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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 2016)
SPORTS THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016 Sports shorts Seahawks release fi ve players RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks have released fi ve players including former starting center Drew Nowak. Seattle made the moves Wednesday ahead of their rookie minicamp this weekend. Along with Nowak, the Seahawks released running back Cameron Marshall, tight end Ronnie Shields, defensive end Josh Shirley and wide receiver Tyler Slavin. Nowak won the starting center job out of training camp last season. He started seven of the fi rst eight games before being replaced permanently by Patrick Lewis. The Seahawks drafted three offensive linemen last week, including former TCU center Joey Hunt. Wambach to join ESPN as analyst (AP) — Retired U.S. soccer star Abby Wambach is joining ESPN as an analyst and a contributor. Wambach, the leading career scorer in international soccer, will cover the European FACES Championships in France and the Rio Olympics in August. But her role won’t be limited to soccer: She Wambach will work across multiple platforms including ESPN Films and shows including “Outside the Lines,” according to the network. “Talking and reporting on things that I’m passionate about really, really was the selling point to me,” Wambach told The Associated Press. “Because I don’t want the rest of my life to be based on the fact that I played soccer. I want to be able to venture and learn about different things.” Wambach also will produce a podcast, “Fearless Conversation with Abby Wambach.” “It shows something about his character. Golf is a gentleman’s sport. You don’t lie about your score, you don’t lie about moving your ball. It goes to show what we’re dealing with.“ — Oscar De La Hoya Former champion boxer turned fi ght promoter speaking about Republi- can presidential hopeful Donald Trump. De La Hoya said he caught Trump cheating on con- secutive holes during a shared round of golf two years ago. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1969 — The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-102 in the seventh game to win the NBA cham- pionship for the 10th time in 11 years. Player-coach Bill Russell retires as a player. 1973 — Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte, wins the Kentucky Derby with a record time of 1:59.2. Secretariat beats Sham by 2½ lengths and goes on to win the Triple Crown. 1999 — Colorado becomes the fi rst team in 35 years and the third this century to score in every inning in a 13-6 win over the Chicago Cubs. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep Basketball Eagles convocate on all-state list 1A basketball releases postseason honors In this Dec. 8, 2015 fi le photo, Nixy- aawii’s Hunter Melton drives past Sherman’s Jacob Jus- tesen in a basketball game in Mission. East Oregonian MISSION — The Nixyaawii Golden Eagles had two players named to fi rst teams when the 1A All-State Basketball rosters were released this week. Senior Hunter Melton and soph- omore Mary Stewart were voted by coaches to the boys’ and girls’ fi rst teams, respectively, to lead a group of fi ve Golden Eagles receiving all-state recognition. Also earning postseason honors for the Nixyaawii boys were senior Fredy Campos on the second team and senior Ira Ashley on the third team. Junior Sunshine Fuentes joined Stewart on the girls’ all-state list as an honorable mention. Melton, the Old Oregon League’s Player of the Year, posted game averages of 12 points, 6.3 assists, 4.4 steals and 3.7 rebounds while leading the Golden Eagles to a 27-2 record that included a 12-0 run through league play. Campos added 14.9 points, 4.2 steals, 3.1 assists and 2.7 rebounds a game, and Ashley fi nished with averages of 14 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.2 steals. Nixyaawii’s boys fi nished third at the state tournament with their only loss there to eventual champion Sherman, which was led by Player of the Year Max Martin and Coach See ALL-STATE/2B EO fi le photo/E.J. Harris PENDLETON Pro Football 49ers collecting former Ducks Chukars sweep T-Wolves Oregon defensive linemen reunited in San Francisco By RYAN THORBURN Eugene Register-Guard EUGENE — Oregon’s entire starting defensive line from the 2014 season has been reunited in the NFL. Alex Balducci, the Ducks’ steady and often overlooked defensive tackle, has signed with San Francisco as an undrafted free agent. The 49ers, now coached by Chip Kelly, drafted defensive end Arik Armstead in the fi rst round in 2015 and selected defensive end DeForest Buckner with the No. 7 overall pick last Thursday. “Ducci is a hard worker, so I know he’s going to take care of everything he needs to do,” Buckner said of the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Balducci leading into the draft. “He knows a lot of the defense and he carries himself very well on and off the fi eld. “I don’t think he’ll have a problem. He’s one of my close friends and I only wish the best for him.” Buckner was the Pac-12 Blue Mountain bats go quiet on the road East Oregonian AP Photo/Tony Avelar San Francisco 49ers fi rst-round draft pick DeForest Buckner, left, from Oregon, meets with former Oregon teammate Arik Armstead, right, during an NFL football news conference in Santa Clara, Calif., Friday, April 29, 2016. defensive player of the year after fi nishing his senior season with 10?1/2 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and 83 total tackles, facing consistent double- and triple- teams. Balducci added 40 tackles and 3?1/2 sacks for the Ducks. The two Kelly recruits fi nished their Oregon careers with a 45-9 record. “Coming in my freshman year those were my two idols, especially Balducci, being the starting nose tackle,” said Oregon junior defensive lineman Austin Maloata, who had two sacks in Saturday’s spring game. “He was like my big brother. I was just glad he was there to help and guide me throughout the whole process.” Armstead declared for the NFL draft as a junior after starting alongside Balducci and Buckner in the national championship game. He led the Ducks with nine tackles and a forced fumble in the 42-20 loss to Ohio State on Jan. See DUCKS/2B ONTARIO — The Blue Mountain Community College baseball team mustered just eight hits in a double- header to fall at Trea- sure Valley 5-3 and Baseball 10-1 on Wednesday. The Timber- wolves (13-23, 7-15 Blue Mtn NWAC East) were ahead 3-0 in the fi rst game following a two-RBI double by Spencer Cordeiro in the fourth inning, but Treasure Valley the Chukars (15-7, 8-2) bullpen shut the T-Wolves down the rest of the way while the offense mounted a comeback in one big at-bat. Treasure Valley scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth, three on a See T-WOLVES/2B 3-1 5-10 Mariners rally against A’s bullpen for sweep Lee smacks fi rst career multi-homer game By JANIE MCCAULEY AP Baseball Writer OAKLAND, Calif. — Dae-Ho Lee hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh after an earlier solo shot for his fi rst career multi-homer game, and the Seattle Mariners rallied for a back-and-forth 9-8 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday and their fi rst 2016 series sweep. Mike Montgomery (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win on a day Nelson Cruz also homered, a rare shot into the second deck of seats in dead-center. Lee hit his third and fourth homers, connecting in the seventh against John Axford (2-1) as the Mariners had a season-high 16 hits and improved to an AL-best 11-4 on the road. The A’s lost their fourth straight. Sean Manaea was denied his fi rst drive to highlight Seattle’s four-run fi fth against the rookie left-hander Seattle Manaea, making his second big league start. But that lead was short-lived as the A’s came back Oakland for an 8-4 advan- tage they would then squander. Hernandez matched his shortest outing against Oakland of four innings on May 16, 2006. The bullpen delivered. Joel Peralta struck out two in the eighth, and Steve Cishek earned his eighth save in as many tries. Marcus Semien hit his team- leading seventh home run in the third off Hernandez to put the A’s ahead, and Billy Butler drove in two runs including a run-scoring single in the fi fth. Butler made his fi rst start at designated hitter in a week and only his ninth in the fi rst MLB 9 8 AP Photo/Ben Margot Seattle Mariners’ Dae-Ho Lee, center, is congratulated by Leonys Martin (12) and Kyle Seager, right, after hitting a two run home run off Oakland Athletics’ John Axford in the seventh inning of a base- ball game Wednesday, May 4, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. career win despite Oakland getting to nemesis Felix Hernandez on consecutive fi fth-inning errors. Hernandez appeared poised to become the winningest pitcher in Mariners franchise history with victory No. 146. One error came when the ace fumbled Josh Reddick’s dribbler with a chance to throw out the tying run at home. Khris Davis’ grounder got past third baseman Kyle Seager moments later as the A’s scored two more for a 6-4 lead, and Hernan- dez’s day was done. Cruz connected for a two-run See MARINERS/2B
