East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, March 29, 2017, Image 10

East Oregonian : E.O., March 29, 2017, Page Page 2B, Image 10

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Newspaper Page TextPage 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Wednesday, March 29, 2017 PENDLETON: Large hoping for more opportunities after solid debut Continued from 1B came back for the very first time today and then Wyatt (Morris’s) back is injured and we couldn’t play him in the field today. So we’re a little thin there as far as veterans go, but we’ve got guys that are trying to step up and do what they’re asked.” Lani, a senior making his return after an appendectomy in late February, was Pend- leton’s most efficient pitcher throwing 68.4 percent strikes. But he ran into trouble in the third inning of Game 1 when he hit consecutive batters to put two on with one out. An error in the infield then allowed Roseburg to take a 2-1 lead, and a pair of singles made it 3-1 before he could get out of the frame. That ended his time on the mound but he said it felt good to get back to competing, and he thinks there are some opportunities and positives that could come out of these early-season struggles. “Nothing hurts me, I’m feeling just fine. Definitely excited,” said Lani, who finished with a line of one earned run allowed on three hits with two strikeouts and no walks. “That’s probably our weak point right now, is just pitchers who can be consistently strikes. Hope- fully later on we’ll get a lot more playing time for kids that aren’t getting in pitching so when they’re asked to go out and pitch they’re not like (wide-eyed), they know what to do.” Pendleton was able to knot the score at 3-3 in the fourth. Cam Sandford went from first to third on a single by Naughton, then scored on a ground-out by Hayden Villers. Then Naughton scored on a double by Jared Beveridge. Roseburg struck back with three runs off four singles in the top of the fifth, then added three more in the sixth which Mandera led off with a line drive that cleared the fence in left field. Pendleton struck out twice in the bottom of the sixth, then hit into a double play after getting two on with no outs in the seventh and went down on strikes for the final out. The Bucks’ collapse was less gradual in Game 2 as the Indians plated eight runs in the top of the fifth to go up 8-1. Staff photo by Kathy Aney Pendleton pitcher Chris Large gets ready to tag Rose- burg’s Cody Johnson Tuesday at Bob White Field. Large, a sophomore pitching in his first varsity game, had three strikeouts and two hits allowed through four innings, but gave up a single and then hit a batter to put two on to start the top of the fifth. Mandera made him pay and lifted another homer over the fence in left to make it 3-1, then a misplayed ball in the outfield and a walk brought the hook out for Large. He finished with three earned runs allowed on four hits, with three strikeouts and three walks. “It was pretty good, not bad for a first time on varsity,” Large gave his assessment. “I was just getting a little tired (in the fifth). … It’s still getting there, (my arm) is not all the way in shape yet.” “We pulled him up from JV because we’re a little short on arms and he threw a great four innings of shutout ball against a good baseball team, and kept them off balance and threw strikes,” Haguewood said. Large said he’s hoping his showing Tuesday can get him into consideration for a regular spot in the lineup. “I hope so,” he said. “I think I did good, I think I deserve to be up here.” The Bucks would need two more pitchers to get out of the fifth as walks, errors, passed balls and some hard singles by Roseburg kept the runs coming. “I don’t want to say it’s the usual thing, but it’s been happening a lot lately,” Lani said. “We played 1-0 baseball for five innings and then one inning just ended us. We definitely have room for improvement.” Pendleton got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Beveridge scored on a grounder by Nick Bower, but Roseburg reliever Luke Lucido was able to get a ground-out to avoid further damage and then got a strikeout for the final out when Pendleton tried to rally in the seventh. He pitched the last five innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits, with five strikeouts and four walks. Austin Zaugg (3 for 5), Shaw Jerome (3 for 7) and Naughton (2 for 4) led Pendleton at the plate on the day, and Bower drove in all three runs in Game 2 despite a hitless afternoon. UP NEXT Pendleton will close out the month at the Bucks Bags Tournament in Boise, Idaho, where they’ll play four games from March 30-April 1. First up will be Bishop Kelly (ID) on Thursday at 5 p ——— Game 1 R H E RHS 012 033 0 — 9 11 1 PHS 010 210 0 — 4 8 3 Z. Mandera, J. Alexander (7). N. Lani, A. Zaugg (4), C. Sandford (6). W — Mandera. L — Zaugg. 2B — L. Lucido, C. Johnson, C. Townsend (RHS); D. Naughton, J. Beveridge, A. Zaugg (PHS). HR — Z. Mandera (RHS). Game 2 R H E RHS 000 080 1 — 9 7 1 PHS 001 010 1 — 3 3 5 K. Seely, L. Lucido (3). C. Large, D. Naughton (5), H. Villers (5). W — Seely. L — Large. 2B — W. Morris, S. Jerome (PHS). HR — Z. Mandera (RHS). PREPS: Weston-McEwen baseball wins two games at Columbia Bash Continued from 1B Clackamas (6-2) would pack a little more punch in the next game, and fought back from a 4-2 deficit with four runs in the third and two in the fourth as Pendleton also committed three errors to aid them. Maddy Oakden hit a three-run home run in the third inning for the Cavaliers, which were actually out-hit in the game 12-7. “We hit the ball very well in Game 2, we just made too many mistakes defensively,” Cary said. “We just kept allowing Clackamas to keep coming back into the game and eventually too many unearned runs were allowed and we couldn’t keep up with our mistakes.” Rylee Gentner (2 for 3) hit a solo home run in the third that tied the score 5-5, and McGlothan was 3 for 4 at the plate. Richards relieved Alexi Brehaut in the third inning and finished with six strike- outs, one walk and three hits allowed. Both games were called after six innings due to a time limit. UP NEXT Pendleton finishes its tournament with a game against Milwaukie (3-3) at noon. ——— (6 innings) R H E PHS 120 001 — 4 4 0 GHS 000 000 — 0 2 1 L. Richards and K. Solomon. S. Smith and P. Perkins. W — Richards. L — Smith. 2B — Ka. McGlothan (PHS); D. McCloyne (GHS). HR — A. Garton (PHS). (6 innings) R H E CHS 104 200 — 7 7 1 PHS 131 010 — 6 12 3 Clackamas battery unavailable. A. Brehaut, L. Richards (3) and K. Solomon. W — Unknown. L — Richards. 2B — Ki. McGlothan, M. Parker (PHS). HR — M. Oakden (CHS); R. Gentner (PHS). MAC-HI 11, MILWAUKIE 1 — At Canby, the Mac-Hi Pioneers kicked off their slate at the Canby Tournament on Tuesday morning with a 11-1 victory over Milwaukie. McKenna Stallings made her first start of the season at pitcher for Mac-Hi (3-1) and picked up the win, allowing just seven hits and one run over five innings with four strikeouts. Mac-Hi’s offense started off the day with 16 hits with its 11 runs, powered by Mallory Copeland who went 3 for 3 with two home runs and five RBI. Copeland hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to get the scoring started. Behind Copeland, Micha Fortune went 3 for 4 with three runs scored, Rachael Lyon went 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBI and Ashlyn Marly went 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI. ——— R H E MIL 000 10 — 1 7 0 M-H 351 02 — 11 16 0 WP — M. Stallings, LP — C. Grogan. 2B — C. Grogan (MIL); M. Fortune, F. Kel- ly, B. Jones, A. Marly (M-H). 3B — A. Rood (MIL). HR — M. Copeland 2 (M-H). MAC-HI 16, NORTH SALEM 4 — At Canby, the Mac-Hi Pioneers scored 11 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to run away with a 16-4 win over 6A school North Salem at the Canby Tournament on Tuesday morning. Sydney Earls got the win in the circle for the Pioneers (4-1) as she struck out six batters and gave up just six hits and one earned run. Micha Fortune went 3 for 4 with one double and one triple, scored three runs and drove in four. Rachel Lyon also went 3 for 4 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. North Salem (2-1) scored three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead on Mac-Hi, but then the Pioneers answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead before adding on 11 in the fourth to end the game after five innings. ——— R H E NS 003 01 — 4 6 2 M-H 014 11X — 16 13 2 WP — S. Earls, LP — C. Santos. 2B — B. Hernandez (NS); M. Fortune, M. Copeland, S. Richwine, B. Jones, G. Bullock (M-H). 3B — M. Fortune, R. Lyon (M-H). BASEBALL WESTON-MCEWEN 17, SCIO 7 — At Boardman, the Weston-McEwen Tiger- Scots started the Columbia Bash tournament with their first win of the season, beating Scio 17-7 on Tuesday. The TigerScots (1-2) did not waste any time getting the offense going, as they scored 10 runs in the top of the first inning and tallied 11 hits for the game. Brendan Dearing had a productive game from his leadoff spot, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBI. is so much uncertainty. Has all of Dipoto’s tinkering — somewhere around 40 trades since he arrived in September 2015 — created a viable winner or are the Mariners a collection of pieces that fail to solve the puzzle? “You see all the pieces that he got and that tells you a lot about a GM, that he wants to win. As a player that’s what you want,” Cano said. Here are other things to watch as the Mariners get started on April 3 at Houston: NEW LOOK: The most notable changes will be in the outfield and at shortstop with the additions of Jean Segura, Jarrod Dyson and Mitch Haniger. Segura and Haniger arrived in the trade that sent Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte to Arizona, while Dyson was one of the final pieces added over the winter. Segura led the National League in hits last season after two down years in Milwaukee. Segura and Dyson will be responsible for extending the top of the batting order and being on base for Cano, Cruz and Kyle Seager. Defensively, the additions of Haniger and Dyson are significant upgrades to the speed and athleticism in the outfield and, combined with Leonys Martin in center field, should give Seattle one of the best outfield defenses in the league. YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Mariners will still be a mostly veteran team, but there are a few youngsters being counted on in key roles. Haniger is at the top of the list as the primary option in right field. Also important to the outfield will be W-M 1020 23 — 17 11 3 SHS 241 00 — 7 3 6 (W-M) T. Hendley, B. Dearing (2), J. West (2), H. Sater (3), B. Speed (4). (SHS) 2B — D. Cain (W-M). WESTON-MCEWEN 11, RIVERSIDE 10 — At Boardman, the TigerScots finished off a successful first day at the Columbia Bash, holding off Riverside for a 11-10 win on Tuesday. Riverside (0-4) led 7-1 after two innings, but the TigerScots (2-2) began their surge in the third. Weston- McEwen scored four runs in the inning powered by a pair of RBI singles by Hunter Sater and Garrett Shell to cut the deficit to 7-5. And then in the fourth, Weston-McEwen tied the game at 7-7 on another RBI single by Shell and then took a 9-7 lead when T. Sater’s grounder made it through on an error by Riverside’s short- stop. Riverside did make a charge in the sixth inning, scoring three runs on Hunter Sater but could not get any closer than 11-10. Sater pitched a solid five innings of relief and gave up just those three unearned runs and three hits while striking out seven. Shell, Sater and Brendan Dearing all had two hits in the game to lead the team, while Dearing added a team-best three runs scored. ——— W-M 104 420 0 — 11 8 RHS 520 003 0 — 10 11 (W-M) T. Hendley, H. Sater (3). 7 6 IRRIGON 14, VERNONIA 2 — At Irrigon, the Knights combined timely hitting and lights-out pitching to earn their fifth straight win to start 2017 by beating Vernonia 14-2 at the Columbia Bash on Tuesday. Austin Rice started on the mound for Irrigon (5-0) and struck out nine batters, walked one and gave up just one hit in three innings on 49 pitches. Adrian Roa and Johnny Phillips followed Rice and allowed two hits and two unearned runs with four strikeouts over the final two innings. On offense, Roa and Zack Henrichs each tallied two hits on the day with Roa adding four runs scored and two RBI and Henrichs a pair of doubles and two RBI. Rice and Lino Covarrubia each had a team-high three RBI. ——— R H E VHS 000 11 — 2 3 3 IHS 346 1X — 14 9 1 (VHS) B. Morrison, B. Elliott (4). (IHS) A. Rice, A. Roa (4), J. Phillips (5). WP — A. Rice, LP — B. Morrison. 2B — Z. Henrichs 2, A. Rice, L. Covarru- bia, D. Sawyer (IHS). VERNONIA 18, MAC-HI 5 — At Irrigon, the Mac-Hi pitchers could not keep the Vernonia offense under wraps as the Loggers belted 19 hits to beat the Pioneers 18-5 at the Columbia Bash on Tuesday. Mac-Hi (1-2) pitcher Devon Cothey was hit hard to start as he gave up seven hits and eight runs in 2/3 of an inning. Jesse Jones pitched 5 2/3 innings of relief and gave up nine hits and six earned runs, but also struck out 10 batters. Jesus Vela was Mac-Hi’s best offensive player, as was a perfect 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles and four RBI. Marcellus Brinkley followed Vela with a 1 for 3 day with one run and one RBI. ——— R H E VHS 930 000 6 — 18 19 0 M-H 040 100 0 — 5 6 1 WP — G. Harral, LP — D. Cothey. 2B — G. Everrett, H. Cheloha 2, B. Elliott 3, T. Adams 2, G. Harral (VHS); J. Vela 2 (M-H). MAC-HI 14, SCIO 4 — At Irrigon, the Mac-Hi Pioneers picked up their second victory of the season with a 14-4 win over Scio at the Columbia Bash on Tuesday. Jesus Vela threw a six-in- ning complete game for Mac-Hi (2-2), striking out nine and walking one while giving up nine hits and three earned runs. He also went 2 for 4 at the plate with two runs and three RBI. Also carrying the load offensively for the Pioneers was Devon Cothey with a pair of hits and two RBI, and Adrian Martinez with a team-best five runs scored. ——— R H E SHS 021 100 — 4 9 3 M-H 331 043 — 14 8 1 WP — J. Vela, LP — Ellis. 2B — Prim (SHS); D. Cothey, J. Vela (M-H). BLAZERS: 12-7 record since trading for Nurkic MARINERS: Continued from 1B Brett Speed, James West and Dylan Cain each scored three runs to lead the team. Five pitchers took the mound in the game, as Travis Hendley, Brendan Dearing, West, Hunter Sater and Speed combined to strike out seven and walk seven while allowing just three hits and two earned runs. ——— Guillermo Heredia or Ben Gamel, whoever wins the backup position. Dan Altavilla is being counted on to help solidify Seattle’s bullpen. Altavilla throws hard, but other than 15 appearances for the Mariners late last season never pitched above Double-A. THE KING IS HERE: Hernandez underperformed last year, and he still finished with 11 wins and a sub-4.00 ERA despite missing nearly two months with a leg injury. But Hernandez was rarely up to what’s become his standard. Seattle’s management challenged Hernandez to get in better shape in the offseason and working out with the same trainer used by Cruz and Cano seemed to do the job. Hernandez showed up to camp stronger and his performance for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic showed Hernandez may be able to rediscover his King-like form. LONG BALL: While Seattle wants to be more versatile in how it scores runs, it would take another big season from Cano, Cruz and Seager. The trio combined to hit 112 home runs last season, and the Mariners were third in baseball with 223 homers. IN ROTATION: While much of the attention will be on Hernandez, the Mariners significantly improved the back end of the rotation with the additions of lefty Drew Smyly and right-hander Yovani Gallardo. Smyly was a major offseason target for Dipoto and could end up being Seattle’s best starter. Gallardo will be trying to rebound from a poor 2016 season with Baltimore. Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic eggs on the crowd after scoring and drawing a foul on Denver Nuggets for- ward Danilo Gallinari during the first half of an NBA basket- ball game in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Continued from 1B The Blazers got Nurkic involved early against his former team. On Portland’s first posses- sion, Nurkic scored on a post-up play against Nikola Jokic, who took Nurkic’s starting spot in Denver. After another first-quarter basket, Nurkic called on the crowd to pick up the noise, which was a theme for him throughout the night, even while on the bench. When Nurkic left the game late in the third quarter, he did so to a standing ovation. It wouldn’t be his last of the night, as Blazers coach Terry Stotts pulled Nurkic for a curtain call with 19 seconds left. Nurkic spoke to the crowd after the game, even taking a shot at his former team. “I wish those guys a happy summer,” Nurkic said. A 24-second violation by Denver at the 2:28 mark of the third got the home crowd into it even more, as Portland rode the momentum and improved defense to a 10-point lead after three quar- ters. With 7:21 left in the fourth, McCollum called the crowd to action again after another 3-pointer to give Portland a 107-96 lead. The game featured seven lead changes and 14 ties before Port- land pulled away. TIP-INS Blazers: The arrival of Nurkic from Denver has coincided with Portland’s longest stretch of AP Photo/Steve Dykes winning basketball, going 12-7 since his arrival. Malone didn’t think much had changed with Nurkic, though. “I haven’t seen anything different,” Malone said. “He started 25 games for us and we looked to post him up at times on the left block. He’s a more than capable passer. He’s a guy that can take the ball to the basket at times. We have our starting center in Nikola Jokic. (Nurkic has) come here and given them a boost, I’m happy for him. He’s a good kid.” UP NEXT Blazers: The Blazers host James Harden and Houston on Thursday night.