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
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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