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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2017)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Saturday, June 24, 2017 PENDLETON Walk-off sends Hodgen Distributing to sixth straight loss East Oregonian WALLA WALLA — The last seven days have been a struggle for the Hodgen Distributing baseball team. Since beating La Grande 8-6 to capture its home Ashlee Hodgen Tournament crown, the team had dropped five straight games, two of which came by two runs or less. On Friday, Hodgen added yet another loss to the streak when a comeback effort proved for naught as River City Athletics won 7-6 on seventh inning walk-off at the Walla Walla Tourna- ment. River City led 4-0 going into the sixth inning when Hodgen finally got some offense going. With a man on, Avery Deutz lined a single into center to bring home Ryan Russell and later in the inning a double steal works to perfection as Tyler Chichester scored from third to make it a 4-2 game. In the bottom of the sixth, River City added a pair of runs of its own with one scoring on a wild pitch and then Hermiston product Brylee Dufloth hitting an RBI single to score Irrigon product Adrian Roa to make it a 6-2 game. With one out in the seventh, Hodgen got a rally going as back-to-back walks to Russell and Daniel Naughton set up a two-run error to bring home both runners. Later in the inning, Brett Swanson lined a single into left field to bring home two more runs to tie the game at 6-6. But the momentum improve and beat what you did before, but the most important thing is I want to do what I can to win,” Grogan said. “I’m never too worried about my stats, honestly ... I think I had pretty good stats this year but I don’t think I’ve seen them. It was just a fun year.” As Stanfield’s No. 3 hitter, Grogan led the state semifinalist Tigers with a .488 batting average, smacked 17 extra-base hits, tallied 34 RBI and scored 52 runs. He also drew 19 walks and struck out just five times and put up a 1.295 On-base plus slugging percentage (for reference, New York Yankees rookie slugger Aaron Judge leads Major League Baseball with a 1.131 OPS). He didn’t pitch as much as he could due to some arm soreness through the middle part of the season, but he still overpowered opponents in 29 1/3 innings and put up a 0.95 ERA with 53 strikeouts and combined with Klay Jenson to pitch in two no-hitters. Over Grogan’s final eight appearances on the mound, he allowed a mere five hits and one earned run in 16 innings with 24 strikeouts. So yeah, his stats were pretty outstanding. His senior season didn’t end how he had hoped, though, as Grogan and the defending champion Tigers were stunned at home by St. Mary’s, Medford in the 3A semifinals. But after having time to look back on all that he and the Tigers were able to accomplish throughout the season, Grogan said that loss doesn’t sting as much as one might think. “Of course it’s disap- pointing, but if you look at the bigger picture and what we’ve done just to get here, I think we’ve earned a lot of respect for this town,” he said. “It’s hard, really hard to go back-to-back because everyone is going harder at you. St. Mary’s got bounced in the semifinals last year and I know their seniors really wanted a ring, and I guess they just wanted it a bit more this year.” Now Grogan will keep his focus on the baseball diamond as he moves away from Stanfield in the fall. He will play baseball at Yakima Valley Community College for one season — taking AP classes while at Stanfield already took care of one year of credits already — and then set his sights on playing at the Division I level. He received Division I interest from multiple schools throughout his senior year, even earning a partial scholar- ship offer from University of Portland. However, even with the partial scholarship the cost of attendance was still a bit too high for Grogan to jump at. “I just chose Yakima because they give better opportunities for their players afterwards,” he said. “They send a lot of their kids to Divi- sion I schools so I thought it was my best choice to go there and get it done.” Grogan has dreams of playing in the major leagues and hopes to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Quinton, another multi-tal- ented athlete who went the baseball route in college and was selected in the 30th round of the 2016 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins. Like Dylan, Quinton went to the junior college ranks first after he left Stanfield, first going to Blue Mountain Community College before moving on to Lewis-Clark State. And Dylan said that he has already had many conversa- tions with his brother about the necessary steps to take to reach the professional levels, and he hopes he can use that each had two hits apiece. Hermiston’s Dufloth finished 1 for 3 with one run scored, and RBI and a walk for River City, while Roa was 0 for 2 with two runs scored and a walk. ———— R H E HDG 000 002 4 — 6 9 4 RVC 210 012 1 — 7 2 4 (H) R. Russell, R. Stahl (2), T. Morris (6), A. Fell (6), T. Chichester (7) and J. Duso. (R) M. Romero, E. Davilla (7), A. Justice (7). W — A. Justice, L — T. Chichester. 2B — R. Russell (HDG). ALL-EO BASEBALL SECOND TEAM GROGAN: Now heads to play baseball at Yakima Valley Community College Continued from 1B quickly swung back to River City in the bottom half, with a one-out walk and a two-base error by the Hodgen pitcher set up a steal of home for the winning run. Hodgen’s offense collected nine hits and left 10 runners on base. Russell was a key contributor going 2 for 3 with two runs a double and a walk, while Chichester, Swanson and Tristan Morris Pitchers as a big advantage. “The main stuff he says is that the skills and physical abilities are there but the mental side will be the biggest struggle,” Grogan said. “It was his biggest problem because he’d have bad games or times where you’re not playing as much and you just have to fight through it and try to be the best you can be and don’t worry about anything else.” With Yakima Valley CC playing in the Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) East Region, Grogan will venture back to Eastern Oregon sometime next spring with his team to play Blue Mountain in Pendleton. He mentioned he cannot wait until those two series’ with the Timberwolves because he’ll get to face Tiger teammates and friends Klay Jenson and Tony Flores who will be playing for BMCC. “I might peg Tony when he’s batting,” Grogan joked, with a big smile on his face, “And I hope Klay pitches against us. I just can’t wait to play them, it’ll be a fun time.” Until then, Grogan will spend the remaining time of his summer enjoying some downtime with friends and time to focus solely on base- ball. He admits that it will be weird not having to ramp up workouts and weight lifting for football this summer and in the fall, but he is looking forward to being a one-sport athlete now. “I was always preparing for the next sport in high school and I fell like I’m going to be way better because now I only have to worry about baseball,” Grogan said. “Football this year I didn’t get my arm ready enough and that’s probably what made my arm hurt. But now I feel like I’ll be prepared more and I want to make the next level, I’m determined to do it.” • Lukas Tolan, jr., Hermiston — 2.74 ERA, 41K, 51 IP -- .383 avg., 18 runs, 1st team all-CRC. • Daniel Naughton, jr., Pendleton — 4.67 ERA, 43 K, 33 IP -- .337 avg., 27 RBI, 2nd team all-CRC • Klay Jenson, sr., Stanfield — 2.12 ERA, 43 K, 1 no-hitter -- .312 avg., 31 RBI, 2nd team all-EOL Catcher • Slade Gritz, sr., Hermiston — .305 avg., 15 RBI, 1 HR, .379 OBP, 2nd team all-CRC. • Brett Speed, jr., Weston-McEw- en — .349 avg., 24 runs, 23 RBI, 1 HR, .973 OPS -- 3.19 ERA. • Adrian Roa, jr., Irrigon — .377 avg., 31 runs, 24 RBI, 21 SB, 2nd team all-Eastern Oregon League. Outfield • Shaw Jerome, jr., Pendleton — .322 avg., 20 RBI, 1st team all-CRC. • Adrian Renner, jr., Stanfield — .342 avg., 33 runs, 19 SB, 1st team all-Eastern Oregon League. • Joel Mendez, jr., Hermiston — .380 avg., 18 runs, 1st team all-CRC. Utility Infield • Kaden Caldwell, sr., Hermis- ton — .391 avg., 14 RBI, 10 runs, honorable mention all-CRC. • Hunter Barnes, sr., Stanfield — .395 avg., 33 RBI, 1 HR, 30 R, .998 OPS, 2nd team all-EOL. ALL-EO HONORABLE MENTION Pitcher • Caden Schwirse, jr., Hermiston — 4.84 ERA, 17 K, All-CRC HM. • Hunter Sater, sr., Weston- McEwen — 1.23 ERA, 30 K, 34 IP -- .328 avg., 23 RBI, 5 2B, .919 OPS Catcher • Bryson Pierce, jr., Pilot Rock — .416 avg., 2 HR, 4 2B, 2 3B, 17 RBI, 10 R, .611 SLG, 1.134 OPS. Infield • Tanner Mills, jr., Irrigon — .373 avg., 19 RBI, honorable mention all-Eastern Oregon League. • Nate Gumbert, jr., Irrigon — .377 avg., 17 RBI, 18 runs, honor- able mention all-EOL. • Jesus Vela, jr., Mac-Hi — 2nd team all-Greater Oregon League. • Seth Cranston, soph., Umatilla — 2nd team all-EOL. Outfield • Justin Keeney, jr., Stanfield — .382 avg., 16 runs, 12 RBI, honor- able mention all-EOL. • Tracker Denny, sr., Pilot Rock — .352 avg., 1 HR, 17 RBI, 3 2B, 9 R, .463 SLG, .859 OPS. • Austin Zaugg, sr., Pendleton — .315 avg., 10 runs, 5 doubles, 2nd team all-CRC. Utility • Brendan Dearing, sr., Weston-McEwen — .408 avg., 29 runs, 27 SB, 16 RBI, .996 OPS. • Jordan Ramirez, soph., Herm- iston — .369 avg., .434 OBP, 9 R, 6 RBI, 2nd team all-CRC. The ‘Kings Court’ watches as Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez throws during the second in- ning Friday’s game in Seattle. MARINERS: Hernandez strikes out eight in return Continued from 1B Gamel led off the fourth inning with his fourth homer and Seager followed later in the inning with his eighth, helping end Musgrove’s miserable night. The Houston right- hander lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing 12 hits and nine earned runs, both new career-highs. Hernandez (3-2) wasn’t great but didn’t need to be getting the kind of run support that’s been rare during his career. Pitching for the first time since April 25, Hernandez gave up a pair of solo home runs to Bregman and Jose Altuve, but walked just one batter and pitched out of the one major jam he faced. Houston had runners at the corners with one out when Hernandez struck out Yuli Gurriel and got Bregman to fly out. Hernandez struck out eight, and Yovani Gallardo picked up the save pitching the final three innings in his first relief appearance since 2007. UP NEXT Astros: Lance McCullers (6-1) returns from the disabled list to start for the first time since June 8. McCullers was out because of lower back discomfort. Mariners: Sam Gaviglio (3-1) will make his eighth start. Gaviglio got a no decision in his last outing throwing five innings and two runs. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) IS PROUD TO BE THE TITLE SPONSOR BEAVERS: Face LSU today again at noon on ESPN Continued from 1B when, with runners on first and second, Steven Kwan sliced a ball down the left- field line that bounced off the wall and was ruled foul. TV replays indicated it was a fair ball. Oregon State coach Pat Casey said by the time someone on his staff told him to ask for a video review, the next pitch had been thrown, closing his window of opportunity. NCAA national coor- dinator of umpires George Drouches said through an NCAA spokesman that crew chief Danny Collins should have called for a video review. Collins, who was working third base, made the original foul call. Kwan ended up popping out to shortstop before Lange walked two straight to force in a run. Had the ball been ruled fair, Casey said, “I do believe that it certainly would have changed that inning, that’s for sure.” For Lange, there was a moment of anxiety. “I’m looking, and you’re talking to it, kind of like OSU’s KJ Harrison strikes out with the base loaded to close out the fourth inning against LSU during an NCAA College World Se- ries game Friday in Omaha, Neb. Brendan Sul- livan/Omaha World-Herald via AP a golfer talks to a ball,” he said. “I was like, ‘Get foul, get foul.’ Then they called it foul, and I thought it was foul. But what I heard in the dugout, it might have been fair. So I’m just glad they called it foul. Obviously, that’s a pretty big situation.” Lange ran into trouble in the third when he walked three batters and gave up a double. Only one more batter advanced past first against him, and he retired eight in a row before he turned the game over to closer Zack Hess with one out in the eighth. Hess retired the last five batters, four by strikeout, for his fourth save. LSU opened the second inning with a double and two singles and led 2-0 when Beau Jordan’s safe- ty-squeeze bunt scored Zach Watson. The Beavers’ two hits were their fewest since they had four in their season opener against Indiana. “We believe in ourselves, and we’re still 56-5 or what- ever we are,” Casey said. “We need to put that behind us and get ready to play tomorrow.” WALLOPING WATSON Watson had three hits for the second straight game, the first player to do that in the CWS since Florida’s Richie Martin in 2015. Watson is 8 for his last 12 after going 0 for 4 against Florida State last Saturday. PITCHING MATCHUP Oregon State will start Tampa Bay Rays’ first-round draft pick Drew Rasmussen (3-0) against Caleb Gilbert (6-1). Rasmussen returned from Tommy John surgery in April. Gilbert has been used mostly in relief but is being pressed into the starter’s role because of a forearm injury to Eric Walker. ABOUT SATURDAY Something for LSU fans to chew on before the winner-take-all bracket final: Since losing five straight games from May 6-13, 2016, Oregon State is 62-6 and has not lost consecutive games. GOLF TOURNAMENT GOLFING FOR A CAUSE SATURDAY, JULY 15, 2017 BIG RIVER GOLF COURSE Silver Sponsors: SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD $60.00 ENTRY FEE: PRIZES ON EVERY HOLE! Includes greens fee for 18 holes, pastries before & lunch after the tournament OPEN TO MEN & WOMEN OF ALL SKILL LEVELS Four person Scramble • Limited to fi rst 120 golfers 8:00am: Check-in opens. Teams & hole assignments announced. 9:00am: Shot gun start Conclusion of tournament: Lunch, awards ceremony Please contact Big River Golf Course to reserve a cart at 541-922-3006. (carts are not included in the entry fee) For more information, contact Dave Hughes at 541-571-7293.
