SPORTS WEEKEND, APRIL 1-2, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS 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. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com