffered their sec- ond loss of the season Friday to the visiting Blue Devils. The Dawgs previously opened their season with a 3-1 loss to Walla Walla. “It was a tough loss to take,” coach Rich Harsh- berger said. “The team adjusted well and fought until the end.” Junior defender Matt Mendez scored Hermiston’s goal on a penalty kick in the fi rst half. The game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but the Blue Devils got the game winner in the second half. The most valuable and respected source of local news, advertising and information for our communities. eomediagroup.com Dawgs strike back to split Southridge doubleheader Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Janelle Almaguer rounds second during Friday’s game against Southridge. By BRETT KANE STAFF WRITER A fter Hermiston dropped the fi rst softball game of its Mid-Co- lumbia Conference dou- bleheader against visiting Southridge, the Bulldogs knew something was wrong and changes needed to be made. “That wasn’t us in game one,” said junior Bailee Noland. “I don’t know what team that was, but if we didn’t pick things up, it would all go downhill.” They did pick things up, and the day ended in favor of the Dawgs. After allowing fi ve runs in the second inning of the opener on the way to a 7-2 loss, Hermiston rebounded to claim the second 10-4 in their MCC debut. In the top of the sec- ond inning, Rylee Vasquez, Raelyn Nesary, Bailey Rose and Emmee Ball all drove runners in for the Suns to bury Hermiston early on. Bulldog senior Sydney Stefani would single and steal second and third in an attempt to get things rolling for her team at the bottom of the fi fth, but was ulti- mately left stranded. The Suns scored two more runs at the top of the sixth, and it was then that Hermiston fi nally responded. Noland led off at the bottom of the inning with a home run to get the Bulldogs on the scoreboard. “It felt pretty good to get that home run,” Noland said, “but we didn’t have enough time to come back.” At the top of the sev- enth, Stefani singled and proceeded to steal sec- ond and third. She made it home on a wild pitch. “I think we came in with big heads,” Noland said of the fi rst game. “We thought we were going to blow Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani touches second base Friday to put out Marlee Martin, of Southridge, and prepares to throw to fi rst. them out.” In game two, Hermiston struck back with an excep- tional second inning of their own. At the bottom of the inning, junior Daisy Mad- dox walked to fi rst, and stole second on a wild pitch. Junior Janelle Alma- guer drove her home with a double at the next at-bat. She would score a run off sophomore Halle Penning- ton’s ensuing sacrifi ce bunt. Sophomore Grace Studer and senior Destiny Canisalez would both make it home on wild pitches to round out the inning. Noland led off the bottom of the third and smacked away another home run. She would do the same in the fourth. “Bailee is fi ercely com- petitive,” said coach Kate Greenough. “She puts her teammates above her- self, and plays selfl essly. The team thrives off that. They’ll fi nd ways to help her out when she’s going 100 mph.” The Suns would bounce back with Marlee Mar- tin’s RBI triple and Marissa Hickman’s RBI double to bring the score to 5-3, but the Dawgs weren’t done. Stefani, Studer and Canisalez all scored on a trio of wild pitches in the bottom of the fourth. And in the sixth inning, Noland would drive junior Ash- ley Cameron home with a single. The Suns loaded the bases at the top of the sev- enth, and Noland was pitching to junior Kendra Monteith with a full count. “I knew I had to give my pitching everything I had,” said Noland, who was on the mound for all seven innings of the second game. Monteith took a hard swing at Noland’s fast- ball and missed, narrowly avoiding another South- ridge rally. It would be Noland’s tenth strikeout of the game. “I feel much better after getting one win,” Gree- nough said. “I would’ve rather seen two, though. After the fi rst game, we challenged the kids to trust their skills and to know what they’re playing for. They did that in the second game.” Stefani hit 3 for 4 in game two, and Almaguer was 3 for 5 with two dou- bles for the day. On Tuesday, Hermiston (3-1, 1-1 MCC) hit the road to Hanford for another dou- bleheader after the Hermis- ton Herald’s deadline.
