SPORTS
FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
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NEW YORK (AP)
— Major
League
Soccer
released its
schedule
for the 2016
season on
Thursday with the Portland
Timbers earning two
televised games on a major
network.
Fox will televise MLS
games on its main network
for the ¿ rst time, broad
casting Seattle at Portland
at Seattle on July 17 and
Portland at Kansas City on
July 31.
Fox will also televise
the rivalry clashes between
New York City FC and New
York City FC on May 21
and July 24.
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HERMISTON
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NEW YORK (AP) —
Ken Griffey Jr. will go into
the Hall of Fame with a
Seattle Mariners’ cap and
Mike Piazza will have a
New York Mets’ hat.
The pair made their
announcements
FACES at a news
conference
Thursday, a
day after they
were elected
by the Baseball
Writers’
Association of
Griffey
America.
Griffey spent a lengthy
period of his career with
Cincinnati, and Piazza
reached the major leagues
with the Los Angeles
'odgers. Griffey is the ¿ rst
Mariners’ player in the Hall.
Induction ceremonies will
be held in Cooperstown on
July 24.
Known for wearing his
cap backwards, Griffey
joked about that with Piazza,
the top offensive catcher in
baseball history.
“He wore it backwards
more than I did,” Griffey
said.
“We’re optimistic
he’s going to help
us win a lot of
games over a lot
of years. … Most
if not all pitchers
have injury risk.
We just know
more about it on
the front end.“
— Andrew Friedman
Los Angeles Dodgers
president of baseball
operations on the in-
centive laden eight year
contract the team signed
with Japanese pitcher
Kenta Maeda , 27, who
had some unspecifi ed ir-
regularities in his elbow
revealed during a phys-
ical. The deal is worth
$25 million up front but
could pay Maeda $106
million if he reaches
his incentives, which
require him to start 32
games and pitch 200
innings a season.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1972 — The NCAA
announces freshmen will be
eligible to play on varsity
football and basketball teams
starting in the fall.
2011 — The Seattle
Seahawks stun the defending
Super Bowl champion New
Orleans Saints 4136 to open
the NFL playoffs. Seattle, the
¿ rst division winner with a
losing record at 7, advances
behind four touchdown
passes by Matt Hasselbeck
and a brilliant 67yard run by
Marshawn Lynch.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
Staff photo by Sam Barbee
Hermiston’s Sara Ramirez warms up in front of a home crowd for the fi rst time three weeks on Tuesday before the Bulldogs
took on La Grande at The Dawghouse on Tuesday in Hermiston. The team spent most of the holiday season away from home,
playing games in Arizona and Lake Oswego.
Hermiston girls glad to be home after extensive preseason travel
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
When any basketball coach or
athletic director puts together a
season schedule, they typically like
to keep things balanced. Plenty of
home games, but still enough road
games to test the team.
However,
Hermiston
girls
basketball coach Steve Hoffert
wanted to give this year’s team a
challenge — a tougher, unbalanced
schedule that he believes will help
the Bulldogs in the long run.
Hermiston has completed 14
games in the 201516 season so far,
and only four of those games have
been played in Hermiston. In 10
away games played in the month
of December the Bulldogs have
traveled more than 2,800 combined
miles by bus and plane, traveling to
destinations such as Lake Oswego
and Phoenix, Arizona for a pair of
intense preseason tournaments.
“We didn’t appreciate (playing at home) as
much before, it was just a game, and now
we do. It brought a calming effect.”
— Jansen Edmiston,
Hermiston girls basketball senior guard
The tournaments came almost
backtoback to each other, with the
Bulldogs playing in Arizona from
Dec. 18 until Dec. 22 and then in
the Portland suburbs from Dec. 27
through Dec. 30 — with just enough
time in between to spend a few days
at home for the holidays.
“We’re road tested now,” Hoffert
said last month, “which I think can
only help us come playoff time.”
So when the Bulldogs ¿ nally
took the court again at The Dawg
house on Jan. 2 — a long 21 days
after their previous home game —
the players were relieved and even
had a new perspective on the feeling
of playing home games.
“It’s de¿ nitely more rewarding
now,” said Hermiston senior Jansen
Edmiston. “We didn’t appreciate
(playing at home) as much before, it
was just a game, and now we do. It
brought a calming effect.”
In that ¿ rst game back at home,
the Bulldogs gave their fans plenty
of satisfaction on the court, defeating
Kennewick (WA) 7138. Just three
days later, Hermiston took the À oor
again at home and again took the
win, defeating La Grande 5642 to
improve their overall record to 113.
And although the team was
happy to get back home, the road
trip is an experience the Bulldogs’
players will remember for a while,
and it started all the way back in the
spring of 2014.
Hoffert, the eighthyear Bulldogs
coach, had been trying for several
years to challenge and reward his
team with a trip to an outofstate
preseason tournament. But for the
last three years his team had sat
on a waiting list, one that is judged
partially off previous year successes.
Twice Hoffert anticipated an
invitation, and twice he was left
disappointed.
However after the Bulldogs made
their run to the state championship
game last spring, Hoffert ¿ nally
received the coveted invitation — a
trip to the Nike Tournament of
Champions in Phoenix — which
was an offer he quickly accepted.
“I didn’t want to travel with a
team that I knew wouldn’t compete,
See TRAVEL/2B
BOARDMAN
STANFIELD
RiYersiGe GRmiQates at EFKR GXaOs Pirates open
EOL with
Pirates win two,
Echo tops Irrigon
comeback win
on tiebreaker
Riverside boys use big
4th to down Umatilla
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Dual wrestling meets are rare
for small school programs, as size
differences and travel make them
more dif¿ cult to pull off.
“We’re more of a tournament
team,” Irrigon coach Jason
Dunten said.
Even so, Irrigon, Riverside
and EchoStan¿ eld got together
for a theeway dual Thursday
night that saw the Pirates go 20,
and the Cougars ¿ nish 11.
Riverside used its experience
to beat Irrigon 3621 and Echo
3312, and Echo later defeated
Irrigon on a tiebreak after the dual
ended in a 3030 draw.
“I didn’t think we would have
a chance to win the duals, simply
because we didn’t have enough
weights covered,” Riverside
coach Richard Rockwell said.
“We kinda shufÀ ed our lineup
around and talked to our guys and
said, ‘Hey this is what we need to
do to win. Play your part. We can
win these.’ They responded, did
what they needed to do to win.”
In the ¿ rst dual of the day —
Riverside vs. Irrigon — the ¿ rst
match wrestled was Irrigon’s
Damon Sawyer against River
East Oregonian
topped =ach Ferguson of River
side to move the team scores to
3021, then, after a double forfeit,
Riverside’s Anthony Kernal stuck
Tucker McAllister to end the day
at 3621.
“(The) two guys that lost did
exactly what I wanted them to,”
Rockwell said. “If you’re gonna
lose, don’t get pinned. And they
didn’t.”
Riverside then faced the
upstart Echo club, which is vastly
improved from last season. Kyle
Ranger lost a close match 75
to Pirate Gabriel Romero with
several handlocking penalties
going against the Echo sopho
more. Down 50 after one round,
Riverside boys basketball coach
Clair Costello was hoping the start of
league play could provide a spark for
his struggling squad that entered the
Eastern Oregon League having lost
four of its last ¿ ve.
The veteran coach may have
gotten his wish after
Boys
a big fourth quarter
Basketball
propelled the Pirates
past the Umatilla
9ikings 443 in both
team’s EOL opener on
Umatilla
Thursday.
The teams were
knotted at 33 for
about a minute and
a half in the decisive
frame before a Noe
Riverside
Madrigal layin gave
Riverside (8, 10
EOL) the lead for
good with ¿ ve minutes left.
Madrigal ¿ nished with 10 points
while Eon Castillo scored nine of
his teamhigh 12 points in the fourth
quarter to help close out Umatilla (78,
01), which was led by Jesus Ramirez
See WRESTLING/2B
See EOL HOOPS/2B
Staff photo by Sam Barbee
Echo’s Kyle Ranger (front) looks to reverse around Riverside’s
Gabriel Romero’s control during a 3-way dual Thursday in
Stanfi eld. Romero won the bout 7-5.
side’s Ulises Calvillo at 145
pounds with the Pirates up 186 on
forfeits. Already up 112, Calvillo
pinned Sawyer with a minute left
in the ¿ nal period, setting the tone
for the rest of the dual.
At 152 pounds, Riverside’s
Ivan Escobedo followed Calvil
lo’s pin with one of his own, this
one coming in the ¿ rst period over
Irrigon’s Alex Walls. Irrigon came
back with a win, though, when
Jeff Patton slipped past Jason
Navarro 54 to move the count to
3012. Irrigon then won a forfeit,
coming within 12 at 3018.
To close out the dual, River
side needed to not lose by a fall
to clinch the victory, and that’s
exactly how it worked out.
Christian Michaels of Irrigon
39
44