Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2016)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, June 30, 2016 Tennis Loss aside, tennis teacher revels in chance to face Federer By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press LONDON — How much money might you be willing to pay for the once-in-a-life- time chance to play tennis against Roger Federer on Centre Court at Wimbledon? Or merely for the chance to emerge from the tunnel leading out to the green grass there and hear the full-throated yells of nearly 15,000 standing, clapping spectators pulling for you? Or, perhaps best of all, for the chance to look up at a guest box and see your parents, sister, brother and cousin leaping out of their seats, rejoicing, after you conjured up a beautifully curled lob that loated over the man considered by many to be the sport’s greatest player in history and landed in to win a 14-stroke exchange? Marcus Willis, who lives at home with Mom and Dad and works as a tennis instructor at a club in central England, got to experience all of that and more Wednesday, and it didn’t cost the 25-year-old a dime. Actually, Willis earned the biggest paycheck of his career despite winding up with the sort of result everyone expected when a guy ranked 772nd in the world somehow found himself across the net from the man who spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone: a 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 victory for Federer in the second round at the All England Club. “I did look up twice as I bounced the ball, and saw Roger Federer, and thought, ‘Oh, haven’t seen this before,”’ Willis said. “Yeah, it was surreal. ... I had to get used to it and play.” He earned the right to be out there against the 17-time Grand Slam champion thanks to an improbable, straight-from-a-screenplay couple of weeks that included victories in three matches during a playoff for low-ranked British players, three more in the qualifying rounds at Wimbledon, and then another Monday in his very irst tour-level match. “It’s all been incredible and a bit of a blur,” said Willis, a left-hander with a strong serve who slices shots off both wings. “I’ve gone from one extreme to the other in a matter of days.” Willis, who charges about $40 per hour for lessons, truly became an overnight sensation. His girlfriend — who, in keeping with AP Photo/Tim Ireland Roger Federer of Switzerland, right, shakes hands with Marcus Willis of Britain after beating him in their men’s singles match on day three of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday, June 29, 2016. the Hollywood nature of the whole episode, recently persuaded him not to give up on his dream of being a regular on the professional tour — was interviewed on the BBC. So were his family members. His loud group of supporters, who led rowdy chants that reverberated under the closed roof at the generally staid venue, got the TV treatment, too. “I said a few days ago: This story is gold,” Federer said. “He’s got a career after this. He deinitely made the most of it.” Federer’s career prize money is just shy of $100 million, and that doesn’t include plenty from endorse- ment deals. Willis entered Wimbledon with about $350 this year and less than $100,000 for his career in prize money — and, need- less to say, zero endorse- ments. On Wednesday, Willis’ white shirt, which he bought about a year ago, was made by Federer’s apparel sponsor and had the gray initials “RF” etched on the left sleeve. On another rain-illed day that left a dozen men still unable to complete their irst-round matches while No. 3 Federer and No. 1 Novak Djokovic moved into the third, Willis stepped out on court with a wave and the widest smile imaginable, shaking his head at the scene. He found other reasons to grin and revel in the moment. That shot in the third game that even Federer applauded and allowed Willis to boast with a chuckle later: “I can say, ‘I lobbed Roger Federer.”’ A 113 mph ace Willis celebrated with arms raised. A forehand winner that inally, a half-hour and more than a set in, gave Willis his irst game — and created pandemonium in the stands. More often, of course, things did not go his way. Willis, who leaves with a check for 50,000 pounds (about $67,000), would produce a genuinely impres- sive shot, only to see Federer top it, including with several no-look, over-the-shoulder volleys. Here’s guessing that Willis’ opponents in local leagues do not wield a racket quite the way Federer can. “You can’t leave the ball anywhere short or high. It’s just gone,” Willis said. “He’s just ridiculous.” Willis, it turns out, made an impression on Federer, too. “As I was playing,” Federer said, “I was thinking ... ‘This is deinitely one of the matches I’ll remember.”’ Imagine, then, how Willis felt about the 1 hour, 25 minutes they spent together on the world’s most famous tennis court. “Not my standard Wednesday, that,” every- man’s everyman said at the end of it all. “Next Wednesday might be quite different.” NEAL: Pressure leads to clinching interception MLB Pirates, M’s split series Continued from 1B 32-yard ield goal by Zach Emerson (Mountain View) to make it 14-13. The North started its next drive with 9:15 on the clock, and marched to the South ive-yard line before facing third-and-one with 6:26 to play. Weatherly had run for nine yards on second down, but he was unable to move the chains when Neal and Jake Schultz (Marist) corralled him two yards behind the line of scrimmage to bring up fourth-and-three on the South seven-yard line. Neal said the play was simply the product of smart players getting put in the right spots by their coaches. “I can’t say we really expected anything,” Neal said. “We had a good foot- ball IQ on that defense and that pretty much took care of itself, and we had great coaches. I’ve got to give a shout out to that amazing coaching staff that we had.” Wyatt Hutchinson’s (Clackamas) pass to Michael Angyus (Lincoln) was broken up by Cameron Hankins (Corvallis) to turn the ball over to the South on downs with 5:38 to play. South quarterback Matt Struck (Crater) then engi- neered an 11-play, 75-yard drive, going 4-for-5 for 36 yards, and Noah Dahl (Silverton) added a pair of runs for 28 yards to set up a 45-yard ield goal by Emerson that gave the South the lead 16-14 with 1:35 to play. The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback, and Neal and his line-mates pressured Hutchinson on irst down to force an interception by Jake Stoffel (Grants Pass) that allowed the South to run out the clock. Emerson was named the game’s MVP, and Stoffel was the South’s Back of the Game. Emerson was 3 for 5 on ield goals, and added a 24-yarder in the irst quarter before missing from 32 and 43 yards. Cavin Gillispie (Crater) led the South with 14 rushes for 58 yards, and Tucker Barry (North Medford) scored the South’s only touchdown on a 36-yard pass from fellow wideout Garret Dey (Crater). It was the only pass attempt of the game for Dey, and Barry inished with six catches for 87 yards. Struck passed for 192 yards (22-37) for the South, and Hutchinson had 261 yards (15-28) for the North. The North was held to just 33 net rushing yards on 33 attempts and lost 48 yards on the ground. The South was coached by Summit’s Joe Padilla with assistants John Beck (Crater), Scott Dufault (South Salem), Charlie Hall (Ashland), Lane Johnson (Sheldon) and Les Phillipo (Sheldon). The teams were housed at Paciic University, and along with the game players from both sides participated in daily team-building activ- ities that Neal said will be his fondest memories of the experience. “We practiced that whole week and since the irst night that whole (South) team just got along right off the bat. If you didn’t play against them, you’ve seen them play and it was a bunch of great guys,” Neal said. “I got to say that night when the entire South team was just sitting out in the hallway just talking and chilling (was my favorite part). We were telling jokes and getting along.” Tuesday night of game week featured head-to-head hot wings eating contests, with Neal winning his match-up. The next evening was bowling and arcade games. Select players were chosen to visit the Portland Shriners Hospital for Chil- dren on Thursday of game week (Neal was not chosen) and the rest of the players attended a seminar on how to conduct yourself in a job interview. The Les Schwab Bowl has been Oregon’s top all-star football game for 6A and 5A seniors since 1948 when it was founded as the Oregon Shrine Game. Proceeds from the game go to the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association general scholarship fund. ——— Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@eastoregonian. com or (541) 966-0838. LITTLE LEAGUE: Pendleton gets rematch in inals Continued from 1B Tyasin Burns hit a grand slam to cap Pendleton’s 10-run sixth inning. It was his only hit in the game. Fell also went yard, a solo shot in the ifth, and hit an RBI triple in the sixth to inish 2 for 3 at the plate. Easton Corey (3 for 4, four RBI) and Mason Morris (3 for 5, two RBI) led Pendleton in hits, and Lambert (2 for 4) doubled twice and scored four runs to help his own cause. Jack Monkman (2 for 4) added three runs, and Collin Primus (1 for 2) scored twice and drove in one. Pendleton will have to beat La Grande twice to claim the district title. La Grande gave Pendleton its only loss of the week 13-0 on Sunday. They meet tonight at 7:30 p.m. ——— PEN M-F 230 11(10) — 000 000 — R H 17 15 0 2 E 3 4 W — P. Lambert. L — White. 2B — E. Corey, P. Lambert 2 (PEN); White, Marley (M-F). 3B — K. Fell (PEN). HR — T. Burns, K. Fell (PEN). 9/10’s: HERMISTON 17, BAKER 6 — At Burns, the Hermiston all-stars poured on 10 runs in the sixth inning to advance to the championship round in the District 3 baseball tour- nament on Wednesday. Hermiston has yet to lose a game, and only has to win one of its next two games to earn a state tournament berth. The irst of a possible two championship games will be played Friday at 9 a.m. Hermiston scored three runs in the second inning to take a 4-2 lead on Wednesday, and never gave it up. They extended the lead to 7-3 in the third, then Baker chipped it down to 7-6 in the fourth. Both teams went scoreless in the ifth. No other details were reported. BROMELL: Broke 10-second mark as high school athlete Continued from 1B Bromell’s small frame hasn’t slowed him down. He turned pro last fall after two NCAA titles at Baylor. Bromell hired the same agent as Bolt and signed a shoe deal with New Balance. “This image of, ‘Oh, you have to have this look to be great.’ Well, you don’t,” said Bromell, who’s from St. Petersburg, Florida. “I want to show everyone that it is possible.” That’s partly because he never thought he’d even be in this place, especially after fracturing his hip in high school — the inal straw, he igured, in his athletic career. One moment Bromell was lying down Lane 6 and the next he woke up on the grass after blacking out because of pain. Time for a new path. Maybe as an engineer, he thought. Or as a tattoo artist or maybe a stint in the Army. His mom, though, convinced him to give it one more shot. So, once his hip healed, back to the track he went. Bromell’s irst race back wasn’t that spectacular — he ran 11.33 seconds, which was well off his personal best. But it may have been one of his best races because it rekindled his desire. Bromell was named Gatorade’s national track and ield athlete of the year in 2013, in part because he ran the fastest time ever (9.99 seconds) by a U.S. prep athlete regardless of wind conditions. He also won the USA junior cham- pionships. Turns out, he actually recruited Baylor. The Bears were known more for producing 200- and 400-meter runners such as Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner, but Bromell signed up and set all sorts of records. He holds the top-10 fastest 100 times at Baylor. “Nothing really surprises me when Trayvon gets on the track,” said Baylor associate coach Michael Ford, who trains Bromell. “He’s got an inner focus that I haven’t seen from a young sprinter, especially one on this big of stage.” At the 2015 world championships in Beijing, he tied for the bronze medal in the 100 with Andre De Grasse of Canada. Three months ago, he gained more conidence by winning the 60-meter race at the world indoor championships in Portland over a ield that included Jamaican Asafa Powell. “I’ve always been a conident person. I don’t fear too many things,” Bromell said. “No man on this earth will put fear in me.” Now, his time has come. And though reports say he’s been dealing with an Achilles sprain since May, he has taken time off from meets and expects to be fresh — he told the Tampa Bay Times — for what’s sure to be a competitive race for one of three spots. “It all comes down to who has strongest mindset,” Bromell said. “A lot of people don’t see me big as a big threat, because of my stature and size. A lot of people count me out, just because people are bigger than me. At the end of the day, if you have stronger mindset you can overpower anyone.” ——— US Olympic Track & Field Trials July 1-10, at Hayward Field, Eugene Television schedule Friday, July 1 — NBC, 6 p.m. (Men’s Shot Put & 10,000m Finals) Saturday, July 2 — NBC 11 a.m. (wom- en’s 10,000m, Long Jump & Discus Finals); NBCSN, 2 p.m. (Decathlon) Sunday, July 3 — NBC, 4 p.m. (Men’s & Women’s 100m, & 400m Finals) Monday, July 4 — NBCSN, 4 p.m. (Men’s & Women’s 800m, Men’s Pole Vault & Javelin) Thursday, July 7 — NBCSN, 5 p.m. (Women’s Seeplechase, Shot Put & Triple Jump) Friday, July 8 — NBCSN, 3 p.m. (Men’s 1500m, Women’s 100m Hurdles, & Men’s & Women’s 400m Hurdles Semiinals); NBC, 5 p.m. (Women’s 100m Hurdles, Men’s Discus & Steeplechase Finals) Saturday, July 9 — NBC, 5 p.m. (Men’s 110m Hurdles, 200m, 5000m, Triple Jump) Sunday, July 10 — NBC, 4 p.m. (Men’s & Women’s 1500m & Women’s 200m) By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — Sean Rodriguez doubled in consecutive at-bats and drove in four runs, David Freese hit a solo home run and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Seattle Mariners 8-1 on Wednesday night to split a brief two-game interleague series. Rodriguez was respon- sible for breaking the game open in the ifth inning with a three-run double into the left-ield corner off Seattle reliever Donn Roach. Rodriguez doubled an inning earlier off starter Wade Miley (6-4) to score Starling Marte. Freese got it all started with a solo home run on the irst pitch of the second Pittsburgh Seattle 8 1 inning. It was a three-run inning for Pittsburgh, capped by a two-run double from Josh Harrison. If the pitching perfor- mances from Miley and Roach weren’t bad news enough, the Mariners lost catcher Steve Clevenger in the third inning to a broken bone in his right hand after taking a foul ball square on the exposed hand off the bat of Andrew McCutchen. Clevenger fractured the third metacarpal, and Seattle will require a roster move to ill the backup catcher role. SCOREBOARD Baseball NCAA College World Series Championship Series (Best-of-3) x-if necessary Monday’s Game: Arizona 3, Coastal Carolina 0 (Arizona leads 1-0) Tuesday’s Game: Coastal Carolina 5, Arizona 4 (Series tied 1-1) Wednesday’s Game: Postponed TODAY’S GAME: Arizona vs. Coastal Carolina, 10:08 a.m. (TV: ESPN) MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE Wednesday’s Games Tampa Bay 4, Boston 0 Detroit 10, Miami 3 Toronto 5, Colorado 3 Houston 10, L.A. Angels 4 Baltimore 12, San Diego 6 N.Y. Yankees 9, Texas 7 Cleveland 3, Atlanta 0 Chicago White Sox 9, Minnesota 6 Kansas City 3, St. Louis 2, 12 innings Oakland 7, San Francisco 1 Pittsburgh 8, Seattle 1 Today’s Games Texas (Grifin 3-0) at N.Y. Yankees (Pineda 3-7), 10:05 a.m. Minnesota (Milone 0-2) at Chicago White Sox (Rodon 2-6), 11:10 a.m. Cleveland (Carrasco 3-2) at Toronto (Dickey 5-8), 4:07 p.m. Detroit (Zimmermann 9-4) at Tampa Bay (Odorizzi 3-3), 4:10 p.m. Kansas City (Young 2-7) at St. Louis (Leake 5-5), 4:15 p.m. San Francisco (Bumgarner 8-4) at Oakland (Overton 1-0), 7:05 p.m. Baltimore (Tillman 10-1) at Seattle (Walker 3-6), 7:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE Wednesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 9, Cincinnati 2 Detroit 10, Miami 3 Toronto 5, Colorado 3 Philadelphia 9, Arizona 8, 10 innings Baltimore 12, San Diego 6 Washington 4, N.Y. Mets 2 Cleveland 3, Atlanta 0 Milwaukee 7, L.A. Dodgers 0 Kansas City 3, St. Louis 2, 12 innings Oakland 7, San Francisco 1 Pittsburgh 8, Seattle 1 Today’s Games L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 6-5) at Milwaukee (Davies 5-3), 11:10 a.m. Cincinnati (Finnegan 3-6) at Washington (Gonzalez 3-7), 4:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Lackey 7-4) at N.Y. Mets (Matz 7-3), 4:10 p.m. Miami (Chen 4-2) at Atlanta (Foltyne- wicz 2-2), 4:10 p.m. Kansas City (Young 2-7) at St. Louis (Leake 5-5), 4:15 p.m. San Francisco (Bumgarner 8-4) at Oakland (Overton 1-0), 7:05 p.m. NORTHWEST LEAGUE Today’s Games Eugene 9, Boise 7 Spokane 9, Everett 3 Hillsboro 4, Salem-Keizer 3 Tri-City 10, Vancouver 1 Thursday’s Games Eugene at Boise, 6:15 p.m. Everett at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Salem-Keizer at Hillsboro, 7:05 p.m. Vancouver at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m. Basketball WNBA Wednesday’s Games Washington 84, San Antonio 67 Indiana 95, Chicago 83 New York 95, Minnesota 92, OT Phoenix 86, Connecticut 75 Today’s Games Atlanta at Los Angeles, 12:30 p.m. Dallas at Seattle, 7 p.m. Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Upcoming Schedule July 2 — Coke Zero 400, Daytona Beach, Fla. July 9 — Quaker State 400, Sparta, Ky. July 17 — New Hampshire 301, Loudon, N.H. July 24 — ‘Your Hero’s Name Here’ 400, Speedway, Ind. July 31 — Pennsylvania 400, Long Pond, Pa. Points Standings Through June 26 1. Kevin Harvick 562 2. Kurt Busch 527 3. Carl Edwards 510 4. Brad Keselowski 506 5. Joey Logano 493 6. Chase Elliott 473 7. Jimmie Johnson 469 8. Martin Truex Jr 452 9. Kyle Busch 452 10. Matt Kenseth 430 Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts Philadelphia 7 5 5 26 NYC FC 6 5 6 24 New York 7 8 2 23 Montreal 5 4 6 21 D.C. United 5 6 5 20 Orlando City 4 3 8 20 Toronto FC 5 6 4 19 New England 4 5 7 19 Columbus 3 5 7 16 Chicago 2 7 5 11 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts Colorado 9 2 5 32 FC Dallas 9 5 4 31 Real Salt Lake 8 5 3 27 Vancouver 7 7 3 24 Portland 6 6 5 23 Los Angeles 5 3 8 23 Sporting K.C. 6 8 4 22 San Jose 5 4 7 22 Seattle 5 9 1 16 Houston 3 8 5 14 GF 29 27 28 24 16 28 17 21 19 14 GA 25 31 23 22 16 25 18 28 22 20 GF 19 26 27 27 28 28 18 19 13 22 GA 11 24 26 29 29 18 20 19 19 25 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Friday’s Games San Jose at Chicago, 5 p.m. D.C. United at Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games New England at Montreal, 2:30 p.m. Seattle at Toronto FC, 4:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Houston, 6 p.m. Sunday’s Games New York at New York City FC, 9 a.m. Columbus at Sporting Kansas City, 4 p.m. Tennis Wimbledon Results Wednesday At The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, London Men First Round Dominic Thiem (8), Austria, def. Florian Mayer, Germany, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. Tomas Berdych (10), Czech Republic, def. Ivan Dodig, Croatia, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (2). Bernard Tomic (19), Australia, def. Fernando Verdasco, Spain, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Alexander Zverev (24), Germany, def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, France, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Second Round Novak Djokovic (1), Serbia, def. Adrian Mannarino, France, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Roger Federer (3), Switzerland, def. Marcus Willis, Britain, 6-0, 6-3, 6-4. Women First Round Agnieszka Radwanska (3), Poland, def. Kateryna Kozlova, Ukraine, 6-2, 6-1. Belinda Bencic (7), Switzerland, def. Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-3. Petra Kvitova (10), Czech Republic, def. Sorana Cirstea, Romania, 6-0, 6-4. Johanna Konta (16), Britain, def. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico, 6-1, 7-5. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (21), Russia, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. Andrea Petkovic (32), Germany, def. Nao Hibino, Japan, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
