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.