A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAy, JuLy 24, 2019
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Hermiston Little League ousted from state tourney
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
KLAMATH FALLS — Herm-
iston Little League’s run at the
9-10-11-year-old state tournament
was a bit shorter than they would
have liked.
Bend North rallied from early
deficits of 5-0 and 9-8 to hand
Hermiston a 15-9 loss Monday
night in a loser-out game.
“All the teams are good,” coach
Justin Simmons said. “It’s whoever
shows up and the ball falls your
way.”
After a scoreless first inning,
Hermiston put five runs on the
scoreboard in the bottom of the sec-
ond inning.
Bend came back with four runs
of its own in the third, then took
an 8-5 lead in the top of the fourth
inning.
Hermiston, the District 3 cham-
pion, took the lead back in the bot-
tom of the fourth with a four-run
outburst.
It was all Bend from there, which
scored seven runs over the final two
innings.
Hermiston outhit Bend 12-10,
but committed seven errors on the
night.
Camden Venoy went 4-for-5 with
a triple and four RBIs for Hermis-
ton, while Lane Simmons and Bar-
rett Stanek each hit a double.
Photo courtesy of Hermiston Little League
The Hermiston 9-10-11 Little League team includes: front row (from left) Cougar Philippi and Hunter Link. Middle
row: Brocc Haagenson, Ruben Mendez, Brody Woodard, Quinn Warner, Camden Venoy, Lane Simmons, Ryder
Wilson, Evan Hays, Carter Waelty, Barrett Stanek and Wyatt Larson. Back row: coaches Blake Philippi, Justin
Simmons and Kirby Warner.
Hermiston opened the state tour-
nament with a 20-2, four-inning
victory Saturday over Southeast
Portland.
Brody Woodard and Wyatt Lar-
son each pitched two innings for
Hermiston, combining on a five-hit-
ter with four strikeouts and just two
walks.
“We came out ready to play,”
Simmons said. “They decided they
would go for it.”
Hermiston led 8-1 after the first
inning, 11-2 after two, and 15-2
after three.
Offensively, Hermiston had
14 hits — all singles — and took
advantage of 11 walks.
3-ON-3
Stanek had three hits and three
RBIs for Hermiston, while Venoy,
Evan Hays, and Hunter Link each
had two hits. Cougar Philippi also
drove in three runs.
Lake Oswego was a differ-
ent obstacle on Sunday. The Port-
land-area team handed Hermiston a
15-1 loss.
“Lake Oswego is a really good
team,” Simmons said. “They are the
best team we have seen all season.”
Hermiston trailed just 2-1 after
three innings, but a couple of errors
in the fourth led to runs for Lake
Oswego, which then scored 11 runs
over the final two innings.
“About the fourth inning, a cou-
ple of errors happened and they put
their heads down,” Simmons said
of his team.
Ryder Wilson took the loss
for Hermiston on the mound. He
allowed three hits and three runs
over 3⅓ innings of work.
“Ryder kept us in the game,”
Simmons said. “They just kept
chipping away at us and we kind of
fell apart.”
At the plate, Philippi had two of
Hermiston’s four hits.
Merik Adler pitched 3⅔ innings
for Lake Oswego, striking out eight
and walking none.
Alex Trojan hit a pair of dou-
bles for Lake Oswego, while Chase
Kelly and Sawyer Best each drove
in three runs.
TAEKWONDO
Photo contributed by Erwin Watson
From left to right: Anna Rivera, Abel Garcia, Anna Garcia,
Amauri Black, Jordan Velasco, J.T. Rowden, Kiona Idris, and
Isaiah Diaz pose with their medals earned at the Grand
Master Pierce’s Memorial Tournament in Lynnwood, Wash.,
on June 28.
Taekowndo youth take
home gold
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A player goes to the hoop during Saturday’s Takin’ it to the Streets 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Hermiston.
Hermiston takes to the streets
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
For the 14th year in a
row, Hermiston proved that
basketball brings people
together.
Over the course of Satur-
day and Sunday, more than
145 teams from around the
region flocked to downtown
Hermiston to participate in
the annual Takin’ it to the
Streets 3-on-3 tournament.
Teams, comprised of ath-
letes anywhere from the fifth
grade and upward, braved
the sizzling summer heat to
showcase their passion for
the sport.
“Our community has
always been supportive of
us,” organizer Juan Rodri-
guez said. “You can see all
of our local sponsors on the
backboards. We couldn’t
have done this without
them.”
Alongside the various
teams were groups of vol-
unteers — many of whom
were members of Hermis-
ton High School’s boys and
girls varsity basketball pro-
grams. Money raised from
the weekend-long contest
helped support their upcom-
ing seasons.
“They’re also doing it
because they want to pro-
mote basketball,” Rodriguez
added.
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A player from the Hustlers drives to the basket against her
opponent from the Lower Valley Ladies.
Although players from
Washington, Idaho, and cen-
tral Oregon took to Main
Street to flaunt their bas-
ketball skills, several local
teams made appearances to
represent their hometowns.
Among those teams was
Purosho, led by Blue Moun-
tain Community College’s
own Dylan Grogan, who,
with the help of teammates
Deon Davis, Jerry Ramirez
and Quinton Raynor, opened
Saturday morning with a
20-14 victory against Drive
Home Safe on the center
court’s red Les Schwab mat.
Grogan, 20, noted the dif-
ference between summer
basketball and the hours he’s
put in on the Timberwolves’
court in Pendleton.
“I love it,” Grogan said of
Takin’ it to the Streets. “It’s
less structured. You’re free
to do what you want, and
you get to play basketball
with your best friends.”
Grogan’s team was born
out of a former rivalry. He
met Ramirez in a previous
Takin’ it to the Streets tour-
nament years ago, where
they played on opposing
teams. This year was their
first on the same side.
“That’s how we got to
know each other,” Grogan
said. “This is a great group
of guys.”
A premier player on the
Timberwolves’ roster, Gro-
gan, a Stanfield native,
played his first game in the
tournament when he was in
third grade. He’s been com-
ing back ever since.
Fans, family, and friends
filled the bleachers to watch
Purosho compete.
After his team’s first win,
Purosho still had two more
games left to play on Satur-
day alone. The team with-
stood the heat and ended up
winning championships in
the Men’s Rec and Men’s
Open divisions.
Purosho wasn’t the only
team who have made Takin’
it to the Streets an annual tra-
dition — Tyler Winklebleck,
Tyson Naylor, Carson Lloyd
and Juan Coria have com-
peted in the tournament
together since they were in
high school.
Now in their 20s, their
team, appropriately named
the Three Throws, cruised
to a 20-7 win over Cokini
to open the tournament on
Saturday.
Photos
For more photos of Takin’
it to the Streets, see A13.
LYNNWOOD, Wash.
— Eight Stanfield kids
recently proved that a small
town can still bring big
competition.
On June 28, Stanfield’s
Eastern Oregon Family
Taekwondo school sent a
group of their younger ath-
letes to the Grand Master
Pierce’s Memorial Tourna-
ment at Edmonds Commu-
nity College in Lynnwood,
Washington. All eight kids
medaled in their respective
events.
Abel Garcia, 11, won
first in forms and board
breaking, and third in spar-
ring. Anna Garcia, 7, took
first in forms and board
breaking, and second in
sparring. Anna Rivera, 13,
also got top honors in forms
and board breaking, and
second in sparring. Kiona
Idris, 15, won first in spar-
ring and second in forms
and board breaking.
Isaiah Diaz, 4, the
youngest in the class, won
first in forms and board
breaking and second in
sparring in the 4-year-old
division. In the 6-year-old
division, he placed first in
padded weapons, and third
in forms, sparring, and
board breaking.
J.T. Rowden, 9, won sec-
ond in forms and third place
in both board breaking and
padded weapons. Jordan
Velasco, 6, won second and
third prizes in both of his
padded weapons contests.
Amauri Black, 6, won sec-
ond in forms, third in spar-
ring, and fourth in board
breaking. She also won sec-
ond and third place awards
in padded weapons bouts.
Eastern Oregon Fam-
ily Taekwondo welcomes
all aspiring athletes, aged 2
and older. Practices are held
Monday through Thursday
every week, unless there
is an upcoming tourna-
ment — then the week gets
busier.
“We practice, practice,
practice,” said Erwin Wat-
son, who co-owns and
instructs the classes with his
wife Lorry. “You just can’t
practice enough. It showed
(in Lynnwood). Some of
these bigger schools bring
in over a hundred students.
We dominated for such a
small group.”
The team’s showing in
Lynnwood was their first
ever in the city. Their skills
have earned them plenty of
outside attention, Watson
said.
“It was a big thing for
these kids,” Watson said.
“I’ve had masters come up
to me and say, ‘Wow, these
kids are amazing.’”
The gym, which typi-
cally houses Stanfield ath-
letes, will soon open its
doors to those from all over
Eastern Oregon, includ-
ing Irrigon, Umatilla, and
Heppner.
Up next, the kids will
hit the road to Southridge
High School in Kenne-
wick on Aug. 17 to com-
pete in the Columbia Gorge
Tournament.
The gym is also gearing
up to host a “Stranger Dan-
ger” women’s self-defense
class in the same month.
“We try to teach every-
thing you need to know in
two hours,” Watson said of
the yearly class.
As for the kids, the hours
and hours of hard work
they’ve put in to win the
gold in Lynnwood hasn’t
been lost on them.