THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
Sports shorts
Deals reached for
tagged players
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.
(AP) — The Kansas City
Chiefs ended up with a big
bargain the last time they
signed Justin Houston. This
time, it’s the
star line-
backer who’s
cashing in.
Houston
became the
highest-paid
linebacker in NFL history
Wednesday when he agreed
to a six-year, $101 million
contract, over half of which
is guaranteed, hours before
the Wednesday deadline for
players who had franchise
tags to sign long-term deals.
Star receivers Dez Bryant
and the Dallas Cowboys and
Demaryius Thomas of the
Denver Broncos both agreed
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contracts just before the
deadline.
The New York Giants,
however, did not pursue a
long-term deal with Jason
Pierre-Paul after the star
defensive end injured
his right hand in a July 4
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MLB considers
schedule changes
CINCINNATI (AP) —
Cutting the length of Major
League Baseball’s regular-
season schedule could be
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postseason.
Baseball players are
increasingly
FACES complaining
of the toll of
playing 162
games in 183
days. The
schedule was
154 games
before the AL
Manfred
added eight
games when it expanded
in 1961, and the National
League adopted the new
format when it added two
teams for the 1962 season.
“A shortened schedule
is a major, major economic
issue,” Commissioner Rob
Manfred told the Baseball
Writers’ Association of
America on Tuesday.
“We sell out in a lot of
markets in terms of gates.
The gates are really valuable
to us. We have television
commitments. Each local
contract varies, but there are
game guarantees that could
be affected by a shortened
season.”
“I can’t help
but really say
that I wonder
how Floyd
(Mayweather)
feels being beat
by a woman for
once.“
— Ronda Rousey
UFC female bantam-
weight champion after
winning for Best Fighter
at the ESPY Awards on
Wednesday. Mayweather
has been charged with
domestic violence six
times, resulting in a two-
month jail stay in 2012.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1920 — Babe Ruth breaks
his own season record of 29
homers with his 30th as the
New York Yankees beat the
St. Louis Browns, 5-2. Ruth
ends the season with 54.
1993 — Nick Faldo ties
the best single round in 122
years of the British Open
with a course-record 63 to
give him a one-stroke lead
after the second round.
2006 — J.R. Todd
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driver to win an NHRA Top
Fuel event, beating Tony
Schumacher in the Mopar
Mile-High Nationals.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
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1B
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British Open
Spieth tries to downplay pressure
Masters, U.S. Open
champion treating
next major as ‘just
another event’
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — With
a chance to match history at the home
of golf, Jordan Spieth is trying to make
the British Open feel like just another
event.
That might be one of his toughest
challenges at St. Andrews.
Ben Hogan in 1953 is the only
other player to capture the Masters,
U.S. Open and British Open in the
same year. Only three players since
then — Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus
and Tiger Woods — have ever come to
Scotland with hopes of a Grand Slam.
Spieth’s news conference attracted
a full house Wednesday, creating an
atmosphere normally reserved only
for Woods and Rory McIlroy. The
21-year-old Texan is the main attrac-
See GOLF/2B
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
United States’ Jordan Spieth reacts after his caddie tossed a ball which rolled into the hole during
a practice round at the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland,
Wednesday, July 15, 2015.
HERMISTON
Little League all-stars can handle heat
District 3 champions prepare for state
By SAM BARBEE
EO Media Group
Staff photo by Sam Barbee
Akira Pierson of the Hermiston 10/11-year-old softball
team fi elds a ball at third base while shortstop Kayleigh
Billsborough backs up Tuesday in Hermiston.
In late June, local temperature records
were broken by a heat wave that lashed
the entire west coast. But Hermiston’s
10/11-year-old softball team couldn’t
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They had to play some softball.
In the District 3 tournament in
Irrigon, Hermiston took two of three
games from host Columbia, dropping
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Hermiston would beat Columbia 11-4
the next day to force a winner-take-all
championship game, which Hermiston
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the 10/11-year-old state tournament in
Gresham.
“They showed how they can work as
a team, and get themsleves where they
need to go and what they need to do,”
manager Lorena Simpson said. “It’s
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have worked really hard for it and they
deserve it.”
Simpson wouldn’t single out any of
the 11 players on the roster, saying that
they’ve bonded as a team and “we hold
onto each other’s teamwork.”
That teamwork was on display during
a particularly grueling district game a
couple weeks ago.
At the district tournament in Irrigon,
Hermiston took on host Columbia in the
largest heat wave to hit the west coast
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didn’t back down. After a 1 p.m. start,
the game was delayed due to the heat.
It took about an hour for the ballgame
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But the long day seemingly had no
effect on Hermiston. They rebounded
for the 11-4 win the next day, and held
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the winner-take-all rubber match.
Offensively, Hermiston appears to
be in a good place. In those last three
games, they’ve scored an average of
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iston has entering the state tourney is its
familiarity with the heat. Saturday and
Sunday’s temperatures in Gresham are
predicted to touch 91 degrees, which
is approaching standard summer desert
temperatures.
“I think we will do very well with the
heat,” Simpson said. “It’s an advantage.
We’ve already played in it.”
PENDLETON
Caitlyn
Jenner
accepts
the Ar-
thur Ashe
award for
courage at
the ESPY
Awards
at the
Microsoft
Theater on
Wednes-
day, July
15, 2015, in
Los Ange-
les.
Pendleton third at state
Momentary lapses
stop stout run
Murphy said he felt bad for pitcher
Celia Farrow, who had to shoulder
the loss despite a strong outing.
“She was kind of the heart and
soul of our pitching staff and she
East Oregonian
fought hard,” he said. “We had some
errors tonight and that kind of hurt
CLACKAMAS — Two bad XV D ORW %XW ZH QHYHU TXLW DQG ZH
innings is all it took to end Pendle- scored a lot of runs at the end there.”
ton’s state tournament.
Pendleton added four runs in their
The 11/12-year-old Little League ¿QDODWEDWDQGZHUHOHGDWWKHSODWH
softball all-stars had to settle for by Delaney Duchek (3 for 4) and
third place on Wednesday following Jordyn Murphy (2 for 3, walk).
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Pendleton’s tournament began
from north Portland.
with a 19-3 win over OR/CAL from
,WZDVWKH¿IWKJDPHRIWKHZHHN the Klamath Falls area, but they were
for the girls, which won the District dropped to the loser’s bracket after
3 championship to earn their berth, a 13-4 defeat at the hands of tourna-
and manager Ron Murphy said ment host Clackamas, which will face
going home before the championship North Portland in the championship.
round was a hard pill to swallow
That game went into the fourth
when considering how well the team inning tied 1-1, but Clackamas took
played at the tournament.
advantage of Pendleton errors to go
“This is a tough loss, just because up for good.
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Pendleton rebounded to beat
the phone following the game. “We Crook County 21-9, then beat OR/
actaully had a really awesome tour- CAL again, this time 12-4.
nament. You take away those bad
Ron Murphy said every player on
innings and who knows where we’d his roster made big plays throughout
be right now.
their run.
“But it was a fun ride and all 12
“I could put highlights on every-
of our girls played hard. Taking third body,” he said. “All 12 girls fought
in state is something they should be hard and there wasn’t any one girl
that stuck out for the whole tourna-
proud of.”
Wednesday’s elimination contest ment.”
The other members of the team
saw Pendleton take an early lead
and go up 5-3 before one bad inning are Jordan Jones, Alexia Laib, Brynn
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Parkside/North Portland to build an Natalie Neveau, Josie Wilson and
insurmountable advantage.
Kylie Parsons.
Photo by Chris
Pizzello/Invision/
AP
Emotional Jenner accepts
Courage Award at ESPYs
By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Caitlyn
Jenner accepted the Arthur
Ashe Courage Award at the
ESPYs on Wednesday night
while urging acceptance for
others who are transgender.
She received a standing
ovation from some of the
sporting world’s biggest stars
after her 10-minute speech
during the annual awards
honoring the year’s top athletes
and moments.
“This transition has been
harder on me than anything I
can imagine,” said Jenner, who
revealed she was in the process
of becoming a woman in a
televised interview with Diane
Sawyer in April on ABC.
Noting
her
powerful
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Olympic decathlon champion
See JENNER/2B