LA GRANDE — Landon Neistadt shot a 2-over par 74 to place second and lead Pendleton to the team title at the La Grande Tiger Invite on Friday at the La Grande Country Club.

The Bucks finished with a 310, beating runner-up Baker by 32 strokes. Echo/Stanfield was third (367), while Union was sixth (396) and Heppner was eighth (419).

“It was by far the most consistent round of golf we’ve had,” Pendleton coach Marc Sokoloski said. “I’m happy with the team’s consistency in each one of them not posting a bunch of big scores on holes. If we can continue to improve on that, there’s still a lot of room for growth.”

Coltin Miller of Burns won medalist honors with a 72, followed by Neistadt, Garret Reinhart (75) and Cole Sazue (78).

Neistadt had an eagle on hole 18, along with birdies on holes 2, 5 and 15. Reinhart had birdies on holes 3, 11 and 18, while Sazue had birdies on holes 5, 9 and 18.

Rounding out the scoring for the Bucks was Sheldon Joseph, tying for seventh with an 83.

MCLOUGHLIN INVITATIONAL — Mac-Hi’s Leo Saldana and Preston Wheeler tied for medalist honors, and led the Pioneers to the team title at the Milton-Freewater Golf Course.

Saldana had birdies on holes 14 and 18 in shooting a 71, while Wheeler had a birdie on hole 7 in matching his teammate with a 71.

The Pioneers finished with a 310 on their home course, while Enterprise was second with a 320, and Burns was third at 345. Umatilla was sixth (371), while the Echo/Stanfield JV was seventh (410).

Pilot Rock, Weston-McEwen and Nixyaawii did not field complete teams.

Landon Norton led Pilot Rock, placing 10th with an 80. Teammate Samuel Lamberson tied for 45th with a 113.

Weston-McEwen’s Theo Sprenger and David Murphy tied for 15th with matching 88s.

Evan Minthorn led the Golden Eagles, finishing tied for 33rd with a 105. Harley Gone followed with a 113.

Baseball

PENDLETON 10-6, BAKER 1-5 — The Bucks remained perfect in Greater Oregon League play with a sweep of the Bulldogs at Bob White Field.

Ninth-ranked Pendleton (12-6 overall), which has won 10 games in a row, opened the first game with a 4-0 lead after two innings. Baker (2-12, 0-4) scored one run in the top of the fourth, only to see the Bucks hang four runs on the board in the bottom of the inning.

Pendleton would add two runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Reid Furstenberg had a double and two RBIs for the Bucks, who also saw Colin Harrington go 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Nate Driskell 2-for-4 with one RBI.

Furstenberg picked up the win, allowing one run on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in five innings of work. Keli Spencer pitched two innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out four.

“Any time you can put up 10 runs and back it with that kind of pitching, it’s a complete team win,” Pendleton coach Justin Speer said. “Furstenberg set the tone on the mound, and our guys stayed disciplined at the plate all game. I really liked our approach. We were aggressive on the bases, patient in the box and clean defensively. When we play that style of Buckaroo baseball, we’re tough to beat.”

In the second game, the Bulldogs were looking for the split, but the Bucks had other plans.

Trailing 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Kolt McQuinn hit a double to center field to tie the score at 5-5, and Harrington belted a triple to left field to put McQuinn across the plate for the winning run.

“Proud of how our guys stayed the course,” Speer said. “Down late and nobody panicked. We just kept competing pitch by pitch. That’s the kind of grit and belief you need to win games like this.”

McQuinn went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and picked up the win, giving up four runs on five hits while striking out six and walking one in 5 2/3 innings of work.

IRRIGON 3-13, PILOT ROCK 2-3 — The Knights have won seven of their past eight games, including a home sweep of the Rockets at Henrichs Field.

In the opener, the score was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. 

Irrigon’s Colton Akers reached base on an error, and Erik Covarrubia joined him after being hit by a pitch. With Bennette Atkins at the plate, Akers went to third on a wild pitch, and two pitches later, scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Boston McCall.

Aiden Wells went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI for the Knights (9-4 overall, 5-2 BMC), while Cody Johnson also drove in a run.

Johnson also picked up the win, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out 14 and walking two.

Gage Williams pitched the first six innings for Pilot Rock, leaving the game after giving up two runs on three hits and striking out 10. McCall came on in the seventh.

Tucker Holton, Williams, Deacon Gourlie, Tate Thacker and Carter VanHouten all had a hit for the Rockets (6-7, 4-5).

In the second game, Irrigon took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and just kept building from there. The Knights added one run in the fourth, four in the fifth and five in the sixth to put the game away.

Pilot Rocks scored three runs in the top of the sixth, but it wouldn’t be enough.

Rene Garcia earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out nine.

Atkins went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and five stolen bases, while Johnson drove in two runs. 

Gourlie drove in a run and had two stolen bases for the Rockets, while Holton and Williams each had an RBI. Thacker took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits over four innings. He struck out seven and walked five.

GRANT UNION 19-17, WESTON-MCEWEN 2-1 — The Prospector ran their win streak to eight games with a Blue Mountain Conference sweep of the visiting TigerScots.

In the opener, Grant Union (10-3 overall, 7-0 BMC) scored all 19 of its runs before Weston-McEwen got on the board with one run in the fourth and one in the fifth.

Fletcher Grove hit a three-run home run in the third inning for the Prospectors, and also picked up the win, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out five and walking two.

Bennett Cavalletto and Tyler Smith had hits for the TigerScots (1-10, 1-8).

In the second game, Tim Taylor had three hits for Weston-McEwen, but the rest of the team combined for one as the TigerScots fell.

Jerett Waddel, Kingdon Kirby, Grove and Landyn Beil all drove in two runs for GU. Titus Hardesty picked up the win.

Softball

PENDLETON 9-9, BAKER 7-10 — The Bucks got out to a 7-3 lead after three innings, then had to hold off the Bulldogs down the stretch to win in the first game of their Greater Oregon League doubleheader at Steve Cary Field.

Baker came back to win the second game to salvage the split.

“We hit the ball well today,” Pendleton coach Tim Cary said. “However, our defense simply makes too many mistakes and gives up too many runs. We need to clean up our defense.”

Pendleton (10-5 overall 1-1 GOL) led 9-5 after five innings, but the Bulldogs scored two in the top of the seventh with one out to make things interesting.

Avery Quaempts went 3-for-3 for the Bucks, including a solo home run in the second inning. She also hit a triple in the fourth inning and scored three runs. Tatum Lambert and Cambria VanNice each had two RBIs.

Shaylor Fisher picked up the win, allowing seven runs on 10 hits while sticking out four and walking two.

Colbi Bachman hit a two-run homer in the top of the third inning for Baker (8-6, 2-2), while Jaxyn Ramos hit a double. Reagan Ritter took the loss, allowing nine runs on 14 hits. She struck out three and walked three.

In the second game, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-2 lead after three, and led 10-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, where the Bucks scored six runs to get back in the game.

Maryn Broker got things started in the sixth with an RBI single, the next run scored on an error, and Kelsi Primus pulled her team within 10-6 with an RBI single to center field.

Another Baker error put a run across the plate, and Fisher hit a two-run single to center field to cut the deficit to 10-9.

Pendleton kept the Bulldogs quiet in the top of the seventh, then had the tying run at third base with one out, but Katelyn Boatman struck out and Primus popped out to the shortstop to end the threat.

It was Pendleton’s first loss to Baker since dropping down to the 4A level.

Broker took the loss, allowing nine runs on six hits. She struck out four and walked six.

Ritter drove in three runs for Baker, while Grace Radabah and Raegan Gulick each had two RBIs. 

UNION/COVE 6-11, PILOT ROCK 5-1 — The LadyCats made a huge move in the Blue Mountain Conference standings with a sweep of the visiting Rockets.

Sixth-ranked Union/Cove (9-4 overall) improved to 3-3 in the BMC standings and sit third behind Weston-McEwen (6-1) and Heppner (3-1).

In the opener, the Ladycats broke open a close game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take a 6-2 lead. Payton Bowers and Karli Satterfield had back-to-back RBI singles, and Hayden Gregory hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2.

The No. 9 Rockets (12-4, 2-3) bounced back with three runs in the top of the seventh courtesy of a three-run home run by Paige Hansen with one out. 

With one runner on base, Coley Gibbs hit into a double play to end the game.

Jenna Johnson picked up the win for the Ladycats, allowing five runs on six hits while sticking out six and walking one.

Kashley Golden, Hailey Thieme, Gracee Hemphill and Autumn Severe all hit doubles for the Rockets. Jada Deist took the loss.

In the second game, Abigail Baird hit a two-run homer to highlight a four-run third inning for the Ladycats. Union/Cove would add two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to pull away.

Johnson picked up the win, allowing one run on four hits. She stuck out four and walked none.

The Rockets scored their lone run in the first on an RBI double by Thieme. Gibbs took the loss, allowing 11 runs on 17 hits with one strikeout and no walks.

Girls tennis

PENDLETON 5, VALE 3 — The Bucks won three of four singles matches, and split the doubles with the Vikings in a Special District 5 home match.

Vale won the No. 1 singles match as Bristol Keller rallied to beat Noemi Alvarez-Barroso 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Pendleton’s McKinley Moore won the No. 2 match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Lily Kamenicky, and Olivia Allen followed with an 8-0 win over Rachel Ainsworth.

Kamryn Matteson finished the singles matches, topping McKenzie Evers 8-5.

In doubles, Vale won the first two matches, starting with Ella Nieskens and Ellie Seals beating Isabelle Bernier and Hannah Morioka 6-0, 6-2. In the No. 2 match, Megan Schoorl and Janet Gonzalez beat Avery Pitner and Avery Brown 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

At No. 3, Pendleton’s Maddy Gunter and Jules Gunter picked up a 9-8 (4) victory over Hazel McKrola and Marla Bennett.

The Bucks finished the match with Miracle Edmiston and Amelia Thompson’s 8-6 win over Lilly Esquivel and Addie Currey.

Boys tennis

VALE 5, PENDLETON 1 — The Vikings swept the singles matches en route to a Special District 5 road win over the Bucks.

Vale’ Eli Seals ran his record to 9-0 on the year with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 win over Sam Larsen at No 1 singles. Christian Rosales followed with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Caden Crowder.

At No. 3, Vale’s Etienne Armstrong came away with an 8-3 win over Will Larsen, and Angel Medrano finished off the singles with an 8-1 win over Thor Case.

In doubles, Pendleton’s Henry Pullen and Jordan Hantke won the No. 2 match 6-2, 6-4 over Bruce Atkinson and Wyatt Estes. The Vikings’ duo of Uriel Madrano and Jordan Bates beat Ben Larsen and Cooper Crosby 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 1 match.