May 6, 2007

Eagle Indians clinch IMC softball title

By ALEX BOSWORTH
of The Chronicle

     The Dalles Wahtonka took care of business in a doubleheader Friday night at Prineville, sweeping Crook County 8-0 and 5-1 to officially clinch first place in the Intermountain Conference.
     “It wasn’t just the big work horses,” coach Steve Garrett said, pointing to key contributions from seventh batter Hannah Martinson and eighth batter Samantha Prentice. “[Production] was evenly spread ... it was a whole team effort.”
     TDW continued its impressive win streak: the Eagle Indians are now winners of 15 in a row, and improved to 21-2 overall and are a perfect 13-0 in IMC play.
Crook County dropped to 10-11 overall, 3-9 IMC.

     TDW 8, Crook County 0
     TDW senior Jessica Wood started the first game in the pitcher’s circle and was never threatened, throwing 14 strikeouts. She gave up only two hits on her way to the 8-0 shutout, her 11th of the season.
     Wood, 17-2 with a blinding 0.38 ERA coming into the game, did not allow a runner past second base.
     Wood didn’t need it, but the Eagle Indians gave her plenty of run support: TDW’s first five hits were extra-base hits, and five players finished the game with at least one RBI.
     Lori Jones batted 2-for-3, Lindy Garrett had a triple and an RBI, K-Lei Helyer had a double and a triple, and Hannah Martinson batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
     TDW 302 010 2 — 8 12 2
     CC 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

     TDW 5, Crook County 1
     In the second game, Crook County seized an early 1-0 lead through the first three innings.
     “We were hitting rockets,” Garrett said. “Four line-outs in three innings.”
But in the fourth, with two out, Martinson produced again, cracking a three-run home run to snatch away the Cowgirls’ lead for good.
     Samantha Prentice and Jessica Barrett each chipped in an RBI single in the sixth, to put the finishing touches on a 5-1 victory.
     Freshman Rylee Parke pitched a complete game for the Eagle Indians in the nightcap, giving up one run and one walk to go with seven strikeouts.
     “We were really happy with that,” Garrett said. “[A lot] of the pitching load goes on Rylee [Parke] when Jessica [Wood] graduates.”

     Up Next: Tuesday, final IMC regular season game, Pendleton, 16th Street ballpark, 4:30 p.m.

     TDW 000 302 0 — 5 8 0
     CC 010 000 0 — 1 5 3

TDFCC men’s tennis team earns second-round berth

     The Dalles Fitness and Court Club’s tennis team won its flight in the USTA 3.5 Eastern Washington men’s district first round April 27-29 in Tri-Cities, Wash.
With three wins and one loss, the team took first in its flight, advancing to the second round in May.
     TDFCC played both teams in its flight twice. They beat Hood River Sports Club-McElderry both times, 4-1 and 3-2, and split with Columbia Basin Racquet Club-Cho, losing the first match 3-2 but winning the weekend’s final match 5-0.
     (Each team match consists of two singles events and three doubles matches.)
     Coached by TDFCC tennis pro Craig Pearce, the team consists of captain Keith Howe, John Coats, Terry Stark, Howard Gonser, Danny Richelderfer, John Kerr, Andrew Carter, Peter Matthews, Henry Kelly, Frank Sorrels. Ernesto Mata is also on the team, but didn’t play.
     Singles players Coats and Matthews were unbeaten, both with 4-0 marks, while Howe was unbeaten in doubles at 3-0.
     The other men’s 3.5 flight had four teams and it was won by Tri-Cities Court Club-Smalley, with a 3-0 record.
     The second-round champion advances to the USTA Pacific Northwest sectional championships in August.
     Earlier in April, TDFCC’s women’s 3.5 team was unbeaten in its four-team flight, and also advances to the second round.
— Jodi Rich

TDW’s playoff hopes fade after split with Crook County

By JODI RICH
of The Chronicle

     A crazy weather day (sun mixed with sleet, wind and cold) matched The Dalles Wahtonka’s baseball play as they split Friday’s doubleheader against Crook County in Prineville.
     TDW edged to a 9-8 win in the first Intermountain Conference game, going eight innings, but lost the second one in an 18-2 five-inning landslide.
     The split puts a chill on the Eagle Indians’ playoff prospects, dropping TDW to 6-7 IMC, 8-15 overall.
     However, TDW remained squarely in sixth place in the IMC standings. They now face a ‘must-win-and-then-hope’ game Tuesday against Pendleton in the season finale.
     The ‘hope’ part means that in order for TDW to have a shot at the fourth state playoff spot, Mountain View must win out, said TDW coach J.R. Runyon.
     “It’s pretty disappointing,” he said. “We just have to come out with Pendleton and want a little bit of redemption. We lost to [Pendleton] in the eighth inning there ... that’s got to be our focus.”
     For Crook County, it was just their second IMC win this season with an early season win against second-place Pendleton. The Cowboys remain in last place at 2-10, 7-17 overall.

     TDW 9, Crook County 8 (8)
     Game one was highlighted by 12 hits, including winning pitcher Jon Robertson’s home run.
     Vinnie Dodd’s two-run single in the eighth gave TDW a 9-7 lead.
Crook County scored once in the bottom of the eighth before Robertson shut the door, stranding two runners.
     Aaron Pray was the Eagle Indian’s hitting leader (4-for-5, double, two RBIs), while Casey Schertenleib went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
     Catcher Dallas Mattox had two hits (2-5) and an RBI.
Others with hits were Ryan Luebke (double), Dodd (two RBIs) and Robertson (home run, RBI).
     TDW 220 102 02 — 9 12 3
     Crook Co. 050 020 01 — 8 8 4
     Macnab, Robertson (2) and Mattox; Morton, Howard (8) and McCormack. W-Robertson. L-Howard. 2B-TDW: Pray, Luebke; CC-Marks. HR-TDW: Robertson.

     Crook County 18, TDW 5 (5)
     Game two didn’t contain many Eagle Indian highlights — with only three hits (all singles) by Raec Schwarzbach (1-3), Quinn Macnab and Luebke (each 1-2).
Runyon said, “All around we got outplayed in the second game. It was kind of one of those rough ones.”
     Crook County busted out with 14 hits against three TDW pitchers, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings, then scored eight more in the third, rolling to an 18-2 win.
     TDW 020 00 — 2 3 2
     Crook Co. 448 2x — 18 14 2
     Smith, Macnab (2), Arrendale (3) and Mattox; Marks, Howard (4) and McCormack. W-Marks. L-Smith. 2B-CC: Marks 2, Howard, Morton.