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SPORTS THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS World Baseball Classic US shuts out Puerto Rico for WBC championship US pitchers allow just three hits 55-26. The U.S. territory fi nished runner-up for the second time, having lost to the Dominican Republic in the 2013 fi nal. Stroman, who was named the tournament’s MVP, avenged his shakiness in the Americans’ 6-5 loss to Puerto Rico during pool play. The right-hander from the Toronto Blue Jays retired the side on three grounders to open the game. In all, he gave up one hit, struck out three and walked one on 73 pitches. By BETH HARRIS Associated Press AP Photo/Jae C. Hong The U.S. team celebrate an 8-0 win over Puerto Rico in the fi nal of the World Baseball Classic in Los Angeles, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. LOS ANGELES — Marcus Stroman tossed six hitless innings, Ian Kinsler slugged a two-run homer and the United States routed Puerto Rico 8-0 on Wednesday night to win its fi rst World Baseball Classic in four tries. Stroman dominated the tournament’s highest-scoring team. Puerto Rico lost for the fi rst time in eight games after outscoring the opposition Finals United States Puerto Rico 8 0 He allowed just three balls past the infi eld until Angel Pagan’s double in the left-fi eld corner leading off the seventh, when Stroman departed to a standing ovation, having staked the Americans to a 7-0 lead. Stroman walked Carlos Beltran leading off the second, but the defense helped him out. Yadier NCAA Tournament HERMISTON Bulldogs hang on against Bend Herm- iston’s Ash- ley Camer- on swings on a pitch from Bend pitcher Allicitie Frost for a two-run RBI triple in the Bulldogs’ 4-1 win against the Lava Bears on Wednes- day in Hermiston. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Defense comes through to secure victory for Bulldogs By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian The Hermiston Bulldogs soft- ball team is depending on several freshmen and sophomores to have big seasons in order to reach its goals in 2017. So for coach Kate Greenough, there was nothing better than seeing so many of her underclassmen come through big in support of junior Julissa Almaguer in a 4-1 win over Bend at Rocky Heights Elementary. Underclassmen accounted for fi ve of eight Hermiston (2-2) hits, freshman Ashley Cameron was 2-for-3 with two triples, and several players made key defensive plays to help hand the Lava Bears (4-1) their fi rst loss of the season. Almaguer pitched a shutout through fi ve innings and struck out four of the fi rst six batters she faced, but found herself under pressure from the Lava Bears in the top of the seventh when an error on an infi eld pop-up loaded the bases with one out and brought the batter repre- senting the winning run to the plate. Despite the momentary lapse, Softball Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Sydney Stefani puts the tag on Bend’s Ashleigh Park- er in the Bulldogs’ 4-1 win against the Lava Bears on Wednesday in Hermiston. though, Almaguer was able to rely on her defense to get out of the jam and freshman third baseman Sam Atilano caught a pop-up in foul territory, then corralled a hot grounder in time to tag third for the force out to end the game. Molina hit the ball to short- stop Brandon Crawford, who started a double play before Stroman struck out Javier Baez to end the inning. The U.S. pounded out 13 hits and fi nished with a 6-2 record while making the fi nal for the fi rst time in front of 51,565 at Dodger Stadium. Kinsler homered off an 0-1 pitch from Seth Lugo into left-center fi eld in the third, scoring Jonathan Lucroy, who singled leading off. Lugo of the New York Mets allowed four runs and fi ve hits, struck out seven and walked four in four innings. See WBC/2B “We tried to make things exciting at the end there but they played defense and they kept pushing and they never gave up, and that’s what I like about this group,” Greenough said. “We’re young, but I have some really intense leadership. Bend Hermiston 1 4 “Julissa just fi ghts, she just keeps going and doesn’t give up. Pitching is hard, especially when you get into little pickles like that, or situations where the bases are loaded and you don’t know what happened. But she doesn’t give up, and it’s really settling I think to her infi eld, to her defense to know that they can trust her to keep fi ghting.” Almaguer knew she could rely on her defense to get out of the inning, because it had already come through several times in the game. “I was feeling the pressure a little bit … the defense helped a lot,” she said. “I felt like she was throwing really great, she really hit her spots,” said freshman catcher Bailee Noland. “When I called them, she hit them, and our defense was really See BULLDOGS/2B Oregon’s Dorsey living up to hype Ducks ‘X-factor’ coming up big in NCAA tournament Associated Press Tyler Dorsey provided a preview of his tournament success in early February when the Ducks hosted then- No. 5 Arizona. The sophomore scored 23 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Ducks routed the Wildcats 85-58. Oregon’s 16 total 3-pointers in that game were its most since opening Matthew Knight Arena in 2011. After the victory, Dillon Brooks summed up his teammate: “Tyler’s the X-factor on our team.” Dorsey is solidifying his reputation in the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, he had 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting as third-seeded Oregon rallied to beat No. 11 Rhode Island 75-72 in Sacramento, California. Dorsey hit two clutch See DORSEY/3B AP Photo/Steve Yeater Oregon guard Tyler Dors- ey (5) hits a 3-point shot in the fi nal minute of Sunday’s an NCAA sec- ond-round game in Sacra- mento, Calif. Sports shorts Westbrook makes NBA history OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Add another fi rst for Russell Westbrook — a triple-double without missing a shot. Westbrook recorded his 35th triple-double of the season with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists and the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 122-97 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. He did so while making all six of his fi eld-goal attempts and all six of his free throws. According to the Westbrook Elias Sports Bureau, no NBA player previously has had a triple-double without missing a shot attempt or free throw. Westbrook’s perfect shooting night could partially be attributed to a conscious decision to not shoot a 3-pointer in a game for the fi rst time since March 14, 2016. He said he wasn’t aware during the game that he hadn’t missed a shot. “I basically wrote it down, you write your name the fi rst day of class and the teacher just thought I was making up words ... then she looked at the roll sheet and saw I was right and actually apologized to my family and I later that day.“ — Mark Rzepczynski Seattle Mariners reliever told the Mariners TV broadcast crew on Wednesday that his kindergarten teacher thought he made up his last name on his fi rst day of school. Seahawks sign pair of free agents RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks have added depth in the secondary by signing defensive back Bradley McDougald. Seattle announced the signing of McDou- gald and kicker John Lunsford on Wednesday. McDougald spent the past four seasons with Tampa Bay. He started 31 of 32 games the past two seasons, primarily at free safety. Last season, McDougald started all 16 games, recording a career-high 91 tackles, 10 passes defensed and two interceptions. He’s also shifted at times to cornerback and played strong safety in the past, which made him an attractive option for Seattle’s secondary that was seeking versatile depth upgrades. Lunsford was waived by Tampa Bay earlier this week and joins Blair Walsh in the competition to be Seattle’s kicker after Steven Hauschka signed with Buffalo in free agency. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1974 — N.C. State ends UCLA’s streak of seven national championships with an 80-77 victory in double overtime of the NCAA tournament semifi nals. David Thompson leads the Wolfpack with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Tom Burleson scores 20 and pulls down 14 rebounds. 1994 — Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, passing Gordie Howe as the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history. The Los Angeles Kings center scores in the second period for his 62nd NHL record. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com