SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2016
HERMISTON
Sports shorts
NCAA title game
produces record-
low TV ratings
HOUSTON (AP) — The
NCAA championship posted
a record-low TV rating.
Villanova’s last-second
win over
North
Carolina on
Monday night
averaged a
10.6 rating
across TBS,
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title game to air on cable.
The 17.8 million viewers
were down 37 percent from
the 28.3 million for last
season’s Duke-Wisconsin
matchup on CBS.
The previous low was
a 10.8 rating for North
Carolina-Michigan State in
2009.
Under CBS and Turner’s
14-year, $10.8 billion
contract to jointly televise
the tournament, the title
game alternates between
CBS and TBS starting this
season. TBS is currently
in about 18 percent fewer
households than CBS.
Pilots hire former
Blazer as new
men’s coach
PORTLAND (AP) —
Former NBA player and
coach Terry Porter has been
formally introduced as the
new coach at the University
of Portland.
Porter replaces Eric
Reveno, who
FACES was dismissed
last month after
10 years with
the Pilots.
“He is a
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this community
Porter
and the Univer-
sity of Portland
campus community,” athletic
director Scott Leykam said.
Porter played for the
Blazers from 1985-95,
anchoring a team that went
to the Western Conference
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to 1992 and to the NBA
Finals twice.
Porter was the 24th
overall pick by the Blazers
in the 1985 draft out of
Wisconsin-Stevens
Point.
He remains Portland’s career
leader in assists (5,319) and
is its second-leading scorer
(11,330). He made a fran-
chise-leading 773 3-pointers
on 2,006 attempts.
“I watched it quite
a few times and
every time it’s just
like, wow, I can’t
believe I was that
open. Then I can’t
believe I made the
shot. It’s crazy.“
— Kris Jenkins
Villanova Wildcats
junior guard speak-
ing about his national
title-winning jump shot
to more than 2,000 fans
at a pep rally at the
schools’ football stadium
on Tuesday afternoon.
Villanova University
cancelled classes for
Tuesday in celebration
of the championship and
a parade through the
streets of Philadelphia
will take place on Friday.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
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Olympics begin in Athens,
Greece. James B. Connelly
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hop, step and jump.
1973 — Ron Blomberg
of the New York Yankees
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league designated hitter, in
an opening-day game against
Boston.
1992 — Duke becomes
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to repeat as NCAA cham-
pion with a 71-51 victory
over Michigan’s Fab Five
freshmen.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
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HERMISTON
Tigers frustrate Bulldogs
Varsity
lacrosse
coach
dies
Trampis Palmer was
dedicated to youth
sports in Hermiston
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston pitcher Lukas Tolan fi elds a ground ball as La Grande’s Ryan Adams runs to fi rst base in the
Bulldogs’ 4-1 loss to La Grande on Tuesday in Hermiston.
Hermiston lacking intensity in loss to La Grande
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Baseball
HERMISTON — Frustration
levels reached a season-high for the
Hermiston baseball coaching staff
after watching the Bulldogs drop a
non-league game 4-1 to La Grande
on Tuesday.
Hermiston (5-5) managed just
four hits and gave up three unearned
runs to waste a solid start by Lukas
Tolan and contribute to its fourth
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“That’s too much pressure on the
La Grande
Hermiston
4
1
defense and too much pressure on
the guy on the bump,” said Herm-
iston coach Lance Hawkins of the
low offensive output. “We practice
really hard and these guys put a lot
of time in the (batting) cage, and to
see the approaches and the at-bats
that we’ve been seeing lately, it’s
frustrating.”
It wasn’t that Hawkins thought
his team had been outplayed, it’s
that they had allowed it to happen
with a lackadaisical attitude in the
dugout.
“I don’t think we’re showing
up and competing like we should,”
he said. “They’ve got to buy in, or
we’ve got to get some guys that
want to play. We have a great bunch
of kids, I’ve said it a thousand times,
but it’s very frustrating when you
See BULLDOGS/2B
MLB
Mariners thump Rangers for
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Six-run eighth inning
seals win for Seattle
By SCHUYLER DIXON
AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) —
Nelson Cruz hit one of four Seattle
homers, fellow former Texas player
Leonys Martin had a tiebreaking
double and the Mariners bounced
back from an opening day loss to
beat the Rangers
10-2
Tuesday
night.
Scott Servais,
who spent six
Seattle
years in player
development
with Texas, got
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as a manager
Texas
while having a
shouting match
with reigning AL
Manager of the
Year Jeff Banister.
The pair exchanged words
after former Seattle reliever Tim
Wilhelmsen hit Chris Iannetta
with a pitch. Wilhelmsen, who
was ejected, had just given up the
10
2
AP Photo/Jim Cowsert
Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz is congratulated by Franklin Gutier-
rez, right, on his solo home run against the Texas Rangers in the
fourth inning of Tuesday’s game in Arlington, Texas.
second of two homers along with
two doubles without getting an out
in a six-run Seattle eighth.
Nick Vincent (1-0) pitched a
scoreless sixth inning.
Texas reliever Tony Barnette
(0-1) lost in his major league debut
at age 32 after six seasons in Japan.
Robinson Cano homered for the
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pitch as a Ranger from Wilhelmsen,
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seasons with the Mariners.
Cruz, who reached base four
times and scored three runs, and
Kyle Seager doubled. After Seth
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pitch — Wilhelmsen’s next pitch hit
Iannetta on the left thigh.
See MARINERS/2B
Women’s College Basketball
Huskies win 4th-straight championship
Connecticut clinches 11th title
in program history
By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Breanna Stewart
and UConn stand alone.
Geno Auriemma, too, after
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the dominating Huskies.
Syracuse
UConn won an unprec-
edented fourth straight
national
championship
Tuesday night, capping
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
another perfect season by
Connecticut’s Morgan Tuck (3), Kia Nurse (11) and Brean-
Connecticut
routing Syracuse 82-51.
na Stewart (30) celebrate after Connecticut’s 82-51 victory
Until now, only the UCLA
over Syracuse in the championship game on Tuesday, April
51
82
See HUSKIES/2B
5, 2016, in Indianapolis.
The Hermiston community
was left stunned on Sunday
when the news broke about the
passing of Bulldogs lacrosse
coach Trampis Palmer.
Palmer, who died at the age
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as head coach of the Bulldogs
varsity lacrosse team and had
been involved with youth sports
in the city and surrounding
areas since the early 1990s.
“It’s tragic,” said Jay
Zwiefelhofer, a friend and
former colleague of Palmer’s
at the Hermiston youth lacrosse
program. “He was such a kind-
hearted
person, and
everyone
that came
into contact
with him
considered
him as a
friend.”
In 1993
at the ripe
Palmer
age of 20,
Palmer
started coaching the Grid Kids
Football program in Hermiston
and after only a few years of
coaching he stepped up to be
President of the program. Under
his watch, Grid Kids increased
from roughly 60 kids split up
into four teams to more than
200 kids split up into 10 teams
by the time he stepped down
from the position in 2013.
Aside from football, Palmer
was also heavily involved with
the Hermiston Youth Wrestling
program and City League
basketball programs, as well as
coaching his daughter Megan’s
AAU team for three years. For
most of the past 20 years, any
free time that Palmer has had
has been spent being involved
in one or multiple youth sports
programs in the area.
“He just loved to be around
young people,” Zwiefelhofer
said. “He was a wonderful
coach with a cooperative style
that meshed well with his
student athletes.”
But with everything he had
done, he found his true passion
in 2011 when Palmer began to
realize his passion for the sport
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grader at the time, had decided
to give the sport a try, and after
only one year of watching the
sport Palmer wanted to be
involved. Zwiefelhofer was
running the youth lacrosse
program in 2011, and in 2012
he stepped down from his posi-
tion to make way for Palmer to
take over.
“It was time for me to move
on and I knew it was in good
hands with Trampis,” he said.
“He built up the participation
level of the program ... he was
just the kind of person that left
everything he touched better
than when he started.”
And when he got involved
with lacrosse, he developed a
dream to become the Bulldogs’
varsity coach, a dream that was
realized this past season.
“It was his dream to coach
there and he was so enthused
with the way the program was
going,” Zwiefelhofer said.
The Bulldogs lacrosse team
was 2-3 on the season, with its
most recent game on Mar. 31
with a 15-4 loss to Richland
(WA).
Hermiston’s next home
game will be on Friday at 5:30
p.m. against Lincoln where the
team will honor their former
coach. Also, a graveside service
will be held on Saturday at
10 a.m. at the Hermiston
Cemetery with a Celebration
of Life to take place at 2 p.m.
in the Hermiston High School
Commons.