SPORTS
WEEKEND, APRIL 1-2, 2017
1B
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Prep Roundup
Hermiston headed to Volcanoes tourney title game
Bulldogs beat
Central Catholic
in semifinals
East Oregonian
KEIZER — The Herm-
iston Bulldogs punched their
ticket to the championship
game of the Volcanoes Spring
Break Tournament on Friday
Baseball
afternoon
Christy said
with a 5-1 win
D u f l o t h ’s
over Central
effi ciency on
Catholic.
the mound
B r y l e e Central Cath. Hermiston was critical,
Dufloth
and the key
earned
the
to the team’s
win for the
success in the
Bulldogs, tossing six innings tournament thus far.
with no earned runs on two
The four-run rally in the
hits. He struck out four and fi rst inning was enough to
walked fi ve.
secure the win.
Assistant coach John
Hermiston
won
the
1
5
opening game of the tour-
nament Thursday morning
5-3 over Cleveland with
Lukas Tolan on the mound.
Tolan threw six innings and
allowed two runs on fi ve hits,
striking out four and walking
none.
But in Game 2 on
Thursday afternoon, the
Bulldogs lost 8-3 to Summit
after Caden Schwirse was
chased in the third inning
after throwing 65 pitches and
allowing four earned runs on
fi ve hits and fi ve walks.
Wyatt Noland had an
extra base hit in each game
of the tournament.
Saturday’s title game is at
4:30 p.m.
———
Thursday
R H E
CLE
100 110
0 — 3 5 5
HHS
030 020 X — 5 5 4
L. Tolan and S. Gritz; Healy and Cobb. W
— Tolan. L — Healy.
3B — Wyatt Nolan (HHS).
PENDLETON
Blue
Moun-
tain’s
Sarah
Bonner is
greeted
by her
team-
mates
at home
plate
after a
home run
during
Friday’s
home
game
against
Yakima
Valley
College
in Pend-
leton.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
Blue Mountain still searching for consistent success
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Softball
Yakima Valley Blue Mountain
3-9
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
BMCC’s Bailey Anderson connects with the ball for a sin-
gle during Friday’s home game against Yakima Valley Col-
lege in Pendleton.
double and a single in the fi rst
two innings and then suffered
through a streak of 12 straight
batters retired in order before
the offense fi nally picked up in
the sixth inning, though it was
too little, too late by then.
“Consistency has been our
Friday
R H E
CCHS
010 000 —
1 2 1
HHS
400 010 —
5 8 1
B. Dufl oth, A. James (6) and S. Gritz.
P Hogland and B. McNeil. W — Dufl oth.
L — Hogland.
2B — W. Nolan (HHS). 3B — I. Hendricks
(CCHS)
See PREPS/3B
Men’s College Basketball
T-Wolves split with Yaks
It’s no secret that the Blue
Mountain softball program
has been in a funk for several
years.
Over the past fi ve seasons,
the
Timberwolves
have
averaged a mere 10 wins
per season and hold a .235
winning percentage over the
time span. Finding consistent
success is something that has
eluded the program and it’s
been no different in 2017. The
Timberwolves have shown
fl ashes of tremendous poten-
tial this season, but then fall
back to earth hard in the blink
of an eye.
Friday afternoon’s double-
header against Yakima Valley
was the epitome of that, as Blue
Mountain thrashed the Yaks
12-3 in Game 1 before falling
9-5 in Game 2. In the victory,
Blue Mountain (6-13, 3-6
NWAC East) scored all 12 of
its runs in the third and fourth
innings, using great patience
at the plate and some big-time
hitting to do its damage.
But in the loss, Blue
Mountain’s bats were silent
for most of the game. The
Timberwolves picked up a
Thursday
R H E
HHS
100 101 —
3 5 5
SHS
323 000 —
5 5 4
C. Schwirse, J. Ramirez (3) and S. Gritz;
D. Steelhammer and J. Hardy. W — Steel-
hammer. L — Schwirse.
2B — W. Nolan, M. Brown (HHS).
Mackem, Scalley (SHS)
bugaboo,” Blue Mountain
coach Steven Richards said
after the games. “We’ll get on
a roll and get hot, and then not
be able to do it again just like
that ... if I knew the answer I’d
be a millionaire probably.”
One of the issues plaguing
12-5
the Timberwolves has been
pitching this year, as the
Timberwolves
allow
an
average of 12.2 runs per game.
Though in the fi rst game on
Friday, Timberwolf pitching
was a delight. Sophomore
Megan Ulrey started for Blue
Mountain and threw her best
start of the season, allowing
just three runs (two earned)
with three strikeouts and zero
walks over fi ve innings to get
the win.
Yakima Valley (7-7, 4-6)
collected two of its three runs
on Ulrey in the fi rst inning,
but then Ulrey settled in and
shut the Yaks down. Soph-
omore Sarah Bonner, who
caught Ulrey in the game, was
extremely proud of Ulrey’s
ability to come back from the
fi rst-inning issues.
“She worked hard to bounce
back and she came out and shut
them down,” Bonner said. “It’s
what we’ve been working on
See BMCC/2B
Oregon’s
Jordan Bell is
shot-blocking
meme king
Ducks forward enjoying
Internet homages
By JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. — There’s Jordan Bell
blocking a young Michael Jordan. Now the
Oregon big man is swatting the orca from Free
Willy and E.T.
FINAL FOUR
fl ying on his bike.
Next up is the
Leaning Tower
of Pisa, North
#1 UNC
Korean
leader #3 Oregon
Ducks
Tarheels
Kim Jong Un
(33-5)
(31-7)
eating a cookie
•
Today,
5:49
p.m.
(CBS)
and the comet
that killed the • at Glendale, Arizona
dinosaurs.
Jordan is blocking things everywhere, at least in
the minds that created the ThingsBellCouldBlock
Twitter account, and its namesake is loving it.
“At fi rst I was, like, that’s cool, they made a
picture about me, but then I kept it every day,
every day, more memes,” Bell said. “I think it’s
crazy that someone made a fake Twitter account
about me because that’s usually a fake LeBron
account or a fake Steph Curry account. I never
thought I’d have one and to see how many
followers is crazy.”
The account started after fans began creating
photos of Bell’s outstretched arm swatting away
everything from Donald Trump’s hair to touching
See BELL/2B
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
Oregon’s Jordan Bell, left, talks to Kavell
Bigby-Williams during a practice session for
their NCAA Final Four tournament college
basketball semifi nal game Friday, March 31,
2017, in Glendale, Ariz.
Sports shorts
Blazers lose Nurkic for season
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Trail Blazers
center Jusuf Nurkic has a broken right leg and
will miss the rest of the regular season.
The team says Nurkic has a non-displaced right
leg fi bular fracture. It was unclear
when Nurkic was injured, but the
Blazers announced Friday he would
be reevaluated in two weeks.
Nurkic, who was traded to Port-
land on Feb. 12 from the Denver
Nuggets, was averaging 15.2 points,
10.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 20
Nurkic
games with the Blazers.
The 7-foot center was embraced by Portland
fans and is credited with boosting the team as it
makes a fi nal push for the playoffs. The Blazers
are currently sitting in the eighth and fi nal
playoff spot in the Western Conference, two
games up on Denver.
Portland has just seven games left in the
regular season.
“Built-up energy. We
were all excited to get
out here and get the fi rst
game rolling. It defi nitely
puts into perspective
how important these
tournaments are and
how much they mean
to you and your
teammates.“
— Megan Keller
U.S. women’s hockey defender
after the team beat Canada 2-0
to open the world champion-
ships. The players had threatened
to skip the tournament over a
wage dispute with USA Hockey.
M’s Smyly to start season on DL
(AP) — Seattle Mariners starter Drew
Smyly will begin the season on the disabled list
and could be out for up to two months because
of a strained elbow.
Smyly likely will miss six to
eight weeks with a fl ex strain in
his left elbow, a big blow after the
Mariners’ roster seemed set for the
start of the regular season. Smyly
will rehab the injury and surgery is
not expected, but he and the club are seeking
additional information about how to handle the
recovery.
“It’s a key loss,” general manager Jerry
Dipoto said Friday. “I can sit here and lament
that we’ve lost Drew for a period of time or
I can take a positive outlook and we’re days
away from opening day.”
Smyly was slotted to be Seattle’s No. 4
starter after being acquired in the offseason in a
trade from Tampa Bay.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1940 — Gov. Herbert
Lehman of New York signs
the Dunnigal bill, which legal-
izes pari-mutuel wagering
and outlaws bookmakers at
the state’s racetracks.
1972 — The fi rst collec-
tive players’ strike in major
league history begins. It
lasts 12 days and cancels 86
games.
1985
—
Villanova
shocks Georgetown with
a 66-64 victory to win the
NCAA basketball title. The
Wildcats, led by Dwayne
McClain’s 17 points, shot
79 percent, hitting 22 of 28
shots and making 22 of 27
free throws.
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