SPORTS
TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017
1B
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NBA
Trail Blazers bow out early
Durant returns
as Golden State
eliminates Portland
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Stephen
Curry had 37 points before
sitting out the fi nal quarter
and the Golden State Warriors
welcomed back teammate
Kevin Durant with a 128-103
victory over
which is tied
Game 4
the Portland
at 2.
Trail Blazers
Golden
on Monday
State played
night
to Golden State Portland
for the second
sweep their
straight game
first-round
without coach
playoff series. • Golden State wins 4-0
Steve Kerr,
T h e
who has been
Wa r r i o r s
experiencing
advanced to the conference a fl are-up of symptoms
semifi nals, where they’ll stemming from back surgery
face the winner of the series a couple of years ago. Assis-
between the Utah Jazz and tant Mike Brown has served
the Los Angeles Clippers, as head coach in Kerr’s
128
103
absence.
Durant hadn’t played
since Game 1 because of a
strained left calf. He started
and the Warriors built a
72-48 lead by the end of the
opening half.
Golden State pushed the
margin to 33 points in the
second half. Curry swished
a 31-foot 3-pointer that
made it 104-77 late in the
third quarter and the Blazers
couldn’t catch up.
See BLAZERS/2B
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers from left, forward Noah Vonleh,
guard CJ McCollum, guard Damian Lillard, guard Evan
Turner, and forward Al-Farouq Aminu react after the
Golden State Warriors score during the fi rst half of
Game 4 of an NBA basketball fi rst-round playoff series,
Monday, April 24, 2017, in Portland.
PENDLETON
Hergert punctuates Pendleton split
Pendleton’s
Payton
Hergert
smiles as
she rounds
third after
hitting a
home run
Saturday
against
Hood River
in a softball
game at
Steve Cary
Field in
Pendleton.
Buckaroos remain locked in tie with
Hood River atop CRC standings
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
When Pendleton’s Payton
Hergert went down with a knee
injury in April 2016, it left a big
void in the Buckaroos’ offensive
and defensive lineups for the
remainder of the season.
Though she’s admittedly not
quite 100 percent in her return
from knee ligament surgery,
Hergert showed in Saturday’s
doubleheader against Hood River
just how important she is to the
Buckaroos again this season.
Hergert went a combined 6 for
8 at the plate with three home runs
on the day, while also turning in a
double and eight RBIs to help the
Buckaroos manage a split with the
Eagles.
Pendleton won the fi rst game
12-2 in fi ve innings, but made too
many defensive miscues and put
themselves in too big of a hole
in Game 2 and fell 9-8. The split
means that the Buckaroos (16-3,
4-1) and the Eagles (10-8, 4-1)
stay tied atop the Columbia River
Conference standings.
While Pendleton’s pitching duo
of Lauren Richards and Alexis
Brehaut were not at their best
Saturday, Pendleton’s offense
was. Between the two games the
Buckaroos cranked out 28 hits to
go with their 20 runs, which was a
pleasant sight for coach Tim Cary.
“We did a real nice job of hitting
today, everybody one through nine
contributed in some way,” Cary
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
PENDLETON
Buckaroos fall short in twin bill with Eagles
Pendleton baseball
falls behind in
league title hunt
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Saturday presented a big
opportunity for the Pendleton
baseball team.
Going into the double-
header with Hood River, the
Buckaroos and Eagles were
tied atop the Columbia River
Conference standings after
the fi rst weekend of league
play. The Buckaroos have a
Baseball
goal of winning
coach
T.J.
the league this
Haguewood
season
and
said after the
Saturday was a
games. “But
chance for the Hood River Pendleton now
there’s
team to take
no reason why
advantage.
we can’t go
Instead,
back down to
Saturday showed that Hood Hood River and take two from
River is still the team to beat them now. I think that as far as
in the CRC, as the Eagles put league goes, we’re still in the
away the Buckaroos twice mix if we continue to put runs
12-9 and 4-2 at Bob White across and play defense.
Park. Pendleton coach T.J.
Our league is notorious for
Haguewood said he thought having good baseball teams
his team let one, if not both, and you have to bring it every
games slip away from them.
day.”
“It’s tough getting swept on
In the fi rst game of the day,
home fi eld for sure,” Pendleton Pendleton (6-12, 2-3 CRC)
12-4
9-2
had just scored a pair of runs
in the fi fth to cut Hood River’s
lead to 4-2 until the Eagles
(12-6, 4-1) exploded for eight
runs in the sixth and seventh
innings to take a commanding
12-2 lead.
But the Buckaroos did not
quit when they came to bat in
the bottom half of the seventh.
Daniel Naughton led off the
inning with a single which
started a run of seven hits and
seven runs for the Buckaroos
to get within 12-9 with two
outs and a runner on third
base. But the rally would end
there as Ryan Russell struck
See BASEBALL SWEPT/2B
Softball
Hood River
Pendleton
2-9
12-8
said. “That’s the whole name of
the game is to hit up-and-down the
lineup.”
In Game 1, Pendleton got a
two-out rally going and jumped
on the Eagles with a fi ve-run
fi rst inning. Hergert started the
rally with a double and then was
brought in by Kalan McGlothan
with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
Later, Rylee Gentner had an RBI
single of her own, and then a
fi elding error on a pop fl y from
Aspen Garton sent two more runs
in for a 4-0 lead.
Garton then scored from third
on another error for the 5-0 lead.
“To put something together
with two outs and nobody on
is outstanding,” Cary said.
“Anything can happen when you
put the ball in play, try to force the
other team to make plays and we
forced them into a few mistakes
and took advantage of it.”
The Bucks piled on more in the
fi fth inning to end the game early.
After a leadoff double by Rich-
ards, Hergert smacked a two-run
home run up into the wind and
over the right fi eld fence. Then a
double by Brehaut and a single by
Gentner set up the game-ending
See SOFTBALL SPLIT/2B
Pendleton’s
Ryan Russell
gets ready
to launch
a pitch
during the
second of
two games
against
Hood River
in a baseball
game on
Saturday at
Bob White
Field in
Pendleton.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
Sports shorts
Johnson grabs rare Bristol win
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) Jimmie Johnson
has won consecutive races for the 11th time in
his career with a rare victory at Bristol Motor
Speedway.
The seven-time NASCAR champion doesn’t
consider Bristol to be his best track, and
Monday’s victory was only the
second at Thunder Valley in his
career. But Johnson’s Chevrolet
for Hendrick Motorsports was
strong enough to contend with
Kyle Larson, the points leader and
most dominant driver of the day. A
Johnson
speeding penalty on Larson late in
the race allowed Johnson to make it look easy
in the end.
Clint Bowyer fi nished second and Stew-
art-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick was
third in the race postponed a day by rain.
Matt Kenseth was the highest fi nishing
Toyota driver with a very quiet fourth. Joey
“I really didn’t know how
to feel. I was like numb.
I felt like something was
taken away from me
before I had a chance to
experience it.“
— D’Onta Foreman
NFL draft prospect from Texas during
an interview with NFL Network in
which he revealed that while he was
leading the nation with 2,028 rushing
yards in 2016 he was playing through
the pain of losing his infant son, who
was born prematurely and died at
seven weeks old on the same day Fore-
man rushed for 341 yards and three
touchdowns in a win over Texas Tech.
Seahawks GM downplays
chances of trading CB Sherman
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Seahawks
general manager John Schneider said Monday
that a trade involving star cornerback Richard
Sherman is unlikely and that
any offer at this point would
have to go beyond anything
the team has heard so far.
Schneider is not closing
the door on a deal involving
Sherman but sounded pessimistic something
will happen. Schneider said the team has
mostly moved past the conversations regarding
Sherman.
“If somebody calls and goes crazy with
something then we’ll discuss it again,”
Schneider said.
Schneider said Sherman, Earl Thomas and
Kam Chancellor were all on site Monday as
the Seahawks began the second week of their
offseason condition program.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1950 — Charles Cooper,
an All-American from
Duquesne playing with
the Harlem Globetrotters,
becomes the fi rst black
player chosen in the NBA
draft when he’s taken by the
Boston Celtics.
1974 — The NFL adopts
the 15-minute, sudden-
death overtime to avoid ties.
The league also moves the
goal posts to the back of the
end zones.
1995 — Major league
baseball returns after a
257-day players’ strike as
the Los Angeles Dodgers
beat the Florida Marlins 8-7.
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