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.”