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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 2016)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian PENDLETON Saturday, July 23, 2016 Rodeo Hodgen Kolbaba hoping for second Joseph Days buckle Joseph Days a loses special spot for Derek Kolbaba out on slugfest By Chief Joseph Days Staff East Oregonian THE DALLES — After two months of competition and 35 games, Hodgen Distributing saw its 2016 come to an end on Thursday evening with a 14-9 loss to the Columbia Gorge Hustlers. The game was an offen- sive showcase, as the teams combined for the 23 runs and 19 hits and a combined eight pitchers were used. Daniel Naughton took the loss for Hodgen after giving up eight runs and six earned runs, four hits, and six walks over 2.1 innings. Caleb Cary was the only batter to register multiple hits on Thursday, going 2-4 at the plate with three RBI. Naughton and Shaw Jerome scored two runs apiece to lead the team. For the Hustlers, former Hood River Valley stalwarts Patrick Harvey, Dallas Buckley, and Morgan Williams combined for seven hits and four runs scored to pace their team. They took a 2-0 lead over Hodgen in the irst inning as Buckley and Harvey each scored on passed balls. Hodgen responded in the third inning with their irst run of the game when Jerome came across on a passed ball as well to cut the lead in half. Two batters later, Cary stepped to the plate and belted a single into center ield to bring home Nick Bower and Naughton to put Hodgen ahead 3-2. However, the Hustlers came right back in the bottom of the third inning with authority, rattling off seven runs in the frame as the irst eight batters reached base safely and 11 total came to the plate. They then added two more runs in the fourth to hold a commanding 11-3. Hodgen did give it a good run at a comeback, though, starting a rally in the sixth inning. Bower and Cary each recorded RBI singles in the inning, and Cary later scored on a passed ball to put Hodgen back within 14-7. The rally continued in the ninth inning, after Jared Beveridge drove in a run with a single to center ield following back-to-back walks, and Wyatt Morris brought in a run with an RBI groundout to cut the lead to 14-9. But that’s as close as the team would get, as Jerome struck out swinging on a 2-2 count to end the game. Hodgen Distributing inishes the season 17-18 overall. ——— R H E HDG 003 004 002 — 9 9 3 CGH 207 203 00X — 14 10 0 W — W. Justenson. L — D. Naughton. 2B — J. Malcom (HDG). J. Miller, B. Pate (CGH). PEPSI: End season at 14-16 overall Continued from 1B third inning during game one. Demianew, Gabe Umbarger, Justin Duso, and Blake Davis were the only other players to record a hit on the day for Pepsi, with Umbarger and Shawn Yeager also scoring runs. Yeager scored Pepsi’s run in game two off of a sacriice ly to right ield off the bat of Cameron Sandford in the sixth inning. The Diamondjaxx end the season with a 14-16 overall record. ——— Game 1 R H E LAG 106 36 — 16 11 2 PDJ 001 10 — 2 5 6 W — Bell. L — C. Large. 2B — Atkinson, Bathke (LAG). Q. Doherty (PDJ). Game 2 R H E PDJ 000 001 0 — 1 2 4 LAG 210 310 X — 7 10 0 W — G. Blackman. L — R. Stahl. 2B — Goss (LAG). G. Umbarger (PDJ). JOSEPH — Talk to anyone in rodeo, and they’ll tell you the hardest rodeo to win is the one in your hometown. Professional bull rider Derek Kolbaba agrees. A great-grandson of Chief Joseph Days rodeo founder Harley Tucker, the 20 year old Kolbaba will compete in front of his friends and family on Wednesday, July 27 in the irst of four nightly PRCA rodeos. Kolbaba spent his early years in Joseph, Oregon before moving to Walla Walla, Washington with his family. His grand- parents, aunts, uncles and several cousins stayed in Joseph, and still live there. “Travelling all over the country, riding in Chicago, Staff photo by E.J. Harris In this Sept. 16, 2016 ile photo, Derek Kolbaba of Walla New York, it’s great and Walla rides Speculation for 87.5 points during the PBR everything,” said Kolbaba. “But when you get to come Classic at the Happy Canyon Arena in Pendleton. home and ride in front of your friends and family, it’s pretty special.” Kolbaba won the coveted Chief Joseph Days buckle in 2014. “It is a high point in my career,” Kolbaba said, which is saying something, consid- ering the career Kolbaba has had in his short two years as a professional bull rider. Kolbaba was the youngest competitor at last fall’s Built Ford Tough World Finals, and is currently ranked ninth in world standings. Kolbaba is hoping to earn a spot to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December, and a win at Chief Joseph Days would certainly help. Kolbaba was a stand-out as a high school compet- itor at Walla Walla High School before deciding to go professional when he turned 18. Kolbaba is currently on track to be the “Rookie of the Year” for the Professional Bull Riders, and is also a rising star in the PRCA (Profes- sional Rodeo Cowboys Association). Although he’ll be competing in front of family and friends, Kolbaba will have little chance to enjoy time with them. He will be coming straight from competing Monday and Tuesday, July 25 and 26, at Cheyenne Frontier Days, and will leave right after competing Wednesday night to head to Idaho, then on to South Dakota to compete Friday. But Kolbaba has no complaints about the schedule. “For me, bull riding is what I’ve always wanted to do. My dad was a bull rider, and I come from a rodeo family. I can’t imagine doing anything else.” Kolbaba will be avail- able to sign autographs before Wednesday night’s rodeo, at the Dodge display outside the Thunder Room at the Harley Tucker Memorial Arena in Joseph, just west of Main Street. For more information and to purchase tickets to Wednesday night’s rodeo, visit chiefjosephdays.com. LITTLE LEAGUE: Pool play continues on Saturday and Sunday Continued from 1B Oregon added two more runs in the fourth inning behind a two-RBI double to deep center ield by Ellie Samford, scoring Jaden Samp and Burke to give Oregon the 3-2 lead. However, that’s where their momentum would stop. In the bottom of the fourth, Montana sent 11 batters to the plate with ive recording hits, two reaching by error and one forcing a walk. In all, Montana pushed across seven runs in the inning to take a commanding 9-3 lead over Oregon. Both teams added one run each in the ifth inning to reach the inal score of 10-4. Oregon recorded ive hits in the game between Maria Lilenthal, Josie Wilson, Garton, Burke, and Samford. Samford led the team with her two RBI. Oregon will continue pool play on Saturday when they take on Utah at 5:30 p.m., and then will inish pool play on Sunday against Alaska at 12:30 p.m. before starting bracket play on Tuesday. ——— R H E ORE 010 210 — 4 5 6 MNT 200 71X — 10 9 2 W — E. Lyn Brinka. L — M. Burke. 2B — E. Samford (ORE). G. Hardy, K. Kovatch (MNT). MARINERS: Marte placed on disabled list with mononucleosis Continued from 1B the curveball. Bringing my arm up a little bit more has allowed me to get on top of that curveball.” Paxton’s altered delivery made things easy on Mari- ners catcher Mike Zunino. “I don’t think you could put down a wrong sign when a guy is going like that,” Zunino said. Seattle won consecutive games for the irst time since a four-game run from June 30 to July 3. The Mariners have won ive straight and 14 of 20 against AL East opponents this season. Edwin Diaz worked the eighth and Steve Cishek inished for his 23rd save. Edwin Encarnacion drew a two-out walk in the ninth and Troy Tulowitzki singled but Cishek ended it by striking out All-Star Michael Saunders. Paxton retired 16 of the irst 17 batters he faced. The only blemish in that span was a one-out solo homer by Saunders in the second. “He’s always had a really Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager throws out Toronto Bue Jays’ Junior Lake in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto, Friday, July 22, 2016. good arm,” Saunders said of Paxton. “Tonight he was hitting his spots, keeping us off balance.” Back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game at Arizona because of a personal matter, Saunders connected in his irst career at-bat against the team that drafted him in 2004 and traded him to Toronto before the 2015 season. After Saunders homered, Paxton set down the next 12 batters before Josh Thole’s one-out walk in the seventh. Josh Donaldson advanced Thole to third with a two-out double but Paxton escaped by striking out Encarnacion. “That was huge,” Servais said. “He made huge pitches there.” Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada (back) was activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game. The right-hander was placed on the DL on July 6, one day after being named an All-Star for the irst time. Estrada (5-4) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. Estrada, who is winless in four starts, had surrendered ive hits or fewer in his previous 13 outings. BLACK AND BLUE First base umpire Jordan Baker was struck on the left elbow by Nelson Cruz’s foul line drive in the seventh. The impact quickly left a large red mark on Baker’s arm. He put on a wrap between innings and stayed in the game. ROSTER SHUFFLE Toronto activated LHP Franklin Morales (shoulder) off the 60-day DL and optioned LHP Aaron Loup and INF Andy Burns to Triple-A Buffalo. To make room for Morales, Toronto designated RHP Dustin Antolin for assignment. TRAINER’S ROOM Mariners: SS Ketel Marte has been diagnosed with mononucleosis and is expected to go on the 15-day DL on Saturday. Seattle recalled INF Luis Sardinas from Triple-A Tacoma to replace LHP Mike Montgomery, who was traded Wednesday to the Chicago Cubs. The Mariners are expected to recall a pitcher from Tacoma on Saturday. Blue Jays: C Russell Martin is expected to miss at least two games after he slipped and fell in the shower Thursday. Martin passed out after spending too much time in the sauna and overheating. An MRI showed no structural damage to his knee. ... OF Jose Bautista (left big toe) started and played seven innings in RF in his irst rehab game at Triple-A Buffalo on Friday. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. UP NEXT Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (10-6, 4.01) is 4-0 with a 2.39 ERA in his past four outings and has won nine of his last 11 starts. Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (7-10, 4.11) allowed three home runs at Oakland on July 16, losing for the irst time in three outings. HALL OF FAME: Players hit a combined 1,057 home runs Continued from 1B in late May for a mini-ori- entation, Griffey chose not to take the customary introductory tour of the Hall that’s become sort of a tradition in recent years. He did attend a series of brief meetings with Hall of Fame staff at a separate location in the village and said he wanted his irst walk through the front doors of the stately building on Main Street to be with his kids. “I wanted to share the moment with them,” Griffey said. “It was important for me to be able to do it with them and not just by myself. I just felt that I wanted to be a member of the Hall of Fame to walk in there.” Induction day prom- ises to be an extremely emotional moment for Griffey because his mom, Birdie, and father, former Cincinnati Reds star Ken Sr., both cancer survivors and integral to his rise to stardom, also will be part of the celebration. Griffey played 22 big-league seasons with the Mariners, Reds and White Sox and was named on a record 99.32 percent of ballots cast, an afirmation of sorts for his squeaky- clean performance during baseball’s Steroids Era. A 13-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner, Griffey hit 630 home runs, sixth all-time, and drove in 1,836 runs. Griffey also was named American League MVP in 1997, drove in at least 100 runs in eight seasons, and won seven Silver Slugger Awards. In the 1995 ALDS, he became just the second player in major league history to hit ive home runs in a single postseason series (Reggie Jackson of the Yankees in the 1977 World Series is the other). Like Yankees great Mickey Mantle before him, fans are left to wonder what more Griffey might have accomplished had his health not become a hindrance. From 2001-04 he averaged fewer than 80 games played per year while suffering through hamstring tears, knee problems, a dislocated shoulder, and ankle tendon ruptures. Healthy again in 2005, Junior slugged 35 home runs and captured the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Two years later, he had his last standout season — 144 games, 30 homers, 93 RBIs — and earned his inal All-Star Game selection. He inished his career with the White Sox and Mariners before retiring early in the 2010 season. For Piazza, selection to AP Photo/Kathy Willens In this Jan. 7, 2016, ile photo, Ken Griffey Jr., left, poses for a photograph with Mike Piazza at a press conference announcing they are both elected into the 2016 National Baseball Hall of Fame, in New York. the Hall is validation of an awful lot of hard work. Taken in the draft after Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, a close friend of Piazza’s father, put in a good word, Piazza struggled. He briely quit the game while in the minor leagues, returned and persevered despite a heavy workload as he switched from irst base to catcher and teammates criticized his erratic play. “When I irst signed with the Dodgers, I knew it was going to be a very dificult path,” Piazza said. “At the time I wasn’t having any fun and decided to quit the game. I was just fortunate that I had great coaches and people looking out for me to encourage me to go back. You don’t make it to the Hall of Fame alone, you have a lot of people looking out for you along the way.” And then it all clicked almost suddenly for Piazza, hitting 52 home runs in the minors before getting called up by the Dodgers in September 1992. He was there to stay after going 3 for 3 in his debut and was named National League Rookie of the Year the following season after hitting .318 with 35 homers and 112 RBIs. Piazza played 16 years with the Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Padres and Athletics and hit 427 career home runs, including a major league record 396 as a catcher. A 12-time All-Star, Piazza won 10 Silver Slugger Awards and inished in the top ive in MVP voting four times. Perhaps even more impres- sive, Piazza, a .308 career hitter, posted six seasons with at least 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and a .300 batting average. All other catchers in baseball history combined have posted nine such seasons. Though the Dodgers gave him his start, Piazza found a home in New York when he was traded to the Mets in May 1998. He became a bona ide hero to the hometown fans with his walk-off homer in the irst game at Shea Stadium after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “The New York market was a dificult transition for me,” Piazza said. “But I knew that there was a reason I was there, and I knew there was a reason I had to see it through.” Broadcaster Graham McNamee will be honored posthumously on Saturday with the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting, and Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meri- torious contributions to baseball writing.