ß ifr Wednesday. May 1,2013
B la z e r s
|
offseason
provides hope
fo rfu tu re
A.M.
SPORTI
_____ _____ _______ PRINT:
BASEBALL: Cougars up and
down season continues
Sports
Continued from Page 1
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor , .
Four players wrapped out two
hits apiece for the Cougars as Jodi
Combs, Thomas Kelly, Skyler
Barkdull and Myers all kept the
The Portland Trail Blazer
pressure on the Saints.
season that started with such ,
Kelly kept the Saints o ff bal
promise in a home win over
ance with a variety of off-speed
the hated Lakers in October ,
pitches and pinpoint control in
dissolved* into injuries and a
his first complete game shutout.
; 13-game losing streak to end the
Kelly, at 6’2 and 165 pounds, is
season. However, there is hope ; $
not going to overpower hitters,
for Blazermaniacs as the Blazers
have a solid cote group o f play
so he must mix it up with his off
ers and a little wiggle room this 3;
speed pitches.
offseason with more than $10
‘T jq st try to get ahead in the
million in salary cap space.
count and then try to make them
Ifnew General Manager Neal / /
chase,” said Kelly. “I throw all
Olshey decides to make a deal
three pitches just like my fastball.
for toe first tim ein his short stint
The curveball was dropping in
at the helm, the Blazers have
and the changeup had them off
numerous players that w ould
balance.’’, ' '
receive plenty o f offers. Let’s take vfe
a look at the six Blazers that are
Robinson was impressed that
sure to return.
his team came together, offen
Damian Lillard, point guard:
sively and defensively for the first
Lillard had a sensational rookie
time in a while.
_______________
season, earning eveiy Western
“We’ve been pitching well,
oeon iviyers.jrom Kearns,utan, takesacut in a recent game fo r Clackamas. Myers doubled with one out in the sixth
Conference Rookie o f the Month
or
we’ve
been
hitting
well,”
said
inning
and
scored
the lone run in the Cougars 1-0 win over Mt. Hood on Saturday in Gresham.
award and is certain to be named
Robinson. “We haven’t really tied
NBA Rookie o f the Year later
a lot of games together in the total Myers.
in the first five innings.
this year. Lillard started all 82 ri
next two doubleheaders. First,
ity. Today, we pitched well, we
Robinson also singled out
games, leading the league m total
“It seemed like everyone was they play Lane on Saturday at 1
minutes played while averaging
defended for him really well and his catcher, sophomore Thomas up after that,” said Myers. “Luke p.m., before hosting Linn-Benton
18 points and 6.5 assists.
we hit enough to score runs.”
Kelly, as playing a great game.
came up with a huge hit that on Tuesday, May 7 at 1 p.m.
LaMarcus Aldridge, power
Robinson said his young pitch
“Our catcher is great. Thomas we needed to score that run.”
forward: Aldridge made his sec
er threw a great game.
Kelly is playing great,” Robinson Myers was ready and waiting for
ond consecutive All-Star game,
“He’s got three good pitches repeated. “He calls a great game, his pitch when he smacked his
but he still does not provide a
and he kept mixing them /’ said he defends, he threw a guy out double.
dominant presence on defense./
Robinson. “I think a lot o f times at first, threw a guy out at sec
“It was just a fastball,” said
Aldridge is still a very effective
they were swinging at change-ups ond. Between (Michael) Kelly and Myers. “I knew he’d throw me
scorer with range out to 20 feet
Luke came up with
not knowing they were change- (Thomas) Kelly, the catcher and low. I watched him and then final
Nicolas Batum, small & r- ,
a huge hit that we
ward: Batum showed signs of .
ups, He did a great job o f mixing pitcher, they had a great game ly I got ahead in the count. He
needed
to score that
breaking out and becoming the /
pitches.”
between the two o f them.”
gave me the pitch I wanted and I
star that Portland paid $10 mil
Myers, the Cougars lone return
The mood , of the Ciackainas roped a double in the gap.”
run.”
.
lion per season to retain, but a
ing All-Region honoree, was also team seemed to change after
The Saints (20-10, 13-5) got
unpresseil wltlrtlie wuyliis young ■ M y ers bel t ed a do ubl e wi t h on e -b aefe on track -r n-the-nightcap, as-
still leave toe ju iy out on Ration
S co tt M yers
teammate
was
pitching.
out
in
the
sixth
inning.
Marks
sin
freshman jpitcher Clint Burris held
Wesley Matthews, shooting
Designated Hitter
“His ,change-up was on, his gled him home and the Cougars the Cougars to two hits over six
guard: Matthews is a fiery com*
curveball was on and he was spot finally broke through with a run innings in a 3-0 victory. The base
petitor and has become a team
ting up with his fastball,” said after stranding two runners twice ball team will be at home for its
leader on the Blazers, but he lacks
ii
toe outside shooting consistency
(39.8 percent on 3-pointers) to be
a n elite2 -g u ard in th eN B A
./
M eyers Leonard, center.
Although completely over
matched at times, Leonard •
showed the athleticism, grit,
determination and hustle that will
make him a player someday.
Will Barton, small forward:
Barton came on late in the sea
son when injuries took a toll on
Batum and Matthews to provide
an offensive spark Barton started
the final five games o f toe season,
averaging' 15 points, six rebounds
and three assists per game.
The Blazers will also tty to' '
keep backup point guard Eric
Maynor, who provided a steady
ing influence for toe second
unit after he was acquired from
Oklahoma City late last season.
Victor Claver probably deserves
another year, and guard Elliott
Williams is a question mark after
being hurt for two straight sea
sons.
J J. Hickson proved to be an
effective scorer and rebounder
while playing out o f position at
center, but he is probably going
to get more money in free agency
to sign elsewhere. Luke Babbitt,
Joel Freeland, Sasha Pavlovic
and Nolan Smith all appear head-
ed out the door too.
While toe Blazon pmbahlv
won’t be able to get toe Hkes o f
Chris Paul or Dwight Howard
this offseason, there are many
intriguing players out there. The
2013 free agent class includes a
long list o f solid 3-point threats
including; O J . Mayo, Ray Allen, ;
Monta Ellis, Jodie Meeks, J.R.
Smith, Martell Webster, Mike
Dunleavy and Carlos Delfino.
The market for a big man
in toe middle is pretty s b a , but
Chris Kaman, Andrew Bynum /
and A1 Jefferson all fit Portland’s
needs.
M uch o f toe Blazers’ suc
cess next season will depend on •
toe front office’s success this off- /
season. Let’s hope that Olshey
can seal toe deal on someone
Warm weather has arrived just in time as the Clackamas Community College baseball team gets a chance to play in front o f the home crowd as they host
threedoubleheaders in thenexttwo weeks. The Cougars host Lane this Saturday at 1 p.m. and then play Linn-Benton on Tuesday, May 7 at 1 p m Clackamas
travels to Salem to play Chemeketa on Saturday, May 11, before hosting its final home game on Tuesday, May 14, against Mt. Hood at 1 p.m.
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