East Oregonian : E.O., April 15, 2016, Page 1B, Image 13

SPORTS
FRIDAY APRIL 26
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
Sports shorts
CRC Baseball
Rams trade for
No 1 oYerall piFk
ConsistenFy key to CRC raFe
O;NARD Calif. AP —
The Rams are tired of waiting
to get a
franchise
quarter-
back and
they want
to make a
splash in
their return to Los Angeles.
So after waiting a day
out of respect for Kobe
Bryant they went all in on
one of the biggest trades in
NFL draft history.
The Rams acquired the
No. overall pick from the
Tennessee Titans giving up
six draft picks over the next
two seasons in exchange for
three choices.
In the ¿ rst NFL trade
involving the top overall pick
since 24 the Rams also
acquired Tennessee’s choices
in the fourth and sixth rounds.
In exchange the Titans got
the th overall pick from
Los Angeles along with two
second-round selections and a
third-round pick in this draft
along with the Rams’ ¿ rst- and
third-round picks in 2.
UConn players
¿ rst tKree seleFted
in WNBA draft
8NCAS9ILLE Conn.
AP — Breanna Stewart
0oriah Jefferson and
0organ Tuck had historic
careers at UConn. The trio
made more history Thursday
night in the
FACES WNBA as the
top three picks
in the draft.
Stewart
went ¿ rst to the
Seattle Storm
Jefferson
second to San
Stewart
Antonio and
Tuck third to Connecticut.
It’s the ¿ rst time that the top
three picks came from the
same school.
No draft in any major
sport has ever had the top
three picks come from the
same school according to
information provided to the
WNBA by the Elias Sports
Bureau.
“He needs to be
smart enough
to say there’s a
problem. It’s like
the alcoholic that
won’t admit he’s
an alcoholic: well,
you can’t address
that you’re an
alcoholic if
you don’t ever
admit there’s a
problem.”
— Ethan Banning
Owner of Triple Threat
Performance in Phoenix,
Arizona and former per-
sonal trainer for Boston
Red Sox third baseman
Pablo Sandoval speaking
about Sandoval’s eating
habits in an interview
with the Boston Herald.
Banning said that San-
doval needs to have a
babysitter to help him
with his overeating habits.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1918 — Babe Ruth
pitched a four-hitter for
Boston in the season opener
and drove in two runs in a -
win over Philadelphia.
1952 — The Detroit Red
Wings beat the 0ontreal
Canadiens 3- to capture the
Stanley Cup. The Red Wings
holds the Canadiens to two
goals in the four-game sweep.
1998 — The ¿ rst-ever
AL-NL doubleheader is held
in New York’s Shea Stadium.
The New York Yankees beat
the Anaheim Angels 6-3 and
the New York 0ets edge the
Chicago Cubs 2-.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
Pendleton Hermiston
baseball working
hard as conference
play approaches
By ERIC SINGER & MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Since the Columbia River
Conference’s creation for the 2
season Pendleton has won three
titles and Hood River Valley and The
Dalles each have one. Hermiston
has ¿ nished second three times.
The hunt for the 26 CRC crown
begins with two doubleheaders on
Saturday when Pendleton plays at
defending CRC and state champion
Hood River and Hermiston hosts
The Dalles.
Here’s what to look for out of the
local teams as they begin the league
season:
EO fi le photo/E.J. Harris
In this May 23, 2015 fi le photo, Pendleton third baseman James Bradt throws the ball to fi rst base in
the Bucks’ 6-1 win against Hillsboro in Pendleton.
CRC Softball
PENDLETON (9-4)
The non-league schedule has
See BASEBALL/2B
Prep Roundup
BuFks poised to e[tend run Hegarty
In this April
28, 2015
fi le photo,
Pendleton’s
Lauren
Richards
winds up
for a pitch
against The
Dalles at
Steve Cary
Field in
Pendleton.
Pendleton Hermiston
prepare for softball
league openers
By ERIC SINGER & MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
With some Class A leagues
already seven games into their
conference schedules the Columbia
River Conference ¿ nally joins the
action on Saturday with a pair of
doubleheaders.
The defending CRC champion
Pendleton Buckaroos -2 will
open at the Hood River Valley
Eagles -6 and Hermiston 8-
will host The Dalles -3 at Rocky
Heights Elementary at noon.
Hermiston has ¿ nished in last
place in each of the past two seasons
while Pendleton is looking for a
¿ fth-straight title.
Here’s what to look for out of the
local squads as they enter league
play:
PENDLETON (11-2)
0uch of Pendleton’s recent
dominance of the CRC can be
attributed to a steady stream of
power hitters that rewrote the Buck-
aroo record books on a yearly basis.
Pendleton still has plenty of
power in its lineup but the Bucks
are better equipped to win low
scoring games this season as well
with an experienced pitching staff
that has allowed a league-low 4
runs in preseason play.
EO fi le photo/
Kathy Aney
Senior Kiersten 0urphy and
sophomore Lauren Richards have
split starting duties this season with
Richards throwing mostly in the
second game of doubleheaders and
senior Gracie Lyon has thrived in a
relief role.
All three pitchers excel at
keeping the ball low and don’t put
their defense in spots where it has to
make tough plays.
“I feel very comfortable and
con¿ dent in all three pitchers we
have this year” said Pendleton
coach Tim Cary. “I think we can
put any one of them in at any time
which is a nice luxury to have no
doubt about it.”
See SOFTBALL/2B
¿ rst at
PCC
Pendleton boys
golf places 2nd
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
Pendleton boys golf team
shot well considering the
conditions at Pendleton
Country Club on Thursday
but couldn’t out-shoot The
Dalles and took a surprise
second-place ¿ nish.
The Dalles came in at
323 while Pendleton shot
328. Third-place Kamiakin
shot 333 and Hermiston was
fourth with 3.
“We beat them quite
handily the last time we
played them” Pendleton
coach Nels Nelson said.
“They really surprised us.
“It’s just kind of a wake-up
call as you would say.”
Pendleton senior Reilly
Hegarty shot a 8 to take
medalist honors and team-
mate Brayden Pulver shot
an 8 to ¿ nish fourth. The
Dalles had three players in
the top ¿ ve led by co-run-
ner-up Chase Snodgrass with
See PREPS/2B
Rip City Return: Blazers make playoffs despite doubters
Portland begins
series at LA Clippers
on Sunday
NBA
Portland
Trail Blazers
(44-38)
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — For the regular
season ¿ nale the Portland Trail
Blazers passed out T-shirts reading
“Never Doubt Rip City.”
Just in case there are still some
doubters the “never” is underlined.
The Blazers de¿ ed preseason
expectations and made the play-
oIIs claiming the ¿ Ith seed in the
Western Conference. They open
their third straight postseason on
Sunday in Los Angeles against the
Clippers.
It’s almost as if the Blazers
succeeded despite the cynics.
“One person picNed as Zhat
out of in the West" I mean the
list goes on. I think everybody felt
disrespected like that’s not Zhat our
season is gonna be” guard Allen
Crabbe said. “It was everybody’s
goal since training camp that we
were gonna play hard and it was
us against everybody. Everybody
stuck with that: We got better as
the season went along and we had a
Los Angeles
Clippers
(53-29)
Game 1: Sunday at Los Angeles,
7:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 2: Wed., April 20 at Los Angeles,
7:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 3: Saturday, April 23 at Portland,
7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4: Monday, April 25 at Portland,
7:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 5: Wednesday, April 27 at Los
Angeles, TBD
Game 6: Friday, April 29 at Portland, TBD
Game 7: Sunday, May 1 at Los Angeles, TBD
AP Photo/Steve Dykes
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) has some words with
referee Tre Maddox (73) during the fi rst quarter of an NBA basket-
ball game against the Denver Nuggets in Portland, Ore., Wednesday,
April 13, 2016.
helluva season.”
Portland was expected to reach
the playoffs last season — and
did — with a starting lineup that
included Damian Lillard La0arcus
Aldridge
Wesley
0atthews
Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez.
But 0atthews’ late-season Achilles
injury messed with the team’s
chemistry and they were elimi-
nated in the ¿ rst round by a strong
0emphis team.
*oing into this season the play-
offs seemed a longshot.
All the starters except Lillard
departed in the offseason and
coach Terry Stotts was tasked with
assembling a cohesive unit around
his talented point guard. One odds-
maker predicted Portland would
win about 26 games.
Lillard and backcourt partner CJ
0cCollum went on to pace a group
that ¿ nished the regular season
44-38. The Blazers won seven of
their ¿ nal nine games to close out
the regular season.
“It’s going to be tough like it
has been all season long. They’re
a really good team” Lillard said
about the Clippers. “But we know
that we have a chance. So we’ve
got to go out there and be ourselves
lock in and be ready.”
In the ¿ nale Wednesday night
against the Nuggets a - Port-
land win Lillard broke 0atthews’
franchise record for 3-pointers and
now has 828 for the Blazers. He
averaged 2. points becoming just
the third Portland player to average
See BLAZERS/3B