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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2017)
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON Morris, Buckaroos settle in for win Pendleton gains leg up in playoff race By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian In a game with major playoff implications, neither team brought the right energy level to the ballpark when the Pendleton Buckaroos hosted the Hermiston Bulldogs on Tuesday. The Bucks came in strung a bit too tight, and it showed as throws Baseball sailed around the infi eld in the fi rst few innings. The Hermiston Dawgs were the opposite, showing limited emotion even as they jumped out to an early lead. Pendleton P e n d l e t o n ’s energy crisis was more easily solved, and the Bucks eventually settled down behind a solid start from senior Wyatt Morris for a 9-3 win at Bob White Park. “This was defi nitely the one to determine if we keep going,” said Pendleton senior second baseman Nick Lani, but added the 3 9 Staff photo by E.J. Harris See BASEBALL/2B Pendleton’s Wyatt Morris throws from the pitcher’s mound in the Bucks’ 9-3 win against Hermiston on Tuesday in Pendleton. PENDLETON Prep Roundup Huskies beat Rockets with walk-off homer Pendleton picks up crucial victory Rylee Gentner, of Pendleton, fi nds herself in a rundown situa- tion Tuesday at Steve Cary Field with Hermis- ton’s Sydney Stefani (left) and Janell Amagu- er. Gentner got back to fi rst base safely after Stefani threw the ball to home. Pilot Rock baseball loses third game straight East Oregonian PILOT ROCK — The Pilot Rock Rockets fell another game back in the Special District 6 title race when Sher- man’s Jacob Justesen hit a home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Baseball the Huskies to their fi fth straight win on Tuesday. Pilot Rock (11-7, Sherman 9-3 SD6) had tied the game in the top of the inning on a solo bomb by Chris Weinke, who fi nished 2 for 3 and also hit a double, but left the Pilot Rock go-ahead run stranded after some great defense by the Huskies. When Bryson Pierce doubled with a runner on fi rst, Sherman (13-3, 10-2) center fi elder Mav Winslow threw out the runner at the plate and a ground-out ended the threat. The Rockets stranded nine runners total in the game. Justesen pitched the fi rst 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run on two hits with four strikeouts and seven walks. Brett Troutman pitched the fi nal 1 1/3 and got the win. He also allowed one run on two hits. Levi Thieme started for the Rockets and pitched 5 1/3 before handing the ball to Pierce. Thieme struck out eight but allowed two earned runs on six hits. UP NEXT The Rockets have two doubleheaders left in the regular season and are three games behind Dufur and one behind See PREPS/2B 3 2 Staff photo by Kathy Aney Buckaroo softball takes season series with Hermiston By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian As the regular season begins to wind down, each remaining game is imperative for the Pendleton softball team. Not only is it important to get as many wins as possible to help build confi dence and momentum towards NBA Playoffs the postseason, but it’s also important now as Pendleton is chasing another league title and is currently tied with Hood River atop the CRC standings. All that made Tuesday’s game with Hermiston, which was already a must-win game for bragging rights purposes, a crucial must-win situation for the Buckaroos. Thanks to a strong performance in 119 Boston 129 See SOFTBALL/2B Hermiston 1 Pendleton 10 Thomas scores 53, Celtics beat Wizards in overtime Associated Press Washington the circle and at the plate by Lauren Richards and timely hitting as a team, Pendleton was able to notch another big victory that it needed beating the Bulldogs 10-1 at Steve Cary Field to claim the season series with Herm- iston. Richards threw a complete game in the circle allowing just fi ve hits, one Softball BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas scored 53 points — the second-highest total in Celtics playoff history — to help Boston beat the Washington Wizards 129-119 in overtime on Tuesday night and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifi nals. Fiddling with the mouth guard he began using after losing one of his front teeth in Game 1, Thomas had nine points in overtime, when the Celtics outscored Washington 15-5. He is the fi fth player in the history of the NBA’s most-decorated franchise to score 50 or more points in a postseason game, missing John Havlicek’s team record by one point. It was a career playoff best for Thomas. “What else is there to say?” Celtics coach Brad Stevens asked. “There was a point today where he was not feeling good at all. He’s had a tough day and I thought he was going to really have to gut this one out. Not only guts it out, he ends up with 50. Pretty impressive.” John Wall had 40 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards. The series moves to Washington for Games 3 and 4 on Thursday and Sunday. “It’s the playoffs. Everybody’s going to come and play a very tough game,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “They took care of their home court the fi rst two games. We’ve been very good on our home court all year with great fans.” Sports shorts Orioles’ Jones says taunts speak to wider racial issues BOSTON (AP) Orioles outfi elder Adam Jones said Tuesday that racial taunts that prompted immediate condemnation around baseball and Boston have no place in today’s game but speak to larger racial issues in the United States. “I thought we’d moved past this a long time ago,” said Jones, who said he heard fans call him the N-word on Monday night and had a bag of peanuts thrown in his direction. Jones “With what’s going on in the real world, things like this, people are outraged and are speaking up at an alarming rate,” he said. Jones received a personal apology from Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy on behalf of the club. Warriors roll past Jazz in Game 1 “I know people might think it’s weird, and if it were anyone else’s ashes, I’d agree. But for Roy, this is the perfect tribute to a plumber and a baseball fan and just a brilliant, wild guy.“ — Tom McDonald New York City man on his mission to fl ush the cremated remains of his lifelong friend Roy Riegel, a plumber, down ballpark toilets around the country. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 22 points in three quarters of work and the top-seeded Golden State Warriors warmed up in a hurry after a weeklong layoff between playoff games, beating the Utah Jazz 106-94 on Tuesday night in the opener of the Western Conference semifi nals. Draymond Green scored Golden State’s fi rst six points of the fourth quarter and fi nished with 17 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two more blocks to bring his fi ve-game playoff swat total to 19. Kevin Durant added 15 points on an uncharacteristically cold shooting night at 6 for 14 and also fi ve rebounds and fi ve assists. Rudy Gobert had 13 points, eight rebounds, two blocks for the Jazz, who just fi nished off the Clippers in a seven-game series Sunday, while the Warriors waited after eliminating Portland in a sweep April 24. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1902 — Alan-a-Dale, ridden by Jimmy Winkfi eld, wins the Kentucky Derby by a nose over Inventor giving Winkfi eld his second straight Derby victory. Winkfi eld is the last Afri- can-American rider to win the Kentucky Derby. 2007 — Golden State is the fi rst No. 8 seed to capture a best-of-seven playoff series with a 111-86 victory over the NBA-best Dallas Maver- icks in Game 6. The Warriors are only the third eighth seed to upset the No. 1 and the fi rst since the opening round went from best-of-fi ve to the current format Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com