SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2017
1B
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Prep Roundup
HERMISTON
Rodriguez takes his talents to Walla Walla Pirates
Hermiston soccer star signs
to play at Walla Walla CC
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Dozens of students and faculty
gathered in the Hermiston High School
commons following school on Tuesday
to support a fellow Bulldog and chow
down on some free cake.
All eyes were on senior Freddy
Rodriguez, as the soccer star signed on
with Walla Walla Community College to
continue his athletic and academic career.
Rodriguez spent nearly every moment of
Staff photo by Eric Singer
the approximately 30 minute party with a
Hermiston senior Freddy Rodriguez, left, signs his big grin on his face.
National Letter of Intent to play soccer at Walla Wal-
“It’s honestly a great feeling,” Rodri-
la Community College on Tuesday at Hermiston High
guez
said Tuesday. “It’s good to know
School, while Walla Walla coach Ben Rotert looks on.
you’re wanted and it feels good to be
playing at the next level with friends and
teammates, and they’ll all just build on
you and you’ll build on them.”
Rodriguez departs Hermiston as a
four-year letterwinner at the varsity level,
a four-year staple on the all-league teams,
and a two-year team captain. Rodriguez
capped his career with 24 goals and 12
assists this season — both team highs —
plus a fi rst team all-state selection in Class
5A as Hermiston went 12-4-1 overall and
advanced to the state quarterfi nals for the
second straight year.
Walla Walla head coach Ben Rotert
was in attendance for Rodriguez’s signing
on Tuesday, and said that he’s had his eye
on Rodriguez since the 2015 high school
season.
“I came out to a match and his move-
ment on and off the ball, the work rate he
See RODRIGUEZ/2B
PENDLETON
Buckaroos take down Tigers
Stuvland’s big
board helps
Pendleton hold
on for win
Pend-
leton’s
Johnny
Stuvland
shoots
the ball
guarded
by La
Grande’s
John
Schiller
in the
Bucks’
63-59 win
against
the
Tigers on
Tuesday
in Pendle-
ton.
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
In a game featuring two of the
top scoring threats in their classifi -
cations, an offensive rebound may
just have been the play of the game
for the Pendleton
Buckaroos
on Boys Hoops
Tuesday night at
Warberg Court.
With
30
La Grande
seconds left in
their non-league
game against 4A
No. 2 La Grande,
Bucks
senior
Johnny Stuvland
Pendleton
wedged himself
between a pair of
Tigers and ripped
away the rebound
from teammate Shaw Jerome’s
errant free throw, then kicked it out
to Caden Smith on the perimeter.
Smith was fouled and hit both
of his free throws for a seven-point
cushion and what would be Pend-
leton’s fi nal points in a 63-59 win.
“Johnny had a huge rebound
there at the end in that free throw
situation,” said Pendleton coach
Kyle Tedder.
Stuvland had three of his four
rebounds on offense and also came
up with big stops on the defensive
end with three blocks.
“I have a pretty big match-up
during practice every day (team-
mate Jake Szumski) so I’m used to
getting hammered,” said Stuvland,
who scored eight of his 10 points
in the second half while playing
most of the way with three fouls.
“Johnny was big,” Tedder said.
“He got three quick fouls early, and
it’s hard to keep him in the game,
but I think it’s him maturing a little
bit from a junior to a senior. I left
him in the game a little bit and
gave him a chance and I thought
he did a good job, and I thought we
fi nished the game well.”
La Grande (14-2) might have
had a chance to tie when Jerome
was called for a fl agrant foul with
.8 of a second left, but Andrew
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
59
halt
losing
streak
Riverside earns
fi rst league win
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — The River-
side Pirates’ seven game losing
streak came to a screeching
halt on Tuesday night, as the
Pirates
took
Boys Hoops care of the Vale
Vikings 52-35
in an Eastern
Oregon League
match-up
at
Vale
Riverside High
School.
“We played
a lot better, we
played
with
some urgency
Riverside
for the fi rst time
in a while,”
Riverside coach
Clair Costello
said. “It was a good game and a
good win.”
Eon Castillo and Felix
See PREPS/2B
35
52
MLB
Mariners
to retire
No. 11
Hall of Famer or not,
Edgar Martinez gets
ultimate team honor
63
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
Peasley missed the front end of
his trip to the free throw line and
the Bucks wisely gave the Tigers
plenty of room for a game-ending
three-point attempt.
Smith scored 22 points to lead
Pendleton (5-4) and Peasley scored
a game-high 25 for La Grande,
which was coming off a win over
Pendleton’s conference rival
Hermiston on Monday.
“It gives us a huge confi dence
boost,” said Jerome, who scored
all 10 of his points after halftime
and also had three assists. “We just
beat one of the best teams at the
4A level who just beat Hermiston,
who’s up there, so it was a great,
great confi dence builder for us.”
It was another hot night for
Bucks shooters and 5A No. 18
Pendleton fi nished 23 for 48 (47.9
percent) while La Grande wasn’t
far behind at 20 for 46 (43.5
percent).
Smith scored 15 of his points
in the fi rst half, and drained a deep
3-pointer near the end of the fi rst
half that put Pendleton up for good
31-29.
That was where they went into
the locker rooms at the break with
Pendleton carrying momentum
after a 7-2 run.
The Bucks opened the third
See BUCKAROOS/2B
SEATTLE — As Edgar Marti-
nez’s candidacy for the baseball
Hall of Fame began gaining more
traction, the Seattle Mariners
ownership started discussions
of whether it was
time to consider
giving Martinez
the ultimate honor
from the franchise.
When Martinez
made a signifi cant
jump in the Hall of
Fame voting this
year, trending toward potential
induction, it became an easy
decision to decide it was time to
retire Martinez’s No. 11.
Seattle team President Kevin
Mather announced Tuesday
that Martinez’s number will be
retired on Aug. 12 as part of a
weekend celebration. He will
become just the second player in
club history to have his number
retired, joining Ken Griffey Jr.,
whose No. 24 was retired by the
club last year after Griffey’s Hall
of Fame induction.
See MARTINEZ/2B
Sports shorts
Serena advances to 10th straight
Grand Slam semis at Aussie Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Serena
Williams reached her 10th consecutive Grand
Slam semifi nal, and kept her bid alive for a
record 23rd major title, with a 6-2,
6-3 win over Johanna Konta at the
Australian Open on Wednesday.
Her opponent in the semifi nals,
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat
fi fth-seeded Karolina Pliskova 6-4,
3-6, 6-4, had a much longer wait
to get back to this stage at a major
Williams
nearly 18 years.
It’s the second time in the
last two years that three women in their 30s
have reached the semifi nals at a major: Venus
Williams, 36, Serena Williams, 35, and Lucic-
Baroni, 34. Serena also reached the semifi nals
at the 2015 U.S. Open, alongside 30-somethings
Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci.
“I don’t know, I’m going
to take this offseason
to evaluate, to consider
all options, to consider
health and family and
things like that ... I think
that’s, in my point of
my career and my age,
that’s the prudent and
smart thing to do.“
— Ben Roethlisberger
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback
in a radio appearance with 93.7
The Fan in Pittsburgh, wouldn’t
commit to playing a 14th NFL
season, and hinted that he is
considering retirement.
Michigan fi rst school to pay
three assistants $1 million
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is
committed to paying three of Jim Harbaugh’s
assistants $1 million each per year.
Defensive coordinator Don
Brown and offensive coordi-
nator Tim Drevno have been
retained with contracts worth
more than $10 million combined
over the next fi ve years. Passing
coordinator Pep Hamilton was
lured away from the Cleveland
Browns with a $4.25 million, four-year deal.
Brown’s contract calls for him to make $1
million annually in the fi rst four years and
$1.4 million in 2021. Drevno’s deal is worth
$1 million each year plus a $150,000 signing
bonus this month. Hamilton’s salary will be $1
million in the fi rst three years before getting a
bump to $1.25 million in 2020.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1924 — The fi rst Winter
Olympics are held in Cham-
onix, France.
1960 — Wilt Cham-
berlain of the Philadelphia
Warriors sets a record for
rookies with 58 points in a
127-117 triumph over the
Detroit Pistons. Chamberlain
also grabs 42 rebounds.
1998 — John Elway and
the Denver Broncos win a
Super Bowl for themselves
and the AFC, by beating the
Green Bay Packers 31-24.
Terrell Davis, selected the
MVP, rushes for 157 yards
scores on three 1-yard touch-
down runs, including the
winner with 1:45 left.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com