SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
HERMISTON
Buckaroos stay in groove Dawgs
keep cool
for win
Smith scores 32,
Pendleton wins
eighth straight
Hermiston girls and
boys beat The Dalles
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
After playing just seven
games in a 51-day span to
start the season thanks to
inclement weather across the
state, the Pendleton Bucka-
roos were struggling to fi nd
a rhythm.
As the weather has now
calmed, the Buckaroos have
had more time in practice and
more time on the court and it
has showed. The Buckaroos
have now
played eight Boys Hoops
games over
the past 26
days
and
have now Hood River
won
all
eight in a
row after
defeating
Hood River
Pendleton
Va l l e y
65-48
on
Tuesday
night
at
Warberg Court.
Pendleton coach Kyle
Tedder said that he is proud
of the way his team has
handled the ups-and-downs
of the season so far, and that
the work that his team has
put in on the practice court
is paying dividends in game
action.
“I just think we have some
hard-nosed, tough kids,” he
said, “that no matter what
situation you put them in
whether it’s the weather,
back-to-backs, three or four
games in a week, they’re
going to come and compete
every day. I think that’s
what’s really been the staple
for us, is I think it’s tough to
fi nd a team in the state that
practices harder than we do.
“But that’s how we win
games, we’re not overly
talented we win with how
hard we work.”
Senior Caden Smith
echoed what Tedder said.
“We’re not an oversized
team or anything, but with
good effort and good defense
East Oregonian
The Bulldogs maintained their
composure in a heated Columbia River
Conference contest and were able to clear
the bench as they closed
Girls Hoops out The Dalles 54-46 on
senior night Tuesday.
When
frustration
boiled over for a couple
The Dalles
of technical fouls on
the Riverhawks in the
second half, Hermiston
freshman Jazlyn Romero
made them pay by hitting
3 of 4 free throws to help
Hermiston
add some room in what
had been a tight game
with a halftime score of
28-24.
“I thought our girls did a good job of
keeping their heads in those instances,”
said Hermiston coach Juan Rodriguez.
Romero fi nished with a game-high 20
46
48
54
65
See PENDLETON/2B
See HERMISTON/2B
Prep Roundup
Eagles
beat down
Badgers
Nixyaawii girls fi nish off
perfect regular season
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J.Harris
NORTH POWDER — Another lock-
down defensive effort lifted the Nixyaawii
Golden Eagles girls basketball team to a
51-23 win over Powder Valley on Tuesday
to fi nish off an undefeated regular season.
Coach Jeremy Maddern said post
Sunshine Fuentes anchored the defense,
and guard Mary Stewart scored 22 points
to lead the offense.
Pendleton’s Wyatt Morris shoots the ball trailed by Hood River’s Jonah Tactay in the Bucks’ 64-48
win against the Eagles on Tuesday in Pendleton.
See PREPS/2B
MLB
Hernandez out to ‘prove people wrong’ after down year
Mariners ace battled
injury, elevated ERA
in 2016 season
Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — Felix
Hernandez arrived for Seattle Mari-
ners spring training on Tuesday
already ahead in his offseason
preparation from previous years.
It’s the result of the World Base-
ball Classic and his determination
to prove last year’s struggles were
an anomaly.
“I’ve got to prove people
wrong,” Hernandez said
was prone to giving up the
after taking his physical
long ball.
with the Mariners. “I feel
It was unlike the
fi ne. I’m healthy. That’s
Hernandez most have
the main thing.”
come to expect, which
How
Hernandez
made how he would
approached the offseason
respond one of the big
was one of Seattle’s big
topics that could ulti-
questions after watching
mately determine how
its ace have a rocky 2016
good Seattle is in 2017.
season that included Hernandez
“The offseason has
a lengthy stint on the
been good to me,”
disabled list due to a leg injury. Hernandez said.
Hernandez was 11-8 with a 3.82
Hernandez spent most of his
ERA in 25 starts last season. It was time in Miami working out with
the fewest starts in a full season the same trainer — Iron Glenn —
in his career and his ERA was its who has worked out teammates
highest since 2007. He walked Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano
more batters, struck out fewer and in previous seasons. Hernandez
reported at 224 pounds, which is up
from last season when he reported
at 207, but he believes the increased
weight comes via strength that will
help him last the season.
“Working on everything. The
whole body, to be balanced, left and
right side,” Hernandez said. “(We)
do a lot of bands. We do a lot of
stuff.”
Hernandez also had a brief
two-game stint in the Venezuelan
Winter League to start getting ready
for the World Baseball Classic.
Hernandez said he still needed
to fi nalize his pitching schedule
with the Mariners staff but is likely
to throw in two spring training
games before joining Venezuela.
Hernandez expects to pitch the
pool play opener for his country
on March 10 against Puerto Rico.
Hernandez did not pitch for Vene-
zuela during the 2013 WBC.
“It means a lot. I think we’ve got
a pretty good team to win the whole
thing,” he said.
Hernandez will also spend
the early days of spring training
fi guring out Seattle’s overhauled
roster. There are just eight players
remaining on the 40-man roster from
when general manager Jerry Dipoto
took over in September 2015.
“There’s a lot of new faces. I
have to sit down and see who the
guys (are),” Hernandez said. “But
we look different. More athletic.”
Sports shorts
CCC honors EOU’s Washington
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon men’s
basketball’s Kentrell Washington was named
the Cascade Collegiate Conference Red Lion
Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts
in a pair of big wins for the Mountaineers.
Washington, a senior guard
from Las Vegas, averaged 27
points and 10 rebounds as the
Mountaineers took sole posses-
sion of second place with wins
over Southern Oregon and No. 15
Oregon Tech.
He had 16 points, 11 rebounds
Washington
and three assists in a 94-83 win
over Southern Oregon on Friday, Feb. 10.
Against Oregon Tech, Washington had a
career-high 38 points with nine rebounds and
four assists to help EOU rally from an 11-point
halftime defi cit for a 83-73 win on Saturday.
Eastern has two games left in the regular
season and is at College of Idaho on Thursday.
“I came to the
conclusion that our team
needed a new energy,
a new voice, a new
direction.“
— Geoff Molson
Montreal Canadiens Owner on
fi ring head coach Michel Therrien.
The Canadiens are 31-19-8 and
lead their division by six points,
but are the NHL’s worst team
since the start of February with
a 1-5-1 record. Therrien was
replaced by Claude Julien, who
coached the Boston Bruins to a
Stanley Cup in 2011.
Marlins reverse prohibition
of facial hair for players
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Beards are back for
the Miami Marlins.
Manager Don Mattingly said he and owner
Jeffrey Loria decided lift their
prohibition on facial hair after
one season.
“It was a constant fi ght last
year, honestly, with guys,” said
Mattingly, speaking Tuesday
before the fi rst spring training workout for
pitchers and catchers. “Through the course of
the season and watching the playoffs and the
World Series, for me it just didn’t seem like
that big of a thing. The most important thing is
our guys prepare and play the game right.”
The Marlins will continue to require players
be well-groomed. The ban was adopted after
Mattingly was hired as manager before the
2016 season.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1964 — Ken Hubbs, the
22-year-old Chicago Cubs
second baseman, dies when
his private plane crashes in
Utah. The 1962 NL Rookie of
the Year had his pilot’s license
for two weeks and was fl ying
in bad weather.
1998 — Dale Earnhardt
takes the Daytona 500 on his
20th try and ends a 59-race
winless streak on the day
NASCAR begins celebrating
its 50th anniversary.
2013 — Ted Ligety
becomes the fi rst man in
45 years to win three gold
medals at a skiing world
championships.
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