Ems topple Vancouver for second straight win
■ Eugene takes the first game of
a series for only the second time
this season
By Peter Hockaday
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Emeralds finally
broke “the curse of the first game.”
With a win over Vancouver
Monday night, the Ems won the
first game of a series for only the
second time this season, in their
14th series of the season. The Ems
toppled the Canadians 6-3.
The Ems also broke another
streak that they would rather for
get. Eugene went errorless for the
first time in 20 games.
Jon Brandt picked up his first
professional win Monday night.
The former UCLA standout
pitched six strong innings before
leaving the bases with two men
on in the sixth. Brandt also got
strong relief performances from
Mike Hoyt and Juan Mejia, who
preserved the starter’s six-run
lead.
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Northwest League
Standings
(through Sunday)
West Division
1. Salem-Keizer (32-20)
2. Vancouver (28-23)
3. Everett (25-27)
4. Eugene (21-31)
East Division
1. Boise (35-18)
2. Tri-City (28-25)
3. Yakima (23-28)
4. Spokane (16-36)
Batting Leaders
1. Syketo Anderson, Boise (.396)
2. Jason Bartlett, Eugene (.341)
3. Brad Bouras, Boise (.331)
Stolen Base Leaders
1. Marcus Nettles, Eugene (23)
2. James Shanks, Spokane (20)
3. Vincente Rosario, Everett (17)
On the offensive side, Trevor
Brown was one of the stars Mon
day night for the second time in
two games. Brown drove in two
runs Saturday afternoon in a 6-4
win over Everett, then knocked in
three more with a bases-loaded
double in the top of the sixth in
ning Monday night. Brown’s dou
ble put the Ems up 6-0, and they
would not relinquish the lead.
The win Monday night moved
the Ems to 22-31 on the season,
but Eugene is still flailing in the
basement of the Northwest
League’s West Division. The Ems
needed to get the best of Everett
in the teams’ recent three-game
series in order to overtake the
third-place AquaSox. However,
the Emeralds managed to take
only one from the visitors.
Before that home series with
Everett, Eugene played three
games at the home of the AquaSox,
and also went 1-2 in that series.
The back-to-back series victories
for Everett helped it open a one
game lead into a three-game lead
Monday.
Despite the losses, Eugene con
tinues to swing its bats well. Short
stop Jason Bartlett is a fixture at
the top of the NWL’s list of batting
leaders and trails Boise’s Syketo
Anderson by 55 percentage points.
Eugene slugger Greg Sain was tied
for the league lead in home runs
before Vancouver’s Matt Allegra
hit a two-run bomb against the
Ems Monday.
Speedster Marcus Nettles, Eu
gene’s leadoff man, continues to
impress his speed on opposing
pitchers. Nettles leads the league
with 23 stolen bases, three more
than the second-place player. Net
tles’ statistic is most impressive be
cause he did it even after joining
the Ems late, when his Miami Hur
ricanes won the College World Se
ries.
The Ems will play two more
games at Vancouver, then take an
off day before returning home for a
five-game series with Boise. The
Hawks lead the NWL’s East Divi
sion by seven games. The Ems
have 23 games remaining in the
season.
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Jessie Swimeiey Emerald
Trevor Brown had five RBIs in two games against Everett and Vancouver, both wins.
New turf
continued from page 5
team policy forced him to leave
the Volunteers.
This year, Smith has already
found trouble, as he was reported
ly arrested for drunk driving last
weekend.
“It’s going to continue to
give us a home-field
advantage. This turf is just
the next generation of what
we had.”
Mike Bellotti
Oregon head coach
The trio of running backs aren’t
the only ones with speed on the
Ducks’ offensive side of the ball.
Returning wide receivers Keenan
Howry and Sarnie Parker are two
of Oregon’s fastest players. Howry
caught 52 balls for 780 yards last
year, while Parker averaged 18.3
yards per catch in his limited ap
pearances behind Marshaun Tuck
er last season.
“Keenan isn’t the biggest or the
fastest guy out there, but it’s almost
impossible to stop him,” Bellotti
said.
Oregon added even more speed
at the wide receiver position in
the form of track and field star
Micah Harris. The speedster ran
in the 100-meter dash for the
Ducks at the NCAA Champi
onships in June.
Cornerback Rashad Bauman,
who Bellotti called “possibly the
best athlete ever to play at Ore
gon,” could feast on opposing
wide receivers who don’t know
how to handle the NeXturf.
There remains little doubt — to
the Oregon players, at least — that
the new turf will provide the same
old advantage. Whether that
means the Ducks will extend their
home winning streak to 25 games,
Oregon won’t know for another
four months.
Hockaday
continued from page 5
year — put my team in position to
win.”
Ah, I see a ray of optimism try
ing to muscle its way into this col
umn.
Civil War? It’s at Autzen Stadi
um this year, where the Ducks
have won 10 of 13 Civil Wars
since 1975, including the last
three. Wisconsin comes to Autzen
as well, and you can believe the
Ducks will be looking for a little
revenge after last year’s close loss
at Camp Randall.
“We lost a game [at Wisconsin]
that we should have won,” tight
end Justin Peelle said. “It’s been
on our minds since then.”
Justin’s got the spirit that the
rest of the team needs. Heck, the
rest of the team already has it.
Call it a Duck thing. Perennial
underdogs, always slighted, al
ways out for revenge, never given
enough respect. They got that
(lack or respect) this year when
Sports Illustrated picked the
Beavers at No. 1.
If you thought last year’s Civil
War had too much hype, just watch
as it builds this year. And builds.
In fact, it’s going to build so
much that you can’t drink any
more, Joey. You can’t smoke, you
can’t eat fatty foods. You can’t
even eat a peanut. Only salad.
And determination. You can eat
determination for breakfast, Joey. I
give you permission.
Because that’s what it’s going to
take to be a Duck in 2001. Rose
Bowl or bust, right?
Peter Hockaday is the sports editor for the
Emerald. He can be reached at
phockaday@dailyemerald.com.