SPORTS
TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017
1B
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MLB
Keuchel, Correa lead Astros past M’s in opener
Seattle Mari-
ners starting
pitcher Felix
Hernandez,
left, walks off
the mound as
Houston As-
tros’ George
Springer
rounds the
bases after
hitting a lead-
off solo home
run in the
first inning
of a base-
ball game,
Monday, April
3, 2017, in
Houston.
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
HOUSTON — After a
terrible 2015, Dallas Keuchel
desperately wanted to get off
to a good start.
He did just that, allowing
two hits over seven innings
before Luke Gregerson and Ken
Giles completed the three-hitter
for the Houston Astros in an
opening 3-0 win over the Seattle
Mariners on Monday night.
Keuchel (1-0) went 9-12
with a 4.55 ERA last year after
winning the AL Cy Young
Award in 2015. He struck out
four in winning on opening
day for the third year in a row.
Gregerson allowed a hit
AP Photo/Eric Chris-
tian Smith
ECHO
Seattle
Houston
0
3
and Giles walked one with
three strikeouts for the save.
George Springer became
Houston’s first player since
Terry Puhl in 1980 to lead off
the first game with a home
run. Carlos Correa homered
and drove in two runs as
Houston won on opening day
for the fifth straight year.
Felix Hernandez (0-1),
making his 10th opening day
start, allowed two runs and
five hits while striking out six
in five innings before leaving
with tightness in a groin.
Hernandez pulled up after
racing to cover first base for
the second out of the fourth
inning on Josh Reddick’s
grounder. Hernandez was
looked at by trainers and threw
a couple of warmup pitches
before finishing the inning.
He returned to pitch a
1-2-3 fifth inning, then was
replaced by Nick Vincent.
Hernandez said he will make
his next turn in the rotation.
“It just got a little tight,”
he said. “I’ll be all right. I’m
going to be OK.”
Springer hit his 10th leadoff
home run. Correa made it 2-0
in the fourth with a 449-foot
drive that sailed over the train
tracks atop left field, then hit a
sacrifice in the sixth.
Keuchel retired his first
10 batters before Robinson
Cano singled and Nelson Cruz
walked. A two-out walk by
Danny Valencia loaded the
bases, but Keuchel retired
Leonys Martin on a groundout.
Despite struggles at the
plate on Monday night,
Seattle manager Scott Servais
isn’t worried about his lineup.
“We chased some balls
outside of the zone, but it’s
opening day,” he said. “Guys
are fired up. They want to
make an impact. They want
to make a difference, and we
got away from our game plan
a little bit in that regard.”
Men’s College Basketball
UNC wins ugly title game
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Racers in the men’s elite and Category 1 roll up Main
Street in downtown Echo for the start of the Red 2 Red
mountainbike race on Saturday.
Yanik repeats
as Red 2 Red
men’s champion
Forgetful Boise resident gets help
from competition to win second title
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
ECHO — Jamey Yanik’s
drive from his home in Boise,
Idaho to Echo on Saturday
was nearly all for nothing.
Making the trip to
compete in the Red 2 Red
mountain bike race, Yanik
got all the way to Echo
and realized he left a key
part for his bike at home. It
rendered his high-end racing
bike useless for the day and
left him scrambling for an
alternative.
Lucky for him, Yanik was
able to track down a fellow
competitor with a spare
bike to borrow, allowing
him to still compete. And
yet even on a spare bike that
he had never ridden before,
the 41-year-old Yanik still
managed to win both the
men’s elite class and the
overall top men’s award,
finishing the long course in
just over 1 hour, 51 minutes
on a partly-cloudy and
breezy day.
“Funny how things work
out,” Yanik said with a
chuckle on Saturday. “It did
take the fun out of it a little,
not being on my bike though.
It would’ve made this even
more special if I had been
on my bike because I’m real
comfortable with it, but it
still worked out.”
This year the riders were
riding on the course’s original
setup, after organizers had
altered it the last few years to
try and change things up.
“It was probably one of
our easier courses this year,”
race organizer Stephanie
Myers said, “which is leading
to some really fast times.”
Yanik was one of 318
registered competitors in the
ninth annual race. He is now
two for two at Red 2 Red,
after he won the men’s title
in 2016 with a time just over
two hours.
See RED/2B
North Carolina
forward Theo
Pinson, right
celebrates
with team-
mate Joel
Berry II, left,
at the end of
the champion-
ship game at
the Final Four
NCAA college
basketball
tournament,
Monday, April
3, 2017, in
Glendale, Ariz.
North Carolina
71-65.
AP Photo/Charlie
Neibergall
North Carolina gets redemption for 2016 championship loss
By EDDIE PELLS
Associatd Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. —
It’s OK, Carolina, you can
open your eyes.
An unwatchable game
turned into a beautiful night
for the Tar Heels, who turned a
free-throw contest into a cham-
pionship they’ve been waiting
an entire year to celebrate.
Justin Jackson delivered
the go-ahead 3-point play
with 1:40 left Monday
and North Carolina pulled
away for a 71-65 win over
Gonzaga that washed away a
year’s worth of heartache.
It was, in North Carolina’s
words, a redemption tour
— filled with extra time on
the practice court and the
weight room, all fueled by a
devastating loss in last year’s
title game on Kris Jenkins’
3-point dagger at the buzzer
for Villanova.
“I wanted to see this
confetti fall on us and we’re
the winners,” said Caroli-
na’s Joel Berry II, who led
the Heels with 22 points.
“We came out here and we
competed. It came down to
the last second, but we’re
national champs now.”
Berry, along with most
of Roy Williams’ players,
returned for another run. To
say everything went right for
them at this Final Four would
not be the truth.
The Tar Heels (33-7)
followed a terrible-shooting
night in the semifinal with an
equally ice-cold performance
in the final — going 4 for 27
from 3-point land and 26 for
73 overall.
Gonzaga, helped by 8
straight points from Nigel
Williams-Goss, took a
2-point lead with 1:52 left,
but the next possession was
the game-changer.
Jackson took a zinger of
a pass under the basket from
Theo Pinson and converted
the shot, then the ensuing
free throw to take the lead
for good. Moments later,
Williams-Goss twisted an
ankle and could not elevate
for a jumper that would’ve
given the Bulldogs the lead.
Isaiah Hicks made a
basket to push the lead to 3,
then Kennedy Meeks, in foul
trouble all night (who wasn’t?),
blocked Williams-Goss’ shot
and Jackson got a slam on the
other end to put some icing on
title No. 6 for the Tar Heels.
Williams got his third
title, putting him one ahead
of his mentor, Dean Smith,
and now behind only John
Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski
and Adolph Rupp.
“I think of Coach Smith,
there’s no question,” Williams
said. “I don’t think I should be
mentioned in the same sentence
with him. But we got three
because I’ve got these guys
with me and that’s all I care
about right now — my guys.”
Berry recovered from
ankle injuries to lead the Tar
Heels, but needed 19 shots
for his 22 points. Jackson had
16 on a 6-for-19 night and,
overall, the Tar Heels actually
shot a percentage point worse
than they did in Saturday
night’s win over Oregon.
Thank goodness for free
throws. They went 15 for 26
from the line and, in many
corners, this game will be
remembered for these three
men: Michael Stephens,
Verne Harris and Mike Eades,
the referees who called 27
fouls in the second half,
completely busted up the flow
of the game and sent Meeks,
Gonzaga’s 7-footers Przemek
Karnowski and Zach Collins,
and a host of others to the
bench in foul trouble.
PENDLETON
Blue Mountain sweeps Wenatchee Valley
Timberwolves
winners in 10 of
last 13 games
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Dustin Durflinger, of BMCC, heads for third base as
Wenatchee Valley College infielder Matthew Kley
waits for the throw from an outfielder during Satur-
day’s baseball game in Pendleton. Durflinger made it
home during the play.
The 2017 season started
a little slower than the Blue
Mountain baseball team
would have liked.
BMCC won just two out
of its first nine games as the
offense took some time to
find a consistent rhythm. But
since a doubleheader sweep
against Clackamas on March
12, the metaphorical switch
seems to have been flipped
on for the Timberwolves.
Saturday
victory
in
Baseball
Blue Moun-
Game 2. To
tain hosted a
start the day,
doubleheader
the Knights
Wenatchee Blue Mountain scored seven
a g a i n s t
We n a t c h e e
runs in the
Valley
and
first
three
the Timber-
innings and
wolves defeated the Knights led 9-5 after five innings.
twice, winning 10-9 in Game
BMCC got a rally going
1 and 9-6 in Game 2. It marks in the seventh, starting with
the 10th win in the last 13 a RBI double by Cameron
games for the Timberwolves Sutton and then pushed
(12-10, 3-1 NWAC East), across two runs on an error
who now sit above the .500 to cut the deficit to 9-8. Then
mark for the first time this in the eighth, a sacrifice fly
season.
from Austin Florez brought
The Timberwolves beat in TJ Rea to tie it at 9-9.
the Knights (1-13, 1-3) two
The Timberwolves then
different ways Saturday, with got a walk-off win in the
a come-from-behind win in ninth when Kyler Lunny
Game 1, then a controlling scored from third on a wild
9-6
10-9
pitch with two outs for the
10-9 victory.
Cole Connolly was huge
for the Timberwolves out of
the bullpen in the game, as he
threw 4 2/3 perfect innings
with four strikeouts to get
the win. It was Connolly’s
longest outing of his eight
appearances this season.
In Game 2, BMCC started
the game with two runs in the
first inning behind a two-RBI
double from Florez for a 2-0
lead. After Wenatchee Valley
tied it at 2-2 in the third,
BMCC answered with an
RBI single from Jared Rogers
to give the Timberwolves the
lead back at 3-2.
BMCC played add on in
See BMCC/2B