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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Rodeo Williams, Pederson move up CNFR leaderboard Three performances left in third round East Oregonian CASPER, Wyo. — Blue Moun- tain sophomore Danyelle Williams turned in her fastest time of the week to place fourth in the barrel racing in Tuesday’s performance at the College National Finals Rodeo. Williams stopped the clock in 14.5 seconds, which helped her move up to second place in the three-round aggregate with 43.81. Kailee Webb of Wyoming also had her best run of the week in 14.36 seconds to remain in fi rst place with 43.5 on three, but 38 riders still remain in the third round and will try to move her down the leaderboard during Thursday and Friday night performances. Blue Mountain’s Preston Pederson also competed Tuesday night at Casper Event Center, and Williams Pederson his 10.0 in tie-down was good for fi fth in the performance. He moved up to fourth in the aggregate with 39.5 on three. Reid Zapalac of Tarleton State won the performance with an 8.0 that was the quickest run of the week, and leads the aggregate with 27.9 on three. Two more Timberwolves were slated to compete in Wednesday’s performance, but results were not avail- able by the East Oregonian press time. Jessica Lewis was looking to give herself a shot to make her second straight CNFR short-go in barrel racing and entered the round with 30.54 on two. Loni Lester of Sam Houston State leads Round 3 with 13.98. Lauren Leyva competed in goat tying, where she entered the round with 14.6 on two. Rickie Engesser of Gillette College was the Round 3 and aggregate leader with 6.3 and 19.4 on three. The BMCC women had moved up to 10th in team points through Tuesday with 110, and the men’s team was 33rd with 60. Daily results and draws are available online at CNFR.com. MILTON-FREEWATER PENDLETON Three Pioneers named All-State Hall of Fame expands scope Seniors Fortune, Copeland make 4A softball first team East Oregonian Three Mac-Hi Pioneers were voted among the Oregon’s best softball players at Class 4A when coaches announced the All-State teams this week. Seniors Micha Fortune and Mallory Copeland capped their high school careers with fi rst-team nods at infi eld and utility, respectively. Freshman outfi elder Ashlyn Marly was Mac-Hi’s third selection, and was named to the honorable mention list. See ALL-STATE/2B Staff photo by Eric Singer In this fi le photo from July 9, 2016, Kelly Dietz was one of eight new inductees into the Buckaroo Football Hall of Fame at the Line- backer Club’s induction ceremony and banquet at the Pendleton Convention Center. For the fi rst time this year, the Hall of Fame has opened its doors to athletes from other sports, as well as female athletes. Linebacker’s Club welcoming more than just football greats in 2017 East Oregonian NFL Seahawks’ Thomas ahead of schedule Safety says he’s up to 80 percent By TIM BOOTH Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — Earl Thomas actually considered leaving football immediately after breaking his left leg in a collision with a teammate last year, an injury that ended his 2016 season. He even said as much on social media. Looking back on it now some six months later, the Seattle Seahawks’ star free safety believes it was simply the shock of suffering such a major injury. “I think it was defi nitely the shock of the moment. Especially when I felt like that was one of my best seasons I was having in my career,” Thomas said as Seattle started its mandatory minicamp Tuesday. “And I had the pick in my hand. Right then it’s gone. This is my foundation, my legs. And for my legs to be broken, I See THOMAS/2B Since 2004, the Pendleton Linebacker’s Club Hall of Fame has inducted 91 individuals that helped make Pendleton Buckaroo football special. But this year, the Linebacker’s Club is opening its doors a bit wider for the Class of 2017 Hall of Fame inductees. Recognizing a great amount of standout athletes, coaches and Buckaroo supporters in other sports, the Linebacker’s Club Hall of Fame welcomes in Buckaroo basketball, baseball and wrestling stars as well as two of Pendleton’s fi nest female athletes and a few donors. “We felt it was time to open it up,” Linebacker’s Club President Tom Melton said on Wednesday, “We just feel like being inclusive now is very important for us. There are other sports and very impressive athletes from other sports we felt were due to be recognized.” With the Hall of Fame expanding its horizons, it brings a record-size for the Class of 2017 as a total of 16 individuals and one team will be honored at the induction ceremony on July 7 — 10 more than the six individuals that were a part of the 2016 class. The most notable inductees are the fi rst female athletes, which are Cyd Cimmiyotti, a track and fi eld star and cheerleading standout, as well as basketball star Kelli Chan- dler-Read Bullington. Cimmiyotti (1975-1979) still holds the PHS record in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 12.1 seconds and won the state title in the 200 meters in 1979, becoming the fi rst female Buckaroo to capture an individual state track title. She also was a part of the 1979 state championship cheerleading squad and made the cheerleading team at the University of Oregon. Bullington (1991-1994) was an all-conference basketball player for all four seasons and won back- to-back IMC Player of the Year awards as a junior and senior. She still holds three PHS records with single game rebounds (27), career rebounds (871) and career points (1,724) and played basketball at Portland State. A third female to be inducted, Terre Seitz Rasmussen (1969-1973) dipped her toe in Pendleton athletics as a student in the early 1970s, and is also currently a key supporter for the Linebacker’s Club. See HALL OF FAME/2B MLB Mariners go deep early, hold off Twins late to close in on .500 By SAM EKSTROM Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS — Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino homered against Ervin Santana early, and the Seattle Mariners bullpen held off the Minnesota Twins late in a 6-4 victory Wednesday night. Ben Gamel added three hits and two runs for the Mariners, who have won 12 of 17 games. Rookie Sam Gaviglio picked up the win by pitching into the sixth inning, and four relief pitchers combined to close the door on the Twins’ attempt to come back from Seattle a 5-0 defi cit. Edwin Diaz recorded four outs and dealt with a scare in the ninth inning to pick up his 11th save in 13 opportunities and bring Seattle one win away from the .500 mark. The Mariners never trailed, grabbing the lead before Santana recorded an out when Haniger drove a two-run homer to left. 6 Two innings later, Zunino continued his hot hitting with Minnesota a three-run homer off the facing of the second deck in left-center fi eld to give Seattle a fi ve-run lead. Zunino is hitting .396 since May 29 with four homers against the Twins in that span. Santana (8-4) gave up a season- high nine hits in fi ve innings, his second-shortest start of the season. It was the fourth time this year he 4 allowed fi ve or more runs and the third time he allowed multiple home runs in a game. The Twins ace doesn’t have a win in his last four home starts. Gaviglio (3-1) earned his third win in three decisions for the Mari- ners despite tiring after four strong innings. The rookie fi nished 5 1/3 innings and struck out fi ve but allowed a career-high three home runs. Eduardo Escobar and Byron Buxton hit solo home runs in the See MARINERS/2B Sports shorts Nationals draft manager’s son NEW YORK (AP) — Darren Baker got scooped up by dad’s team again. The son of Washington manager Dusty Baker was drafted by the Nationals in the 27th round of the Major League Baseball draft Wednesday 15 years after he fi rst made headlines on the baseball diamond. The younger Baker, now an 18-year-old speedy shortstop at Jesuit High School in California, was just 3 when he was a bat boy for the San Francisco Giants, managed by his father, in the 2002 Baker World Series. During Game 5 against the Angels, Darren Baker had run to the plate to pick up a bat when J.T. Snow scored and David Bell was fl ying down the third-base line and heading home. Snow quickly plucked Baker out of the way , a moment that instantly became a part of World Series lore. “We’ve been in negotiations for a while. Negotiations went smooth. Floyd is surrounded by some smart people, and we got this thing done. The impossible deal is now done.“ — Dana White UFC president announcing that UFC star Conor McGregor will box fi ve-division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Aug. 26 in Las Vegas. The bout will be at the boxing junior middleweight weight limit of 154 pounds. Pittsburgh doubles in size to celebrate Stanley Cup win PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stanley Cup championship, the fi rst an NHL team has won back to back in almost 20 years, spawned by far the biggest victory parade of any of the franchise’s fi ve titles. An estimated 650,000 people turned out along a downtown parade route that ended with a rally at Point State Park, city public works and public safety offi cials said Wednesday. A sunny day with temperatures in the 80s didn’t hurt, as the smell of sunscreen was as pungent as the Penguins’ love in a city that boasts, offi cially, only 305,000 residents. Roughly 400,000 fans attended last year’s celebration, which was the biggest for any of the team’s Stanley Cup championships to that point. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1938 — Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitches his second straight no-hit game, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers 6-0 in the fi rst night game played at Ebbets Field. 1980 — Jack Nicklaus wins his fourth U.S. Open with a record 272 for 72 holes. 1991 — Carl Lewis, one jump away from losing his 64-meet winning streak in the long jump, comes through with a dramatic victory when he soars 28 feet, 4 inches to pass leader Mike Powell by a half-inch in the U.S. Championships in New York. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com