A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, MAy 15, 2019
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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.