East Oregonian : E.O., May 31, 2017, Page 1B, Image 11

SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017
1B
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PILOT ROCK
PENDLETON
Rockets fl y back to title game Bucks
ousted by
Spartans
Pilot Rock gets
past Union in
10 innings
Pendleton falls short
in 5A semifi nals
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
With its season on the line and
no margin for error, the Pilot Rock/
Nixyaawii softball team came
through with the grit of a champion
in clutch situations time and again
on Tuesday against Union/Cove in
the Class 2A/1A
OSAA state semi-
2A/1A
fi nals.
Semifi nals
It was the
Rockets’ trade-
mark traits of
stellar
defense
#3 Union
and mental acuity
that allowed them
to rise above the
Bobcats 4-3 in a
10-inning game
that was a rematch #2 Pilot Rock
of last season’s
championship.
“We knew they
were going to fi ght,” said Rockets
pitcher Tehya Ostrom. “That was
just amazing. … We both obviously
had jitters, because this game cost
someone’s season, and we knew
that. But both our teams are strong
enough and mentally tough to fi ght
through it. That’s why we had such a
good game.”
“It’s a tough one to lose and a
great one to win,” said Pilot Rock
coach Darin Fitzpatrick. “These
teams play hard against each other.
It’s a rivalry, but it’s a good rivalry.
They make each other better.”
It was the sixth meeting between
the conference foes this season and
the third to go into extra innings, and
See ROCKETS/2B
East Oregonian
3
4
EUGENE — For the second
consecutive season, the Pendleton
softball team watched its season
come to an end one step away from
playing for a state championship.
Last year, the Buckaroos were
quieted at home by the Churchill
Lancers in the 5A semifi nals and
this season it was the No. 2 seed
Marist Catholic Spartans that sent the
Buckaroos packing
with a 6-5 victory in
5A
Semifi nals the 5A semifi nals on
Tuesday afternoon.
Pendleton coach Tim
Cary said he felt like
#3 Pendleton
the Buckaroos let a
very winnable game
fall through their
fi ngers.
“Marist is a very
good team, no doubt,
#2 Marist
but I think we let
this one slip away,”
he said afterward.
“We played hard the
entire time and just about got it done
there at the end but came up short.
But we had good fi ght and we’re a
good team and we’ll be right back
next year ready to go.”
The Buckaroos spotted the Spar-
tans a 4-0 lead in the fi rst inning as
pitcher Lauren Richards walked two,
hit a batter and gave up two hits and
a wild pitch as she took some time to
get settled in against the potent Spar-
See BUCKS/2B
5
6
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Pilot Rock’s Sara Weinke exults after reaching third base during Tuesday’s state semifi nal
2A/1A softball game against Union/Cove.
College Golf
Oregon advances
to NCAA fi nals
Defending champion Ducks
face Oklahoma today
Associated Press
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — Oregon and
Oklahoma will play for the NCAA men’s golf
title, two teams that at times had every reason
to think they wouldn’t be there.
The Sooners trailed in all fi ve of their
matches through 10 holes of their quarterfi nal
match against Baylor on Tuesday morning at
Rich Harvest Farms until they rallied, with
Brad Dalke fi nishing off the Bears with a par
on the 19th hole.
The Ducks were outside the top eight teams
trying to qualify Monday for match play when
Ryan Gronlund closed with four straight
birdies that allowed Oregon to advance. The
Ducks took it from there, beating Oklahoma
State in the quarterfi nals and riding the clutch
play of Sulman Raza in the afternoon.
In the fi fth and decisive match against
top-seeded Vanderbilt, Raza protected his
1-up lead on the par-5 18th hole with a 6-iron
onto the back of the green. Matthias Schwab,
the Commodores’ top player, went left of the
green, chipped well past the hole and made
par, and he conceded to Raza.
That gives the Ducks a chance to join
Alabama and Augusta State as the only back-
to-back winners since the match-play era
began in 2009.
See DUCKS/2B
STANFIELD
St. Mary’s stuns Stanfi eld in semifi nals
The
Stanfi eld
Tigers
react after
losing to
St. Marys’
3-2 on in
the quar-
ter fi nals
of the
3A state
baseball
playoffs
Tuesday.
Crusaders end
Tigers bid for state
championship repeat
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
After the fi nal out of Tues-
day’s 3A baseball semifi nal
game between No. 1 Stanfi eld/
Echo and No. 4 St. Mary’s,
Medford, the winning team
tossed
its
gloves around
3A
semifi nals in the air in
celebration and
danced around
in a giant mosh
pit, just as one
#4 St. Mary’s
might expect,
after clinching
a state title
game berth.
What was
unexpected
#1 Stanfi eld
though, was the
team that was
celebrating.
It was not the
defending 3A state champion
Tigers, who dominated the fi rst
two rounds of the postseason.
Instead it was the Crusaders,
who got a dominant pitching
performance to quiet the Tiger
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
3
2
offense and advance to the
school’s fi rst-ever baseball state
championship game with a 3-2
victory at Madigan Field.
The Crusaders (25-4) will
now play No. 6 Glide for the 3A
state championship at Volcanoes
Stadium in Keizer on Friday at 5
p.m.
“It’s tough,” Stanfi eld’s
Dylan Grogan said afterwards,
fi ghting back emotions. “The
seniors wanted to get back at it
and get another one, but some-
times all it takes is one pitch and
now we gotta live with it.”
As Grogan referenced, the
win for the Crusaders came
down to one pitch. St. Mary’s
registered just three hits in the
game, but its entire offensive
output came with one swing
of the bat in the fi fth inning.
With the Tigers (24-3) holding
a 2-0 lead, starting pitcher Klay
Jenson walked two batters to
put a pair on with two outs. It
wasn’t a new occurrence for the
Stanfi eld lefty on Tuesday, who
walked a total of six batters as
he battled his command, yet had
managed to escape unharmed
each time prior.
But after throwing St. Mary’s
batter Joe Johnson a fi rst-pitch
slider, Jenson tried to get
another slider in for a strike but
left it over the plate a hair too
much and the lefty-swinging
Johnson put a good swing on
the pitch and lifted it up into the
See STANFIELD/2B
Sports shorts
MLB hands out fi nes to Harper,
Strickland for Monday’s brawl
Pujols on doorstep of 600 HR club
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols hit
his 599th career homer during the Los Angeles
Angels’ nine-run third inning in a 9-3 victory
over struggling Bartolo Colon and the Atlanta
Braves on Tuesday night.
Pujols moved to the brink of his
latest milestone with a three-run
homer off Colon early in the
Angels’ biggest one-inning rally of
the season.
The 37-year-old slugger has
homered in back-to-back games
for the fi rst time this season. He
Pujols
will be the ninth player in baseball
history, and the fourth-youngest, to reach 600
homers with his next shot.
After his fi rst-inning single, Pujols’ homer
was his 2,873rd career hit, matching Babe
Ruth’s career total in 30 fewer games.
Parker Bridwell (1-0) earned his fi rst MLB
victory, pitching six-hit ball into the seventh.
“I just have (a) problem
with his attitude,
because he wasn’t fair.
That’s it.“
— Laurent Lokoli
French tennis player on why he
refused to shake the hand of
his opponent Martin Klizan of
Slovakia after losing 7-6 (4),
6-3, 4-6, 0-6, 6-4 at the French
Open on Tuesday. Lokoli said
he thought Klizan was faking an
injury during the match and was
generally “disrespectful.”
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Giants reliever
Hunter Strickland received a six-game suspen-
sion Tuesday and Washington’s Bryce Harper
was penalized four games for their roles in a
benches-clearing brawl at AT&T
Park a day earlier.
MLB said both players
planned to appeal, so the
suspensions weren’t to begin with Tuesday
night’s game between the clubs.
Strickland hit Harper in the hip with a pitch
in the eighth inning and the Washington slugger
charged the mound, wildly fi ring his helmet
and trading punches to the head with Strickland
during the Nationals’ 3-0 win Monday.
The two players’ bad blood stems from a
pair of home runs Harper hit off Strickland in
the 2014 playoffs, when the Giants went on to
capture their third World Series in fi ve years.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1927 — Detroit fi rst
baseman Johnny Neun makes
an unassisted triple play in the
ninth inning to end the 1-0 win
over the Cleveland Indians.
Neun grabs a Homer Summa
line drive, tags Charlie
Jamieson at fi rst and outruns
Glenn Myatt to tag second.
1987 — The Edmonton
Oilers win their third Stanley
Cup by beating the Philadel-
phia Flyers 3-1 in Game 7.
2008 — Usain Bolt sets the
world record in the 100 meters
with a time of 9.72 seconds at
the Reebok Grand Prix in New
York. Bolt is .02 seconds faster
than the old record held by
fellow Jamaican, Asafa Powell.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com