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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2015 Sports shorts EOU ranked 13th in preseason poll KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Eastern Oregon University football team notched its highest preseason ranking in program history, as the Mountaineers were selected as the No. 13 team in the country in the 2015 NAIA Football Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 poll, the national of¿ ce announced on Monday afternoon. A total of three teams from the Frontier Conference cracked the top 25, while Montana Western managed to receive nine votes in the poll. Southern Oregon split the No. 1 slot with Marian (Ind.), marking the ¿ rst time since 1 that two teams shared the top spot in the poll. Meanwhile, fourth-ranked Carroll (Mont.) shared its ranking with Saint Xavier (Ill.). EOU’s last preseason top 25 recognition came in 2012 with a No. 16 ranking. Sports community rallies DURXQGZLOG¿UHYLFWLPV Area coaches come “It sorta snowballed into what it is now. It’s just together to help one of those things, to do whatever we can to one of their own help out.” By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian The wild¿ res roaring across Eastern Oregon have been well-doc- umented. The Canyon Creek Comple[ ¿ re, near John Day, has engulfed more than 0,000 acres and destroyed at least 26 homes in just less than a week. One of those homes belonged to Steve and Shae Speth, whose house and all belongings inside were completely destroyed in the — Brian Pickard, Weston-McEwen High School boys basketball coach ¿ re a few days ago. The Speths are both coaches at Grant Union +igh School, with Steve coaching boys basketball and Shae coaching volleyball. As coaches, it’s easy to make enemies with other teams, coaches, and players along the way. +owever, in the light of the situation, other area coaches are tossing aside their rivalries to help out their fellow coaches. Basketball coaches Brian Pickard (Weston-McEwen), Mitch Thompson (Irrigon), Jeremy Rosenbalm (+eppner) and Brennan Whittaker (Culver) have teamed up to put together a relief effort to help the Speths get back on their feet. It includes coordinating donation See WILDFIRE/2B MLB Early offense boosts M’s Vicky Duval gets U.S. Open wildcard after cancer battle W+ITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — Vicky Duval received a wild-card entry for U.S. Open qualifying, a week after she returned to competition following a yearlong FACES recovery from +odgkin lymphoma. The 1-year-old based in Bradenton, Florida, won Duval two singles matches at a $25,000 tournament in Landisville, Pennsylvania, last week, her ¿ rst action since reaching the second round of Wimbledon as a quali¿ er in June 201. Shortly after that, Duval announced she had been diagnosed with cancer. Duval made a splash at the 2013 U.S. Open, beating 2011 champion Sam Stosur in the ¿ rst round. “I’m glad it’s over, so you guys will quit talking about it.“ AP Photo/LM Otero Seattle Mariners’ Seth Smith hits a two-run homer during the fi rst inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. Nelson Cruz scored on the play. Iwakuma delivers for Seattle after bumpy start Associated Press ARLINGTON, Te[as — +isashi Iwakuma followed his no-hitter by limiting Te[as to two runs and ¿ ve hits over seven innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday night. All of Seattle’s scoring came in the ¿ rst inning on three e[tra-base hits, including Seth Smith’s 10th home run of the season. Iwakuma (5-2) gave up a hit to Te[as’ second batter, a single by Shin-Soo Choo. +e retired 12 straight at one point and struck out See MARINERS/2B Softball Local squad captures regional title East Oregonian — Ken Whisenhunt Tennessee Titans head coach answering a reporter’s question about the fi rst interception thrown by rookie quar- terback Marcus Mariota in training camp. Mario- ta had thrown 230 pass- es without a turnover until linebacker Zach Brown got his hands on a ball that was tipped twice during a 7-on-7 drill on Tuesday. The USA E[plosion DFM-Pratt softball team ¿ nished its season as NW Region champins with a 5-0 record at the NW Regional 16A Tournament at Delta Park in Portland earlier this month. The girls over- came a10-5 de¿ cit in the semi¿ nals by scoring si[ runs in the bottom of the last inning to advance to the championship game. In the championship USA E[plosion DFM-Pratt defeated the Washington Acers 6-0. ——— Pictured left to right are: (BACK ROW) Kalan McGlothan, Raylee Lehnert, Lau- ren Roberts, Lauren Richards, Mallory Copeland and Ashton Wright. (FRONT ROW) Elli Nirschl, Madison Parker, Rylee Gentner, Haley Bradley and Tatum Fell. Not pictured are coaches Steve Rich- ards, Steve Nirschl and Rob Parker. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1951 — Eddie Gaedel, a 65-pound, 3-foot- midget, makes his ¿ rst and only plate appearance as a pinch-hitter for Frank Saucier of the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel, wearing No. 1/8, walks on four pitches by Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain and is taken out for pinch-runner Jim Delsing. The gimmick by Browns owner Bill Veeck was within the rules but later banned. 2014 — NBA referee Dick Bavetta retires after a 3-year career in which he never missed an assign- ment. Bavetta of¿ ciated a record 2,635 consecutive regular-season games after starting his NBA career on Dec. 2, 15. +e also worked 20 playoff games. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Contributed photo by Robin Nirschl Volleyball EOU looks to earn top rankings Mountaineers enter season with big e[pectations East Oregonian The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team kicks off its season on Friday in the Eastern Oregon Invi- tational, and Cascade Colle- giate Conference coaches are e[pecting more big things from the Mountaineers this season. Coming off a quarter¿ nals appearance in the NAIA National Championships in 201, the Mountaineers were picked to repeat as CCC champions in the poll released last week and ranked No. 6 in the NAIA preseason poll released Tuesday. Entering her ninth season, EOU head coach Kaki McLean Morehead said that while she appreciates the rankings, the Mountaineers aren’t giving them much weight. “Obviously that’s based off of a lot of last year and how we performed,” she said in a video posted on the EOU Athletics web site. “Bottom line in our conference is that you have to show up to play every single night. I think that that is something that we are de¿ nitely not taking for granted. That’s something that we’re focusing on early.” The Mountaineers will have to replace CCC Player of the Year Casey Loper, but bring back +onorable Mention All-American setter Rachelle Chamberlain, a “quiet leader” whose consistency has Morehead e[pecting another stellar season from the junior from Challis, Idaho. Morehead pointed to an “itchy” sophomore class that all saw playing time in the NAIA championships, and a former Blue Moun- tain Community College standout as a few of her other key returners. Senior Piper Cantrell (Ashland, Ore.) is the leading candidate to wear the libero jersey on the back line this season, and is one of three former Timberwolves suiting up for EOU in 2015. Senior Kendra De +oog (Ephrata, Wash.) and junior Sierra Linke (Pasco, Wash.) will each be looking for swings on the outside, and See EOU/2B CCC Preseason Poll First place votes in parenthe- ses, followed by total points. 1, Eastern Oregon (6) T2, College of Idaho (3) T2, Southern Oregon (2) 4, Northwest 5, Oregon Tech 6, Corban 7, :arner 3acLÀ c 8, Northwest Christian 9, Evergreen 10, Walla Walla 11, Multnomah 113 108 108 78 65 60 54 53 48 26 13 Little League Softball Coach’s bad decision costs Washington players Iowa team wins LLSWS tiebreaker after questioning no-hitter Associated Press PORTLAND — An Iowa team advanced to the Little League Softball World Series semi¿ nals Tuesday by beating an opponent forced to play a tiebreaker after it was accused of deliberately losing a game. The Central Iowa team beat “Our coach was faced with a decision that, in the bubble of intense competition, appeared to him to be in the best interest of our team. In hindsight, it is very likely he would have made a different choice.” — Jeff Taylor, Snohomish Little League president South Snohomish Washington 3-2 in a rematch ordered by the tourna- ment. Of¿ cials demanded the e[tra game after it received reports that some teams “did not play with the effort and spirit appropriate” for Little League play. The dispute arose after the Washington team was shut out Monday by a team from Salisbury, North Carolina. The loss created a three-way tie for the Pool B title, meaning that Washington and North Carolina would advance to the semi¿ nals and the Polk City, Iowa, team would not. Central Iowa president Chris Chadd, who was back in Iowa on Monday, said he was hearing from Iowa coach Charlie +usak that some of Washington’s top hitters See BAD DECISION/2B