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TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2017
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NAUGHTON’S SIZZLING SUMMER
Pendleton pitcher goes from little-known prospect to D-I commit
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — A little after
4 p.m. on a Wednesday in late July,
Pendleton senior Daniel Naughton
steps onto the field at Bob White
Ballpark for his usual weekday
workout.
First up is a round of long toss
with teammate Justin Duso and
Pendleton alumnus and current
George Fox University player Brian
Branstetter. Afterwards, Duso and
Naughton break off for the duo’s
usual bullpen session. On this day,
Naughton and Duso choose a spot
down the first base line at the ball-
park that is in the shade, doing so to
escape the sun and heat of the warm
mid-90s weather.
Naughton toes the rubber
donning a Nike brand long-sleeve,
Dri-FIT shirt with Pendleton
Baseball printed on the front, black
athletic shorts, and black and white
New Balance spikes. He peppers
Duso’s glove with 35 pitches in
this session, mixing his fastball,
changeup, curveball and his newest
addition, a slider.
But his most prized piece of
equipment on this day rests comfort-
ably on top of his head. It’s a base-
ball cap with the letters GU printed
on the front in red, white, and blue
letters on a blue background, repre-
senting Gonzaga University.
Naughton is not just wearing
“This kind of thing is
rare for a kid from
Umatilla County
so we’re really
proud of him.”
— Rob Naughton, Daniel’s father
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton senior pitcher Daniel Naughton works out with junior Justin Duso last week.
the hat as a fan, but now as a future
Bulldog himself. In the span of
17 days this summer, Naughton
elevated himself from a little-
known college prospect in Eastern
Oregon to earning a scholarship
and committing to the Division I
institution.
“I was not expecting anything
like this when summer started,”
Naughton joked in a recent interview.
“I was never thinking anything like
Gonzaga or D-I at the beginning, but
as summer went along, it started to
go through my mind a bit.”
Naughton has always had a love
for baseball. He can’t really put his
finger on the aspect that sucked him
into America’s Pastime, but there
was never a time where his parents
had to ask him if he wanted to play
each spring season, it was always a
given. From a young age, Naugh-
ton’s father, Rob, knew his kid had
a talent for the game.
“We noticed Daniel had a good
arm at an early age,” Rob said. “In
Little League he had velocity ... and
he could throw a baseball, a football
all with a natural motion.”
Naughton’s talent began to grow
as a freshman in high school, when
his neighbor and former Buckaroo
catcher Alex O’Rourke got him
started on Driveline Baseball work-
outs. At the time, Driveline was
still relatively new to the baseball
training world but now it has become
a
top-of-the-line,
data-driven
training program that is utilized
by numerous colleges and high
See NAUGHTON/2B
College Football
It’s ‘Go Time’ for the
Ducks as fall camp opens
EUGENE (AP) — There
is much talk about a culture
change at Oregon, and it
seems as if the players are
taking it to heart.
Quarterback
Justin
Herbert was thrown into
the starter’s role last season
as a shy freshman. He’s
since put 15 pounds on his
lanky 6-foot-6 frame and
new coach Willie Taggart
joked that he’s been strutting
around without a shirt on.
Then there’s running back
Royce Freeman, already a
physical force, who Taggart
said has changed both his
attitude and his approach.
Taggart is about to
embark on his first season as
Oregon’s head coach and he’s
pleased with the attitude shift
he’s seen in his players since
his arrival. Fall camp opened
Monday and the work begins
in earnest.
“It’s go time. The honey-
moon is over,” Taggart
exclaimed Sunday. “We are
ready to roll.”
Just two seasons after
playing in the first College
Football Playoff champion-
ship game, the Ducks’ run of
11-straight winning seasons
ended with a thud — a 34-24
loss to the rival Oregon State
Beavers. Oregon finished 4-8
overall and at the bottom of
the Pac-12 North standings
at 2-7.
Three days after the
season the Ducks dismissed
Mark Helfrich.
Taggart’s last two head
coaching jobs have also been
rebuilding projects. He was
coach at South Florida for
the past four seasons, guiding
the team from a 2-10 record
his first year to a 10-2 mark
and a spot in the Birmingham
Bowl last season.
“Anytime you come into
a new program, changing
the culture is probably the
biggest thing and the hardest
thing to do because they have
been doing it a certain way
for a while,” he said.
The transition hasn’t
always been smooth.
Co-offensive coordinator
David Reaves resigned in
January after he was arrested
on charges connected to
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez throws to the Texas Rangers in the second in-
ning of a baseball game, Monday in Arlington, Texas.
Oregon head coach Willie Taggart speaks at Autzen
Stadium in Eugene on Sunday. The Ducks opened fall
camp Monday under their first-year head coach.
Quiet at trade deadline,
Mariners beat Rangers
driving under the influence.
Wide receivers coach Jimmie
Dougherty, a passenger in
Reaves’ car, left in early
February for UCLA.
Oregon’s strength and
conditioning coach was
suspended in January when
three players were hospi-
talized because of grueling
workouts.
And wide receiver Darren
Carrington was dismissed
from the team recently
after he was also arrested to
driving under the influence.
Carrington, who had 15 TD
catches for the Ducks, was
expected to be one of team’s
top receivers this season. He
transferred to Utah.
Despite the rocky start
Taggart has clearly embraced
his new job, becoming the
Ducks’ most visible cheer-
leader on social media. He’s
enthusiastically
pursued
recruits, evident Saturday
night when Oregon hosted
“Saturday Night Live,” a
prospect camp at Autzen
Stadium.
Herbert and Freeman
will be key to his offense —
which Herbert vowed will
be even faster than Oregon’s
speedy “blur” offense that
pushed the Ducks onto the
national stage under coach
Chip Kelly.
“We’re going to try and
go even faster this year,”
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Robinson going back to the mound and giving up the
Cano had a two-run single in the ninth and hit. They were teammates during Beltre’s
the Seattle Mariners won 6-4 at Texas on five seasons in Seattle (2005-09) and are
Monday night, only hours after the
still close.
Rangers traded pitcher Yu Darvish.
Darvish was dealt to the
MLB
The Mariners trailed 4-0 after
Dodgers within minutes of the
two innings before getting even
non-waiver trade deadline earlier
against Cole Hamels, the remaining
Monday for three minor league
Mariners
ace for Texas now that Darvish
players. Texas also traded reliever
is with the NL West-leading Los
Jeremy Jeffress back to Milwaukee
Angeles Dodgers.
for a Double-A pitcher, and had
Cano lined a ball over the head
sent catcher Johnathan Lucroy to
of right fielder Shin-Soo Choo,
Colorado after Sunday’s game for
getting two runs home before he
a player to be named.
Rangers
was thrown out trying to stretch
After three trades the previous
the hit into a double. The hit came
week, the Mariners made no
right after pitching coach Doug
additional deals before the
Brocail was ejected for arguing a
deadline.
balk called against Alex Claudio (2-1) that
Hamels struck out seven and walked
put runners at second and third with Cano one while going six innings. Hernandez
at the plate.
was erratic despite five strikeouts, walking
David Phelps (1-1) struck out five in three and hitting two batters in his 5 13
1 2/3 innings before Edwin Diaz pitched innings.
a perfect ninth for his 20th save in 24
Seattle got even at 4 with an unearned
run in the sixth. Guillermo Heredia reached
chances.
Rougned Odor and Carlos Gomez on a two-out error by Beltre and scored on
homered for the Rangers, who had five a triple by Leonys Martin.
It was the third straight game that Beltre
hits in the first two innings against Felix
Hernandez and then one the rest of the had a throwing error. He had gone 62
game. They struck out 13 times against consecutive games without an error before
that, a franchise record and career best for
four pitchers.
A day after becoming the first Dominican the five-time Gold Glove winner.
TRAINER’S ROOM
player and 31st overall in the majors with
Mariners: Martin, a .145 hitter, was
3,000 hits, Adrian Beltre added to his total
in the first with a solid single up the middle recalled from Triple-A after RF Mitch
Haniger got hit in the face by a fastball
against Hernandez, his good friend.
Odor had just hit his 23rd homer on Saturday. Haniger is expected to be out
overall and 10th of July, a two-run homer about two weeks.
Rangers: RHP Tyson Ross made a rehab
measured at 437 feet, when Hernandez
walked toward the plate for a brief word start for Double-A Frisco, a week after
going on the 10-day Dl with a blister on his
with his catcher.
Hernandez then hugged Beltre before right index finger.
AP Photo/Anne M. Peterson
Herbert said at the confer-
ence media day this week.
“The emphasis is on going
fast. We’ve got so many guys
to make plays, and my job is
to distribute the ball.”
Herbert threw for 1,936
yards and 19 touchdowns in
eight games as a freshman
last season, taking over when
graduate transfer Dakota
Prukop struggled.
“He’s gained about 15
pounds since last year, and
Justin’s walking outside
with his shirt off now. And
if you all know Justin, that
wasn’t him before. But he’s
laughing. He’s hanging out
with his guys,” Taggart said.
Freeman
joked
on
Sunday: “We’re trying to beg
him, ‘Just please put your
shirt on.’”
Freeman was the Ducks’
leading rusher last season
with 945 yards in 11 games,
but he was hampered by
injury. He has rushed for
4,146 yards over three
seasons with the Ducks,
second only to LaMichael
James (5,082 yards) on
Oregon’s career rushing list.
Freeman, who has already
graduated, said he’s feeling
more comfortable.
“I told him to tell me
when he doesn’t want any
more carries,” Taggart said.
“I’ll just keep giving them to
him.”
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