SPORTS / NEWS
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
HeRMIsTOnHeRaLd.COM • A9
Dawgs capture District 8 title
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Jorge Carrillo started the
season on the junior varsity
team, but the more Hermis-
ton coach Rich Harshberger
watched the talented fresh-
man play, he realized he
needed the young man up on
varsity.
The gamble paid off
during the regular season,
and again on May 7, as Car-
rillo scored a goal to help the
Bulldogs beat Kamiakin 3-1
to win the 3A District 8 title
at Kennison Field.
“This is a special group,”
Harshberger said. “They
have worked hard, and this
is the result.”
The trophy is just the sec-
ond in the program’s history,
joining the 2011 Columbia
River Conference title.
“It’s pretty cool,” said
Hermiston goalie Juan
Navarrete, who finished
with three saves. “We are
not done. I’m excited to see
what happens next.”
The Bulldogs (8-7)
opened 3A state play on May
7 against visiting Mountain
View of Vancouver.
Kamiakin’s Caden Egli
opened the scoring in the
14th minute of the game,
beating Hermiston defender
Jerome Stasik and beating
Navarrete.
“On that goal, there was
a lack of communication,”
Navarrete said. “After that,
the team stepped up and I
had a couple of key saves.”
Carrillo evened the score
5 minutes later taking a pass
from Josh Galvez outside
the 18 and heading the ball
past Kamiakin keeper Jon-
athan Andrade and into the
upper right corner of the net.
“It just happened,” Car-
rillo said of the goal. “Sur-
prised me too. It gave me
more confidence. We know
how to play. This feels
great.”
The Dawgs went into
halftime with a 2-1 lead as
Coleman Solano beat a div-
ing Andrade, putting the ball
in the lower right corner of
the goal with 7:20 left in the
half for what would be the
game-winning goal.
“I saw the space and I saw
staff photo by e.J. Harris
Hermiston’s Jorge Carillo and Kamiakin’s Garrett Grillo jockey for the ball in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 win against the Braves on Tuesday.
“This is a special
group. They have
worked hard, and
this is the result.”
Rich Harshberger, Coach
the defense,” Solano said. “I
was about at the 20. It wasn’t
the best shot, but I hit it with
a lot of pace.”
Hermiston outshot Kami-
akin 8-2 in the first half.
Navarrete had a couple of
brilliant saves, leaping to
knock a shot by Egli over
the cross bar in the 13th min-
ute, and taking another in the
midsection to negate a devel-
oping play by the Braves.
With 4 minutes remain-
ing on the clock in the sec-
ond half, Emilio Leal gave
Hermiston an insurance
goal, never giving up on the
ball.
“That killed their spirit,”
Leal said. “That’s what
we needed the last couple
of minutes. We have been
down before, but there is a
drive that pushes us.”
Hermiston, which posted
a 1-4 preseason record, fin-
ished the Mid-Columbia
Conference 5-3, and has won
both of its playoff games.
“At the beginning of the
season, we set goals, and this
was one of them,” Solano
said. “I’m really proud of
this team. We had a rough
start, but I’m loving the way
we are playing now.”
staff photo by e.J. Harris
Hermiston’s Emilio Leal (2) points his fingers in the air in celebration after scoring a goal in the
Bulldogs’ 3-1 win against Kamiakin on Tuesday in Hermiston.
BASEBALL
SIGNING
staff photo by annie Fowler
Southern Oregon University wrestling coach Mike Ritchey
(right), welcomes Irrigon’s Alex Miranda-Walls to the Raiders
program after he signed his letter of intent Tuesday.
Irrigon’s Miranda-Walls
is headed to SOU
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
staff photo by Brett Kane
The Irrigon Knights baseball team poses with coach Randy Henrichs during Friday’s home field dedication.
Irrigon honors Randy Henrichs with field dedication
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Typically, when a group
of teenage boys shows up at
the principal’s office, noth-
ing good can come of the
visit.
But Irrigon principal
Ryan Keefauver welcomed
this particular group, who
wanted nothing more than
to set the wheels in motion
to have the school’s base-
ball field named after their
coach, Randy Henrichs.
Keefauver was in favor,
but it was not his decision
to make. The baseball play-
ers then made a presenta-
tion to the school board.
The school board and the
Morrow County School
District gave their blessing.
“He deserves to have that
field named after him,” Irri-
gon athletic director Mike
Royer said. “That field was
built by him. He has put in
hundreds of hours main-
taining and manicuring the
field. He has turned that
field into a nice facility.”
This summer, a sign will
be placed under the score-
board that reads Henrichs
Field.
The whole process was
kept under wraps, and sur-
prised Henrichs on Fri-
day afternoon when it was
announced between games
with the Vale Vikings.
“I’m a big ol’ guy, and
I don’t show much emo-
tion, but these guys choked
me up,” a misty-eyed Hen-
richs said after the presen-
tation. “These kids are like
my own. I love them. The
most special time in my life
is right now. This is every-
thing to me.”
The idea of naming the
field came from senior Dal-
ton Schneider.
“He asked me about it,
and I was on board,” said
pitcher Zack Henrichs,
Randy Henrichs’ grandson.
“We asked the team, and
they were 100 percent for
it.”
After the team went
through the proper steps,
High Performance Signs &
Graphics in Hermiston was
contracted to make the sign.
“He has no clue,” Zack
said a couple of days prior
to the game. “He means a
lot to this group of guys.
He has coached us since we
were little. The only year he
did not coach us was eighth
grade because he took the
high school job.”
Henrichs is in his fifth
year coaching the Knights,
but he has left an impres-
sion that will last for years
to come.
Under Henrichs, the
Knights have qualified for
state four times (including
this year), including a trip
to the semifinals in 2016.
After Friday’s games
with Vale, Henrichs’ record
stands at 87-37.
“He is a good coach and
a good man,” Royer said.
Southern Oregon Uni-
versity wrestling coach
Mike Ritchey is pretty par-
ticular about who he brings
into his program.
The longtime Raiders
coach was on hand May 7
as Irrigon’s Alex Miran-
da-Walls signed his letter of
intent.
“Alex is a kid who coach
(Ken) Thompson put on our
plate,” Ritchey said. “This
is my 25th year coaching,
and Alex is one of the finest
young men I have seen in
regards to academics, ath-
letics and character.”
Miranda-Walls,
who
placed third at state the past
two years at 170 pounds,
said Southern Oregon was
his first choice.
“As much as Coach
Thompson was talking to
me about them, he was
talking to them about me,”
he said. “When I went for
my visit, it was a done
deal.”
SOU, in Ashland, has
been an NAIA wrestling
powerhouse for more than
40 years. The Raiders have
won four national team
titles, crowned 35 national
champions, and boast 245
all-Americans.
The last Irrigon wres-
tler to compete at the col-
lege level was Wade Aylett
(2011 graduate), who went
to Missouri Valley College.
Ritchey said Miran-
da-Walls’ scholarship is
part academic and part ath-
letic. It is equivalent to a
half scholarship.
“We are looking for
that kid who has that extra
spark and is a leader in his
school,” Ritchey said. “It
takes time for some kids
to establish those traits.
Alex already has them. We
are excited to bring a qual-
ity athlete from this area to
our program. Hopefully this
creates a pipeline. They are
our biggest recruiters.”
Miranda-Walls finished
his senior season with a
43-3 record.