Rain, hail delay golf regionals
Despite poor weather
conditions, Oregon
completes the regional’s
opening round in Seattle
Golf
Scott Archer
Freelance Sports Reporter
It wasn’t quite the opening
the Oregon men’s golf team had
in mind, but if any one team is
suited for this kind of weather,
it’s the Ducks. .
The opening round of the
NCAA West Regional got off to a
smooth start for the teams tee
ing off in the early morning
hours Thursday at the 7,183
yard, par-72 Washington Na
tional Course in Auburn, Wash.
However, midway through the
day and before half the field
took their first swings, rain and
hail delayed the tournament for
2 1/2 hours before play re
sumed again. One hour later,
rain again revisited the course,
and another delay was called,
this time for 65 minutes.
No. 18 Oregon finished the
day at 7-over-par and is cur
rently tied with No. 17 Denver.
However, at what position the
two teams are tied was not able
to be determined. Oregon will
finish the first round no worse
than 16th place, after the
Ducks finished ahead of the
rest of the field that was able to
complete the entire 18 holes
Thursday. The first round is
scheduled to be completed ear
ly this morning.
It was a freshman that led
Oregon in its opening, rain
soaked first round Thursday.
Freshman Gregg LaVoie, com
peting in his first postseason
tournament, finished the day
with an even-par 72 and is cur
rently tied for ninth overall in
the as-yet-completed first round.
Senior John Ellis currently sits
tied for 19th overall after shoot
ing a one-over-par 73. Redshirt
freshman Kyle Johnson, also in
his first postseason tournament,
sits 3-over par and tied for 44th
overall, along with teammate
junior Mike Sica. Senior Chris
Carnahan shot an 8-over-par and
is tied for 73rd overall.
Texas El-Paso, Old Domin
ion, Oregon State, Xavier,
Austin Peay State, Stanford,
Navy, Oral Roberts, Central
Connecticut and Loyola Col
lege all were able to finish their
first rounds while also finishing
below the Ducks.
This is Oregon’s seventh con
secutive NCAA West Regional
tournament. The Ducks last ad
vanced to the NCAA Champi
onships in the 1998-99 seasons.
The Ducks must finish the tour
nament as one of the top 10
teams if they wish to advance.
The two top individuals whose
team does not advance become
qualified to participate in the
NCAA Championships. Oregon
was only three strokes back from
making the NCAA Champi
onships last year but instead fin
ished tied for 13th overall.
Oregon was scheduled to be
gin play today at 11:51 a.m.,
but the delayed opening round
most likely will force the Ducks
to start later in the day.
Scott Archer is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Gregg LaVoie finished the rain-shortened first round tied for ninth overall with an even par.
Oregon provides no outlet for love of the game
When I was six, I played in my
first baseball game.
One year later, I witnessed what
was nearly a no-hitter at Candlestick
Park in San
Francisco.
When I was 11,
I lived and died
through the last
days of the
1993 regular
season, only to
feel as though I
was six feet un
der when the
Giants lost in
the last day of
the season, and
ultimately finished second to Atlanta.
In 1997, at the ripe age of 15, I
started my career at Willow Glen
High School in San Jose, Calif. Four
years later, after learning that 5-foot
8-inch catchers couldn’t compete in
college, I played my last game for the
Rams, an embarrassing loss as the
No. 16 seed in the Central Coast
Section playoffs.
Suffice it to say, I couldn’t leave
the field that day for hours after the
game, my eyes filled with tears as
long as the memories in my head.
I love baseball. I think baseball
loves me.
That’s why it’s still hard to live in
Eugene, to see that after next season,
there won’t be a collegiate program
within 40 miles of the city. If you
want to see college baseball, you’re
going to have to go to Corvallis and
I
Hank
Hager
Behind the dish
see the Beavers take on the Pacific
10 Conference’s best.
And as the baseball theme goes,
any team any can beat anybody any
day of the week. That’s true for Ore
gon State this season, even if No. 3
Arizona State did take care of the
Beavers this week.
Quite frankly, it’s refreshing to see
the Beavers survive. And in an era
where escalating salaries have cheap
ened the game, college baseball is be
coming an endangered species.
“It’s got a long and storied tradi
tion,” Oregon State Athletic Director
Bob De Carolis said. “Traditionally,
the sport of baseball has been a sym
bol of America.”
Indeed.
De Carolis said it is important for
him and the staff at Oregon State to
have a competitive spring sport,
something that the Beavers have
generally lived up to — at least for
most of this season.
But really, when you have no
competitor to the south and your
biggest competition is up in Port
land, it’s hard to really field a team
every season that plays the game as
hard as it can.
I’m not saying at all that the
Beavers are lazy or have a program
that needs repair. No, not all. But if
Oregon had a team, now that would
be a whole different situation.
Now that I think about it, if Eu
gene even had a team.
“It’s sad, because I think baseball
has endured a lot of things through
time,” Lane Community College
head coach Donny Harrel told me
Tuesday. “It endured some ups and
downs here through budget situa
tions, and all of a sudden, there’s
people making the decision that it’s
time to get rid of it.”
The 22 years that have passed
since the formal announcement of
the Oregon baseball demise have
provided a number of things for the
sport at the collegiate level.
Where once it stood far behind
football and basketball in terms of
revere, college baseball has a reli
gious following. I, for one, hope to
see the College World Series at
Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
I would consider that one of the
great sporting pilgrimages you could
take these days.
Sure, you’ve got history with the
Rose Bowl and other major college
football bowls out there, and yeah,
college basketball may be exciting,
but there’s just something about ly
ing around in the warm sun in June.
Especially when those players are
just playing for the love of the game.
When was the last time you heard
about a college baseball scandal, one
where you heard the boosters paying
that star catcher if he attends State U. ?
And look at professional baseball
rosters. The game has a number of
former collegiate starts playing in
the bigs, from Pat Burrell with
Philadelphia — formerly of Miami —
and yup, you guessed it, Roger
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Clemens of the ever-hated Yankees,
formerly a star at Texas.
Oregon even once had a former
No. 1 draft choice, Dave Roberts.
The third baseman was taken in
1972 by San Diego.
Maybe one day Oregon will have
baseball again.
Until then, all we have is the
memories and the thoughts of what
could have been.
Contact the sports reporter
at hankhager@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
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