Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Friday, July 1, 2016
MILTON-FREEWATER
Swimming
Blazers split
with Othello
Phelps, Lochte set up medley showdown
Ryan
Lochte
swims
in the
200-meter
individual
medley
semiinal
at the U.S.
Olympic
swimming
trials
Thursday,
in Omaha,
Neb.
By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
East Oregonian
OTHELLO, Wash. — The
Milton-Freewater
Blazers
16U baseball team split a
doubleheader with Othello on
Wednesday.
Othello took the irst game
6-4, the the Blazers then held on
11-10 to get the split.
Taylor Turner drove in three
runs to pace the Blazers offense
in Game 2, and Jesse Jones
batted 3 for 4 and scored twice.
Rudy Esparza went 2 for 3 with
two RBI.
Jones also got the win on
the mound, pitching three full
innings and allowing four runs
on six hits.
Jesse Berry led the Blazers at
the plate in the loss, going 2 for
3 with one run one RBI.
Daeregan Stephens pitched
ive innings and gave up ive
runs on ive hits.
OMAHA, Neb. — Michael
Phelps and Ryan Lochte did their
part.
The longtime rivals are headed
to another showdown at the U.S.
Olympic swimming trials.
Phelps and Lochte cruised through
the semiinals of the 200-meter
individual medley Thursday night,
each of them winning their heats in
dominating fashion.
“It means a lot,” Lochte said. “I’ve
been racing him in this event since
like 2003. He’s a tough competitor. I
just love racing against him because
it’s a challenge.”
This one is especially signiicant
for Lochte, an 11-time Olympic
medalist who has yet to qualify for
an individual event in Rio.
Slowed by a groin injury, the
31-year-old Lochte missed out in
the 400 IM — a race he won at the
Olympics four years ago — inished
fourth in the 200 freestyle, and
dropped out of the 200 backstroke.
AP Photo/Mark
J. Terrill
Though also entered in the 100
butterly, Lochte is basically putting
all his hopes on the 200 IM. A top-two
inish will give him that cherished
spot, but he really wants a win over
Phelps in Friday night’s inal before
they head to the Olympics.
“I’m feeling better as far as like
mentally, but physically I’m getting
tired,” said Lochte, who at the very
least will be going to Rio as a relay
swimmer. “Tomorrow night will
deinitely be a good battle between
me and Michael.”
Lochte was the top qualiier at 1
minute, 56.71 seconds, while Phelps
took the second spot in 1:57.61. That
means they’ll be right beside each
other in the inal, just as they’ve been
so many times during their dazzling
careers.
Phelps has already qualiied
for Rio in the 200 ly, but the most
decorated athlete in Olympic history
is eager to add two more individual
races to his program. He’ll be a
big favorite in the 100 ly, a race in
which Lochte doesn’t igure to be a
major threat.
This is their only real chance to
race.
“Him and I have gone back and
forth a number of times in this race,”
Phelps said. “During the big meets,
we have great races. We’re right
there with each other tomorrow in
the middle of the pool, probably a
couple of tenths apart. We’re going
to be out and probably step on the
gas a little bit more than we have in
the past and you’ll have an exciting
race.”
Missy Franklin, on the other
hand, didn’t even advance to the
inal of the 100 freestyle.
Another big star from London
struggled to an 11th-place showing
in the semiinals, leaving her with
only one individual race in Rio and
just one more chance to bulk up her
program: the 200 backstroke.
No matter what, Franklin’s
bubbly personality will be much
less of a presence at these Summer
Games than it was four years ago.
CWS: Title irst in a team sport for Big South JOHNSON: Team on
Continued from 1B
the Most Outstanding Player.
“He’s been coaching for
21 years, and he deserves
every bit of it,” Beckwith
said of Gilmore. “We got him
to Omaha and we got him a
national championship. The
senior class, the hard work in
the fall, the dedication of the
guys who don’t play much. It
doesn’t go unnoticed. It was
a full team effort the whole
College World Series, and we
got it done.”
Alex Cunningham earned
his irst save, striking out Ryan
Haug with a full-count fastball
to end the game after Arizona
had pulled within a one in the
bottom of the ninth. When
LITTLE
LEAGUE:
Continued from 1B
Leading Pendleton on
offense was Monkman, as he
went 2-3 at the plate with a
double and one run scored,
while Andrew Demianew
gathered two hits, one run
scored, and one RBI. Tysain
Burns had the big hit of the
night for Pendleton with a
two-run home run to center-
ield in the second inning.
———
R H E
PEN
022 000 —
4 8 1
LAG
611 14X — 13 12 0
W — Fitzgerald. L — A. Gunter.
2B — J. Monkman (PEN). Morton (LAG).
3B — M. Morris (PEN). HR — T. Burns
(PEN).
Haug swung and missed,
Cunningham turned to his
dugout, beat his chest with
his ist three times and saluted
before lipping his glove away
to start the celebration.
“The last three innings, all
I’ve been doing in the dugout
is folding my hands and
praying to God that this is His
will,” Gilmore said. “I know
my dad’s up there. I lost him
two years ago, and I wanted
him so bad to be here with me.
I know he’s watching over me
right now.”
Arizona’s Bobby Dalbec
(11-6) also worked 5 2/3
innings, with all the runs
coming against him. He struck
out eight to increase his CWS
total to 25 in 20 innings.
The championship also
was the irst in a team sport in
the 33-year history of the Big
South Conference. The Big
South could savor the accom-
plishment for only about
eight hours. The Chanticleers
become members of the Sun
Belt Conference on Friday.
“This program has been
a lot better than people give
it credit for,” Gilmore said.
“They thought we played
in a small conference and
couldn’t get this done. This
bunch wanted to prove every-
body wrong.”
Arizona, which came into
the day with just two errors
in seven CWS games, saw
second baseman Cody Ramer
commit two on the same play
in the sixth inning. Ramer
couldn’t get a handle on
Zach Remillard’s grounder,
allowing
David
Parrett
to score from third. Then
Ramer tried to get Michael
Paez running from second to
third, but he overthrew Kyle
Lewis. That allowed Paez to
come home. G.K. Young then
launched a no-doubt homer
into the seats above the right-
ield bullpen for a 4-0 lead.
“It’s the best feeling of my
life,” Young said. “I’m trying
not to cry right now. Just
dreaming of that in my head
since I was 10 years old, hitting
a home run in the College
World Series. I never would
have thought it would come in
the championship game.”
MARINERS: Zunino called up from Tacoma
Continued from 1B
striking out three.
It also was Tillman’s irst
career loss to the Mariners,
who traded him to the
Orioles in 2006. He is now
7-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 10
career starts against Seattle.
Leonys Martin started
the Mariners’ three-run ifth
with a one-out single to left.
Smith attempted to advance
Martin with a bunt but
popped it foul. On the next
pitch, he roped his seventh
home run into the right-ield
seats.
Dae-Ho Lee had two
RBI for the Mariners.
The Orioles rallied for
two runs in the eighth as
Kim and Manny Machado
each had RBI singles. But
closer Steve Cishek struck
out Chris Davis with two on
to end the eighth. He then
took care of the O’s in the
ninth for his 19th save in 23
opportunities.
SECOND CHANCE
The Mariners former
irst-round draft choice (in
2012) catcher Mike Zunino
was called up from Triple-A
Tacoma after backup catcher
Steve Clevenger broke his
hand Wednesday. Zunino
struggled in his starting role
last season and the Mariners
hope time in the minors
helped.
“From the reports I got,
it has been better. He’s a
more productive hitter and
he’s controlling the strike
zone better,” manager Scott
Servais said. “He’ll have
plenty of opportunities to
contribute.”
Zunino was hitting .282
with 15 home runs and 51
RBI for Tacoma.
NO SECOND LEFTY
With the Orioles placing
left-hand
reliever
T.J.
McFarland on the 15-day
DL Thursday, that leaves
only one lefty on the roster,
closer Zach Britton.
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
Thursday’s Game: Coastal Carolina 5,
Arizona 4 (Coastal Carolina wins series 2-1)
MLB
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Thursday’s Games
N.Y. Yankees 2, Texas 1
Chicago White Sox 6, Minnesota 5
Cleveland 4, Toronto 1
Detroit 10, Tampa Bay 7
Kansas City 4, St. Louis 2
San Francisco 12, Oakland 6
Seattle 5, Baltimore 3
Today’s Games
Cleveland (Tomlin 9-1) at Toronto (Stroman
6-4), 1:07 p.m.
Kansas City (Kennedy 6-6) at Philadelphia
(Hellickson 5-6), 7:05 p.m.
Detroit (Fulmer 7-2) at Tampa Bay (Smyly
2-8), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Chacin 3-6) at Boston (Wright
8-5), 7:10 p.m.
Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 1-3) at
Houston (Fiers 5-3), 8:10 p.m.
Texas (Perez 7-4) at Minnesota (Santana
2-7), 8:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Locke 7-5) at Oakland (Gray
3-6), 10:05 p.m.
Baltimore (Gausman 1-5) at Seattle (LeB-
lanc 0-0), 10:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Eovaldi 6-5) at San Diego
(Rea 4-3), 10:40 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Thursday’s Games
L.A. Dodgers 8, Milwaukee 1
Washington 13, Cincinnati 4
Atlanta 8, Miami 5
N.Y. Mets 4, Chicago Cubs 3
Kansas City 4, St. Louis 2
San Francisco 12, Oakland 6
Today’s Games
Cincinnati (DeSclafani 2-0) at Washington
(Roark 7-5), 6:05 p.m.
Kansas City (Kennedy 6-6) at Philadelphia
(Hellickson 5-6), 7:05 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hammel 7-4) at N.Y. Mets
(deGrom 3-4), 7:10 p.m.
Miami (Nicolino 2-4) at Atlanta (Teheran
3-7), 7:35 p.m.
Milwaukee (Garza 1-0) at St. Louis (Garcia
5-6), 8:15 p.m.
San Francisco (Cueto 11-1) at Arizona
(Miller 2-7), 9:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Locke 7-5) at Oakland (Gray
3-6), 10:05 p.m.
Colorado (De La Rosa 5-4) at L.A. Dodg-
ers (Norris 3-7), 10:10 p.m.
N.Y. Yankees (Eovaldi 6-5) at San Diego
(Rea 4-3), 10:40 p.m.
NORTHWEST LEAGUE
Thursday’s Games
Eugene 5, Boise 1
Everett 8, Spokane 5
Hillsboro 8, Salem-Keizer 2
Tri-City 4, Vancouver 3
Today’s Games
Hillsboro at Boise, 6:15 p.m.
Spokane at Vancouver, 7:05 p.m.
Everett at Tri-City, 7:15 p.m.
Salem-Keizer at Eugene, 7:35 p.m.
Basketball
WNBA
Thursday’s Games
Los Angeles 84, Atlanta 75
Dallas 83, Seattle 78
Today’s Games
San Antonio at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Washington at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.
New York at Phoenix, 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
2. Kurt Busch
3. Carl Edwards
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Joey Logano
6. Chase Elliott
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Martin Truex Jr
9. Kyle Busch
10. Matt Kenseth
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
562
527
510
506
493
473
469
452
452
430
421
413
Soccer
MLS
Today’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
Thursday’s results
At The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet
Club
London
Purse: $38.4 million (Grand Slam)
Surface: Grass-Outdoor
Singles
Men
First Round
Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, def. Horacio
Zeballos, Argentina, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Donald Young, United States, def. Leonar-
do Mayer, Argentina, 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
John Isner (18), United States, def. Mar-
cos Baghdatis, Cyprus, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Matthew Barton, Australia, def. Albano
Olivetti, France, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-7
(5), 14-12.
Fabio Fognini, Italy, def. Federico Delbo-
nis, Argentina, 6-4, 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3.
Lucas Pouille (32), France, def. Marius
Copil, Romania, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Second Round
Daniel Evans, Britain, def. Alexandr Dolgo-
polov (30), Ukraine, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-1.
Sam Querrey (28), United States, def.
Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Roberto Bautista Agut (14), Spain, def.
Mikhail Kukushkin, Kazakhstan, walkover.
Milos Raonic (6), Canada, def. Andreas
Seppi, Italy, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France, def. Damir
Dzumhur, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 3-6, 7-6 (1),
7-6 (0), 6-2.
David Gofin (11), Belgium, def. Edouard
Roger-Vasselin, France, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.
Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, def. Ivo Karlovic
(23), Croatia, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Jack Sock (27), United States, def. Robin
Haase, Netherlands, 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
Andrey Kuznetsov, Russia, def. Gilles
Muller, Luxembourg, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Denis Istomin, Uzbekistan, def. Nicolas
Almagro, Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Nicolas Mahut, France, def. David Ferrer
(13), Spain, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.
Steve Johnson, United States, def. Jere-
my Chardy, France, 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Kei Nishikori (5), Japan, def. Julien Ben-
neteau, France, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgaria, def. Gilles
Simon (16), France, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4.
Marin Cilic (9), Croatia, def. Sergiy Stak-
hovsky, Ukraine, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-4.
Bernard Tomic (19), Australia, def. Radu
Albot, Moldova, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
John Millman, Australia, def. Benoit Paire
(26), France, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain, def. Viktor
Troicki (25), Serbia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Joao Sousa (31), Portugal, def. Dennis
Novikov, United States, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Andy Murray (2), Britain, def. Yen-hsun Lu,
Taiwan, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
Richard Gasquet (7), France, def. Marcel
Granollers, Spain, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.
Jiri Vesely, Czech Republic, def. Dominic
Thiem (8), Austria, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3).
Women
First Round
Timea Bacsinszky (11), Switzerland, def.
Luksika Kumkhum, Thailand, 6-4, 6-2.
Annika Beck, Germany, def. Heather
Watson, Britain, 3-6, 6-0, 12-10.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, def. Kristi-
na Mladenovic (31), France, 6-3, 6-3.
Sloane Stephens (18), United States, def.
Peng Shuai, China, 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Mandy Minella, Luxembourg, def. Anna
Tatishvili, United States, 7-5, 3-0, retired.
Barbora Strycova (24), Czech Republic,
def. Anett Kontaveit, Estonia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Monica Niculescu, Romania, def. Aleksan-
dra Krunic, Serbia, 6-1, 6-4.
Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, def. Johanna
Larsson, Sweden, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.
Second Round
Anna-Lena Friedsam, Germany, def. Ekat-
erina Alexandrova, Russia, 6-4, 7-6 (1).
Simona Halep (5), Romania, def. Frances-
ca Schiavone, Italy, 6-1, 6-1.
Kiki Bertens (26), Netherlands, def. Mona
Barthel, Germany, 6-4, 6-4.
Madison Keys (9), United States, def.
Kirsten Flipkens, Belgium, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Sabine Lisicki, Germany, def. Sam Stosur
(14), Australia, 6-4, 6-2.
Venus Williams (8), United States, def.
Maria Sakkari, Greece, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Alize Cornet, France, def. Sara Errani (20),
Italy, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Misaki Doi, Japan, def. Karolina Pliskova
(15), Czech Republic, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Daria Kasatkina (29), Russia, def. Lara
Arruabarrena, Spain, 7-6 (9), 6-3.
Carla Suarez Navarro (12), Spain, def.
Denisa Allertova, Czech Republic, 3-6,
6-2, 6-1.
Julia Boserup, United States, def. Belinda
Bencic (7), Switzerland, 6-4, 1-0, retired.
Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def.
Caroline Garcia (30), France, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Carina Witthoeft, Germany, def. Kurumi
Nara, Japan, 6-3, 6-0.
Lucie Safarova (28), Czech Republic,
def. Samantha Crawford, United States,
6-3, 6-4.
Angelique Kerber (4), Germany, def. Var-
vara Lepchenko, United States, 6-1, 6-4.
Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan, def.
Elina Svitolina (17), Ukraine, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Jana Cepelova, Slovakia, def. Garbine
Muguruza (2), Spain, 6-3, 6-2.
Roberta Vinci (6), Italy, def. Duan Ying-
Ying, China, 6-3, 7-5.
Dominika Cibulkova (19), Slovakia, def.
Daria Gavrilova, Australia, 6-3, 6-2.
Marina Erakovic, New Zealand, def. Jele-
na Jankovic (22), Serbia, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 8-6.
Elena Vesnina, Russia, def. Andrea Pet-
kovic (32), Germany, 7-5, 6-3.
Agnieszka Radwanska (3), Poland, def.
Ana Konjuh, Croatia, 6-2, 4-6, 9-7.
Eugenie Bouchard, Canada, def. Johanna
Konta (16), Britain, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
CoCo Vandeweghe (27), United States,
def. Timea Babos, Hungary, 6-2, 6-3.
Swimming
US Olympic Swim Trials
Thursday’s inal heats
At At CenturyLink Center
Omaha, Neb.
(All race distances in meters)
Men
100 Freestyle
1, Nathan Adrian, Bremerton, Wash.,
47.72 seconds. 2, Caeleb Dressel, Green
Cove Springs, Fla., 48.23. 3, Ryan Held,
Springield, Ill., 48.26. 4, Anthony Ervin,
Valencia, Calif., 48.54. 5, Jimmy Feigen,
San Antonio, Texas, 48.57. 6, Blake Pieroni,
Valparaiso, Ind. 48.78. 7, William Copeland,
Lexington, Va., 49.12. 8, Conor Dwyer,
Winnetka, Ill., 49.13.
200 Breastroke
1, Josh Prenot, Santa Maria, Calif., 2
minutes 07.17 seconds. 2, Kevin Cordes,
Naperville, Ill., 2:08.00. 3, Will Licon, El
Paso, Texas, 2:08.14. 4, Andrew Wilson,
Bethesda, Md., 2:09.35. 5, Cody Miller,
Las Vegas, Nev., 2:10.22. 6, BJ Johnson,
Seattle, Wash., 2:10.70. 7, Nic Fink, Morris-
town, N.J., 2:11.55. 8, Brendan McHugh,
Sicklerville, N.J., 2:14.88.
Women
200 Butterly
1, Cammile Adams, Cypress, Texas, 2
minutes 06.80 seconds. 2, Hali Flickinger,
Spring Grove, Pa., 2:07.50. 3, Cassidy Bay-
er, Alexandria, Va., 2:08.68. 4, Ruby Martin,
North Liberty, Iowa, 2:09.96. 5, Christina
Bechtel, Franklin, Tenn., 2:10.54. 6, Katie
McLaughlin, Dana Point, Calif., 2:10.87. 7,
Kelsi Worrell, Mt. Holly, N.J., 2:11.85. 8,
Hannah Saiz, Plattsburgh, N.Y., 2:11.88.
Golf
Bridgestone Invitational
Thursday’s leaders
At Firestone Country Club (South Course)
Akron, Ohio
Purse: $9.5 million
Yardage: 7,400; Par 70 (35-35)
First Round
William McGirt
31-33—64
Emiliano Grillo
33-34—67
Jimmy Walker
33-34—67
Jason Day
34-33—67
Anirban Lahiri
35-33—68
Charley Hoffman
34-34—68
Rickie Fowler
32-36—68
Jordan Spieth
37-31—68
Branden Grace
35-34—69
Billy Hurley III
34-35—69
Scott Piercy
36-33—69
Harris English
36-33—69
Matt Kuchar
33-36—69
Kevin Kisner
36-33—69
Vaughn Taylor
32-37—69
Dustin Johnson
34-35—69
Justin Rose
32-37—69
Andrew Johnston
35-35—70
David Lingmerth
34-36—70
Young-han Song
34-36—70
Justin Thomas
35-35—70
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
36-34—70
Paul Casey
36-34—70
Brandt Snedeker
36-34—70
Hideki Matsuyama
36-34—70
school-record 29 games
in his inal season
Continued from 1B
“Athletics and sports have
been a passion of mine
since I was a kid and now
it’s my world, basically.
(Athletic Director) was kind
of my best it learning over
the years and something
I really enjoyed doing so
I’m looking forward to the
opportunity.”
Baseball has been in
Johnson’s life for as long as
he can remember. He was
fortunate enough to have
the opportunity to play in
college at the University
of Washington and then
spent two years as a minor
leaguer in the Arizona
Diamondbacks organiza-
tion where he hit for a .233
average and compiled a
.992 ielding percentage in
127 career games. But after
calling it quits on playing,
he knew his next step
was to go back and inish
his teaching degree and
become a baseball coach.
He developed experi-
ence as an assistant coach
at Shadle Park High School
in Spokane, Washington
for three years during his
student teaching tenure
there, spent time as a
coach and counselor at TBI
Baseball camps in Ephrata,
and coached some summer
league teams. But when he
made the move to Stanield
it was Johnson’s irst shot at
running a program, and he
made quite an impact.
Johnson compiled a
201-81 career record (.713
win percentage) in his 10
seasons as the Tigers base-
ball coach and led his teams
to nine playoff appearances,
ive league titles, ive district
titles, four state Final Four
appearances, and two state
championships.
He broke the news of
his impending departure to
the Tigers team before the
season began, but insisted
that the focus not be on his
inal games but instead be
on working hard, playing
as a team, and reaching
their goal of a state cham-
pionship.
“I didn’t want this to be a
Bryan Johnson going away
party,” Johnson said. “I
just wanted to have a good
season, have fun and I think
we did that.”
And indeed they did.
Stanield set a school
record with 29 wins on the
year as they completely
dominated their compe-
tition. The Tigers had the
highest-scoring
offense
of any team in the state in
2016, and won those 29
games by an average score
of 12-2.
But the icing on the
cake was their 10-inning,
5-4 victory over Santiam
Christian to claim the Class
3A state championship.
“It was a fairytale inish
and I couldn’t ask for
anything better,” Johnson
said. “It was a great year
with a great team and they
have a lot coming back
which made it hard to walk
away from.”
Adding into the fanfare
of the 2016 season, another
personal milestone was
reached when former
Stanield star Quin Grogan
was selected in the 30th
round of the MLB Draft
by the Minnesota Twins,
becoming the irst player
coached by Johnson to
make it to professional
baseball.
“I’m really proud of
Quin,” he said. “He worked
hard to get there, he had to
sit the bench a little bit at
Lewis-Clark State but he
stayed with it and is a great
example for all Stanield
kids that just because you
graduate from a small
school doesn’t mean you
can’t achieve your dreams.”
When he looks back
on his tenure at Stan-
ield, Johnson said he’ll
remember the games, the
victories, and the moments
that made his 10 years
enjoyable. But what will
stay with him the most are
the people he had the chance
to meet and the bonds that
were built with hundreds of
kids on the baseball ield.
In his coaching ofice
at the Horyna Athletic
Complex, Johnson had a
team hat from each of the
10 seasons hung up on the
wall in order. Each hat was
designed slightly different
from the others to allow
Johnson to remember each
individual team and the
memories that came with
it. He said the hats will be
re-hung somewhere in his
new home in Ephrata to
remind him of it all.
In terms of a legacy,
Johnson hopes to be
remembered for more than
just a baseball coach.
“I always wanted to do
what was best for the kids
in every ield I handled,” he
said. “I know it might sound
cliche, but we’re trying to
give kids at Stanield the
best experience possible
academically, athletically,
and socially.
“The wins are nice and
state titles are great, but
hopefully they don’t just
remember me as a guy
that won a lot of baseball
games.”
———
Contact Eric Singer at
esinger@eastoregonian.
com or (541) 966-0839.
Follow him on Twitter @
ByEricSinger.
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