SPORTS
TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017
1B
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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.
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sports@eastoregonian.com