SPORTS
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017
1B
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HERMISTON
Senior Bulldogs make college decisions
Photo courtesy of Hermiston Athletics/Lindy Thompson
Photo courtesy of Hermiston Athletics/Lindy Thompson
Hermiston senior Slade Gritz, second from right, shake hands with Hermiston as-
sistant baseball coach John Christy after signing a National Letter of Intent to play
baseball at Blue Mountain Community College next season during a ceremony on
Thursday at Hermiston High School.
Hermiston senior Rileigh Andreason, second from right, signs her National Letter
of Intent to play basketball at Lane Community College next year during a cere-
mony on Wednesday at Hermiston High School.
Gritz signs with Blue Mountain
Andreason follows pipeline to Lane
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Slade Gritz did not want
his baseball career to end in
high school.
But as the days of his
senior year of school began
to dwindle and his senior
season churned away,
Gritz was left wondering
if he would get a chance
to continue his career in
college. This season he not
only improved his hitting,
but he further entrenched
himself as one of the best
defensive catchers in the
region.
Yet, the college offers
weren’t there. He had shared
some communication with
coaches and shown interest
in some programs, but that’s
as far as it had gotten. Until
one day, Blue Mountain
Community College coach
Brad Baker invited Gritz out
to a practice for a chance to
check out the program and
meet the team, and then
offered him a chance to play
for the Timberwolves.
Gritz accepted the offer
and made his pledge to
BMCC offi cial on Thursday
as he signed his National
Letter of Intent at a party at
Hermiston High School on
Thursday afternoon.
“It’s awesome,” Gritz
said of the opportunity. “I
was just waiting for the
opportunity ... I like BMCC,
I like the guys, they’re a
bunch of good dudes and
coach Baker is a great guy.”
Baker said that he has
had his eye on Gritz since
last season, and the Bulldog
came with glowing recom-
mendations from Hermiston
coach Lance Hawkins as
well as several other coaches
from the area.
“We were in need for a
catcher who is solid defen-
sively,” Baker said in an
email. “He has a plus arm
and a quick release behind
the plate. When recruiting
catchers we look for kids
who are tough, smart and
can help control the run
See GRITZ/2B
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
With 16 straight tourna-
ment appearances, the Lane
Titans women’s basketball
team has won an NWAC-
leading 83.7 percent of its
games going back to the
2001-02 season.
Maintaining that level
of success, especially in
the junior college ranks
where players are granted
a maximum two years
eligibility, is no easy task.
So when coaches fi nd high
school programs that contin-
ually produce college-ready
athletes, they pump that well
until it goes dry.
One of the Titans’ trusted
pipelines leads back to
Hermiston High School, and
on Wednesday they added
another Bulldog to their
ranks when guard Rileigh
Andreason signed her
National Letter of Intent.
“It was kind of scary but
exciting at the same time, I
get to try something new,”
said Andreason, who estab-
lished herself as a dangerous
jump shooter early in her
Bulldog career and added
a
tenacious
defensive
mentality as a senior.
She’s the fourth Bulldog
to sign with the Titans in
recent years, and will join
2016 HHS grad Kiana
Heehn, who played in 18
games her freshman season
at Lane.
Courtney Walchli was
the fi rst Bulldog to head
to Lane and gave the
Titans about seven points
and fi ve rebounds a game
during the 2011-13 seasons
that produced one of the
program’s four 30-win
campaigns. Then the Titans
hit big with Gabby Heehn,
who capped her career with
a school-record 125 threes
during the Titans’ champi-
onship run in 2015-16.
Andreason said she’s
eager to follow in those
footsteps.
“I want to shoot a high
percentage of shots so I can
See ANDREASON/2B
MLB
NFL Draft
Mariners pull out series win versus Tigers
Browns make
Myles Garrett
No. 1 pick
Gamel’s single in
ninth lifts Seattle
By DAVE HOGG
Associated Press
DETROIT — Kyle Seager
and Ben Gamel lifted Seattle
past Detroit — at closer Fran-
cisco Rodriguez’s expense.
Seager doubled off Rodri-
guez with one out in the ninth,
and Gamel followed with an
RBI single to right-center fi eld
in the Mariners’ 2-1 victory
Thursday.
“Kyle had a great at-bat,
and I got a good look at what
K-Rod was throwing.” Gamel
said. “I knew he was going to
throw me a changeup on 2-2,
and that’s what I got.”
Rodriguez (1-2) has a 6.23
ERA in nine games this season.
“You saw exactly what
happened,” he said. “I couldn’t
get anybody out and it cost us
the game.”
Tony Zych (1-0) was the
winner, and Edwin Diaz pitched
the ninth for his third save.
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Edwin Diaz, right, greets
catcher Mike Zunino after the last out in the ninth inning of
a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Thursday, April
27,2017, in Detroit. The Mariners won 2-1.
The Mariners closed the
series with two one-run victo-
ries after falling 19-9 in the
opener.
Detroit
starter
Justin
Verlander
allowed
one
unearned run on fi ve hits and
two walks in seven innings. He
struck out eight after allowing
13 runs in his past two games.
“I knew right out of the gate
that my arm felt cleaner than it
has in the last couple starts,”
Verlander said. “Everything
was coming out better. I made
an adjustment a couple starts
back and it clicked today.”
Seattle starter Hisashi
Iwakuma gave up an unearned
run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed
three hits and a walk and struck
out three.
Seattle
Detroit
2
1
“There were obviously two
great pitching performances
going out there,” Seattle
manager Scott Servais said.
“Verlander was outstanding,
but Hisashi matched him.”
Seattle broke a scoreless
tie in the sixth. Nelson Cruz
reached when center fi elder
Tyler Collins was given a
two-base error for running into
Jim Adduci as the right fi elder
was about to catch a routine fl y
ball. Seager followed with an
RBI single for the fi rst run.
Collins countered in the
bottom of the inning, doubling
and scoring when Robinson
Cano misplayed Victor Marti-
nez’s grounder.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: RHP Steve Cishek
(hip) is scheduled to pitch an
inning for Double-A Arkansas,
See MARINERS/2B
Six trades, offensive skill
highlight busy fi rst round
By BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — With defensive studs
everywhere in this draft, NFL teams turned
offensive. With an emphasis on quarterbacks.
Hardly stunning in a
pass-happy league, except
that no quarterbacks in
this crop have been highly
touted. Yet three went in
the fi rst dozen Thursday
night, with two whopping
trades putting the Bears
and Chiefs in position to
grab QBs.
Garrett
Chicago paid a whop-
ping price to move up one
spot to second overall for
North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky. Kansas
See NFL DRAFT/2B
Sports shorts
Heppner alumnus wins golf title
TEMPE, Ariz. — Heppner High alumnus
and current Lewis Clark State golfer Chris Lien
shot a fi nal round 69 to win top medalist honors
in the NAIA Frontier Conference tournament on
Thursday afternoon.
Lien, who shot a pair of 73s
in the fi rst two rounds, held off
his teammate Brandon Barnes by
three strokes to win the title. Lien’s
win also helped the Warriors (893)
run away with the team title over
Montana Tech (924) by 31 strokes.
With his win, Lien will
Lien
now head to the NAIA men’s
championship at TPC Deere Run
in Silvas, Illinois on May 16-19.
Blake Greenup, also a Heppner alum,
fi nished fi fth in the women’s standings after
a fi nal round 84. She will compete in the
women’s national championships in May as
LCSC won the women’s team title as well.
“Sometimes guys have
a little leg thing and you
know it’s going to be
four or fi ve days. You’re
weighing, ‘Do I go without
this guy for fi ve days?
Now you’re quicker to put
a guy on [the DL]. To me,
it’s better.“
— Don Mattingly
Miami Marlins manager voicing
his support of the new 10-day
disabled list over the older 15-day
list that MLB is using this season,
which has resulted in a 12 percent
increase of disabled players over
the fi rst 25 days of the season.
Timbers unveil new plans for
Providence Park expansion
PORTLAND (AP) — The Portland Timbers
have unveiled plans for a privately funded
addition to Providence Park that would add
4,000 seats.
The estimated cost of the
expansion project is $50 million,
paid for by the Timbers. It would
add four levels to the east side of
Providence Park.
The Timbers are popular in Portland with
112 straight sellouts of their downtown stadium
that seats 21,144. There are 13,000 fans on the
season ticket waiting list.
“For the last several years we’ve been
studying how we can expand Providence
Park, and keep this amazing essence and
environment that we’ve built, but also allow
more fans to attend our games on a regular
basis. Timbers President of Business Mike
Golub said.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1966 — Boston edges the
Los Angeles Lakers 95-93 in
Game 7, giving the Celtics
and coach Red Auerbach eight
straight NBA titles.
1987 — The NBA awards
expansion franchises to Char-
lotte, N.C. and Miami for 1988,
and Minneapolis and Orlando,
Fla., in 1989.
1995 — Michael Jordan, in
his fi rst playoff game since his
return from retirement, scored
48 points as the Chicago Bulls
beat the Charlotte Hornets
108-100.
2011 — The Carolina
Panthers select Auburn quar-
terback Cam Newton with the
No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
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