Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Thursday, March 16, 2017
MLB
Jury
convicts
player
smugglers
By CURT ANDERSON
Associated Press
MIAMI — A Miami jury
on Wednesday convicted a
Florida sports agent and a
baseball trainer on charges
they
smuggled
Cuban
baseball players to the U.S.
in search of big profits from
professional free agent
contracts.
The verdict came after
jurors heard about six weeks
of testimony in the trial of
Bartolo Hernandez and Julio
Estrada, who were indicted
on conspiracy and alien
smuggling charges for an
operation that began in 2009
and involved a number of
high-profile Major League
Baseball players.
Trial evidence showed an
existing Cuban smuggling
operation that brought people
from the communist-run
island to Mexico became
the platform in 2009 for the
much more lucrative trade
in elite ballplayers. People
involved in that operation
testified it was ultimately
overseen by Hernandez and
Estrada.
The
players
would
be whisked from Cuba
to Mexico or Haiti in a
speedboat, sign papers
claiming residency in their
new country and eventually
be cleared to sign with
MLB teams. Prosecutors
showed jurors how many of
those documents contained
false information, such as
made-up jobs for players,
and some travel documents
were forged.
In one of the trial’s
memorable
moments,
Chicago White Sox star Jose
Abreu testified that he ate a
piece of his phony Haitian
passport while flying to the
U.S. in 2013 because he
feared repercussions if he
landed in Miami with a fake
document. Abreu soon after
signed a $68 million deal
with Chicago.
Testimony also showed
there was competition in
Mexico for custody of the
players involving criminal
organizations. Seattle Mari-
ners outfielder Leonys Martin
told jurors about an attempt
to kidnap him in which men
who claimed to be armed
broke into his apartment with
a crowbar. Martin eventually
walked across the U.S. border
at Laredo, Texas, and signed
a $15.5 million contract with
the Texas Rangers, who later
traded him.
Another player, Reinier
Roibal,
testified
about
witnessing
an
armed
confrontation at a Mexican
boatyard between one of the
smuggling ring’s original
leaders, Joan “Nacho”
Garcia, and a group of
men. Roibal said he heard
gunshots and Garcia, who
prosecutors called “the chief
thug of Cancun,” was never
heard from again.
In each case, the players
were required to sign
contracts agreeing to pay
Estrada and his organization
about a third of whatever
they made with U.S. teams,
with Hernandez getting 5
percent to represent them
in negotiations with teams.
Abreu, for example, said
he paid Estrada more than
$7 million after signing his
White Sox contract.
Neither Hernandez nor
Estrada testified in their own
defense. Under cross-ex-
amination by their lawyers,
many of the players said they
decided to take illegal actions
on their own and were not
directed to do so by either
man. They often claimed
they were unaware of what
was on residency or travel
documents they were signing,
and were simply eager to get
to the U.S. and play ball.
The defense attorneys
told jurors Hernandez and
Estrada ran legitimate busi-
nesses and were not over-
seeing an illegal smuggling
ring. They provided the
Cuban players with training,
food and lodging and helped
them navigate the complex-
ities of becoming cleared to
play in the U.S. despite the
economic embargo against
Cuba.
NCAA Tournament
USC, UC Davis move on from First Four
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press
DAYTON, Ohio —
Bennie Boatwright scored
a career-high 24 points as
Southern Cal rallied from
a 17-point deficit in the
second half to beat Provi-
dence 75-71 in a First Four
game Wednesday night.
The comeback victory
was revenge for the Trojans,
who lost to Providence by
one point in the opening
round of the NCAA Tour-
nament last year. They
move on to play 6th-seeded
SMU at Tulsa, Oklahoma,
on Friday.
After Providence led by
15 points at halftime and
went up by 17 to start the
second half, Southern Cal
(25-9) mounted a furious
rally. The Trojans closed
it to five points at the
10-minute mark, and went
up 61-60 on a jumper by
Chimezie Metu off a turn-
over with 6:46 left.
Metu hit both ends of
a 1-and-1 to put Southern
Cal up 71-64 with 1:23
remaining and kept Prov-
idence from getting back
into it down the stretch.
Jordan
McLaughlin
scored 18 points for
Southern Cal, and Metu
USC’s Jor-
dan
Mc-
Laughlin
(11) drives
against
P r o v i -
dence’s Ja-
len Lindsey
(21) during
the
sec-
ond half of
Wednes-
day’s First
Four game
in Dayton,
Ohio.
AP Photo/John
Minchillo
added 15 on 9-for-12 free
throw shooting.
Emmitt Holt led Prov-
idence with 18 points and
11 rebounds. Jalen Lindsey
and Rodney Bullock added
17 each.
The comeback was
Southern Cal’s 12th this
season of at last 10 points,
the most in the nation.
Providence
outshot
Southern Cal 49 percent to
42 percent, but the Friars
outscored them in the
second half 46-27.
It looked like a rout in
the making at halftime.
Providence (20-13) took a
44-29 lead on the strength
of a 15-0 run punctuated by
two 3-pointers by Bullock
and another from Lindsey,
who had 15 points in the
first half. The Friars were 8
for 15 from 3-point range in
the first half.
Southern Cal had just
three field goals in the last
11 minutes of the half, and
went without one in the last
4 1/2 minutes of the frame
with Providence ripping off
a 12-3 run in that span.
UC DAVIS 67,
NC CENTRAL 63
DAYTON, Ohio (AP)
— Chima Moneke had
18 points and 12 rebounds
as UC Davis won in its
first NCAA Tournament
appearance, beating North
Carolina Central 67-63
in a First Four game on
Wednesday night.
The 16th-seeded Aggies
rallied in the second half
and held off North Carolina
Central down the stretch
to earn a trip to Tulsa to
play No. 1 seed Kansas on
Friday.
“Our guys grew up as
little hoopers dreaming
about playing and having
this opportunity,” UC
Davis coach Jim Les said.
“And so it’s special to be
here. And we’re just going
to continue to fight, to keep
this story going.”
Brynton Lemar scored
15 points and Lawrence
White added 14 for UC
Davis, which had earned
a trip to the tournament
by winning the Big West
Conference Tournament.
The Aggies (23-12) won
despite 18 turnovers that
led to 20 points for streaky
North Carolina Central.
But the Eagles couldn’t
overcome poor shooting
that deteriorated even more
in the second half.
The Eagles pulled within
64-63 with 1:49 left in the
game on a 3-pointer by
Dajuan Graf. North Caro-
lina Central got the ball
back with 37 seconds left,
but another 3-point try by
Graf was off the mark. Graf
had to foul Lawrence White,
who made two free throws
with 16 second remaining
to give the Eagles some
breathing room. Lemar hit
a foul shot with 4 seconds
left to put it away.
Graf paced North Caro-
lina Central (25-9) with 15
points. Kyle Benton and
Patrick Cole added 13 each.
BMCC: Next rodeo action will be in April in Milton-Freewater
Continued from 1B
to tie their steer in 7.0 for a
narrow three-tenths win over
ropers Candida Eldridge
(BMCC)
and
Wyatt
Williams (Boise State). He
also was third in steer wres-
tling (8.0) to earn 252 points
in the all-around and tied
Williams for the men’s title.
Danyelle Williams won
the breakaway in 3.2, and
also was fifth in goat tying
(8.3).
The T-Wolves didn’t win
any events at the two-round
WWCC Rodeo, but Preston
Pederson was second in
tie-down (24.9 on two) and
third in team roping with
heeler and BMCC teammate
Will Gallagher (5.6 on one)
to earn a 35-point win in the
all-around with 215.
Williams tied for the
women’s title with Janey
Reeves of Idaho with 340
points. Williams was second
in goat tying (15.6 on two),
third in barrel racing (29.05
on two) and fourth in break-
away (15.7 on two).
The weekend rodeos
keep BMCC at the top of the
leaderboard for the North-
west Region. The women’s
team is ranked second in the
national standings, while the
men sit comfortably at No.
18 in the country.
Next up, BMCC will
head to the Northwest
Regional Nos. 3 and 4 in
Milton-Freewater
April
15-16.
The BMCC women’s
rodeo team is the reigning
national champion for the
past two years.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Farfan could get second start against Houston
Continued from 1B
walking around the halls,”
Timbers coach Caleb Porter
said, then joked: “He might
miss out on prom, I don’t
know.”
Farfan is not the youngest
prospect to have appeared
in a game this season. That
honor goes to Vancouver’s
Alphonso Davies, who at
16 started for the Whitecaps
in the opener against the
Philadelphia Union.
Davies was part of
Vancouver’s
residency
program, signing with the
team last season at 15. He was
the third-youngest player to
sign a MLS contract and the
second youngest after Freddy
Adu to play in a match.
“Much of my week
leading up to this was spent
figuring out how to shut down
a 16-year-old kid,” Philadel-
phia coach Jim Curtin told
reporters after the two teams
played to a scoreless draw in
the season opener. “That’s a
credit to the player.”
Other youngsters playing
across the league this season
include 17-year-old FC
Dallas midfielder Paxton
Pomykal, who started in last
weekend’s scoreless draw
with Sporting Kansas City,
and 17-year-old midfielder
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla,
homegrown player for
Montreal who has appeared
in both of the Impact’s
matches this season.
Farfan could get another
chance on Saturday night
when the Timbers host the
surprising Houston Dynamo
in a matchup of the very early
undefeated teams. Portland
got wins over Minnesota FC
and the Galaxy, while the
Dynamo defeated both the
Sounders and the Columbus
Crew, opening the season
with two straight matches at
home in Houston. Forwards
Romell Quioto and Erick
“Cubo” Torres both scored a
goal in each of the Dynamo’s
first two games. Portland’s
Fanendo Adi and Diego
Valeri have two goals apiece
for Portland.
Farfan could get his second
start because defender Vytas
Andriuskevicius, known as
Vytas, is questionable with a
calf injury.