SPORTS
:EDNESDA<, MA5CH 23, 2016
Sports shorts
Pac-12 gets four in
women’s Sweet 16
It was a record 24
hours for the Pac-12 as the
conference has four teams
in the 6weet 1 for the ¿ rst
time ever.
Oregon State advanced
Sunday night
and then
:ashington
got Monday
started with
an upset of
Maryland,
74-65. UCLA and Stanford
kept the strong night for the
conference going.
The conference had three
teams reach the regional
semi¿ nals three times, in
1988, 1992 and 2009.
Making the Sweet 16 is
nothing new for Stanford,
but UCLA and :ashington
are back for the ¿ rst time in
a while. The Bruins haven’t
made it this far since 1999
and the Huskies since 2001.
1B
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PENDLETON
Buckaroos split at Spring Break Bash
Morrison racks up
four hits and two
home runs on the day
East Oregonian
HAPP< VALLE< — The
Pendleton Buckaroos hit the dirt at
Hood View Park for day two of the
Putnam Spring Break Bash tour-
nament on Tuesday
bested the Bucks 2-1
Softball
afternoon,
where
last June.
they split a pair of
Pendleton head
games with a 11-4
coach Tim Cary said
Putnam
win over Central Pendleton
Tuesday’s match up
Catholic and a 5-2
simply came down
loss to 5ex Putnam.
to clutch hitting on
The
loss
to
behalf of the King-
Putnam marks the ¿ rst loss of the smen.
season for the Buckaroos (6-1) and
“Both teams played really well ...
it came in a rematch of the 5A state it was a clean game with no errors,
championship game where Putnam (Putnam) just had a little more
2
5
PENDLETON
Pro Baseball
Game of diplomacy
James enters playoff
mode, steps back
from social media
CLEVELAND (AP) —
LeBron’s locked in already.
Now he’s got to get the Cavs
to, ahem, follow him.
Following a personal rite
of spring he began several
years ago, LeBron James
has begun preparing for the
upcoming NBA playoffs by
limiting his access to social
media in order
FACES to avoid outside
distractions
as he and the
Cavaliers make
another run at
an NBA title.
James, who
has
coined his
James
social media
blackout “Zero Dark 23,”
took some early steps toward
sharpening his focus by
unfollowing the Cavaliers’
account — and those of
some media members — on
Twitter. That click, which
coincided with the 10-year
anniversary of the online
social networking giant’s
launch, caused a seismic
wave on the Internet at
nearly the same time James
and the Cavs were clinching
their second straight Central
Division title.
And while the four-time
league MVP didn’t offer
any speci¿ cs :ednesday, he
did acknowledge that he’s
shifted into playoff mode
with several weeks still left
in the season.
“We don’t have
that knowledge
and background,
and scientifi cally,
so there’s no way
in the world to
say you have
a relationship
relative to
anything here.“
— Jerry Jones
Dallas Cowboys owner
saying he doesn’t think
there is enough evidence
to link playing football to
the brain disease CTE.
1974 — N.C. State ends
UCLA’s streak of seven
national championships with an
80-77 victory in double over-
time of the NCAA Tournament
semi¿ nals. David Thompson
leads the :olfpack with 28
points and 10 rebounds.
1994 — :ayne *ret]ky
scores his 802nd goal, passing
*ordie Howe as the greatest
goal-scorer in NHL history.
The Los Angeles Kings center
scores in the second period
for his 62nd NHL record.
2010 — The NFL changes
its overtime rules for playoff
games to give both teams an
opportunity to get the ball.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
Mota
takes
leash for
T-:olves
soccer
BMCC hires
coach for men’s,
women’s programs
East Oregonian
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama, center, talks with fi rst lady Michelle Obama as they sit with Cuban President
Raul Castro during an exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National
team at the Estadio Latinoamericano, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, in Havana, Cuba.
:ith presidents watching, 5ays beat Cuban team
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA — :hen Kevin Kier-
maier slid into home for the Tampa
Bay 5ays’ ¿ rst run of the day, Pres-
ident Barack Obama À ung his arms
wide in the sign for “safe.”
Then he turned to his left and
shook the hand of his seatmate and
Cuban counterpart, 5aul Castro.
The scene was a remarkable
milestone for sports diplomacy as
the two presidents try to set aside
more than 50 years of Cold :ar
hostility during which about the only
thing the countries agreed on was a
shared love of baseball.
Obama and Castro even joined in
when fans were doing “the wave.”
In the landmark game, the ¿ rst
visit by a major league team to the
communist island since 1999, the
Tampa Bay 5ays beat the Cuban
national team 4-1 on Tuesday.
James Loney homered and drove
in three runs, and Matt Moore and
the Tampa Bay pitchers shut out the
Cubans until 5udy 5eyes homered
in the ninth inning.
But the day will be remembered
less for the ¿ nal score than for the two
See DIPLOMACY/2B
HERMISTON
Hermiston splits at Putnam tournament
Bulldogs go 2-2 at
Spring Break Bash
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
HAPP< VALLE< — At the
Spring Break Bash at 5ex Putnam
High School in Milwaukie, the
Hermiston softball team split four
games with 6A opponents on
Monday and Tuesday.
The Bulldogs
split their
match-ups on both Monday and
Tuesday. On Monday, Hermiston
Softball
Aloha
Hermiston
2
10
beat Madison 10-2, then lost 10-5
to a talented Franklin team. On
Tuesday, Hermiston beat Aloha 7-4,
then dropped its ¿ nal game of the
tournament 9-0 to David Douglas.
“:e’re leaving spring break with
our heads held high,” Hermiston
coach Kate *reenough said.
Against Franklin (4-1), Herm-
iston (4-3) endured constant rain
on a turf ¿ eld, leading to some
turf-related miscues. Batted balls
skipped on the turf unfamiliarly, and
girls slid past bases, only to be easily
tagged out after initially reaching
safely.
“It doesn’t turn out that way if
the weather (is better),” *reenough
said. “All things that could go wrong
weather-wise did. :e were right
there with them. I would live to play
them again.
“:e learned a lot from it. :e
had opportunities to be successful. It
wasn’t a discouraging loss.”
See HERMISTON/2B
Prep Roundup
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
timely hitting and a few more base
runners,” he said.
Kingsmen
pitcher
Sarah
Abramson out-dueled the Bucks’
Lauren 5ichards in the game,
allowing four hits with seven
strikeouts and two walks, while
5ichards allowed 10 hits with seven
strikeouts as well.
Pendleton’s lone runs came in
the ¿ rst inning off of a ¿ rst-pitch
See BUCKAROOS/2B
3LUDWHVJXQGRZQ7URMDQVIRU¿UVWZLQ
5iverside beats Kennedy
in Columbia Bash
East Oregonian
BOA5DMAN — 5iverside third
baseman Jesus Onate threw out the
tying run at home plate in the top
of the seventh inning as the Pirates
held on to beat the Kennedy Trojans
6-5 for their ¿ rst win of the season
on Tuesday in the Columbia Bash
Tournament.
Derek Bingaman tossed 5 1-3
innings and struck out six, walked
two and allowed two runs to get the
win.
No 5iverside (1-2) batter had
more than one hit, and coach Jarret
Thompson said his team created
most of its runs by taking advantage
of opportunities on the base paths.
“It was passes balls, wild pitches,
¿ elder’s choice type situations,” he
said. “:e were just being aggressive
and forcing them to make a play.
“Because we were aggressive we
dictated the tempo if the game.”
5iverside will play Kennedy
again today at 1 p.m., but ¿ rst faces
Stan¿ eld at 11 a.m.
———
R H E
KHS
100 002
2 — 5 4 4
RHS
132 000 X — 6 6 3
J. Suing, J. Valladares (5) and D. Arritola. D. Bin-
gaman, A. Corpus (6) and S. Bither. W — Bingaman.
L — Suing.
STANFIELD 11, WESTON-
MCEWEN 4 — At Irrigon, the
Stan¿ eld Tigers scored eight runs
in the third and fourth innings
to distance themselves from the
:eston-McEwen TigerScots on
Tuesday at the Columbia Bash.
Tony Flores (2 for 4) hit a bases-
loaded double in the third and 5yan
Bailey followed with an 5BI single
before Dylan *rogan’s (3 for 4)
sacri¿ ce À y made it 4-0.
The TigerScots (1-2) fought back
with three runs in the bottom of
the frame scoring on an error and a
Hunter Sater two-5BI single, but the
Tigers (4-0) added four more in the
fourth.
See PREPS/2B
If you’re going to get one
coach to do two jobs, you’d
better get a good one.
That’s the approach
Blue Mountain Community
College took to ¿ ll its posi-
tion for women’s and men’s
soccer, new programs that
will begin play in 2016 for
the women and 2017 for the
men.
Leading the Timber-
wolves
on the
pitch
will be
former
N :A C
South
Coach
of the
<ear Art
Mota,
Mota
whose
hiring
was announced Tuesday.
“I am very excited about
this opportunity,” Mota said
in comments distributed by
BMCC. “It doesn’t happen
often when you get to start
a college program and lay
the foundation for the future.
My top priority will be to
recruit student-athletes who
are determined in earning
a degree and moving on to
a university. I am just as
competitive as any other
coach, but academics will
always be ¿ rst and foremost.”
Mota, who is bilingual in
English and Spanish, has also
served as head coach at Linn-
Benton Community College.
In addition, he was the head
coach of the Capital Timbers
Under-18 girls team, as well
as assistant women’s coach
at :illamette University in
Salem.
“This ¿ rst season will
be very challenging,” Mota
said. “The N:AC is a strong
conference in soccer, and
what incoming players have to
prepare for is the speed of play
and physical/mental demands
of the college game. Student
athletes coming to BMCC
will Tuickly ¿ nd out that
expectations are high, ¿ tness
and fundamentals will be
emphasi]ed, respect towards
of¿ cials and opposing teams
at all times, and conduct your-
self in a manner that positively
represents BMCC.”
The soccer program
received a boost with grant
awards from the :ildhorse
Foundation and the Pend-
leton Foundation Trust to
help fund start-up costs.
The Pendleton Foundation
Trust awarded the program
14,000, while the :ild-
horse Foundation granted
$5,000 for equipment. In
addition, Pendleton Bottling
Company, which runs the
local Pepsi distribution, will
donate funds to purchase and
install a scoreboard on the
soccer ¿ eld.