Sports Editor:
Alex Tam
alextam@dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, August 18,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
SPORTS
Best bet:
U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball vs. Australia
4 a.m. Thursday USA
ALEX TAM
HOLDING COURT
Player's
death taints
football
excitement
The much-anticipated football season is
already less than a month away.
The excitement and joy for the thou
sands of us students who park ourselves
on the bleachers of Autzen Stadium
hours before a home game is edging
closer.
The Ducks' chance to redeem them
selves from the 8-5 record one year ago
that ended disappointingly with a 31-30
loss to Minnesota at the Sun Bowl is right
around the comer.
However, with all of the promise and in
trigue of the upcoming season, this sum
mer has not been a joyous one for Ore
gon's football program.
Scandal and tragedy underscore the
Ducks' entrance into the season that be
gins at home against Indiana Sept. 11.
Back in late June, the public was made
aware of assistant coach Gary Campbell's
recruiting violations dating from January
2003. Campbell allegedly illegally recruit
ed running back J.J. Arrington, who now
plays for the University of California
Berkeley, resulting in a two-year probation
for the program.
Oregon remains eligible to compete in
postseason bowl games. But what is more
important than any game or postseason el
igibility is the tragedy that transpired this
past Thursday night.
Just two days before he planned to ar
rive in Eugene and begin fall camp on
Aug. 18, heralded linebacker Terrance
Kelly was shot and killed in his home
town of Richmond, Calif., on his way to
pick up his stepbrother at a friend's
home. Kelly was 18.
From everyone who knew him, Kelly
was a great person and was deemed a
'sweetheart of a kid," Oregon defensive
coordinator Nick Aliotti said. He also was
lcnown to never have drunk or done drugs.
Kelly sounds like someone who would
have been a great representative of this
program and this university and was un
fortunately in the wrong place at the
wrong time.
From his statistics, he was truly a great
all-around athlete in football on offense
and defense at De La Salle High School in
Concord, Calif.
His team never lost a game as he rushed
for over 1,000 yards his senior season.
On defense, he ranked second on the
team with 122 tackles last season and also
recorded 130 tackles the previous season.
He was ranked among the top 12 high
school linebackers in the nation by
www.Rivals.com and was also ranked as
SuperPrep's 15th-best overall football
prospect in the state of California.
Before making Oregon his new home
for the next four years, Kelly said to
www.TheInsiders.com that not only was
he looking forward to playing football at
Autzen Stadium, but also to being a part of
* - - • , • * Please see-TAM> page 18 >;
HOME STRETCH
Craig Volpe Freelance Photographer
Eugene outfielder Ernesto Garay looks at the right field scoreboard while the Emeralds come back to score four runs in
the bottom of the eighth inning in Thursday’s 9-7 victory over the Yakima Bears at Civic Stadium.
Taking a swing
The Ems came hack
to top Yakima 9-7
in Thursdays game
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
The struggles continue to
mount for the Eugene
Emeralds.
Eugene (19-38) still sits in last
place of the West Division of the
Northwest League after the
Emeralds lost 6-0 to Vancouver
Monday night. Eugene lost four
games in a row.
The Emeralds did show a brief
glimmer of hope after winning
two of the last three games in the
five-game home stand against
Yakima last week.
Eugene combined all facets of
the game — pitching, hitting
and defense — to notch the two
victories at home before their
current road trip to face first
place Everett. However, getting
that consistency day in and day
out has proven to be a problem
for the team this season.
In their 9-7 victory on Thurs
day, Eugene came back from a
7-5 deficit and scored four runs
in the eighth inning to over
come Yakima in front of 3,883
at Civic Stadium.
Eugene catcher Colt Morton
hit a two-run home run in that
eighth inning to tie the score at
7-7. Morton is in a tie with team
EUGENE
EMERALDS
BASEBALL
Next game: Eugene at
Vancouver, today 7 p.m. KPNW
(1120 AM)
Next home game: Eugene vs.
Vancouver, Friday 7:05 p.m.,
Civic Stadium
KPNW (1120 AM)
Tickets: General admission
$5 adult, $4 Child/Senior
mate Lachlan Dale for the league
lead in home runs with 14.
Shortstop Sean Kazmar later
hit a two-run triple to give Eugene
the 9-7 lead to seal the victory.
Morton said he was happy to
see his team finally win a close
ball gam in the end.
"It was huge and it's some
thing we've been looking for the
whole season pretty much," said
Morton, who is batting .283. "I
looked up at the scoreboard and
saw we had 13 hits and only five
runs (through seven innings). I
was thinking, 'Man, we keep
leaving runners on base.'
"But we finally came through
and finally made those key hits
and drove in those runs. We
made it happen."
Morton said he cannot stress
how important it is for his team to
get key hits and score with runners
on base. The Emeralds have the
league's worst team batting aver
age that, as of Sunday, sits at .249.
"Those are what wins us ball
games," Morton said. "It feels
good to get those hits and it feels
good to win close games like
this because the crowd gets into
it. They go wild and they go
nuts. These are the fun games to
win right here."
Two days earlier, Eugene blew
out Yakima 14-6 in front of
3,205 at Civic Stadium. The hero
for that game was Dale, who
slammed two home runs and
had six RBIs the victory.
"It was a pretty good night,"
Please see EMS, page 24
Oregon volleyball team
prepares for 2004 season
The Ducks are a young team
returning with optimism
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
After experiencing little success last season, the
Oregon volleyball team should be feeling quite
optimistic about the upcoming year.
The Ducks finished the 2003 season with a 3-24
overall record, which included a 0-18 record in the
Pacific-10 Conference.
Oregon, led by head coach Carl Ferreira, can
look toward last season as a humbling experience.
• Ferreira, who is in his fifth season as head coach,
said high goals remain for his squad with
aspirations of a winning record this year.
'My goals and vision have never changed," Fer
reira said. "We're building a successful winning
program that is focused on qualifying for the
NCAA Tournament."
The Ducks open the 2004 season at McArthur
Court when they host Southern Oregon Sept. 1 at
7 p.m.
Oregon will have another young team consist
ing of only two seniors and one junior. Seniors
Lauren Westendorf and Katie O'Neil will be
looked upon to provide leadership and show
commitment to Ferreira's goals of reaching the
i? * V » ' * > • .Pfe*i*9e*VOLLEYBMJ,,.p«« *8*
** * » Jr * m *• % • > * * % t • % ft I * I f %
Oregon
football
recruit
shot dead
Terrance Kelly was killed
days before he was to begin
practice with the Ducks
ALEX TAM
SPORTS EDITOR
Oregon football recruit Terrance Kelly
was shot and killed in his hometown of
Richmond, Calif., shortly before 11 p.m.
Thursday night.
Kelly had planned to come to Eugene
Saturday in time for fall football camp be
ginning this week. Oregon's first football
game of the season is at home against In
diana on Sept. 11.
Kelly, an incoming freshman who was a
star football player at De La Salle High
School, had been playing basketball
Thursday and went to pick up his 16-year
old stepbrother, Brandon Young, who was
at a friend's house.
When Kelly pulled up to the house to
pick up Young, Kelly was shot four times
in the chest and was
found lying the
street with his legs
still in the car.
He was pro
nounced dead at the
scene. Kelly was 18.
"We all mourn
and send best wishes
to his family, friends
and teammates,"
Oregon football
head coach Mike Terrance Kelly
Bellotti said. "Cer- Murder victim
tainly, it's very diffi
cult to begin the season with this type of
thing, but the most important people are
Terrance's family, friends and his grand
mother, who is in the hospital. Our
prayers go out to them in this time of loss."
Richmond (Calif.) police have arrested
one suspect and are searching for a second
suspect. The motive is still not known.
On Saturday, police arrested 18-year
old Larry Pratcher at home. He is being
held on $2 million bond and is being
charged with murder and conspiracy to
commit murder.
Police are looking for Pratcher's younger
brother, 15-year-old Darren Ray Pratcher,
the second suspect. Officials are asking for
help from the community in finding the
younger Pratcher.
According to The Oregonian, Sgt. Enos
Johnson of the Richmond police depart
ment said that the community was the
main source in helping police track down
the first arrest in the case.
Kelly's 28-year-old cousin, Malik Carr,
told the Contra Costa Times that he
blamed the Richmond area for the shoot
ing and the death of his cousin.
"Richmond killed my cousin," Carr
said. "He never got a chance. He was the
best person to come out of here ever. I
never would have thought Terrance
would go this way."
Kelly was one of four incoming recruits
from De La Salle coming to Oregon, in
cluding receiver Cameron Colvin and
defensive backs Jackie Bates and Willie
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