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A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAy, MAy 15, 2019 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Hermiston girls dominate the infield By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Paige Palzinski had herself quite the weekend. The Hermiston sophomore qualified for the District 8 track meet this weekend in four events at Kennison Field — three of which she established personal best marks. Palzinski won the shot put Fri- day with a PR toss of 40 feet, 10¾ inches, beating teammate Ken- dall Dowdy, who threw a PR of 39-11¾. “It was nice to have Kendall PR; that drove me to be better,” Palzinski said. Bailey Young will join Palz- inski and Dowdy at the District 8 meet in Richland after finishing seventh (33-11¼). Palzinski also placed eighth in the javelin on Friday with a PR throw of 104-1, while teammate Sheridan Deike was fifth (110-2) and Sydney Seavert sixth (108-9). Saturday brought out the best in Palzinski in the triple jump, where she soared 34-8¾ — a PR by 2 feet. She finished second to South- ridge’s Olivia Lee, who beat her by just three-quarters of an inch. “I’ve been asked before what my favorite is,” Palzinski said of her variety of events. “In the jumps it is the triple, and in the throws, my favorite is the shot put. I qual- ified in the long jump too, but you can only do four events. I chose to do the javelin to have a better chance of getting to next week in all my events.” Palzinski was seventh in the discus (106-9) Saturday, but team- mate Jazlyn Romero was second with a PR of 114-3, and freshman Eseta Sepeni was third with a PR of 113-11. “I am so excited to go (to the District 8 championships) with my throws group,” Palzinski said. “When you genuinely love what you do, good marks happen. It’s great to have coaches who believe in us no matter what happens.” Romero won the javelin Friday with an impressive throw of 151-9 — a mark that ranks ninth in the nation, third in Washington, and first among 3A competitors. “It’s been a good week,” Romero said. The weather helps; it’s nice to have the sun. The coaches always say your best throw is effortless. It was easy. In the discus, Eseta was beating me, but in the finals, I hit my PR on my second throw.” Staff photo by Kathy Aney Paige Palzinski of Hermiston competes in the triple jump during Saturday’s MCC Track & Field Championships. Palzinski finished second with a leap of 34-8¾. On the track, Hermiston fresh- man Cydney Sanchez finished sec- ond in the 3,200 with a personal best time of 12:07.70. McKinzi Teeples of Kamiakin won in a time of 11:40.17. “It was a tough race, but I felt really motivated the entire race,” she said. “She (Teeples) is really good. I have no idea what to expect (next week), but it has been fun. All the Tri-City teams are really good.” The Bulldogs got an impressive win in the 4x400 relay, turning in a time of 4:13.29 — a season best. Jayden Ray led off the relay, followed by Amanda Nygard, Jen- nifer Fuentes and Abby Sharon. “I love the atmosphere and the excitement when you run the 4x4,” Ray said. “Our mission today was to do the best we can. To come in first is amazing.” MaKaylee Young, who quali- fied in the 100 and long jump Fri- day, added a trip in the 200 on Sat- urday, placing fourth (27.28). Amanda Nygard will run in the 800 (5th, 2:33.07), while a trio of Bulldogs — Fuentes, Thannia Sol- orzano and Genesis Sanchez — qualified in the 100 hurdles, and Fuentes and Ray will run in the 300 hurdles. The Hermiston boys 4x400 relay team finished second behind Kennewick. The Bulldogs passed Kamiakin at the end of the second lap, and were just a couple of steps behind the Lions when it came to the anchor leg. Kennewick had Johan Correa on the final leg, and Hermiston’s Freddy Mendoza was not able to catch one of the Northwest’s elite runners. Hermiston turned in a time of 3:32.39 — a season best by about 5 seconds. Running with Men- doza on the team are Thomas Rea- gan, Garrett Walchli and Simon Headings. “He’s Johan,” said Mendoza, who was fourth to Correa in the 800. “You already know you aren’t catching him. He is good for the competition. There is no one in Oregon like him. I’m excited for next week, but a little intimidated with the Spokane teams coming in.” Chase Bradshaw will com- pete in the shot put and discus for Hermiston. Donovan Wilson will go in the triple jump, Skyler Stubbs in the long jump and high jump, Seth Buck in the pole vault and Walchli in the 200. Hermiston coach Emilee Strot was pleased with how her teams performed. “Sometimes I get caught up in hosting and not coaching as much as I would like to,” Strot said. “But what I’ve seen, and the reactions of the kids, I’m excited with how many we are bringing to the next round. Our girls throwers are a good group, and both 4x400 relays had huge PRs today.” SOFTBALL Hermiston wins two to reach title game By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Ashley Cameron laid out and knocked down a hard- hit ball, then made the throw to first from the ground. It was the first out in the bottom of the seventh, and it lit a fire under the rest of the Hermiston softball team. Samantha Atilano caught a fly ball in center field for the second out, and Bailee Noland struck out Jamisyn Ford for the third out as the Bulldogs hung on for a 3-2 victory on Friday over host Kennewick in the semifi- nals of the 3A District 8 tournament. “That last game was going to come down to who was going to last lon- ger,” Hermiston coach Kate Greenough said. “Ashley’s out was huge. They played defense like they could, and showed Bailee that they had her back.” The win, coupled with an earlier 8-1 victory over Shadle Park, put the Bull- dogs in the District 8 title game at 5 p.m. Wednes- day against Southridge. The Suns will host the game. The Lions had the bot- tom of their lineup due up in the the seventh, which helped ease Noland’s mind. “We got their big hitters out the inning before, so I knew I wouldn’t be seeing them,” Noland said. Cameron said there was no way the ball hit by MaK- endrie Fuhriman was going to get past her. “It was coming down to the end, and I had to lay out to and stop it if we were going to get the win for Bailee,” Cameron said. “I was not going to let that ball go through. They were such good hitters, we needed to play good defense.” McKenzie Richard reached base with a single, but Atilano made the sec- ond out, and Noland helped herself with the strikeout — her fourth — to end the game. “This is really special to us,” Cameron said. “When our intensity level rises, everyone steps it up.” The game was score- less through the first three innings, but in the top of the fourth, the Bulldogs went to work. Janelle Almaguer sin- gled, and Grace Studer walked with one out to put two runners on base. With two out, a single by Sydney Stefani sent Alma- guer across home plate. A throwing error on the play allowed Studer to score and Stefani to advance to third. A single by Atilano scored Stefani to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. The Lions got two runs back in the bottom of the inning off a two-run home run by Abriel John- Staff photo by Annie Fowler The Hermiston softball team celebrates after beating Kennewick 3-2 on Friday in the 3A District 8 semifinals. son-Cuello to trim Hermis- ton’s lead to 3-2. The Bulldogs played stellar defense the rest of the way, including a 6-4-3 dou- ble play in the sixth inning. “The way these kid- dos played is the way we can play,” Greenough said. “That’s how we expect them to play.” Against Shadle Park, the Bulldogs took an 8-1 lead after three innings and never looked back. Studer hit a two-run dou- ble in the third inning, while Stefani drove in two runs. Noland pitched a com- plete game for the win, striking out five. The Highlanders pulled starter Megan Lohr after the third inning in favor of freshman Chloe Flerchinger, who allowed just two hits the rest of the way. She also struck out six.
