BAKER CITY — Pendleton’s McKinley Moore and Noemi Alvarez-Barroso punched their tickets to the 4A/3A/2A/1A state tournament after placing in the top four Saturday at the Special District 5 district.

“I’m really proud of the effort that my team showed at districts,” Pendleton coach Curran Holdman said. “They all played some very close matches that were exciting to see.”

Moore and Alvarez-Barroso each won their first two matches to reach the semifinals.

In the semis, Moore lost a 7-5, 6-1 match to Brystol Keller of Vale, while Alvarez-Barroso dropped a 6-3, 6-3 match to Elizabeth Timm of Baker.

In the third-place match, Moore defeated Alvarez-Barroso 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Keller won the singles title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Timm, while Ella Nieskins and Ellie Seals of Vale won the doubles title with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over LeAnna Scott and Maddison Armstrong of La Grande.

In the boys tournament, McLoughlin’s Bryan Martinez finished fourth for the Pioneers to earn a trip to state. Martinez dropped a 6-0, 6-0 match to Eli Seals of Vale in the semifinals, then lost the third-place match 6-2, 6-3 to Andy Villa of Four Rivers. 

Seals won the singles title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Elijah Grimaldo of Four Rivers, while Weston Burton and Jacob Burton of Baker won the doubles title with a 2-6, 6-4, 10-6 victory over teammates Theodore Pepera and Gabriel Schwartz.

The state tournament is May 21-23 at Oregon State University Tennis Complex in Corvallis.

Softball

WESTON-MCEWEN 11, WALLOWA VALLEY 6 — In a game played in four seasons of rain, sleet, snow and sunshine, the TigerScots braved the elements for a nonleague road win over the 3A Outlaws.

“I am extremely proud of all our players for the way they played this game,” W-M coach Jeff Griggs said. “They kept whittling away on the pitching and running the bases aggressively. I can see us using what we just practiced this week to play better and better.”

After each team scored twice in the third inning, Weston-McEwen (14-5) put four runs on the board in the fourth, starting with an RBI single by Genevieve VanHouten. Megan McLouth later scored on a passed ball, and Brianna Romero sent a run across the plate with a groundout.

Bre Ward gave the TigerScots a 6-2 lead with an RBI double with two outs.

Wallow Valley (6-16) added three runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull within 6-5, but the TigerScots would pull away over the next three innings for the win.

In the fifth, Lily Langford hit an RBI single for a 7-5 lead, and Reagan drove in a run in the sixth for an 8-5 advantage.

Weston-McEwen finished off the Outlaws with three runs in the top of the seventh. The first run scored on an error, and the next two came off a home run by freshman Olivia Sargent — the first of her career.

“She hit a hard tailing fly down the first base line that found its way into the corner,” Griggs said. “While the defense hurried to retrieve it, she cleared the bases and scampered home for an in-the-park home run.”

Ward, Langford, Pickard, Evie Hodgson and Hope Berry all had two hits for the TigerScots, while Berry and Langford each had three stolen bases. 

Ward picked up the win, allowing six runs on two hits while striking out 12.

“It was really rewarding to see us hitting up and down the order today and working together as a unit,” Griggs said. “I know our schedule has been extremely tough the last couple of weeks, playing 4A and 3A schools. We believe harder is better and will pay dividends in the playoffs.”