SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
1B
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PENDLETON
Prep Roundup
Buckaroos sweep Bulldogs
Pendleton shows
skill, experience
in three-set win
Hermiston
loses on
the road
Bulldog volleyball
team beat by La Grande
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
In 2016, the Baker Bulldogs
were a thorn in the side of the
Pendleton Buckaroos.
Twice the Buckaroos and Bull-
dogs met on
Volleyball the volleyball
and twice the
Bulldogs came
away with 3-2
Baker
victories. But
when the two
teams met again
for the fi rst
time in 2017
on
Tuesday
Pendleton
evening,
the
Buckaroos
showed their
experience
on the court and fi nally topped
the Bulldogs. Pendleton won the
match 3-0 with set wins of 25-16,
25-22 and 25-22 at Warberg Court.
Pendleton (3-0) senior Rylee
Gentner says that a good showing
by the Buckaroos in tournament
play in Bend over the weekend
gave the team a big confi dence
boost and carried it into Tuesday’s
match.
“I think we came in more confi -
dent because we started working
harder in practices and did well at
the tournament for the fi rst time in
a while,” she said. “That brought
us a lot of confi dence and that’s
how we came out really well
tonight.”
Baker (2-4) started the night
quickly and opened up a 9-5
lead on Pendleton in the fi rst set,
which prompted a timeout from
Buckaroo coach Amanda Lapp to
try and calm the team down. What
Lapp said in the huddle worked,
as Pendleton went on a 20-7 run
to fi nish off the fi rst set victory
25-16.
“She told us to settle down
and work on the things we’re
good at,” Gentner recalled. “We
weren’t working in quick offenses
and when we started doing that
we started getting in our groove
again and settled into our normal
routines.”
Gentner, who was not on the
team a season ago, was a big-time
player for the Buckaroos on
Tuesday, smacking four kills and
picking up two digs and two aces.
Her biggest contribution, though,
was a thundering cross-court kill
on match-point in the third set.
“That one felt really good,”
LA GRANDE — The Herm-
iston Bulldogs volleyball team
made
traveled
Volleyball down Interstate 84
for a non-league
contest, but came
home
empty-
La Grande
handed.
The Bulldogs
fought
hard
against the La
Grande Tigers in
the fi rst two sets
Hermiston
before the Tigers
coasted to a
third-set victory to
hand the Bulldogs
a 3-0 loss in the match. La Grande
(3-1) won with set wins of 25-23,
25-22 and 25-15.
See PREPS/2B
3
0
0
3
MLB
Mariners
come up
short again
Verlander pitches well
in Astros debut
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton’s Ellen Nirschl spikes the ball between Baker’s Carson Lein (5) and Kaylee Burk in the
Bucks’ 3-0 win against the Bulldogs on Tuesday in Pendleton.
Gentner emphasized. “I was strug-
gling in the beginning because I
was nervous being back out here, I
guess. But ending on that hit really
helps.”
Pendleton coach Amanda Lapp
said that having Gentner back to
an already deep and experienced
bench is huge for her team.
“It’s great to have her back now
and she’s always trying to perfect
her craft,” Lapp said. “Over the
summer she came in and tried to
get a four-step approach, which
takes a lot of time to get down
because of timing of ball ... but she
is quicker on the four-step, gets
her arm up in the air and is really
putting things away for us this
year.”
After the Buckaroos coasted
to a win in the fi rst set, Baker did
See BUCKAROOS/2B
SEATTLE — Justin Verlander
pitched six strong innings and won
his Astros debut after Cameron
Maybin hit a two-run homer
with one out in
the seventh for
Houston’s
fi rst
hit Tuesday night
in a 3-1 victory
Houston
over the Seattle
Mariners.
With all the
attention
on
Verlander’s fi rst
game for a team
Seattle
other than the
Detroit
Tigers,
it was another
deadline acqui-
sition that sent Houston to its
sixth straight victory. Maybin was
See MARINERS/2B
3
1
Soccer
Wood’s goal helps U.S. salvage crucial game
Americans earn key
qualifying point
By RONALD BLUM
Associated Press
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
United States’ Bobby Wood, 9, celebrates with team-
mates after scoring his team’s fi rst goal during a 2018
World Cup qualifying soccer match against Honduras
in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on Tuesday.
SAN PEDRO SULA,
Honduras — Bobby Wood
scored off a scramble in
the 85th minute, and the
United States escaped from
Honduras with a 1-1 tie and
important point Tuesday after
nearly falling into a deep hole
in World Cup qualifying.
World Cup Qualifi er
United States
Honduras
1
1
“I was thinking we might
have an early vacation at
the end of this year,” coach
Bruce Arena said afterward.
Romell Quioto scored
in the 27th minute after
defender Omar Gonzalez
failed to clear the ball with
a slide tackle. Quioto was
left with an open 11-yard
shot that beat goalkeeper
Brad Guzan to the far post,
causing exuberant fans to
stomp and shake Estadio
Olimpico
Metropolitano.
The previously well-behaved
fans threw horns and liquids
at the Americans as they
exited the fi eld.
Christian Pulisic was
fouled about 30 yards from
the goal and Kellyn Acosta
took the free kick. Goal-
keeper Luis Lopez batted
the ball with his left hand,
and Matt Besler hooked it
to Jordan Morris. He sent a
backward header to Wood, a
73rd-minute substitute.
Wood chested the ball and
scored his ninth international
goal, avoiding a huge U.S.
embarrassment and defl ating
fans who had been cele-
brating since the start.
“It was tough. Lots of
credit to them, they made it
tough. The conditions were
obviously diffi cult,” Morris
said. “I think it shows the
mentality of our team, we
See SOCCER/2B
Sports shorts
Elliott’s 6-game suspension upheld
SHERMAN, Texas (AP) — Dallas running
back Ezekiel Elliott’s attorneys say his six-game
suspension over a domestic violence case has
been upheld, but he will play the opener because
of the timing of the arbitrator’s decision.
Elliott attorney Jeffrey Kessler
told the judge near the end of a
more than two-hour hearing in
federal court Tuesday night that
Elliott’s suspension was sustained
by arbitrator Harold Henderson.
At the start of the hearing, NFL
attorney Daniel Nash said Elliott
Elliott
could play Sunday night against the
New York Giants because Henderson’s ruling
came too late in the day for it to be enforced this
weekend.
Elliott’s attorneys said they were “extremely
disappointed with Mr. Henderson’s inability to
navigate through league politics, and follow the
evidence.”
“Yeah, we’re excited.
I mean, it’s a good
clubhouse. But we’re
the same every day.
We know the job that
needs to be done. From
our pitching staff to our
offense, we just keep
going.”
— Yan Gomes
The Cleveland Indians’ catcher
after Cleveland beat the Chicago
White Sox 9-4 on Tuesday for the
team’s 13th straight win. It’s the
longest win streak in the majors
this season and just one win shy
of Cleveland’s franchise record.
Red Sox admit to using high-
tech watch to steal signs
NEW YORK (AP) — The Boston Red Sox
have reportedly admitted to Major League
Baseball that they improperly used electronic
devices to steal signs from their
longtime rival New York Yankees.
The New York Times reported
Tuesday the Red Sox used a
high-tech watch to relay signs
by the Yankees catchers during a
series last month at Fenway Park.
The Times said the MLB probe started after
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman fi led
a complaint with the commissioner’s offi ce that
included video.
The newspaper said the video showed a
member of Boston’s training staff looking at
his Apple Watch in the dugout and relaying a
message to players.
Sign stealing is allowed, but electronic
assistance is prohibited.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1980 — John McEnroe and
Jimmy Connors wage perhaps
their greatest U.S. Open match.
McEnroe edges Connors in the
semifi nal 6-4, 5-7, 0-6, 6-3,
7-6 (3).
1991 — In a U.S. Open
semifi nal between teenagers,
Monica Seles, 17, beats
Jennifer Capriati, 15, to
advance to her fi rst Open fi nal.
Seles wins 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (3).
1995 — Cal Ripken plays
in his 2,131st consecutive
major league game to surpass
Lou Gehrig’s 56-year record.
Ripken receives a 22-minute
standing ovation and later hits
a homer in Baltimore’s 4-2 win
over California.
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