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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2017)
SPORTS TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Beavers ready to re-load in 2018 College Baseball OSU looking ahead after stunning end in World Series Hodgen fi nishes weekend strong Hodgen Dist. snaps losing skid with three straight wins By BOB LUNDEBERG Albany Democrat-Herald OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Despite an unfulfi lling end to the College World Series, the future is bright for the Oregon State baseball team. The Beavers, who fi nished the season 56-6 after dropping consecutive games to LSU at TD Ameritrade Park, are poised to bring back a wealth of talent as they mount a defense of their conference title in 2018. Pac-12 player of the year Nick Madrigal headlines a large group of returners that will be fi ghting for the program’s seventh trip to Omaha. “Almost everybody on the fi eld, other than KJ (Harrison), is a returner,” coach Pat Casey said following Saturday’s 6-1 season-ending loss to LSU. “So that’s a pretty good piece of the puzzle. … Our bullpen was really, really good all year long, and they were young guys. They’ll be back.” Harrison, the team’s home run leader in each of the past three years, is expected to turn professional after getting selected in the third round (84th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in PENDLETON East Oregonian Brendan Sullivan/Omaha World-Herald via AP LSU’s Michael Papierski shakes hands with Oregon State’s Cadyn Grenier after an NCAA College World Series baseball game Saturday, June 24, 2017, in Omaha, Neb. the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The 6-foot, 209-pound fi rst baseman/catcher hit .313 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 2016. Madrigal, a sophomore second baseman, led the team in batting average (.380), runs (53), doubles (20) and stolen bases (16). The Pac-12 defensive player of the year fi nished the season with just fi ve errors. Other notable soph- omore returners include shortstop Cadyn Grenier and outfi elders Steven Kwan, Trevor Larnach, Andy Atwood and Elliott Cary (a redshirt sopho- more). Freshman catcher Adley Rutschman shined defensively at the CWS, making acrobatic catches on popped-up bunts while throwing out multiple runners. “I think it’s tremendous what Adley Rutschman was able to do, seeing his growth and development behind the plate,” pitching coach Nate Yeskie said. “We think this weekend was kind of a glimpse of what he has in his toolbox. The guy played tremendously well on the defensive side, handled the HERMISTON Line helps South win Les Schawb Bowl Hermiston alum plays through injury for win See BEAVERS/2B MLS Sounders, Timbers draw in Cascadia Cup rivalry By ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian HILLSBORO — For the third straight season the South conquered the North at the Les Schwab Tires Bowl, with the South winning the 70th meeting of the 6A/5A football all-star game by a 10-7 score at Hills- boro Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Hermiston’s John-Henry Line played on the South roster, a key part of his team’s stout defensive front that held the North to a mere 44 rushing yards, forced three turnovers and registered three sacks. Line himself tallied three total tackles with one tackle-for-loss. “Our defense was amazing,” Line said on Monday. “I’ve never been a part of something like that. We were unstoppable.” As good as the week ended for the Hermiston High graduate, it started off a little rough. On the fi rst day of practice with pads on Wednesday, Line was in the midst of running a routine drill until his right pinkie fi nger got caught up on a player while making tackle. He knew something was wrong imme- diately, and had to be taken to the local emergency room where he had x-rays done and was diagnosed with a broken fi nger. “My middle fi nger all the way to staff well.” Larnach led the Beavers with 48 RBIs while batting .303. Redshirt junior Jack Anderson, junior Christian Donahue and senior Kyle Nobach, who redshirted in 2016, could also be back in a crowded outfi eld that includes promising freshman WALLA WALLA — After six straight losses, Hodgen Distributing rattled off three straight wins on Saturday and Sunday at the Walla Walla Bruins Tournament to fi nish with a 3-2 record. First on Saturday, Hodgen rallied late to beat Pasco 10-7 and then held off a charge from Yakima to win 15-13. Then on Sunday, Hodgen won a bit more comfortably with a 14-7 victory over Bell- ingham (WA). Against Pasco, Hodgen was trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the fi fth when the offense got a rally going. Ryan Russell led off with a single and Avery Deutz immediately smacked a double to right fi eld that scored Russell to tie the game. Three batters later, Deutz scored from third on a wild pitch for an 8-7 lead and then Brett Swanson hit a sacrifi ce fl y to center fi eld to score Justin Duso for a 9-7 lead. See HODGEN/2B Contributed photo from Billy Gates/The Oregonian Hermiston alumnus John-Henry Line tries to stay cool on the side- lines during the 2017 Les Schwab Tires Bowl on Saturday, June 24, 2017 in Hillsboro. Line’s South team beat the North 10-7. my pinkie was all swollen and all messed up,” Line recalled. The injury slowed him a bit for the rest of the week, but not enough to keep him out. When it came time for the game, Line had his fi ngers taped up with some gel padding underneath to help protect the fi nger. Line’s South squad got the scoring going fi rst when McMinnville quar- terback Wyatt Smith hooked up with Wilsonville’s Harrison Steiger on a 17-yard touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead in the fi rst quarter. Then in the third quarter the South added to the lead with a 28-yard fi eld goal from Grants Pass’ Jerin Appling for a 10-0 lead. The South’s defense did not give in until late in the fourth quarter, when North running back Jake McGreevy, of Clackamas, scored on a 2-yard rush up the middle to make it a 10-7 game. “It was a super serious game,” Line said. “The other team was trash talking us a lot.” Line and the rest of the players also had to deal with a blistering heat during the game, which made temperatures on the fi eld turf hover around 100 degrees. Luckily, both teams had tents to give the players some shade to sit under on the side- See LINE/2B PORTLAND — Clint Dempsey likened his goal against the Timbers to a slam dunk. Dempsey scored in stop- page time and the Seattle Sounders pulled into a hard- fought 2-2 draw with rival Portland in a Cascadia Cup match on Sunday night. Fanendo Adi scored his 50th career goal for Portland and Dairon Asprilla added another at the end of the fi rst half to give the Timbers a 2-1 advantage until Dempsey’s late equalizer — a perfectly placed header in the fi nal to stun the home crowd at Provi- dence Park. It gave Dempsey nine goals against the Timbers, making him the top scorer in MLS play between the teams. It is Seattle Portland 2 2 also the most goals the veteran midfi elder has against any league team. “It defi nitely feels good. I guess it’s what it must feel like to slam dunk in a game, because you’re just going up for it and giving it everything you have on it and putting on frame,” said Dempsey, who came in as a sub in the second half. The Sounders, who took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute when Joevin Jones scored on his own rebound, played a man down after Brad Evans was sent off with a red card in the fi nal minutes of the fi rst See MLS/2B Seattle’s Roman Torres, left, and Port- land’s Fanen- do Adi battle for the ball during an MLS game Sunday, June 25, 2017, in Portland. Pete Christopher/The Oregonian via AP Sports shorts Harvick gets fi rst win of season SONONA, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Harvick returned to victory lane for the fi rst time this season with a dominating run Sunday on the road course at Sonoma Raceway. The former NASCAR champion came to Sonoma winless in 20 races since Kansas last fall and has been overshadowed in this season of NASCAR’s young new superstars. But at a track where experience and ability can separate the fi eld, it was Harvick and a bunch of veterans who led the way. Harvick It was the fi rst win on the winding wine country road course in 17 tries for the Bakersfi eld, California, driver. Sonoma was one of just four active tracks where Harvick had never before scored a Cup victory. Harvick’s Stewart-Haas teammate Clint Bowyer was second and Brad Keselowski third as Ford cars went 1-2-3. “I’m lucky to have played with great people wherever I went in hockey. The game is a team effort, and I have a long list of those who helped me.“ — Teemu Selanne Longtime NHL forward was one of seven members elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. Selanne scored 684 career goals in 1,451 career NHL games over 21 seasons. Joining him in the class of 2017 are Paul Kariya, Dave Andreychuk, Mark Recchi, Danielle Goyette, Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs. Florida holds off LSU in Game 1 of CWS Championship Series OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Brady Singer struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings, Jonathan India doubled in two runs, and Florida beat LSU 4-3 in Game 1 of the College World Series fi nals Monday night. The Gators (51-19) need a win Tuesday or Wednesday to earn their fi rst national championship. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN and WatchESPN.com. Singer’s strikeout total was highest by a single pitcher in a CWS fi nals game. Singer (9-5) limited LSU (52-19) to three singles before Antoine Duplantis homered in the sixth. Florida led 3-0 after LSU starter Russell Reynolds (1-2) issued three straight walks in the fourth, with India driving in two runs on a ground-rule double. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1999 — Juli Inkster shoots a 6-under 65 to win the LPGA Championship, becoming the second woman to win the modern career Grand Slam. Pat Bradley won her Grand Slam 13 years earlier. 2006 — Roger Federer wins his record 42nd straight grass-court match, beating Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to open his bid for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship. Federer breaks the record he shared with Bjorn Borg, the fi ve- time Wimbledon champion who won 41 straight matches on grass from 1976-1981. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
