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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON HERMISTON Bulldogs overwhelm Bucks Corona one of 29 new signees for Mounties Senior kicker the latest Buckaroo to join EOU By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian LA GRANDE — Coming off the best season in program history, Eastern Oregon football coach Tim Camp is confi dent he’s found the pieces to continue building on that success with the 2017 recruiting class, which was announced Wednesday. One of those pieces is Pendleton kicker Sebaztian Corona, who will join fi ve other former Buckaroos in La Grande after signing with the Mountaineers. He’s part of 29-player signing class. “I remember the fi rst EOU game I went to was in middle school and ever since then I’ve just liked the community and the environment,” he said Corona in a phone interview. Corona said his recruitment was a pretty quick process that included a meeting with EOU coaches when they came to Pendleton a couple of weeks ago, then a campus visit last week that sealed the deal. Corona’s longest fi eld goal in a game was a 49-yarder he booted his junior year, and he said he’s made 53-yarders in warm-ups. The Mountaineers, which made its fi rst NAIA postseason and advanced to the semifi nals last season, only have one other kicker on the roster. Redshirt junior Nathan Harden is coming a season in which he was 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) with a long of 37 yards. All of his attempts were in the 20-40-yard range. Corona also played receiver for Pend- leton, and said he’ll try to get in the mix on special teams any way possible. “They mainly used me for perimeter blocking, so I liked getting in there and being really physical. I really enjoy battling,” he said. “Contact, I like contact.” Already on campus as members of the team are Pendleton grads Kai Quinn (quarterback), Jacob Banks (defensive line), Ethan Frazier (defensive line), Chad McCoy (quarterback) and T.J. Hancock (wide receiver). Corona said he plans to study sociology with a minor in student counseling, and playing college football would fulfi ll a childhood dream. “It’s been a while, ever since I was a kid. It’s a good feeling, the community, Staff photo by Kathy Aney Hermiston’s Alice Todryk gets the upper hand against Caleb Tremper, of Pendleton, in the 106-pound class during Wednesday’s dual meet at the Dawg House. Todryk went on to win in a 16-5 major decision over Tremper. Hermiston set physical tone, beats rival Pendleton in dual By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Hermiston wrestling coach Kyle Larson has no problem with running up the score. In fact, it’s preferable. “From the beginning of the year clear to the end of the year, we want our guys to get on the mat and score as many points as possible,” he said following his team’s dual match against rival Pendleton on Wednesday at the Dawg House. “In dual meets bonus points are big. If we get pins, if we get technical falls, if we get major decisions we’re Jamal Vann, of Pendleton, wrestles Hermis- ton’s Co- rey Mason to victory in the 220-pound class during Wednes- day’s dual meet at the Dawg House. Wrestling Pendleton Hermiston 21 53 going to win dual meets and that’s what we preach in our room a lot.” The Bulldogs raked in the bonus points Wednesday to knock off the Buckaroos 53-21, and won eight matches by pin or major decision. That came after a perfect 84-0 thumping Staff photo by Kathy Aney See WRESTLING/2B IONE Ione girls fi nally earn fi rst victory of season Cardinals snap 16- game losing streak East Oregonian SPRAY — After two months of struggles, the Ione Cardinals girls basketball team fi nally had something to cheer loudly about on Wednesday night. See MOUNTAINEERS/2B The Cardinals put together perhaps their best Ione all-around game of the season and knocked off Mitchell/Spray 56-37, capturing the elusive fi rst win of the season following an 0-16 start to the season. “We were all happy and 56 the girls were screaming and hollering all the M/Spray way into the locker room,” Ione coach Nathan Hedieman said after the win. “We were fi nally able to press someone and we moved the ball really well and we limited the turnovers tonight, which was 37 huge.” Maggie Flynn led Ione (1-16, 1-8 BSL) with a game-high 15 points, while Morgan Orem scored 12. ———— IHS 11 12 19 14 — 56 M/S 6 13 12 6 — 37 IONE — M. Flynn 15, M. Orem 12, E. Taylor 7, I. Sandford 6, K. Gilbert 5, E. Ehrmantraut 4, K. Bass 3, A. McDaniel 2, S. Qualls 2. 3-pointers — IHS 1, M/S 0. Free throws — IHS 11-26, M/S 5-7. Fouls — IHS 15, M/S 22. PILOT ROCK Rockets softball sends three to collegiate level Roe to play at Mt. Hood, Ostrom and Fitzpatrick choose BMCC By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Staff photo by Eric Singer Pilot Rock seniors Bekah Roe, left, and Tehya Ostrom sign National Letters of Intent to play softball at Mt. Hood Coomunity College and Blue Mountain Commu- nity College, respectively, during a ceremony at Big John’s Pizza in Pendleton on Sunday, Jan. 29. There is no question that the Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii softball team was one of the very best in the state of Oregon for the 2016 season, as the Rockets won their second consecutive 2A/1A state championship. After some festivities that took place over this past weekend, it’s easy to see why. Three key players from that championship team, senior infi elder Bekah Roe, senior infi elder/designated player Stacy Fitzpatrick, and senior pitcher Tehya Ostrom all pledged their commit- ments to continue playing softball at the collegiate level. Roe (Mt. Hood CC) and Ostrom (Blue Mountain CC) signed in front of a few dozen family, friends, and coaches at Big John’s restau- rant in Pendleton on Sunday, while Fitzpatrick signed with Blue Mountain prior to her Nixyaawii girls basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the Nixyaawii gymnasium. “It feels like it’s kind of not real,” said Ostrom, who added that she had been dreaming about playing in college since little league. “All growing up I kind of just dreamed about this day and now that it’s here to wake up and realize ‘I’ve made it,’ it’s just exciting and nervewracking and I’m just happy.” “It feels surreal,” Roe added. “I mean I knew I could get to this point, but See ROCKETS/2B Sports shorts Fitzgerald to return for 14th season TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has confi rmed he will be back to play a 14th NFL season. In a text to azcardinals.com’s Darren Urban, Fitzgerald confi rmed a report that he had told ESPN’s Jim Trotter on Wednesday that he would play another season. “Truthful Trotter,” Fitzgerald wrote. Speaking at the PGA’s Waste Management Open Pro-Am on Tuesday, Fitzgerald said he felt much better physically and had Fitzgerald pretty much made up his mind on whether he would return, but wasn’t ready to make it public. The Cardinals still have not heard defi nitive word from quarterback Carson Palmer as to whether he will return. At 33, Fitzgerald led the NFL in receptions last season with 107. “I would tell you it’s not awkward at all for me. We have a job to do. We do our job. We understand fans are loyal and passionate for their team and they object and don’t like the outcome. That’s not unusual for me.“ — Roger Goodell The NFL commissioner when asked on Wednesday if it would be an awkward for him to hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Patriots after the drawn-out ‘Defl ategate’ scandal. BMCC women upset Treasure Valley for fi rst win since Dec. 4 ONTARIO — The Blue Mountain Timber- wolves women’s basketball team snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 79-72 upset victory over Treasure Valley on Wednesday night. Akira McGee led Blue Mountain (3-18, 1-8 NWAC East) with 19 points, 10 rebounds and fi ve steals, while Micah Bisbee added 17 points and shot 5-9 from 3-point range. Brook Haringa also pitched in 11 points on 4-10 shooting in the victory. Blue Mountain captured the victory with a huge second half performance, erasing a 39-24 halftime defi cit. The T-Wolves outscored the Chukars (13-7, 5-4) by a 29-12 margin in the third quarter to take a 53-51 lead into the fourth, and then hung on to capture its fi rst victory since Dec. 4. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1876 — Baseball’s National League forms, with teams in Philadelphia, Hartford, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis and New York. 2013 — California Institute of Technology’s baseball team ends a 228-game losing streak with a 9-7 victory against Paci- fi ca, the Beavers’ fi rst win in nearly 10 years. Caltech hadn’t won since Feb. 15, 2003, 5-4 against CS-Monterey Bay. 2014 — The Seattle Seahawks win their fi rst Super Bowl title, crushing the favored Denver Broncos 43-8. The Seahawks led 36-0 before Denver fi nally scored in the third quarter. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
