Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
GONZAGA: Open to changing conferences
TALL FIRS:
Continued from 1B
Denver-based writer Terry
Frei, who grew up in Eugene
and is the son of former Oregon
football coach Jerry Frei, wrote
a book about the Tall Firs
called “March 1939: before the
Madness.”
“They were so well-coached
and they were big along the front
line — almost revolutionarily
big — and they had racehorse
guards, especially the captain
guard Bobby Anet, who kept
everything in control,” Frei said.
“So I think it was a real comple-
mentary chemistry-type team
far ahead of its time that way.”
Dick led all scorers with
13 points in the championship
game against the Big Ten
champions before maybe 5,000
fans, many of whom were
given free tickets.
Fans in Eugene listened to
the game on the radio — it was
the same year John Steinbeck’s
“Grapes of Wrath” was published
and that “Gone with the Wind”
came out in theaters — then later
descended by the thousands at
the local train station to welcome
back the team.
“They were largely for
the most part small-town
boys. Laddie Gale was
from Oakridge, two of the
starters were from Astoria,
Slim Wintermute was from
Longview, Washington, and
John Dick was from The
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Dalles,” Frei said. “So there
was a small-town feel to the
team, small-town heroes who
stepped up big.”
Frei noted with a laugh
that the players got $2 from a
kitty to celebrate following the
victory. Several of them took
a train from the Northwestern
campus into Chicago.
“I think some of us had a
couple of Heinekens or some-
thing,” Frei quoted Anet as
saying later. “It was quite late and
none of us were big on bars or
things like that, mainly because
nobody ever had any money.”
Third-seeded
Oregon,
which last year advanced to
the Elite Eight before falling
to Oklahoma, defeated No. 1
seed Kansas 74-60 on Saturday
to advance to the Final Four.
North Carolina beat Kentucky
75-73. In the other semifinal,
Gonzaga faces South Carolina.
Altman believes this Oregon
team is building its own historic
legacy.
“The seven years we’ve
been at Oregon we’ve had
great guys to work with. I feel
great for those guys that our
staff had a relationship with,
but I also feel good for all the
other players that have built
Oregon basketball; 1939 is a
long drought, but there are a
lot of guys that played and built
some tradition at Oregon,”
Altman said.
Continued from 1B
coach in 1999. Roth also found the
money to retain the coach when
bigger programs came calling. It was
Roth who marshalled the resources to
build the McCarthey Athletic Center,
a huge improvement over the old
home court. He oversees the depart-
ments that ensure players remain
eligible and graduate.
These days he is basking in the
acclaim of the team’s first trip to the
Final Four.
“People don’t realize how hard it
is,” Roth said. “How crazy hard 19
straight NCAA Tournament appear-
ances are.”
He noted that last year’s team that
advanced to the Sweet 16 lost four
starters, including two to the NBA.
“Now we are in the Final Four,”
Roth said.
Roth grew up in Moses Lake, a
small town 90 miles west of Spokane,
and played one year of JV basketball
at Gonzaga in the early 1980s. He
returned to the school as a low-level
administrator a few years later, and
was named athletic director in 1998.
“They haven’t been able to get rid
of me since,” Roth joked.
One of his earliest tasks was to
retain Few, then an assistant coach to
Dan Monson. Few was being courted
by larger programs that could offer
more money, Roth recalled.
The solution was to anoint Few as
Monson’s designated successor in the
summer of 1998, Roth said.
Monson led the Zags on their
magical run to the Elite Eight a few
months later and then left for Minne-
sota. Few was elevated to the top job
and has taken the Zags to the NCAA
Tournament every year.
Over the years numerous schools
have tried to hire Few away, but Roth
has been able to find the money to
keep the coach in Spokane.
“We are a model for other schools,”
Roth said. “Why just give in, if you
can keep your successful coach?”
As a private school, Gonzaga does
not disclose salaries. However, docu-
ments Gonzaga filed with the IRS show
that Few made more than $1.6 million
in salary and other compensation from
the university for the year ending May
31, 2015, the latest year available.
Roth’s other showcase achieve-
ment was securing the funds to build
the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic
Center, a $26 million project that
would have been unthinkable without
the series of NCAA appearances. The
MAC has been sold out for all but
one game since it opened in 2004,
and was a huge improvement over the
bandbox Martin Centre, which had
less than half the capacity.
Roth has remained a key player
as Gonzaga continued to upgrade
its program. Years ago, the Zags
switched to charter flights instead
of flying commercial. They play a
tough non-conference schedule and
all of their games are televised. Roth
estimates that athletic department
revenues have grown by a factor of
30 in two decades.
Twenty years ago, the university
was struggling with declining enroll-
ment and debt. Now enrollment has
nearly doubled to more than 7,500
students and construction cranes
sprout on campus, developments that
are largely attributed to the success of
the basketball team.
Because of the success, Roth has
had offers to move on to programs
in the Power 5 conferences. He has
declined.
“I’ve been very content,” Roth
said. “Gonzaga’s been great.”
One of the things he is proudest of
is that, with the exception of one, all
of the basketball players who finished
their eligibility at Gonzaga have
graduated. Three Gonzaga players
— Dan Dickau, Kelly Olynyk and
Nigel Williams-Goss — completed
the rare feat of becoming both athletic
and academic All-Americans, Roth
said. Last year, Gonzaga and Dart-
mouth were tied as the best academic
performers among athletic depart-
ments, Roth said.
Gonzaga is often criticized for
playing in the relatively weak West
Coast Conference, which consists
mostly of small private schools. Saint
Mary’s and BYU are the only league
rivals who can consistently challenge
the Zags.
Roth said the conference is a good
fit in most respects. But Gonzaga
remains open to changing confer-
ences in the future, should there be
an opportunity to improve the level of
opponents, he said.
“I have no crystal ball on confer-
ence realignment,” Roth said.
PREPS: Irrigon baseball wins two on walk-off hits by Adams and Fleming
Continued from 1B
BASEBALL
IRRIGON
13,
WESTON-MCEWEN 12
(8 innings) — At Irrigon, the
TigerScots rallied to tie the
game with four runs in the top
of the seventh but couldn’t be
the first to beat the Knights
as Irrigon starting pitcher
Adrian Roa returned to shut
them down and Lino Covar-
rubia scored the winning run
in the bottom of the eighth
on a single by Caleb Adams
in Wednesday’s non-league
game.
Irrigon (6-0) scored 10
runs in the fifth and sixth
innings combined to take a
12-8 lead into the seventh, but
was unable to close out the
determined TigerScots (2-3).
A pop-out came for the
first out, but a walk followed
by an error put two on with
one out. Travis Hendley (3
for 5) doubled to score Kris
Roggerrio, then Brett Speed
(2 for 5) singled to drive in
Brendan Dearing. Then two
wild pitches brought both
players in to tie the score.
Irrigon turned to Roa,
who left in Weston-McEw-
en’s four-run third, and this
time he was able to keep the
TigerScots off the board. An
error extended the inning,
but Roa got a strikeout for
the last out.
The Knights had bases
loaded with one out in
the bottom of the seventh
but a fly to right field and
ground-out to second forced
the extra frame.
Some good defense by
Irrigon left one stranded in
the top of the eighth, and
Keith Fleming and Covar-
rubia walked to start the
bottom of the frame.
The TigerScots brought
in Dylan Cain to try to pitch
out of the jam and he got two
quick outs, but with both
runners stealing Adams hit
a hard grounder to the left
side that brought Covarrubia
around for the game-winner.
Roa got the win with six
strikeouts and two walks, and
allowed three earned runs on
eight hits in four complete.
UP NEXT
Weston-McEwen hosts
Pilot Rock for a double-
header on Saturday, April 8,
beginning at 11 a.m.
———
(8 innings)
R H E
W-M
024 200 40 — 12 14 4
IHS
110 082 01 — 13 9
7
B. Speed, W. Phillips (5), K. Roggerrio
(6), D. Cain (8). A. Roa, J. Phillips (3), Z.
Henrichs (6), A. Roa (7). W — A. Roa. L —
Roggerrio.
2B — T. Hendley, H. Sater, J. West, D.
Cain (W-M); L. Covarrubia, A. Rice, Z.
Henrichs (IHS).
IRRIGON 9, MAC-HI
8 — At Irrigon, the Knights
scored three runs with one
out in the bottom of the
seventh and got their second
walk-off win of the day when
Keith Fleming singled to
center field to bring Austin
Rice across the plate for the
winning run in a non-league
game on Wednesday.
Rice (2 for 4) singled
to reach base and drive in
Johnny Phillips to cut the
Pioneers’ lead to 8-7, then
Adrian Roa (2 for 3) walked
to load the bases. Tanner
Mills (2 for 5) hit a grounder
and reached on an error to
bring in Lino Covarrubia for
the tying run, and Fleming
(3 for 3) ended it on the next
at-bat.
It capped a flurry of
scoring a the end of the game
as Mac-Hi (2-3) scored two
in the top of the seventh and
five in its last three at-bats,
and Irrigon (7-0) scored four
in the last two innings to stay
undefeated.
Covarrubia pitched the
last 2 2/3 innings in relief for
the win and allowed three
runs on three hits and three
walks, with two strikeouts.
The Pioneers took an 8-6
lead in the top of the seventh
when Dareagan Stephens (2
for 2) hit a two-RBI double
to score Devon Cothey (2
for 4) and Anthony Hardesty.
Stephens finish with three
RBIs, and Jesse Jones (2 for
3) added two.
UP NEXT
Mac-Hi plays at Riverside
on Monday at 4 p.m.
Irrigon will play a double-
header at Umatilla on Friday,
April 7, starting at 1 p.m.
———
Friday
Stanford (32-5) vs. South Carolina (31-4),
4:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Connecticut (36-0) vs. Mississippi State
(33-4), 6:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Sunday, April 23 — Food City 500 at Bris-
tol Motor Speedway, 11 a.m. (TV: FOX)
R H E
M-H
030 021
2 — 8 7 4
IHS
220 101
3 — 9 10 0
A. Martinez, M. Brinkley (4), M. Cun-
nington (7). B. Harrington, N. Gumbert (3),
L. Covarrubia (5). W — Covarrubia. L —
Cunnington.
2B — D. Cothey, J. Vela, D. Stephens
(M-H); A. Roa, C. Adams, L. Covarrubia, T.
Mills (IHS).
SCOREBOARD
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Local Slate
PREP BASEBALL
Today
Hermiston vs. Cleveland (at Volcanoes
Stadium), 11:30 a.m.
Hermiston vs. Summit (at Volcanoes
Stadium), 2 p.m.
Pendleton at Bishop Kelly (ID), 6 p.m.
Friday
Pendleton vs. Caldwell (ID) (at Skyview
HS), 10:30 a.m.
Pendleton vs. Wood River (ID) (at Skyview
HS), 10:30 a.m.
Hermiston vs. Central Catholic (at Volca-
noes Stadium), 2 p.m.
Saturday
Hermiston vs. TBD (at Volcanoes Stadi-
um), TBD
Pendleton at Vallivue (ID), 1 p.m.
PREP SOFTBALL
Today
Bonanza at Echo, 4 p.m.
Knappa at Heppner (2), TBD
Friday
Weston-McEwen vs. Pilot Rock (at La
Grande), 9 a.m.
Irrigon at Dayton, Noon
Pilot Rock vs. Echo (at La Grande), 1 p.m.
Irrigon vs. Woodburn (at Dayton), 2 p.m.
Echo vs. Union (at La Grande), 3 p.m.
Stayton at Mac-Hi, 4 p.m.
Weston-McEwen vs. Bonanza (at La
Grande), 5 p.m.
Junction City at Mac-Hi, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Pilot Rock vs. Bonanza (at La Grande), 9 a.m.
Weston-McEwen vs. Union (at La
Grande), 11 a.m.
Pilot Rock vs. Vale (at La Grande), 1 p.m.
Estacada at Mac-Hi, 4 p.m.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Saturday
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain (2),
1/4 p.m.
Friday
Eastern Oregon at Carroll (2), 1/3 p.m.
Yakima Valley at Blue Mountain (2), 2/4 p.m.
Saturday
Eastern Oregon at Carroll (2), 10 a.m./Noon
Wenatchee Valley at Blue Mountain (2),
Noon/2 p.m.
Recent Scores
COLLEGE BASEBALL
Wednesday
Yakima Valley 5, Blue Mountain 3
R H E
BMCC
010 000 020 — 3 9 1
YVCC
101 110 01X — 5 11 0
T. Heiman, N. Pena (6), C. Connolly (8) and
J. Rogers. J. Hadley, E. Henke (7), P. De-
pasquale (9) and J. Kirchoff. W — Hadley.
L — Heiman.
2B — C. Sutton (BMCC); C. Mckenzie
(YVCC). HR — J. Rogers (BMCC).
Blue Mountain 10, Yakima Valley 5
R H E
BMCC
212 110 003 — 10 12 2
YVCC
001 111 010 — 5 10 3
B. Howell, C. Root (7), K. Enriquez (9) and
C. Labbe. H. Boyd, J. Garcilazo (4), C. Harris
(7) and J. Kirchoff. W — Howell. L — Boyd.
2B — T. Rea, T. Spivey, A. Florez, T.
Heiman, C. Sutton (BMCC). HR — T. Rea, T.
Spivey (BMCC).
PREP BASEBALL
Wednesday
Fairview (CO) 9, SHERWOOD 5
SHERWOOD 14, Palmer (CO) 4
Deer Valley (AZ) 14, CANBY 6
APTOS (CA) 4, Aloha 2
WEST LINN 7, West (CA) 4
SHADOW HILLS (CA) 4, Barlow 1
TROY (CA) 8, Jesuit 3
NORTH MEDFORD 22, Northglenn (CO) 4 (5)
ALHAMBRA (AZ) 11, Southridge 3
Chatfield (CO) 8, SOUTH EUGENE 7
SHELDON 11, Libertyville (IL) 10
HOOD RIVER VALLEY 9, Lake Oswego 3
WESTVIEW 3, Grandview (CA) 1
Beaverton 10, CHATFILED (CO) 8
SIERRA CANYON (CA) 10, Centennial 0
MONARCH (CO) 14, Tualatin 3
Ralston Valley (CO) 17, WEST SALEM 11
VERRADO (AZ) 4, Centennial 3
CRATER 2, Century 1
McMinnville 9, FOREST GROVE 5
Hillsboro 11, ROOSEVELT 0 (5)
MARIST CATHOLIC 16, Horizon Chris-
tian-Tualatin 6
Silverton 4, BANKS 2
LEBANON 10, Parkrose 0
ASTORIA 20, Yamhill-Carlton 3
JOY CHRISTIAN (AZ) 9, Baker/Powder
Valley 6
Phoenix 8, DOUGLAS 2
Junction City 16, NORTH VALLEY 4
JUNCTION CITY 4, Mazama 3
NEWPORT 6, Estacada 5
Henley 21, ESTACADA 7
Henley 19, NORTH BEND 6
NEWPORT 14, North Bend 3 (5)
CLATSKANIE 10, Evergreen (CO) 3 (6)
Glide 15, VALE 1 (5)
GLIDE 10, Willamina 2
WHEAT RIDGE (CO) 8, Taft 4
Vernonia 17, RIVERSIDE 9
Scio 14, RIVERSIDE 3
GREEN MOUNTAIN (CO) 13, Neah-Kah-Nie 1 (6)
PREP SOFTBALL
Wednesday
Century 15, NORTH SALEM 4 (5)
CENTURY 16, North Salem 1 (5)
CASA ROBLE (CA) 12, West Albany 5
Pendleton 17, MILWAUKIE 0
Marist Catholic 7, FOOTHILL (NV) 5
Hood River Valley 13, RANCHO ALAMI-
TOS (CA) 3 (6)
SANTA MARGARITA (CA) 4, Hood River
Valley 1 (6)
Glendale 9, ILLINOIS VALLEY 5
Grant Union/Dayville/Prairie City 5,
IRRIGON 4
IRRIGON 10, Knappa 0
BURNS 14, Willamina 3
RIVERSIDE/ARLINGTON 12, Knappa 3
RIVERSIDE/ARLINGTON 8, Burns 4
GRANT UNION/DAYVILLE/PRAIRIE CITY
14, Willamina 4 (5)
Hockey
Basketball
NBA
Wednesday’s Games
Atlanta 99, Philadelphia 92
Oklahoma City 114, Orlando 106, OT
Charlotte 110, Toronto 106
Miami 105, New York 88
Milwaukee 103, Boston 100
Memphis 110, Indiana 97
New Orleans 121, Dallas 118
Golden State 110, San Antonio 98
Utah at Sacramento, late finish
Washington at L.A. Clippers, late finish
Today’s Games
Brooklyn at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Cleveland at Chicago, 5 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
L.A. Clippers at Phoenix, 7 p.m.
Houston at Portland, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA
Men’s NCAA Tournament
FINAL FOUR
At University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, Ariz.
National Semifinals
Saturday
South Carolina (26-10) vs. Gonzaga (36-1),
3:09 p.m. (CBS)
Oregon (33-5) vs. North Carolina (31-7),
5:49 p.m. (CBS)
National Championship
Monday, April 3
NCAA Women’s Tournament
FINAL FOUR
At American Airlines Center
Dallas, Texas
National Semifinals
NHL
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago 5, Pittsburgh 1
Los Angeles 4, Calgary 1
Washington at Colorado, late finish
St. Louis at Arizona, late finish
Today’s Games
Columbus at Carolina, 4 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.
Florida at Montreal, 4:30 p.m.
Dallas at Boston, 4:30 p.m.
Detroit at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m.
Ottawa at Minnesota, 5 p.m.
Toronto at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Anaheim at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
San Jose at Edmonton, 6 p.m.
Motorsports
NASCAR
Monster Energy Cup
Points Leaders
Through March 26
1. Kyle Larson
243
2. Chase Elliott
214
3. Martin Truex, Jr.
205
4. Brad Keselowski
179
5. Joey Logano
174
6. Jamie McMurray
162
7. Ryan Blaney
157
8. Clint Bowyer
143
9. Kevin Harvick
137
10. Kyle Busch
136
Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, April 2 — STP 500, at Martinsville
Speedway, 11 a.m. (TV: FS1)
Sunday, April 9 — O’Reilly Auto Parts
500 at Texas Motor Speedway, 10:30 a.m.
(TV: FOX)
Tennis
Miami Open
Wednesday
At The Tennis Center at Crandon Park
Key Biscayne, Fla.
Purse: Men, $6.99 million (Masters 1000);
Women, $6.99 million (Premier)
Surface: Hard-Outdoor
Singles
Men
Quarterfinals
Fabio Fognini, Italy, def. Kei Nishikori (2),
Japan, 6-4, 6-2.
Rafael Nadal (5), Spain, def. Jack Sock,
United States, 6-2, 6-3.
Women
Quarterfinals
Johanna Konta (10), Britain, def. Simona
Halep (3), Romania, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
Venus Williams (11), United States, def.
Angelique Kerber (1), Germany, 7-5, 6-3.
Doubles
Men
Quarterfinals
Brian Baker, United States, and Daniel
Nestor, Canada, def. Philipp Petzschner,
Germany, and Alexander Peya, Austria, 6-3,
5-7, 10-3.
Lukasz Kubot, Poland, and Marcelo Melo
(6), Brazil, def. Jamie Murray, Britain, and
Bruno Soares (4), Brazil, 2-6, 6-3, 10-8.
Bob and Mike Bryan (3), United States,
def. Marin Cilic and Nikola Mektic, Croatia,
6-7 (4), 6-4, 11-9.
Women
Quarterfinals
Chan Yung-jan, Taiwan, and Martina
Hingis (5), Switzerland, def. Andreja Klepac,
Slovenia, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez,
Spain, 6-4, 6-2.
Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and Xu Yifan,
China, def. Ekaterina Makarova and Elena
Vesnina (2), Russia, 7-6 (3), 6-1.
EAST'40OREGON
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