SPORTS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
Buckaroos thrilled to be back
Pendleton football
feeling confi dent
for 2017 season
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Eric Singer
A pair of Pendleton Buckaroos battle for the ball while
doing a passing drill during Wednesday’s practice at
Pendleton High School.
Ten months ago, the
Pendleton Buckaroos’ 2016
football season came to a
disappointing end with a
13-12 loss to Hermiston.
It put the cap on a second
consecutive 3-6 record which
meant a second straight
season of watching the post-
season from home.
Now the Buckaroos are
back on the practice fi eld
and starting to ramp up their
preparation for their 2017
season opener and home
opener against La Grande on
Sept. 1 and ready to put 2016
fully behind them. Pendleton
head coach Erik Davis said at
practice on Wednesday that
he is intrigued to see what
this group of Buckaroos can
bring to the table.
“I’m excited for this
group of kids because they’re
a great group and we return
a good core,” he said. “We
had conditioning camp last
week and there was a great
turnout, our youth camp was
fantastic, but to fi nally put
pads on and start focusing
on that Week 1 game is very
exciting.”
Davis said that the
Buckaroos program has
approximately 75-80 athletes
grades 9-12 this season. Of
course, Davis would love to
have more on the fi eld, but
he is confi dent in the group.
The confi dence comes from
the work and progress he saw
them make throughout the
offseason and the summer,
See BUCKS/2B
Little League Baseball
MLB
Kids
ready to
show off
power
at World
Series
Mariners earn series victory
Walla Walla team
starts play on
Friday afternoon
By MATT MARTELL
Associated Press
SOUTH
WILLIAMS-
PORT, Pa. — Joey Randaz-
zo’s teammates marveled as
the Grosse Pointe, Michigan,
shortstop lifted pitch after
pitch over the left fi eld fence
during Little League World
Series batting practice on
Wednesday.
They were in awe again
a batter later as Joseph
Wisniewski used his left-
handed uppercut swing to
shoot line-drive home runs to
right-center fi eld.
Fans will likely see much
more of that power over the
next 11 days as 16 teams
battle for the Little League
title. The 71st edition of the
tournament begins Thursday
in South Williamsport, Penn-
sylvania.
“It’s the evolution of the
game as kids are getting
bigger and stronger,” said
Jason Hill, coach of the team
from just outside Detroit
that’s
representing
the
Great Lakes Region. “The
game has really progressed.
Coaches are getting more
See LLWS/2B
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle’s Yonder Alonso is congratulated on his two-run home run against Baltimore in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game in Seatlle.
Baltimore makes Seattle sweat in the 9th, but Mariners get back to .500
By JIM HOEHN
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Yonder Alonso
was acquired by the Seattle Mariners
to provide power for a playoff push.
After a slow start with his new team,
he delivered.
Alonso hit his fi rst homer for
Seattle and drove in three runs, and
Marc Rzepczynski struck out Chris
Davis with the bases
loaded to end the
Mariners’ 7-6 win over
the Baltimore Orioles Baltimore
on Wednesday.
Alonso,
traded
from Oakland on Aug.
6, hit a two-run homer in the fourth
inning, his 23rd of the season. An
All-Star this year with the A’s,
he added an RBI single during a
6
three-run fi fth and
also singled in the
seventh.
“I think he’s been
Seattle
swinging the bat great
the last three, four
days,” said Mariners
manager Scott Servais, who was
ejected in the ninth inning. “It’s
really been much better. He’s been
much more aggressive, it looks like
7
the guy we saw early in the year
when he was with Oakland.”
Leonys Martin opened the sixth
with his third home run to put Seattle
up 7-4.
Seattle closer Edwin Diaz came
on in the ninth and walked the fi rst
three hitters. Manny Machado
followed with a sacrifi ce fl y to make
it 7-5, but Martin prevented an extra-
See MARINERS/2B
NFL
Seahawks sign veteran Tramaine Brock to help secondary
Brock with 11 INTs
in 80 career games
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
Brock
RENTON, Wash. — Now
that charges have been
dismissed in his legal case, new
Seattle Seahawks cornerback
Tramaine Brock must wait to
see if the NFL will hand down
any discipline.
The Seahawks signed
Brock to a one-year contract
Wednesday, giving the former
starter in San Francisco a
chance to add depth to Seat-
tle’s secondary. His signing
came a week after charges
were dropped against Brock in
a domestic violence case that
led to his release by the 49ers.
Brock was arrested in
April and accused of hitting a
woman he was dating. He was
charged with felony domestic
violence in June but charges
were dismissed last week by
the Santa Clara County district
attorney’s offi ce. Prosecutors
said there was insuffi cient
evidence to proceed with
the case because the accuser
declined to cooperate.
Brock’s agent, Ron Slavin,
was hopeful there wouldn’t be
any discipline coming from
the NFL based on the circum-
stances of the case.
“I can’t ever predict what
they’re going to do,” Slavin
said. “I know with the infor-
mation that we have and the
things in writing and the things
that she has already admitted;
I know that he is going to
cooperate. I’m going to be a
part of it. I know she is going
to cooperate, so I’m hoping
there won’t be.”
Slavin said the Seahawks
conducted an intense inves-
tigation following Brock’s
release from the 49ers and
stayed in regular contact while
charges were pending. Slavin
See SEAHAWKS/2B
Sports shorts
Rodeo world champion retires
After a long a successful career as a bareback
riderin professional rodeo, Bobby Mote is ready
to ride off into the sunset.
The Oregon native and current Stephenville,
Texas resident announced his retirement from
rodeo on Wednesday, penning a letter to his
fans on his personal website. Mote
will now move on to a career with
Reliance Ranches in Guthrie,
Oklahoma and work with its
quarter horse racing program.
“I count myself as truly blessed
to be able to move from one
successful career of doing what I
Mote
loved to a new career of doing what
I love,” Mote said in his letter.
Born in Portland and raised in Culver,
Mote qualifi ed for 15 straight NFRs, won four
bareback world titles, won the 102nd Pendleton
Round-Up and the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in
2015. Mote also hangs up his hat after bringing
home more than $2.7 million in career earnings.
“When you hit it and
you kind of know you
got one, you just run
the bases ... They (my
teammates) pointed
to where it went. They
let me know. It’s pretty
funny.“
— Aaron Judge
The New York Yankees outfi elder
and rookie phenom hit a 457-
foot home run into the third deck
in left fi eld at Citi Field as the
Yankees earned a 5-3 victory.
It was Judge’s AL-leading 37th
home run of the season.
Weaver retires from baseball
after 12 seasons in MLB
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Padres pitcher Jered
Weaver announced his retirement before San
Diego played Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Weaver, a three-time All-Star, battled
health issues since signing with
the Padres in the offseason. The
12-year veteran, who spent the
bulk of his career with the Los
Angeles Angels, had a lifetime
mark of 150-98 with a 3.63 ERA.
In seven postseason appearances,
he was 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA.
Weaver
“I’ve decided to step away
from baseball,” Weaver, 34, said in a release.
“While I’ve been working hard to get back on
the mound, my body just will not allow me to
compete like I want to.”
Weaver (0-5, 7.44) last pitched on May 19
when he surrendered seven runs in fi ve hits
while recording just two outs.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2005 — The NCAA
purchases the rights to the
preseason and postseason
National Invitation Tourna-
ments as part of a settlement
ending a four-year legal fi ght
between the two parties. The
40-team postseason NIT was
once the bigger event.
2008 — At the Summer
Olympics in Beijing, Michael
Phelps and three teammates
win the 400-meter medley
relay for Phelps’ eighth gold
medal, eclipsing Mark Spitz’s
seven-gold performance at
the 1972 Munich Games.
Of his fi ve individual races
and three relays, Phelps sets
world records in seven and an
Olympic record in the eighth.
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