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