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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2017)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Wednesday, May 24, 2017 Motorsports NASCAR announces major shakeup to 2018 schedule Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR announced several changes to its 2018 schedule Tuesday, including new tracks for the final 11 races of the season. Indianapolis Motor Speedway will become the 26th race of the Cup season and the final chance to set next year’s playoff field. The race will be run Sept. 9 and not be part of the summer schedule for the first time since it was added to the NASCAR schedule in 1994. BRIEFLY Locals win Pendleton CC invitational PENDLETON — The Pendleton Country Club wrapped up its annual Birch Creek Couples Invitational on Sunday afternoon and a pair of Pendleton residents came out on top. The team of Gary Graybeal and Dede Greb were the low gross winners with a score of 74, while the team of Cal and Jenni Tyer, also of Pendleton, were the low net honors with a 13-under-par 59. Elsewhere, Nancy Munsey won the Ladies 60-plus category for closest to the pin with a hole in one, while Stephanie Williams was the winner in the 59-and-under category landing 7-feet, 10-inches away. Joe Reyes was the men’s winner in 59-and-under landing 23-feet, 8-inches away. Longest drive winners were Dori Tennant and Beccy Kramer for the ladies, while Chris Cockburn and Mike Wolf were the two men’s winners. Round-Up City Amateur upcoming PENDLETON — The Pendleton Country Club’s Round-Up City Amateur tournament is on the schedule for June 10-11. The tournament is already drawing a solid field of competitors, holding commitments from golfers that will travel from all over the country including from Michigan, Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma as well as the Pacific Northwest. It is an individual stroke play tournament that is open to men and women 21 years and older. The tournament’s highlight is an all-gross head-to-head sole survivor event held on the final day of the tournament, with the top ten players competing against each other. For more details visit PendletonCC.com. “The Brickyard 400 has been one of NASCAR’s premier events for 25 years, and we’re thrilled the race is moving to one of the most important dates on the NASCAR calendar,” said J. Douglas Boles, IMS president. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will replace Chicagoland Speedway as the opening event in the 10-race playoff series. Chicago moves to a regular-season race in July. Richmond International Raceway, which had been the playoff cutoff race since the format debuted in 2004, will move into the playoffs. Charlotte Motor Speed- way’s playoff race will now be run on the venue’s road course instead of its 1.5-mile oval. It will be the first NASCAR road course race in Charlotte’s 58-year history. The Charlotte “roval” is a 13-turn, 2.4-mile road course that incorporates part of the infield and all but 400 feet of Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval. Mario Andretti, Jeff Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Jeff Burton and Max Papis have all tested the roval. “Charlotte Motor Speedway has always been about innova- tion,” said Marcus Smith, presi- dent and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports Inc. “Hosting the first road course race in NASCAR’s playoffs, as well as the drama of closing out the playoffs’ first round, means that tension will be high and competition will be fierce as soon as the green flag drops.” The opening three-race playoff round will be Las Vegas-Richmond-Charlotte. The next round will be Dover-Talladega-Kansas. The third round is Martinsville-Tex- as-Phoenix, with the champion- ship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 18 exactly nine months after the season- opening Daytona 500. The changes dramatically alter the type of tracks in the 10-race playoff. There will now be a road course, a restrictor-plate track, two short tracks, two 1-mile tracks and four 1.5-mile tracks. The season will open Feb. 18 with the showcase Daytona 500, but Daytona International Speedway is also restoring a Speedweeks tradition with the exhibition “Clash” returning to a Sunday afternoon start one week earlier. The Clash will be followed by qualifying for the Daytona 500. The Clash was first held in 1979 and won by Buddy Baker. The event was on a Sunday from 1979 until 1991. There was a one-year switch to Saturday, then the race returned to Sundays from 1993 until 2002. In 2003, it moved to a Saturday night start. “Combining the Clash with qualifying is going to give our fans an outstanding afternoon of NASCAR action,” said Chip Wile, Daytona Interna- tional Speedway president. PLAYOFFS: Stanfield baseball seeded No. 1 in 3A bracket In this file photo, Irrigon’s Austin Rice attempts to put the tag on Stanfield’s Justin Keeney in the Tigers’ 13-3 win against the Knights on Tuesday, April 11, 2017 in Stanfield. Continued from 1B Pilot Rock will try to work into their playoff dominance from a year ago, which saw the Rockets win the four games by a combined score of 46-6, which included a pair of shut- outs in the first two rounds. A big key for that will be senior pitcher Tehya Ostrom, who has not has not been quite as dominant in the circle this season, but has a knack for flip- ping a switch when it matters most. The No. 15 seed Rams (7-14) could be a good starting point for the Rockets, as the Rams turned in an underwhelming regular season and finished fifth in the six-team Special District 2. Regis made the state tournament as one of the two at-large teams. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. No. 7 WESTON-MCEWEN vs. No. 10 BLANCHET CATH- OLIC — At Athena, the TigerScots proved they were the best in Special District 1 this season and now are out to prove their standing among the state’s best. The No. 7 seed TigerScots (13-8) begin the playoffs at home with a tough match-up against No. 10 Blanchet Catholic this afternoon. The Cavaliers were 16-8 overall this season with a 12-3 mark in the PacWest Conference where they finished in second. An intriguing match-up will be Blanchet’s offense against Weston-McEwen’s standout pitcher Bailey Hillmick, as the Cavaliers average more than 10 runs per game while Hillmick has an earned run average of just 1.62 over her past nine games. Blanchet Catholic is prone to give up some runs, aver- aging nearly six against per game which could be a good match-up for Weston-McEwen’s offense that is averaging 10 runs per contest. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Athena. No. 16 IRRIGON at No. 1 RAINIER — At Rainier, the Irrigon Knights aim to make a successful first season in the Class 3A ranks even better with a state tournament run starting today. The Knights (16-10) surprised some teams inside Special District 1 this season with a second place finish over the likes of Echo/Stanfield and Riverside. Though their reward for the season is a tough one, as the Knights landed the No. 16 seed and have to face the No. 1 seed Rainier Staff photo by E.J. Harris Columbians in the first round. Rainier (19-2) put together an unblemished season in the strong Lewis & Clark league, which had four teams with above-.500 records. The Columbians come in with a rock-solid offense and the top pitching/defense in 3A, allowing a mere 43 runs on the season for a two-run per-game average. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. No. 3 MAC-HI vs. No. 14 NEWPORT — At Milton-Free- water, the Mac-Hi Pioneers hope to extend their state title game appear- ances streak to five this season, and start the journey today against Newport. The Pioneers (17-6) began the season as good as any team in the state winning nine of their first 10, though lost some steam over the final half of the season going 8-5 down the stretch. The offense has dried up as well, reaching double digits in just three times over those final 13 games after hitting that same mark eight times in the first 10 games. Mac-Hi have a good first round test standing in its way, the No. 14 Newport Cubs, who went 15-8 this season and 11-4 in the Oregon West Conference to finish in second place. Newport allows an average of nearly six runs per game and oppo- nents have scored in double digits 11 times this season. First pitch is 4 p.m. at Yantis Park. BASEBALL No. 1 STANFIELD vs. No. 16 CATLIN GABEL — At Stanfield, the Tigers put together an incredible run to a state championship in 2016, and now the Tigers are ready to do it again this year. Stanfield enters the Class 3A state tournament after completing a 22-2 overall record and a perfect 15-0 mark in the Eastern Oregon League. They start the tournament bearing the best offense in Class 3A, compiling 311 total runs — an average of 12.9 per game. No. 16 Catlin Gabel Eagles were the second place finisher in the Lewis & Clark league. The Eagles went 10-8 overall and 8-4 in league play, and managed just 5.4 runs per game and allow an average of 4.8 runs. The two teams played just one common opponent this season, Rainier, whom Stanfield swept 4-3 and 3-2 in a doubleheader on April 1. Meanwhile Catlin Gabel was swept by Rainier in three games this season by a combined score of 24-3. The first round match-up will take place today with first pitch set for 4 p.m. at Madigan Field in Stanfield. No. 13 IRRIGON at No. 4 ST. MARY’S — At Medford, after reaching the 2A/1A semifinals as a No. 4 seed in 2016, the Knights will try to play the role of Cinderella in their first 3A final bracket. St. Mary’s, the champions of the Southern Cascade League with an overall record of 22-4, will provide quite a challenge to begin what the Knights hope is another deep playoff run. The Crusaders possess not only a potent offense at 9.7 runs per game, they also have a dominant pitching rotation that has given up just 2.2 runs a game. That’s the lowest in Class 3A. Irrigon, which finished second in the Eastern Oregon League with an overall record of 18-5, has averaged 9.9 runs on offense and 5.4 given up on defense this season. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. No. 9 PILOT ROCK/NIXY- AAWII at No. 8 UMPQUA VALLEY CHRISTIAN — At, the Rockets make their return to the state postseason coming off a 14-9 season in which they finished third in Special District 6. The Monarchs are also one of the seven newcomers to the 2A/1A final bracket after going 18-8 and winning the Special District 4 crown. Both teams come into the game off a loss after the Rockets fell to Sherman in the SD6 semifinals and Umpqua Valley Christian dropped its playoff tune-ups to Reedsport and Cascade Christian — all playoff bound teams. The Monarchs will be playing for pride, though, after losing their final four home games of the regular season. Umpqua Valley Christian is aver- aging 10.4 runs a game on offense and has given up 4.2. Pilot Rock has put up an average of 7 runs a game on offense and allowed 4.7 on defense. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. MARINERS: Bergman’s outing goes down as one of the worst in Seattle history Continued from 1B around the left field foul pole made it 2-0. Then Werth, Harper and Rendon all connected in the fourth, as the Nationals scored seven of their eight runs with two outs. “There were a couple of opportunities to get out of there with minimal damage,” Bergman said. “Just couldn’t quite get that last guy.” THE ZUNINO RULES Zunino has been given a daily checklist of pregame tasks upon his return from the minors, something Servais called “The Zunino Rules.” “Jordan had his, why can’t Zunino have his?” Servais joked. Zunino hit .167 in 24 games for Seattle before going down to Triple-A Tacoma early this month to clean up his swing. There, he hit .293 with five homers and 11 RBIs, earning a recall after 12 games. REMEMBER WHEN? Former Nationals manager and current Mariners third- base coach Manny Acta tipped his cap to applause from the Nationals Park crowd when he was shown on the scoreboard during the first inning. TRAINERS ROOM x-Monday, May 29: Cleveland at Boston, 5:30 p.m. WESTERN CONFERENCE Golden State 4, San Antonio 0 May 14: Golden State 113, San Antonio 111 May 16: Golden State 136, San Antonio 100 May 20: Golden State 120, San Antonio 108 May 22: Golden State 129, San Antonio 115 W 24 24 21 20 19 Mariners: OF Mitch Haniger (oblique) is expected to join the club Wednesday and work out in Washington before being sent on a rehab assignment, Servais said. Nationals: INF Stephen Drew (hamstring) has been sent to Florida to play in rehab games at extended spring training, Baker said. RECORD BOOKS Mariners: Bergman came within one of club records for most hits (15), runs (11) and home runs (five) allowed. Jamie Moyer owns a share of latter two. Nationals: Washington’s 62 runs scored over Ross’s first four starts is the most support a starter has ever received to open the season, according to the Nationals PR Twitter account via Elias Sports Bureau. UP NEXT Mariners: Rookie RHP Sam Gaviglio (0-0, 1.29) looks to build upon his first big league start, when he threw five shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox last Thursday. Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark hasn’t seen much of Seattle, but hopes for a better outcome than when he allowed a season-high 11 hits (and four earned runs) on Aug. 31, 2014. Cincinnati (Bonilla 0-2) at Cleveland (Bauer 4-4), 3:10 p.m. Colorado (Chatwood 3-6) at Philadelphia (Hellickson 5-1), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Gaviglio 0-0) at Washington (Roark 3-2), 4:05 p.m. San Diego (Cosart 0-1) at N.Y. Mets (Gsellman 2-3), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Williams 2-3) at Atlanta (Tehe- ran 3-4), 4:35 p.m. San Francisco (Moore 2-4) at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 3-2), 5:05 p.m. St. Louis (Leake 4-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Hill 1-1), 7:10 p.m. Texas A&M (45-10), 3 p.m. Saturday, May 27: Texas A&M vs. Tennes- see, 2 p.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Tennessee vs. Texas A&M, 12 p.m. At Auburn, Ala. Friday, May 26: Auburn (49-10) vs. Oklaho- ma (54-9), 1 p.m. Saturday, May 27: Oklahoma vs. Auburn, 10 a.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Auburn vs. Oklahoma, 10 a.m. At Seattle Friday, May 26: Utah (36-14) vs. Washing- ton (46-11), 8 p.m. Saturday, May 27: Washington vs. Utah, 6 p.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Utah vs. Washington, 7 p.m. At Eugene, Ore. Friday, May 26: Oregon (50-6) vs. Ken- tucky (39-17), 4 p.m. Saturday, May 27: Kentucky vs. Oregon, 4 p.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Oregon vs. Kentucky, 12 p.m. At Tucson, Ariz. Friday, May 26: Arizona (51-7) vs. Baylor (46-12), 6 p.m. Saturday, May 27: Baylor vs. Arizona, 6 p.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Arizona vs. Baylor, 4 p.m. SCOREBOARD Local Slate PREP BASEBALL Today #16 Catlin Gabel at #1 Stanfield/Echo (3A first round), 4 p.m. #13 Irrigon at #4 St. Mary’s (Medford) (3A first round), 4 p.m. #9 Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii at #8 Umpqua Val- ley Christian (2A/1A first round), 4:30 p.m. Friday 3A-2A/1A quarterfinals, TBD PREP SOFTBALL Today #15 Regis at #2 Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii (2A/1A first round), 4 p.m. #16 Irrigon at #1 Rainier (3A first round), 4 p.m. #10 Blanchet Catholic at #7 Weston-McE- wen/Griswold (3A first round), 4 p.m. #14 Newport at #3 Mac-Hi (4A first round), 4 p.m. #14 Corvallis at #3 Pendleton (5A first round), 4:30 p.m. #15 Hermiston at #2 Marist Catholic (5A first round), 5 p.m. Friday 5A-2A/1A quarterfinals, TBD Basketball NBA Playoffs CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) EASTERN CONFERENCE Cleveland 3, Boston 1 May 17: Cleveland 117, Boston 104 May 19: Cleveland 130, Boston 86 May 21: Boston 111, Cleveland 108 Tuesday: Cleveland 112, Boston 99 Thursday: Cleveland at Boston, 5:30 p.m. x-Saturday: Boston at Cleveland, 5:30 p.m. Hockey NHL Playoffs CONFERENCE FINALS (Best-of-7) EASTERN CONFERENCE Ottawa 3, Pittsburgh 3 May 13: Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1, OT May 15: Pittsburgh 1, Ottawa 0 May 17: Ottawa 5, Pittsburgh 1 May 19: Pittsburgh 3, Ottawa 2 May 21: Pittsburgh 7, Ottawa 0 Tuesday: Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1 Thursday: Ottawa at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m. WESTERN CONFERENCE Nashville 4, Anaheim 2 May 12: Nashville 3, Anaheim 2, OT May 14: Anaheim 5, Nashville 3 May 16: Nashville 2, Anaheim 1 May 18: Anaheim 3, Nashville 2, OT May 20: Nashville 3, Anaheim 1 May 22: Nashville 6, Anaheim 3 Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W New York 26 Baltimore 25 Boston 23 Tampa Bay 23 Toronto 20 Central Division L 17 19 21 25 26 Pct .605 .568 .523 .479 .435 GB — 1½ 3½ 5½ 7½ Minnesota Cleveland Detroit Chicago Kansas City West Division L 18 20 23 24 26 Pct .571 .545 .477 .465 .422 GB — 1 4 4½ 6½ W L Pct GB Houston 31 15 .674 — Texas 24 22 .522 7 Los Angeles 25 23 .521 7 Oakland 20 24 .455 10 Seattle 20 26 .435 11 ——— Tuesday’s Games Kansas City 6, N.Y. Yankees 2 Minnesota 2, Baltimore 0 Washington 10, Seattle 1 Cleveland 8, Cincinnati 7 L.A. Angels 4, Tampa Bay 0 Boston 11, Texas 6 Toronto 4, Milwaukee 3 Houston 6, Detroit 2 Arizona 5, Chicago White Sox 4 Miami at Oakland, late finish Wednesday’s Games Minnesota (Berrios 2-0) at Baltimore (Tillman 1-0), 9:35 a.m. Toronto (Stroman 4-2) at Milwaukee (Garza 2-0), 10:10 a.m. Miami (Volquez 0-6) at Oakland (Gray 1-1), 12:35 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Quintana 2-5) at Arizona (Delgado 1-0), 12:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Bonilla 0-2) at Cleveland (Bauer 4-4), 3:10 p.m. Kansas City (Hammel 1-5) at N.Y. Yankees (Severino 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Seattle (Gaviglio 0-0) at Washington (Roark 3-2), 4:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Nolasco 2-3) at Tampa Bay (Ramirez 2-0), 4:10 p.m. Texas (Perez 2-5) at Boston (Sale 4-2), 4:10 p.m. Detroit (Norris 2-3) at Houston (Morton 5-3), 5:10 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 27 17 .614 — Atlanta 19 23 .452 7 New York 19 24 .442 7½ Philadelphia 15 28 .349 11½ Miami 15 28 .349 11½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 25 20 .556 — St. Louis 22 19 .537 1 Chicago 23 21 .523 1½ Cincinnati 21 24 .467 4 Pittsburgh 20 25 .444 5 West Division W L Pct GB Colorado 30 17 .638 — Arizona 27 19 .587 2½ Los Angeles 26 19 .578 3 San Francisco 20 27 .426 10 San Diego 16 31 .340 14 ——— Tuesday’s Games Chicago Cubs 4, San Francisco 1 Colorado 8, Philadelphia 2 Washington 10, Seattle 1 Cleveland 8, Cincinnati 7 N.Y. Mets 9, San Diego 3 Toronto 4, Milwaukee 3 Arizona 5, Chicago White Sox 4 Miami at Oakland, 10:05 p.m. St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers, late finish Pittsburgh at Atlanta, late finish Wednesday’s Games Toronto (Stroman 4-2) at Milwaukee (Garza 2-0), 10:10 a.m. Miami (Volquez 0-6) at Oakland (Gray 1-1), 12:35 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Quintana 2-5) at Arizona (Delgado 1-0), 12:40 p.m. Softball NCAA Division I Super Regionals (Best-of-3; x-if necessary) Host school is home team for Game 1; visiting school is home team for Game 2; coin flip determines home team for Game 3 At Gainesville, Fla. Thursday, May 25: Florida (53-7) vs. Alabama (45-16), 4 p.m. Friday, May 26: Alabama vs. Florida, 4 p.m. x-Saturday, May 27: Florida vs. Alabama, 2 p.m. At Los Angeles Thursday, May 25: UCLA (45-13) vs. Mississippi (43-18), 6 p.m. Friday, May 26: Mississippi vs. UCLA, 6 p.m. x-Saturday, May 27: UCLA vs. Mississippi, 4 p.m. At Tallahassee, Fla. Friday, May 26: Florida State (54-6-1) vs. LSU (44-19), 2 p.m. Saturday, May 27: LSU vs. Florida State, 12 p.m. x-Sunday, May 28: Florida State vs. LSU, 10 a.m. At Knoxville, Tenn Friday, May 26: Tennessee (47-10) vs. Golf PGA FedEx Cup Leaderboard Through May 21 Rank Player Points 1. Dustin Johnson 2,270 2. Hideki Matsuyama 1,865 3. Justin Thomas 1,855 4. Jon Rahm 1,499 5. Pat Perez 1,381 6. Adam Hadwin 1,229 7. Jordan Spieth 1,192 Money $6,355,725 $4,869,791 $4,468,855 $3,976,615 $3,469,475 $2,779,392 $2,976,308
