SPORTS Saturday, September 9, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3B Tennis Nadal overwhelms del Potro; faces Anderson in US Open final By HOWARD FENDRICH Associated Press NEW YORK — Once Rafael Nadal went from passive to aggressive and got his uppercut of a forehand going, it didn’t take long for him to power into the U.S. Open final. Closing in on a third title at Flushing Meadows and 16th Grand Slam champion- ship overall, Nadal overcame a so-so start with an over- whelming performance the rest of the way Friday night, taking nine games in a row during one stretch to beat 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals. No. 1 Nadal will be a significant favorite Sunday against No. 32 Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who beat Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to become the lowest-ranked U.S. Open finalist since the ATP’s computer rankings began in 1973. The 6-foot-8 (2.03-meter) Anderson, who won an NCAA doubles title at the University of Illinois, is equipped with a big serve, certainly, but he only once had even been a quarterfi- nalist at a major until this week. He’s also lost all four previous matches against Nadal. Plus there’s this: Nadal looked as good as ever over the last three sets against del Potro, further confirmation of his return to the height of his powers. Nadal is again healthy and capable of excel- lence, after wrist and knee injuries dulled his effective- ness in 2015 and 2016 — the first seasons since 2004 in which he not only failed to win a Grand Slam trophy but didn’t even make a final. “It’s been an amazing season, of course, after a couple of years with some troubles, injuries, tough moments,” Nadal said. “So this year, since the beginning AP Photo/Adam Hunger Rafael Nadal, of Spain, reacts after scoring a point against Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open on Friday in New York. has been a very emotional year.” He reached the Austra- lian Open final in January, losing to Roger Federer, then claimed his record 10th French Open championship in June. Save for a less-than-dom- inant opening set Friday, in which Nadal had nine winners and 10 unforced errors, he barely missed his targets. His numbers the rest of the way: 36 winners, 10 unforced errors. Eventually, Del Potro’s flat, fearsome forehand became less dangerous, as if he suddenly remembered just how weary he was. Dealing with an illness, del Potro came back from a two-set deficit to win his fourth- rounder in five sets, then got past 19-time major champion Federer in the quarterfinals in four. Maybe it was all too much for del Potro, whose one Grand Slam title came via wins over Nadal in the semifinals and Federer in the final in New York eight years ago. That was the last time Nadal lost in a major semifinal ; he’s now won 15 in a row. This time, the 24th-seeded del Potro actually edged ahead with the match’s first break, going up 3-2 in the first set when a backhand return caught the net tape and took a fortuitous roll over to Nadal’s side for a winner. That was greeted with a chorus of “Ole, ole, ole, ole! Del-po! Del-po!” for the popular Argentine, who would serve out that set, punctuating it with a fore- hand. Maybe that woke up Nadal, who wouldn’t again relinquish a game until he owned the second set and a 3-0 lead in the third. The next time del Potro served, Nadal finally earned his first break point with some fantastic defense, throwing himself to his left to somehow get back one massive forehand from del Potro, who — perhaps stunned that ball came back — sent his next forehand long. By now, Nadal was pulling his own intimidating, topspin-lathered forehand up the line and attacking whenever del Potro left a ball short. It was quickly clear that the only doubt remaining was what the final score would be. “Just the fight to be in the final, and have a chance to fight for another title here, is so important for me,” Nadal said. BULLDOGS: Hinkle, Earl combine PREPS: Echo thumps Pilot Rock carries with one touchdown. for 190 rushing yards on 24 carries RAINIER 46, Echo will next play Crane Continued from 1B the second half. On the other side of the ball, Riverside’s offense struggled to move the ball consistently into scoring range, but the Pirates did run for 183 yards with senior Aramis accumulating 133 of those. Riverside’s only score came on its opening posses- sion when senior quarterback Mason Hegar connected with senior Felix Aparicio on a 17-yard touchdown pass. Riverside will go for two straight wins next Friday when it hosts Imbler for a 7 p.m. kick off. Continued from 1B penalties that we need to clean up, me over throwing balls,” he continued. “We had a great game but there’s a lot of stuff we need to fix.” That great game was capped off with an average of 6.7 yards per carry from the quarterback. James explosiveness out of the pocket was what kept the offense on the field as it faced critical third downs. He finished with 19 carries for 129 yards. What James lacked in the passing game (12-for- 27) he made up for with his feet, head coach David Faaeteete expressed after the game. Pair that with top tier offensive performances from senior running backs Jonathan Hinkle and Peter Earl, and the Bulldogs dominated the run game. It all started with a fumble recovery 13 seconds into the game. Hermiston was in the perfect position to put pressure on Lewiston (1-2) with an early touchdown, and an 8-yard carry from James did just that. Hinkle was the next to score. James’ 1-yard run on fourth down allowed Hermiston to maintain possession, and on the next play he found Hinkle to push their lead to 13-0. Hinkle wasn’t finished. He found the end zone Staff photo by Kathy Aney Three bulldogs bring down a Lewiston ball carrier Fri- day night at Kennison Field. Hermiston won 26-0. once more to send the Bulldogs into the locker room with a 20-0 advan- tage over the Bengals. While James and Earl set up the scoring drive, it was an interception in the end zone that kept Lewiston scoreless and gave the ball back to Hermiston. “Momentum swings are huge,” Faaeteete said. “It’s the game of football. It’s a game of runs.” Just as Faaeteete said it’s a game of runs, and the Bulldogs had one more big run left. An interception by Gutierrez in what was a dull third quarter gave the momentum back to the Bulldogs and three plays later James completed a highlight-reel worthy slant route to Dayshawn Neal, who found the end zone for Hermiston’s final touchdown of the game. Hinkle and Earl finished with a combined 24 carries for 190 yards to lead the team. Neal, Hermiston’s top receiver of the night, tallied 107 yards off eight receptions. Next up, Hermiston will travel to Moutain View on Sept. 15 to start league play. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ———— Contact Alexis at aman- sanarez@eastoregonian. com. Follow her on Twitter @almansanarez. ECHO 52, PILOT ROCK 6 — At Echo, the Cougars overcame a slow start with a big second half to knock off the Rockets 52-6 on Friday night. Echo (2-0) led just 16-0 at halftime as the offense had some new players in new positions, but a solid defen- sive effort kept the Rockets (0-2) at bay. The Cougars defense overall allowed just 72 total yards for Pilot Rock. “The defense was the game-maker,” Echo coach Rick Thew said. “They didn’t allow anything and allowed our offense to figure things out and then we started to click.” Devan Craig had a big game for Echo with 102 passing yards and two touch- downs to go with 263 rushing yards on 17 carries with four touchdowns. Zack Gehrke also had a good game on the ground with 119 yards on 16 at North Powder on Friday at 1 p.m. and Pilot Rock will play at Union on Friday at 7 p.m. GRANT UNION 44, HEPPNER 6 — At John Day, the Heppner Mustangs turned the ball over six times as they were rocked for the second straight week in a 44-6 loss to Grant Union on Friday. The Mustangs (0-2) first five offensive drives played out like this: safety, fumble, fumble, punt, fumble. Overall, Heppner lost five fumbles and had one interception, which is very uncharacteristic for Heppner teams under Greg Grant. Heppner was outgained in total yardage by the Prop- sectors (2-0) by a stunning 349-98 margin, with the Grant Union throwing for 168 yards and rushing against the usual- ly-stout Mustang defense for 181 yards. Gavin Hanna-Robinson was the Mustangs’ leading rusher with 44 yards on 19 attempts, while Coby Dougherty had 31 yards on eight attempts. Jayden Wilson threw for 80 yards and one touchdown, but completed just 5 of 20 passes in doing so. Wilson’s touchdown was a 31-yard pass to Peyton Lehman in the second quarter which made it a 38-6 game at halftime. Heppner will look to right the ship next week when it hosts Cascade Leavenworth (WA) at 7 p.m. UMATILLA 14 — At Rainier, the Vikings did not play one of their better games as Rainier sent them back home with a 46-14 defeat on Friday night. Pedro Alvarez was Umatil- la’s (1-1) only consistent offensive weapon in the game, rushing for 122 yards on 24 carries. Quarterback Kaden Webb threw for 66 yards on 8 of 15 completions with a touchdown and also ran for 13 yards with a touchdown. Arrik Russell was the leading receiver with four catches for 20 yards and a TD. Umatilla will try to turn things back around next week when it hosts Enterprise for a 7 p.m. start. VOLLEYBALL PILOT ROCK 3, ENTERPRISE 1 — At Pilot Rock, the Rockets started slow but defended their court with an emphatic finish to beat Enterprise 3-1 on Friday. The Rockets (6-2) dropped the first set to the Outlaws (1-6) 25-21, but roared back to win the final three 25-13, 25-18 and 25-12. Grace Austin led the team with 13 kills while Abby Rigby had nine and Rhyanne Oates had eight. Pilot Rock also had 26 serving aces as a team, with Siobhan Holman leading with 10. Pilot Rock will try to extend its three-game win streak today when it travels to Condon for the Summit Springs tournament. MARINERS: Diaz dances out of trouble to record 32 save of the season Continued from 1B on a 1-2 pitch from Angels starter Ricky Nolasco. Mitch Haniger added an RBI single an inning later and Nolasco (6-13) was unable to make it out of the fourth. Leake has provided Seat- tle’s injury-riddled rotation exactly what it needed in his two starts, making early corrections and getting deep enough to salvage some innings from already over- worked bullpen arms. It was a shaky beginning, though, for the Seattle right- hander. Brandon Phillips singled to open the game, Mike Trout doubled and both scored on Justin Upton’s two-run single. But Leake immediately stopped the big inning getting a double play out of Albert Pujols. Leake was nearly flawless until the sixth when Upton’s two-out single and a passed ball led to an unearned run on Pujols’ RBI single. Leake was helped earlier in the inning when Gamel made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Phil- lips of at least a double and possibly a home run. Pujols barely missed a game-tying home run leading off the ninth against Seattle closer Edwin Diaz as his liner hit the wall in left-center on the fly. Diaz recovered, retiring the next three for his 32nd save. UP NEXT SCOREBOARD Local slate PREP FOOTBALL Saturday Putnam at Pendleton, 11 a.m. PREP VOLLEYBALL Saturday Irrigon at Waitsburg (WA) tournament, 8:30 a.m. Ione vs. Condon/Wheeler (at Condon), 9 a.m. Helix, Umatilla, Mac-Hi, at Helix Tourna- ment, 9 a.m. Weston-McEwen at Reedsport Invite, 9 a.m. Wallowa at Echo, 10 a.m. Union vs. Ione (at Condon), 11 a.m. Pilot Rock vs. Condon/Wheeler (at Condon), Noon Joseph at Nixyaawii, 1 p.m. Pilot Rock vs. Ione (at Condon), 2 p.m. Pasco (WA) at Hermiston, 3:45 p.m. Pine Eagle at Echo, 3 p.m. Union vs. Condon/Wheeler (at Condon), 3 p.m. Ione vs. Heppner (at Condon), 4 p.m. Enterprise at Stanfield, 4 p.m. Heppner vs. Condon/Wheeler (at Con- don), 6 p.m. Monday College Place (WA) at Mac-Hi, TBD PREP BOYS SOCCER Saturday Putnam at Hermiston, 1:45 p.m. Monday Hermiston (JV2) at Irrigon, 4 p.m. PREP GIRLS SOCCER Saturday Putnam at Hermiston, Noon Monday Hermiston JV2 at Irrigon, 6 p.m. PREP CROSS COUNTRY Saturday Hermiston, Mac-Hi, Heppner, Helix, Weston-McEwen, Umatilla, Stanfield at Runner’s Soul XC Fest (Hermiston), 10 a.m. COLLEGE FOOTBALL Sunday Eastern Oregon vs. Montana-Western, 1 p.m. Prep scores FOOTBALL Class 6A LIBERTY 54, Reynolds 14 BARLOW 53, Hillsboro 6 WILSONVILLE 52, Franklin 0 Roseburg 26, DAVID DOUGLAS 0 Newberg 56, CENTENNIAL 27 Benson 18, PARKROSE 13 GLENCOE 49, Cleveland 0 Camas (WA) 34, SHERWOOD 12 LAKE OSWEGO 47, Beaverton 6 WILLAMETTE 23, Thurston 14 WEST LINN 21, South Medford 14 Tigard 48, SOUTHRIDGE 12 CLACKAMAS 45, Lincoln 0 Sheldon 49, SUNSET 7 Class 5A MILWAUKIE / MILWAUKIE ACAD. OF THE ARTS 46, Woodburn 0 HERMISTON 26, Lewiston (ID) 0 DALLAS 54, North Eugene 0 Bend 42, CORVALLIS 28 Mountain View 28, CENTRAL 21 Class 4A South Umpqua 32, NORTH VALLEY 8 COTTAGE GROVE 49, Madras 13 ASTORIA 3, Gladstone 0 ESTACADA 21, Scio 20 CLATSKANIE 14, Seaside 0 NORTH BEND 54, Philomath 7 MAZAMA 32, Del Norte (CA) 0 MARSHFIELD 25, Phoenix 18 HIDDEN VALLEY 37, Brookings-Harbor 6 Pleasant Hill 45, SIUSLAW 18 Valley Catholic 27, YAMHILL-CARLTON 10 Class 3A La Pine 43, CULVER 20 ARLINGTON / CONDON 62, Horizon Christian-Tualatin 6 RAINIER 46, Umatilla 14 Amity 35, REEDSPORT 13 GERVAIS 68, Portland Christian / Columbia Christian 20 Blanchet Catholic 27, KENNEDY 7 TAFT 48, Colton 34 Coquille / Pacific 53, MYRTLE POINT 13 RIVERSIDE / IONE 8, UNION 6 DAYTON 45, Regis 12 Oakland 52, GLIDE 32 SHERIDAN / SHERIDAN JAPANESE CHAR. 27, Jefferson 0 Harrisburg 54, ST. MARY’S-MEDFORD 20 Class 2A Weston-McEwen at IMBLER, canceled CENTRAL LINN 43, Gaston 13 ECHO 52, Pilot Rock / Nixyaawii 6 GRANT UNION 44, Heppner 6 ST. PAUL 42, Monroe / Triangle Lake 12 KNAPPA 52, Toledo 0 Butte Falls 32, BONANZA 12 GLENDALE 54, Crow 8 Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE Friday’s Games Detroit 5, Toronto 4 Boston 9, Tampa Bay 3 Cleveland 5, Baltimore 0 Texas 11, N.Y. Yankees 5 San Francisco 9, Chicago White Sox 2 Minnesota 8, Kansas City 5 Oakland 9, Houston 8 Seattle 4, L.A. Angels 3 Saturday’s Games Baltimore (Ynoa 1-0) at Cleveland (Tomlin 8-9), 10:05 a.m. N.Y. Yankees (Severino 12-6) at Texas (Cashner 9-9), 10:05 a.m. Houston (Morton 11-6) at Oakland (Meng- den 0-1), 1:05 p.m. Detroit (Bell 0-2) at Toronto (Anderson 2-3), 1:07 p.m. San Francisco (Samardzija 9-12) at Chica- go White Sox (Shields 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Andriese 5-2) at Boston (Sale 15-7), 4:10 p.m. Minnesota (Berrios 12-7) at Kansas City (Junis 7-2), 4:15 p.m. Houston (Peacock 10-2) at Oakland (Gossett 3-8), 4:35 p.m. L.A. Angels (Heaney 1-1) at Seattle (Albers 3-1), 6:10 p.m. Wild Card Standings AL W New York 75 Minnesota 74 Los Angeles 72 Texas 71 Baltimore 71 Seattle 70 Tampa Bay 70 Kansas City 69 L 65 67 69 69 70 71 72 71 Pct GB .536 +1½ .525 — .511 2 .507 2½ .504 3 .496 4 .493 4½ .493 4½ NATIONAL LEAGUE Friday’s Games Washington 11, Philadelphia 10 N.Y. Mets 5, Cincinnati 1 Miami 7, Atlanta 1 Milwaukee 2, Chicago Cubs 0 San Francisco 9, Chicago White Sox 2 St. Louis 4, Pittsburgh 1 San Diego 10, Arizona 6 Colorado 5, L.A. Dodgers 4 Saturday’s Games Milwaukee (Anderson 8-3) at Chicago Cubs (Montgomery 5-7), 1:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Leiter Jr. 2-5) at Washington (Jackson 5-4), 4:05 p.m. Cincinnati (Bailey 4-7) at N.Y. Mets (Flex- en 3-4), 4:10 p.m. Miami (Conley 6-7) at Atlanta (Fried 1-0), 4:10 p.m. San Francisco (Samardzija 9-12) at Chica- go White Sox (Shields 2-6), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Kuhl 7-10) at St. Louis (Marti- nez 11-10), 4:15 p.m. San Diego (Chacin 12-10) at Arizona (Godley 7-7), 5:10 p.m. Colorado (Bettis 0-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Wood 14-2), 6:10 p.m. WIld Card Standings NL W Arizona 82 Colorado 76 Milwaukee 73 St. Louis 73 L 59 65 68 68 Pct GB .582 +6½ .539 — .518 3 .518 3 Basketball WNBA Playoff Glance Second Round Winner advances Sunday Phoenix at Connecticut, Noon (ESPN2) Washington at New York, 2 p.m. (ESPN2) Tennis U.S. Open Friday At USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York Arthur Ashe Stadium Men’s Singles Semifinal Kevin Anderson (28), South Africa, def. Pablo Carreno-Busta (12), Spain, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Juan Martin del Potro (24), Argentina, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. Football NFL Week 1 Sunday’s Games New York Jets at Buffalo, 10 a.m. Atlanta at Chicago, 10 a.m. Baltimore at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 10 a.m. Arizona at Detroit, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Houston, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Miami, 10 a.m. Oakland at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at Los Angeles Rams, 1:05 p.m. Seattle at Green Bay, 1:25 p.m. Carolina at San Francisco, 1:25 p.m. New York Giants at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Monday’s Games New Orleans at Minnesota, 4:10 p.m. Los Angeles Chargers at Denver, 7:20 p.m. NCAA Top 25 Schedule Friday’s Game No. 11 Oklahoma State 44, South Alabama 7 Saturday’s Games No. 1 Alabama vs. Fresno State, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Oklahoma, 4:30 p.m. (ABC) No. 3 Clemson vs. No. 13 Auburn, 4 p.m. (ESPN) No. 4 Penn State vs. Pittsburgh, 12:30 p.m. (ABC) No. 6 Southern Cal vs. No. 14 Stanford, 5:30 p.m. (FOX) No. 7 Washington vs. Montana, 5 p.m. (PAC12) No. 8 Michigan vs. Cincinnati, 9 a.m. (ABC) No. 9 Wisconsin vs. FAU, 9 a.m. No. 10 Florida State vs. Louisiana-Mon- roe, 4 p.m. No. 12 LSU vs. Chattanooga, 4:30 p.m. No. 15 Georgia at No. 24 Notre Dame, 4:30 p.m. (NBC) No. 16 Miami at Arkansas State, 12:30 p.m. (ESPNU) No. 17 Louisville at North Carolina, 9 a.m. (ESPN) No. 18 Virginia Tech vs. Delaware, 12:30 p.m. No. 19 Kansas State vs. Charlotte, 9 a.m. No. 20 Washington State vs. Boise State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) No. 21 South Florida at UConn, 9 a.m. No. 22 Florida vs. Northern Colorado, 4:30 p.m. (ESPNNews) No. 23 TCU at Arkansas, 12:30 p.m. (CBS) No. 25 Tennessee vs. Indiana State, 1 p.m. Angels: Andrew Heaney (1-1) will make his fifth start of the season. Mariners: Andrew Albers (3-1) looks to continue his unexpected run of success. Albers allowed one run and one hit in his last start against Oakland. BULL RIDER: Continued from 1B we are. That’s how I was raised: We just take stuff as it is.” Titman said that is the tone of the whole town right now. They have to drive more than an hour to buy groceries, but no one seems to be upset or depressed. Titman too believes he’ll be able to keep his head clear for his ride on Monday. “When it comes to me riding bulls and the eight- second task at hand, I’m always able to zone in,” he said. A win would be a welcome blessing. Titman said he’d put prize money to good use, splitting it between folks at home and the victims of recent Oregon wildfires. “The lord’s blessed me to do what I do,” he said. “I want to give back. I just like helping folks regard- less of what it is.”