SPORTS
Thursday, August 10, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Staff photo E.J. Harris
Hunter Cure of Holliday, Texas, leaps from his horse on his way to a 3.9-second time in steer wrestling on Wednesday at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
RODEO: Events pick back up Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Continued from 1B
was there all the way around and I
didn’t expose as much to let him
find a rhythm and I think it helped
out. It just felt pretty good.”
In bull riding there were only
four qualified rides out of the nine
that strapped in on the first night,
but the four each gave the crowd
something to cheer for. Marsing,
Idaho cowboy Chase Robbins set
the bar with an 80 point ride on
Korkow Rodeo’s Double Action,
but it was Stephenville, Texas’
Toby Collins that stole the show.
The second to last ride of the night,
Collins matched up with Kessler’s
Goosebumps and mastered it for
87 points to shoot to the top of
the leaderboard, giving a forceful
fist pump after and letting out a
cheer after hearing his score get
announced.
“It felt really good,” Collins
said, smiling. “I’ve been strug-
gling the last few weeks and to get
an 87 was the icing on the cake.”
Brady Portnier of Caldwell,
Idaho recorded an 80 on Korkow’s
Hannibal and Jesse Flores of La
Puente, California rode Korkow’s
Red Out for 79.5 points to round
out the night and set a decent bar
for the final three performances.
Saddle bronc brought the
closest competition of the three
bucking events, but it was Hills-
dale, Wyoming’s Brody Cress that
came away on top Wednesday
as he rode Calgary Stampede’s
Sergeant Whitney for 83.5 points
to take home the $100 bonus and
set himself up for some go-round
money.
He held off Australian cowboy
Jake Finlay (79.5), and the trio
of Nat Stratton of Goodwell,
Oklahoma, Tucker Hill of
Klamath Falls, and Nick LaDuke
of Livermore, California who
all three recorded 78.5 scores.
LaDuke’s score was perhaps the
most impressive of the night as
ARENA: ‘We knew
it would happen no
matter what’
Continued from 1B
Staff photo E.J. Harris
Casey Colletti of Pueblo, Colo., rides Flashcard Champ for 82 points in bareback riding on
Wednesday at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.
his horse, Peigan Warrior from
Calgary, nearly bucked him off
right out of the gates, but LaDuke
kept his balance and stayed on to
finish out the ride.
The roping events saw the stock
get the better of the competitors
for the most part, as just five of
12 entries in team roping and four
of six recorded times in tie-down
roping. Terrebone, Oregon’s
Russell Cardoza, currently fifth in
the world standings for all-around,
won the night with an 8.2-second
run and just barely beat out
Childress, Texas’ Stetson Vest
who had an 8.3. Heppner’s Ryan
Bothum would have had a 10.3,
but he ended up with a no time as
his calf busted out of the ties.
In team roping there was a
two-way tie for the top spot as
teams of Erich Rogers (Round
Rock, Arizona) and Corey Petska
(Marana, Arizona) as well as
Garrett Tonozzi (Fruita, Colorado)
and Wyatt Cox (Arroyo Grande,
California) each roped their steer
in 4.5 seconds to each take home
a $100 bonus.
Later in the evening, the ladies
took center stage with barrel
racing and Samantha Lane of
Arlington, Oregon impressed her
Eastern Oregon fans with a 17.55
time first out of the gates. However
Kellie Collier of Hereford, Texas
followed Lane and edged her out
with a 17.24 time to take the top
spot.
The closest competition of
the timed events came with the
bulldogers, as four cowboys
recorded times of 4.4 seconds or
faster. Benton, Arkansas’ Jason
Thomas was the first one to set
the bar with a 4.4 and then Walla
Walla’s Chance Gartner lowered
it with a 4.1. After Ryan Bothum
recorded a 4.3, it was two-time
world champion and Holliday,
Texas cowboy Hunter Cure that
took the top spot with a dazzling
3.9-second run.
“That was a really good steer,
you couldn’t ask for anything
more,” Cure said afterward. “My
guide did well, because I didn’t
ride well out of the gate, and
knocked the steer right to me and
I got him.”
The Farm-City Pro Rodeo
picks back up for the second
performance on Thursday night
with Bullfighter’s Only bout
starting at 6:30 p.m., Mutton
Bustin’ at 7:25 p.m. and then the
main event at 7:45 p.m.
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-
0839.
it would be impossible to have this ready
to go, and they did it. They got down,
rolled their sleeves up and said ‘we’re
going to have it’ and they did have it.”
Construction and excavation of the
arena got underway in October, but work
was slowed by the abnormally cold and
snowy winter for the Hermiston area.
It led to a lot of overtime and tireless
work for the past few months by the
rodeo board and numerous volunteers
that helped put the finishing touches on
the arena, which opened its doors for
business Wednesday evening.
Board member David Bothum
said prior to the first performance on
Wednesday that seeing the arena finished
and people in the stands allowed for a
short sigh of relief.
“We knew it would happen no matter
what,” he said. “We all knew we’d do
whatever it took one way or another to
get it done, but it was a little stressful.
It’s been a complete whirlwind for about
four months so this is good to finally see
it finished.”
And the cowboys and cowgirls were
certainly appreciative of the work put
in and the new facilities that they have
to work with. A few praised aspects of
the facility, including wider runs for the
timed events, a larger warm-up area and
even the expanded parking area that
made it easy to navigate for the compet-
itors. Two-time steer wrestling world
champion Hunter Cure was one of those
with nothing but positive things to say
after his ride Wednesday night.
“There’s only one grand opening to
anything,” he said. “And with all the
amount of man hours and all the people
working up to the last minute today
to get this ready, you couldn’t ask for
anything better than you have here. Job
well done to everybody.”
————
Contact Eric at esinger@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him
on Twitter @ByEricSinger.
MLB
Dodgers win 80th game of season, rallying over Diamondbacks
By JOSE M. ROMERO
Associated Press
PHOENIX — Hitless
in 23 previous at-bats, the
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc
Pederson faced Arizona
Diamondbacks ace Zack
Greinke with two outs in the
seventh inning and a man on
second base.
Pederson, who’d struck
out in his first two at-bats
against Greinke, delivered a
game-tying double, then came
around to score the go-ahead
run on Yasiel Puig’s single in
the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory on
Wednesday night.
“To have it come up big
and help the team win a
ballgame is a nice feeling,”
Pederson said. “Just trying
to look for a good pitch to
hit. He made a mistake and I
capitalized on it.”
The Dodgers became
the sixth team since 1913 to
AP Photo/Matt York
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson celebrates after
scoring on a hit by Yasiel Puig against the Arizona Di-
amondbacks during the seventh inning of a baseball
game, Wednesday in Phoenix.
reach 80 wins in their first 113
games.
“You could see the exhale
when he got to first base, and
that boyish smile,” Dodgers
manager Dave Roberts said of
Pederson. “He’s a big part of
what we need to do. For him
to get that big hit was a boost
to all of us.”
L.A.
Arizona
3
2
Puig’s hit was the third off
Greinke in the seventh, after
Greinke had allowed only
one hit through six innings.
Cody Bellinger homered,
doubled and scored twice for
the Dodgers.
Greinke (13-5) lost for
the first time in 13 starts at
home this season and is 10-1
at Chase Field. He allowed
three runs on four hits in 6 2/3
innings, struck out eight and
walked four.
“I threw a terrible pitch to
Joc and he hit it good. Threw
a pitch where I wanted to with
Puig but he hit it all right and
found a good spot,” Greinke
said. “The pitch to Joc was the
worse one and he did what he
was supposed to with it.”
Dodgers starter Alex Wood
(14-1) allowed two runs on
six hits with four strikeouts
and a walk in six innings, and
improved to 6-0 with a 1.72
ERA on the road this season.
Wood made a minor
adjustment to his delivery to
get the velocity back after it
was lacking in his last start.
“I felt really great coming
out of New York and that
bullpen session, so I’m
looking forward to the stretch
for sure,” Wood said.
J.D. Martinez’s two-out
single in the sixth off Wood
gave the Diamondbacks a
2-1 lead, but it didn’t last
long. Paul Goldschmidt had
homered high off the center
field batter’s eye in the fourth
to tie the game at 1.
Bellinger, a native of
nearby Chandler, Arizona,
connected for his 33rd home
run in the second inning. The
ball sailed well into the right-
field seats above the Dodgers
bullpen.
The Dodgers are on a
53-game streak with at least
two extra-base hits, the most
in the majors since 1913.
The Dodgers got strong
relief from Josh Fields, who
pitched two scoreless innings
and got Goldschmidt to
ground into an inning-ending
double play in the eighth.
All-Star
closer
Kenley
Jansen, who hadn’t pitched
since Sunday in New York,
closed out the game for his
29th save.
UP NEXT
Dodgers:
Recently
acquired RHP Yu Darvish
(7-9) makes his second start
for the Dodgers on Thursday
against Arizona.
Diamondbacks:
LHP
Anthony Banda (1-1) will
face the Dodgers on his 24th
birthday, his third career start.