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.