SPORTS
WEEKEND , NOVEMBER 19-20, 2016
1B
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PENDLETON
HERMISTON
T-Wolves
stay alive
at NWACs
Tapped by the Angels
BMCC volleyball
faces uphill climb
“People work their whole
careers in their fi eld and never
get this type of opportunity, so
I guess it’s kind of beyond a
dream, honestly.”
East Oregonian
TACOMA, Wash. — With
no more room for error, the Blue
Mountain volleyball team was on
point to sweep past Tacoma on
Friday afternoon and extend their
stay at the NWAC
Championships.
The
Timber-
wolves
were
coming
off
a Blue Mountain
fi ve-set loss to
Chemeketa
that
had sent them into
the losers’ bracket
earlier in the day,
Tacoma
and will face elim-
ination scenarios
in the rest of their
matches at Greater
Tacoma Trade and Convention
Center.
Chemeketa was able to fl ummox
the Timberwolves with its dynamic
defense, and held on for fi fth-set
victory 18-16. Blue Mountain had
See T-WOLVES/2B
2
0
Contributed photo courtesy of Lee Fiocchi
College Football
EOU ready
for playoff
debut
No. 9 Mountaineers
play at No. 7 Doane
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Riding a
program-high six-game winning
streak, the No. 9 Eastern Oregon
football team will play in its fi rst
ever NAIA Football Championship
Series playoff game when the Moun-
taineers take on No. 7 Doane today
in Crete, Nebraska.
“Everybody’s excited, this is
a great opportunity for this senior
group to really put their name on this
Eastern Oregon football program,”
head coach Tim Camp told EOUs-
ports.com. “They’ve been working
a long time to get to this point. To
be able to go through the ups and
downs of the football season, and
everything they’ve been through,
I’m proud of them.
“I think there’s a lot of hard work
that’s been put in and I think for us,
at the end of the day, our goal is to
be 1-0.”
Doane (9-1) rolls into the game’s
11 a.m. kickoff on a four-game
winning streak and is 5-0 at home
this season.
The Tigers won their regular
See EOU FOOTBALL/4B
Hermiston High School graduate Lee Fiocchi has landed his dream job as the head strength and conditioning coach for the MLB’s
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Hermiston native named strength coach for MLB team
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
W
hen Lee Fiocchi graduated
from Hermiston High in
1997, he wasn’t thinking
much about a possible career path.
All Fiocchi wanted to do was play
football. He did not have a dream job
such as becoming a doctor or a teacher
or a television broadcaster, he just
wanted to play college football and
then earn his way into the NFL. But
during the summer before his senior
football season at Eastern Illinois
University, Fiocchi and a teammate
spent some time in Florida to train at a
private facility and it was during that
time that the proverbial light bulb went
off for him.
“I recognized that I enjoyed the
physical preparations and that really
kind of opened my eyes to this sports
performance niche,” Fiocchi said in a
phone interview. “When I realized my
degree path would allow me to work
within the fi eld that kind of switched
my mindset a little bit, post football
and to what I wanted to do.”
And now, 19 years after moving
away from Hermiston, Fiocchi has
earned what just may be his dream job.
Starting January 1, 2017, Fiocchi will
be the head strength and conditioning
coach for Major League Baseball’s Los
Angeles Angels of Anaheim. There he
will be in charge of overseeing all of
the development of the speed, strength,
and reactional movement capabilities
for the big league club.
“People work their whole careers
in their fi eld and never get this type
of opportunity, so I guess it’s kind of
beyond a dream, honestly,” Fiocchi
said. “It was just more of a natural
progression of just trying to learn and
grow and improve myself and being the
owner of a private business facilitating
athletes of all ranges has really been
more than anything I could have hoped
for. But I’m excited to get started.”
See ANGELS/4B
HERMISTON
Bulldogs trio starting for Oregon State wrestling
Coleman joins
Delgado, Rodriguez
in dual lineup against
No. 11 Michigan
East Oregonian
FCS First Round
#7 Doane
Mountaineers
Tigers
(8-2)
(9-1)
• Today, 11 a.m.
• at Crete, Nebraska
• Radio: Newstalk 103.1 FM
Contributed photo courtesy of Lee Fiocchi
Lee Fiocchi, founder and owner/operator of Dynamic
Sports Training, works with a group of youth athletes
in this undated photo. Fiocchi works with athletes
at all levels, and has recently been named the head
strength and conditioning coach for the MLB’s Los An-
geles Angels of Anaheim.
#9 Eastern Oregon
Photo courtesy of OSU Athletic Communications
Oregon State’s Bob Coleman, top, wrestles an unidentifi ed
teammate in this undated photo.
CORVALLIS — Coming off
a 1-1 showing at the Mountaineer
Duals last weekend, the No. 24
Oregon State wrestling team
has revamped its starting lineup
headed into Sunday’s home
opener against No. 11 Michigan at
Gill Coliseum.
The Beavers’ four heaviest
weight classes have underper-
formed, producing just three points
while taking forfeits at 197, and
OSU coach Jim Zalesky is turning
to a former Hermiston Bulldog for
some relief.
Freshman
Bob
Coleman
will make his dual debut for
the Beavers at 184 pounds after
going 2-2 at 174 pounds at the
Mike Clock Open held Nov. 6 in
Forest Grove. Coleman won a 5A
state championship at 182 pounds
his senior year at Hermiston,
and joins fellow Bulldogs Joey
See OSU WRESTLING/4B
Sports shorts
Columbus winger scores game-
winner after getting 30 stitches
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Matt Calvert
returned from taking a slap shot to his forehead
that required about 30 stitches and scored a
short-handed, tiebreaking goal in the third
period to lift the Columbus Blue
Jackets to a franchise-record
seventh straight home win, 4-2
over the New York Rangers on
Friday night.
William Karlsson had a goal
and an assist, and Sam Gagner
and Boone Jenner also scored for
Calvert
Columbus, which recovered from
blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period.
About three minutes after New York evened
the score at 8:32 of the third, the Rangers were
looking to take the lead on the power play,
but a bandaged Calvert snuck a shot under
Lundqvist’s right arm on a 2-on-1 with Karlsson.
“You guys should be
proud of the sense of
loyalty this kid has
shown. He could’ve
easily come to Charlotte,
but he decided to stay
here in Oklahoma.
When I saw he chose to
stay in Oklahoma I was
so proud.“
— Michael Jordan
The NBA legend’s introductory
speech for Oklahoma City Thun-
der guard Russell Westbrook,
who was inducted to the Oklaho-
ma Hall of Fame on Friday.
No. 22 Boise State beats UNLV
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Jeremy McNichols
ran for 206 yards and a career-high four
touchdown to help No. 22 Boise State beat
UNLV 42-25 on Friday night.
Boise State (10-1, 6-1) kept
its Mountain West title hopes
alive and reached 10 victories
for the second time in three
seasons under head coach Bryan
Harsin. After passing Western
Michigan in the College Football Playoff
rankings this week, the Broncos also remain
in contention for a Cotton Bowl berth.
McNichols registered his third 200-yard
game of the season, matching Jay Ajayi’s
school record.
Next week the Broncos will travel to Air
Force for their fi nal regular-season tilt in a
must-win game to keep their division title
hopes alive.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1993 — Oregon and
Oregon State play to a 0-0 tie
in Eugene. It’s the last score-
less tie game in FBS history
due to the NCAA’s institution
of overtime beginning in
1994.
2004 — Indiana Pacers
players Ron Artest and
Stephen Jackson charge
into the stands to fi ght with
Auburn Hills fans in the fi nal
minute of their game against
the Detroit Pistons. The
brawl forces an early end to
the Pacers’ 97-82 win.
2006 — Jaromir Jagr
becomes the 16th player in
NHL history with 600 goals.
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