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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2017)
SPORTS FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS OSAA Baseball & Softball State Playoffs Buckaroos, Eagles set for Round 5 Pendleton hosts conference foe in quarterfi nals East Oregonian The Pendleton Buckaroos and the Hood River Valley Eagles took the fi eld together four times during the regular season, and today the teams will do so again though this time there are bigger stakes. The No. 3 seed Buckaroos (24-4) and No. 6 Eagles (18-10) meet up today in the 5A quarterfi nals after both teams had to grind out victories against their lower-seeded opponent. Pendleton held on for a 4-0 shutout against Corvallis while Hood River won 3-2 over No. 11 La Salle Prep on Wednesday. The two Columbia River Confer- ence foes split their season series two games to two, with Hood River winning the last installment 3-2 on May 9. Pendleton coach Tim Cary attributed the Buckaroos performance on Wednesday to some nerves, and believes that his team will be ready to go today. “I think the fi rst playoff game is the one where the nerves are the highest,” he said following Wednes- day’s game, “so hopefully we have that out of our system and we play a little looser on Friday, relax and play a little better.” The pitching match-up will be Lauren Richards versus Hannah McNerney, which was the case for three of the four previous meetings. Richards has been nearly unhittable over the past three games as she’s allowed a mere fi ve hits and one run with 30 strikeouts and four walks in 19 innings. Meanwhile Hood River has given up just nine runs over its past fi ve games, all of which have been wins. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m. at Steve Cary Field. No. 6 CROOK COUNTY AT No. 3 MAC-HI — The Mac-Hi 5A Quarterfi nals Hood River #3 Pendleton Eagles Buckaroos (18-10) (24-4) • Today, 4:30 p.m. • at Steve Cary Field, Pendleton #6 4A Quarterfi nals #3 Mac-Hi Cowboys Pioneers (19-5) (18-6) • Today, 4 p.m. #6 Crook County • at Yantis Park, Milton-Freewater 2A/1A Quarterfi nals Staff photo by Kathy Aney In this fi le photo Elli Nirschl, of Pendleton, slides into second base Saturday, April 22 at Steve Cary Field as an unidentifi ed Hood River player hurries to cut her off. Pioneers took a good fi rst step in their trek to reach a fi fth straight state championship game, by defeating No. 14 Newport 11-1 in fi ve innings on Wednesday. But now the Pioneers (18-6) face a big test in the quarterfi nal round as they host the red-hot Crook County Cowboys (19-5) this afternoon. The No. 6 seed Cowboys shutout North Bend 3-0 in the fi rst round, and have now won 15 of their last 16 games. Pitching has been a sudden question mark for Mac-Hi down the stretch, but pitching was strong in the fi rst round as McKenna Stallings allowed just three hits and zero walks with seven strikeouts in fi ve innings. She will need to be strong once again as the Cowboys come in averaging more than seven runs per game and PENDLETON T-Wolves snag all-region honors Four softball, one baseball player honored East Oregonian Five Blue Mountain softball and base- ball athletes earned all-region honors, as the NWAC announced this week. Four softball players earned spots on the East Region all star team, headlined by soph- omore outfi elder Megan Ulrey as the Timberwolves lone fi rst team selection. Ulrey hit for a .354 average in 30 conference games, smashing six home runs and six doubles with 22 RBI and 17 runs scored. She also had a perfect 1.000 fi elding percentage in 88 innings in center fi eld. The fi nal three players made second team, including Lauren Cagle, Sydney Saxton Siaki and Sarah Bonner. Saxton Siaki, a sophomore, led the Timberwolves in hitting (.445 avg.) See BMCC/2B Mac-Hi pitcher McKenna Stallings spins a pitch towards home plate during the Pioneers game against Pendleton on Thursday in Milton- Freewater. Lost River #2 Pilot Rock Raiders Rockets (16-9) (23-5) • Today, p.m. • at Pilot Rock Elementary #10 3A Quarterfi nals Staff photo by Eric Singer #9 Taft #1 Stanfi eld Tigers Tigers (16-8) (23-2) • Today, 4:30 p.m. • at Madigan Field, Stanfi eld See PLAYOFFS/2B MLB Cruz’s 3-run homer lifts Mariners over Nats Seattle stops five- game losing streak By IAN QUILLEN Associated Press WASHINGTON — Mari- ners manager Scott Servais got ejected for the second time this season. Nelson Cruz came through with a big hit, just like he did when Servais was Seattle tossed from a game on April 16. “Our guys joke about it,” Servais said Thursday after Washington Seattle rallied to beat the Wa s h i n g t o n Nationals 4-2. “They’d like to see it probably happen more.” Cruz greeted reliever Jacob Turner with a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning, two batters after Servais’ 4 2 AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz (23) hits a three-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Wash- ington Nationals in Washington, Thursday, May 25, 2017. departure. The Mariners stopped a fi ve-game losing streak. “Everything starts with one game,” Cruz said. “A win can defi nitely change everything.” Gio Gonzalez took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, when Jean Segura singled leading off and Guill- ermo Heredia took a called third strike. That prompted Servais to complain from the dugout, which led to his dismissal by plate umpire Adam Hamari. Robinson Cano singled, and Washington manager Dusty Baker brought in Turner (2-3), despite Cruz having just one hit in 15 at-bats against Gonzalez. Gonzalez had thrown just 50 of 96 pitches for strikes. “I saw a couple balls hit hard right after we scored, and he was struggling all day,” Baker explained. “It was kind of like a Houdini up there, got out of trouble a bunch. He was 2-0 on everybody.” Cruz drove Turner’s belt-high slider over the fence in left- center for his 12th homer this season and a 3-2 lead. Cruz, who leads the AL with 40 RBIs, had a run-scoring single that capped a ninth-inning rally in the April 16 win over the Rangers. The home run made him 2 for 2 against Turner. Cano added an RBI single off Turner in the seventh. Seattle See MARINERS/2B Sports shorts Kerr not ready to return to bench OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Steve Kerr is involved in just about everything but the actual game-day coaching for the Golden State Warriors fi lm session, coaches meetings, game-planning and practice. He’s just not yet ready from a health standpoint to be back on the bench with the start of the NBA Finals a week away. General manager Bob Myers made the announcement Thursday , though he didn’t rule out Kerr returning at some point if he Kerr somehow is healthy enough to do so though that doesn’t appear promising at this stage. “If he feels better and we have to make those decisions, we will, but right now we’re not putting any deadlines on should he feel better what will we do,” Myers said. “It’ll be based on what day it is, how exactly he feels, how long he’s felt well.” “Trust me when I tell you, it’s going to be bad blood this year. You think the NFC East didn’t like each other before? This year right here? There’s going to be a lot of fi nes and maybe some suspensions.“ — Josh Norman Washington cornerback on the up- coming NFL season. The outspoken player known for his physical play also made disparaging remarks about wide receivers Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys and Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. Movie explores lacrosse’s origins ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A new documentary titled “Spirit Game: Pride of a Nation” will attempt to offer a deeper understanding of lacrosse’s origins and its impact on Native Americans. The 90-minute movie, directed by Peter Spirer and Peter Baxter, debuts Friday, on the eve of the men’s NCAA national semifi nals, in select theaters around the country. It will be available on video on demand services on June 20. The six nations of the Iroquois (Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Seneca, and Mohawk) call lacrosse the “medicine game.” It’s considered the lifeblood of their nation. The movie traces the sport’s beginnings more than four centuries ago all the way through the 2015 World Indoor Championships in Syracuse, New York, a portion of which was conducted on Native American soil for the fi rst time. Although the six Iroquois tribes have a combined population of about 125,000, the team fi nished second in the tournament to Canada. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1987 — Boston’s Larry Bird steals an inbounds pass from Detroit’s Isiah Thomas and feeds over his shoulder to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the winning basket. The play sends the Celtics to a 108-107 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference fi nals. 2000 — New Jersey fi nishes the greatest come- back in a conference fi nal when the Devils win the last three games of the series, beating the Flyers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference fi nals. Patrik Elias scores his second goal of the game with 2:32 to play for the win. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
