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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2017)
Page 2B East Oregonian Oregon Football Ducks expect few By STEVE MIMS The Register-Guard Willie Taggart hasn’t informed any of his freshmen that they will sit out a redshirt season. The new Oregon football coach is planning to use anybody who can help him on the field. “I haven’t thought about redshirting anybody right now,” he said before practice Tuesday. “We are going to play our best players. We have got some pretty good freshmen on this football team. If they can help our football team in any kind of capacity, then we are going to play them.” Defensive linemen Jordon Scott and Austin Faoliu are possible starters as true freshmen along with cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. on defense. Wide receivers Darrian McNeal and Johnny Johnson III have lined up with the first unit during fall camp. McNeal, receiver Jaylon Redd and running back Darrian Felix have returned punts during practice this week. “Redshirt, I think those days are kind of old school now,” Taggart said. “Kids are so much more developed Thursday, August 17, 2017 SPORTS BUCKAROOS: Start season with three redshirts home games against solid competition than they were back in the day. We’re not going in saying we are going to redshirt anyone. If guys show us they are not ready to help us win ballgames, then we will do what is best for them and our program, but right now there is no intention of redshirting anybody.” McNeal, Redd, Johnson and Daewood Davis give Oregon four true freshmen at wide receiver while Demetri Burch has switched between receiver and quarterback. “I think they will be ready to play,” quarterback Justin Herbert said of the freshmen receivers. “The coaches have done a great job getting them ready. We have got complete confidence in them.” One position where Oregon will have an option to redshirt is at running back where true freshmen Felix, CJ Verdell and Cyrus Habibi-Likio are all likely behind Royce Freeman, Tony Brooks-James and Kani Benoit on the depth chart. Oregon also has experi- ence on the offensive line ahead of freshmen Cody Shear and Alex Forsyth. “The guys up front on the offensive line, if anybody LLWS: Mid-Atlantic team averaged 10.8 runs in regional tournament Continued from 1B informed with teaching mechanics and selection and hitting philosophy.” Grosse Pointe’s 6.6 runs per game during regional play was actually among the lowest offensive output among the teams taking the field this week. The Mid-At- lantic team from Jackson, New Jersey, averaged 10.8 runs across four regional games, the best mark of any U.S. team. The international teams averaged more runs during regionals than the United States teams did, though the competition levels of the different regions vary. The Asia-Pacific Region’s representative from Seoul, South Korea, outscored its regional opponents 45-2 in the four-game span. Canada scored more than 20 runs in back-to-back regional games, averaging nearly 14.3 runs across seven contests. Japan won its final regional matchup 17-0 and averaged more than 13 runs per game. “We’ve got some power in our lineup,” said coach Chris Shaw of Hills Little League from Sydney, Australia, which will face Japan on Friday. “If you look back at our (regional) tournament, we didn’t rely on the home run. We just relied on batting for average, looking to hit the ball in the gaps.” “We look to hit the ball hard. If the ball goes out, it’s an extra bonus,” Shaw said. Australia averaged 12.3 runs per game across seven regional games, third best among international teams behind Canada and Japan. Hills is one of two teams returning to the series for a second straight year, along with Emilia Little League from Italy. That could be an advantage because they’ve already experienced the hype. “They’re so excited to be here,” Shaw said. “They’re one team that just likes to relax, and they want to have fun. I think they should be having enough fun so the nerves won’t really take over.” LOOKING AHEAD Two key matchups are coming up in the opening days of the tournament. — Fairfield, Connecticut (New England) vs. Jackson, New Jersey (Mid-Atlantic) on Thursday: The high- est-scoring offense among United States teams, New Jersey will try to hand Connecticut its first loss this summer as Fairfield won each of its 18 games. New Jersey has a connection with New York Yankees third baseman and 1998 Little League World Series Champion Todd Frazier, who played for Toms River, New Jersey. Both Jackson and Toms River are in the Ocean County and this team’s players have honed their skills in practice with Frazier and his two brothers. — Australia vs. Japan on Friday: This game is expected to showcase the offensive firepower on the international side of regional play. Japan outscored its opponents 53-6 in regionals, showing it can dominate both at the plate and on the mound. ———— Matt Martell is a jour- nalism student at Penn State. Penn State is partnering with The Associated Press to supplement coverage of the 2017 LLWS. has a chance (to redshirt), it would be there more than anything,” Taggart said. “At all the other positions, there is a lot open and it is fun to see.” NEW NUMBERS, PLAYERS DEPARTED: Brenden Schooler arrived at practice wearing his third number of the spring. Schooler wore No. 43 as a returning starter at safety before switching to No. 26 at WR. He was given No. 86 after switching jerseys with sophomore receiver Kyle Buckner, who is now No. 26. The switch means that Schooler can play on special teams, or select defensive plays, alongside Khalil Oliver, a junior safety who also wears No. 26. Two players with the same number cannot be on the field at the same time. Junior safety Mattrell McGraw changed from No. 27 to 21 while freshman LB Isaac Slade-Matautia switched from No. 41 to No. 43. Two freshmen left the team including Riley Greene, a defensive lineman from Gladstone. Rocky Rainey, a 6-3 receiver from League City, Texas, is also off Oregon’s roster. Continued from 1B especially in the weight room. “We took pride this summer in the extra things, and the weight room was the No. 1 important thing,” Davis said. “If we’re going to be competitive especially with the big boys in the Special District 1 we need to be bigger, faster, stronger. We’ve been preaching for a long time for the kids to buy in and I think I have a group of 80 kids that bought in and you can see that in the way they practice, the way they condition and hit the weights. “We have a better feel, a better overall vibe going in this year.” After an offseason full of weight room workouts and fundamental learning, these first few practices are an important step for the Buck- aroos. And aside from the strategy that goes into season preparation, the coaches have scheduled practices for 7 a.m. for now to try and get the kids back into a routine like any other school day. Davis said he knows it’s always tough for the first few days for the kids to get back into the flow of things once school starts after a summer Staff photo by Eric Singer Pendleton Buckaroo football players run through a tackling drill during Wednesday’s practice at Pendleton High School while coaches Fred Phillips, left, and Wes Armstrong, right, look on. of later wake-up calls, but with Pendleton’s first week of school also being the first game week, they need the adaptation to start earlier. The Buckaroos have another solid, challenging schedule right out of the gates this season, with three straight home games against La Grande, Putnam and then the league opener against Summit. The Buckaroos have more confidence going into the Special District 1 schedule this season, not only because 2016 powers like Summit and Redmond lost a lot of firepower to graduation, but because of the progress made them- selves in the offseason. “I think there is going to be a lot of parity this season, but I feel that we fit right in,” Davis said. “Before, I felt like we were looking up a mountain, and now I feel like we’re on that peak to where we could and should compete throughout.” ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. MARINERS: Start 12-game road trip Friday in Tampa Continued from B1 base hit with a sensational diving catch in right field. Diaz struck out Jonathan Schoop, but then hit both Trey Mancini and Mark Trumbo to force in another run. Rzepczynski relieved and fanned Davis on three pitches for his first save, and just the second in his career. “I’ve come in with the bases loaded, two outs plenty of times, but never in the ninth with the game on the line,” said Rzepczynski, whose only other save in 466 appearances was with Cleveland in 2014. “One other career save, and it was a four-out save, so it was a little different. But, I’ve come in plenty of times with the bases loaded, so I kind of just treated it like that.” Tony Zych (6-3) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-8) allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings. The breaking balls weren’t there since the beginning of the game,” Jimenez said. “The first couple innings I was able to control the fastball down in the zone, but then the slider and the splitter were up.” The wild card-con- tending Mariners won their AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle’s Jean Segura, right, slides safely into home as Baltimore catcher Caleb Joseph waits for the ball in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game in Seattle. second in a row and capped a 2-5 homestand, their only games at Safeco Field in August. Seattle opened the month with eight games on the road, and now heads out on a four-city, 12-game trip. “It’s definitely nice,” said Alonso, who entered hitting .192 in his first seven games with Seattle. “Obviously, I’m enjoying my time here and enjoying the oppor- tunity for this whole team and what’s at stake. We’re excited and it was a good team. Definitely a good one, especially winning the series, so now we can enjoy our off day and get ready for a long road trip.” After Baltimore erased a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth, the Mariners answered with three in the bottom half to go back in front 6-4. Jean Segura singled to open and Guill- ermo Heredia was hit by a pitch, setting up RBI singles by Robinson Cano, Alonso and Danny Valencia. The Orioles bunched five consecutive one-out hits to go up 4-3 in the fifth. Joey Rickard and Caleb Joseph had consecutive singles. Rickard scored from third on a wild pitch and Craig Gentry followed with an RBI triple to left-center. Tim Beckham singled in Gentry. “It’s one of those games where you look back, there’s seven or eight things during the course of the game that could have changed it,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Beckham opened the game with his 17th home run, his second leadoff homer of the series. The Mariners tied it in the third on doubles by Mike Zunino and Heredia. TRAINER’S ROOM Mariners: 3B Kyle Seager missed his second straight game with what was described as a stomach virus. Valencia made his first start of the season at 3B. ... RHP James Paxton, on the 10-day DL (strained left pectoral muscle) continues to improve. “Paxton was seen by the doctor yesterday, moving along in the right direction. He’ll start really picking up his activity now and trying to strengthen things,” manager Scott Servais said. UP NEXT Mariners: After a day off, RHP Erasmo Ramirez (4-4, 4.73) returns to Tampa Bay to open the three-game series on Friday. Ramirez, acquired from the Rays on July 28, makes his fourth start for the Mariners. He has allowed five homers in 14 1/3 innings with Seattle. SEAHAWKS: With Shead still out, team searching for starting cornerback to pair with Sherman Continued from 1B said 11 other teams had reached out about Brock, but he had an interest in staying on the West Coast. “The process and every- thing is under the rug and I’m just moving forward from that situation,” Brock said. Brock started 31 of 32 games over the past two seasons for the 49ers, but was released following his arrest. Seattle is looking for a starting cornerback opposite Richard Sherman after DeShawn Shead suffered a major knee injury in last season’s playoffs. Rookie Shaquill Griffin and veteran Jeremy Lane have been the two most likely to step in for Shead, but Brock adds to the competition with his experience as a starter. “I know what I’ve got to do. I have to come in and make plays that (are) going to make me a part of the team and keep me a starter,” Brock said. NOTES: Seattle signed LB Rodney Butler on Wednesday. Butler is an undrafted rookie out of New Mexico State who led the country in tackles last season with 165. The Seahawks waived wide receiver Jamal Johnson and waived/injured safety Jordan Simone. ... OL coach Tom Cable said Mark Glowinski will start at RG and Germain Ifedi will start at RT in Friday’s exhibition game against Minnesota but that rookie Ethan Pocic is still in the competition for both spots. SCOREBOARD Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Boston 69 51 .575 — New York 64 55 .538 4½ Tampa Bay 60 62 .492 10 Baltimore 59 62 .488 10½ Toronto 58 62 .483 11 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 65 52 .556 — Kansas City 61 59 .508 5½ Minnesota 59 58 .504 6 Detroit 53 67 .442 13½ Chicago 45 72 .385 20 West Division W L Pct GB Houston 74 46 .617 — Los Angeles 62 59 .512 12½ Seattle 61 61 .500 14 Texas 59 60 .496 14½ Oakland 53 68 .438 21½ ——— Wednesday’s Games Cleveland at Minnesota, ppd. L.A. Angels 3, Washington 2 Kansas City 7, Oakland 6 Seattle 7, Baltimore 6 Toronto 3, Tampa Bay 2 Boston 5, St. Louis 4 N.Y. Yankees 5, N.Y. Mets 3 Texas 12, Detroit 6 Houston 9, Arizona 5 L.A. Dodgers 5, Chicago White Sox 4 Thursday’s Games Cleveland (Clevinger 6-4) at Minnesota (Berrios 10-5), 10:10 a.m., 1st game Arizona (Corbin 9-11) at Houston (Fiers 7-7), 11:10 a.m. Tampa Bay (Archer 8-7) at Toronto (Rowley 1-0), 1:07 p.m. Cleveland (TBD) at Minnesota (TBD), 4:10 p.m., 2nd game N.Y. Yankees (Severino 9-5) at N.Y. Mets (Matz 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Lopez 0-0) at Texas (Ross 3-2), 5:05 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 71 47 .602 — Miami 58 61 .487 13½ New York 53 65 .449 18 Atlanta 53 65 .449 18 Philadelphia 43 75 .364 28 Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 63 56 .529 — Milwaukee 63 59 .516 1½ St. Louis 61 59 .508 2½ Pittsburgh 58 62 .483 5½ Cincinnati 50 71 .413 14 West Division W L Pct GB Los Angeles 85 34 .714 — Colorado 67 53 .558 18½ Arizona 66 54 .550 19½ San Diego 54 66 .450 31½ San Francisco 48 74 .393 38½ ——— Wednesday’s Games L.A. Angels 3, Washington 2 Miami 8, San Francisco 1 Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 6 San Diego 3, Philadelphia 0 Boston 5, St. Louis 4 N.Y. Yankees 5, N.Y. Mets 3 Chicago Cubs 7, Cincinnati 6 Houston 9, Arizona 5 Colorado 17, Atlanta 2 L.A. Dodgers 5, Chicago White Sox 4 Thursday’s Games Arizona (Corbin 9-11) at Houston (Fiers 7-7), 11:10 a.m. Cincinnati (Feldman 7-7) at Chicago Cubs (Lester 8-7), 11:20 a.m. Atlanta (Sims 0-3) at Colorado (Hoffman 6-4), 12:10 p.m. St. Louis (Wainwright 12-5) at Pittsburgh (Taillon 7-5), 4:05 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Severino 9-5) at N.Y. Mets (Matz 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Washington (Jackson 3-2) at San Diego (Chacin 11-8), 7:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Nola 9-7) at San Francisco (Samardzija 7-12), 7:15 p.m. Wild Card Standings AL W New York 64 Los Angeles 62 Kansas City 61 Minnesota 59 Seattle 61 Texas 59 Tampa Bay 60 Baltimore 59 Toronto 58 L 55 59 59 58 61 60 62 62 62 Pct GB .538 +3 .512 — .508 ½ .504 1 .500 1½ .496 2 .492 2½ .488 3 .483 3½ NL Colorado Arizona Milwaukee St. Louis L 53 54 59 59 Pct GB .558 +1 .550 — .516 4 .508 5 W 67 66 63 61 MiLB Northwest League North Division W L x-Vancouver 13 8 Tri-City 12 9 Everett 12 9 Spokane 10 11 South Division W L Boise 10 11 Eugene 10 11 x-Hillsboro 9 12 Salem-Keizer 8 13 x-first-half champions ———— Wednesday’s Games Vancouver 6, Spokane 2 Salem-Keizer 12, Boise 3 Eugene 3, Hillsboro 2 Everett 4, Tri-City 1 Pct GB .619 — .571 1 .571 1 .476 3 Pct GB .476 — .476 — .428 1 .380 2 Thursday’s Games Vancouver at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Boise at Salem-Keizer, 6:35 p.m. Eugene at Hillsboro, 7:05 p.m. Tri-City at Everett, 7:05 p.m. LITTLE LEAGUE Little League World Series At South Williamsport, Pa. Double Elimination Thursday’s Games Game 1: Maracaibo (Venezuela) vs. Tamaulipas (Mexico), 10 a.m. Game 2: Jackson (N.J.) vs. Fairfield (Conn.), 12 p.m. Game 3: White Rock (British Columbia) vs. Emilia (Italy), 2 p.m. Game 4: Lufkin (Texas) vs. Grosse Pointe (Mich.), 4 p.m. Friday’s Games Game 5: Tokyo vs. Sydney, 11 a.m. Game 6: Walla Walla (Wash.) vs. Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.), 1 p.m. Game 7: Pontezuela (Dominican Republic) vs. Seoul, 3 p.m. Game 8: Sioux Falls (S.D.) vs. Greenville (N.C.), 5 p.m. Soccer MLS Wednesday’s Game Montreal 3, Chicago 0 Friday’s Game New York at Portland, 7 p.m. Saturday’s Games Columbus at Orlando City, 4:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Toronto FC at Chicago, 5 p.m. FC Dallas at Sporting K.C., 5:30 p.m. D.C. United at Colorado, 6 p.m. Houston at Vancouver, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s Games New England at New York City FC, 3 p.m. Minnesota United at Seattle, 7 p.m. Basketball WNBA Wednesday’s Games Los Angeles 95, Washington 62 Minnesota at Seattle, 7 p.m. Friday’s Games New York at Connecticut, 4 p.m. Phoenix at Washington, 4 p.m. Indiana at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. San Antonio at Seattle, 7 p.m. Golf PGA TOUR Upcoming schedule WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP Site: Greensboro, N.C. Course: Sedgefield Country Club. Yard- age: 7,130. Par: 70. Purse: $5.8 million. First prize: $1,044,00. Television: Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Golf Chan- nel); Saturday-Sunday, 12-3 p.m. (CBS). Defending champion: Si Woo Kim. Tennis Western & Southern Open Wednesday At The Lindner Family Tennis Center Mason, Ohio Purse: Men, $4.97 million (Masters 1000); Women, $2.54 million (Premier) Surface: Hard-Outdoor How Seeds Fared Singles Men Second Round Grigor Dimitrov (7), Bulgaria, def. Feliciano Lopez, Spain, 7-6 (5), 6-4. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina, def. Mitchell Krueger, United States, 6-4, 6-4. Pablo Carreno Busta (11), Spain, def. Mischa Zverev, Germany, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Nick Kyrgios, Australia, def. Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukraine, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Frances Tiafoe, United States, def. Alexan- der Zverev (4), Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain, def. Gilles Muller (16), Luxembourg, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Sam Quer- rey (15), United States, 6-2, 7-6 (4). Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Richard Gasquet, France, 6-3, 6-4. Women Second Round Madison Keys (16), United States, def. Daria Gavrilova, Australia, 6-2, 6-1. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, def. Yulia Putintseva (8), Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-4. Anastasija Sevastova (15), Latvia, def. Roberta Vinci, Italy, 6-2, 7-5. Ashleigh Barty, Australia, def. Venus Wil- liams (9), United States, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Caroline Wozniacki (6), Denmark, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 6-2, 6-4. Dominika Cibulkova (11), Slovakia, def. Alize Cornet, France, 6-1, 6-4. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, def. Angeli- que Kerber (3), Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (11). Sloane Stephens, United States, def. Petra Kvitova (14), Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-3. Elina Svitolina (5), Ukraine, def. Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine, 6-1, 6-4. Karolina Pliskova (1), Czech Republic, def. Natalia Vikhlyantseva, Russia, 6-2, 6-3. Football NFL Preseason Glance Thursday’s Games Buffalo at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Baltimore at Miami, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 5 p.m. Friday’s Game Minnesota at Seattle, 7 p.m.