East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, June 15, 2017, Page 1B, Image 9

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    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