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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2017)
SPORTS Thursday, October 19, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3B Prep Football Mustangs, Tigers set to battle for league title East Oregonian For the better part of two decades, the Blue Mountain Conference/Columbia Basin Conference’s regular season football champion was the Heppner Mustangs. However in 2016, the Stanfield Tigers bested the Mustangs 14-0 in Week 8 to capture the league crown on their way to being state runners-up. And now in 2017, the two teams will meet again on Friday night with the league champion- ship and league’s automatic playoff berth up for grabs in the de facto league champi- onship game at Stanfield’s Horyna Athletic Complex. Heppner (3-3 overall, 2-0 CBC) worked its way out of a dreadful 0-3 start with a strong three weeks of play to get back to .500 on the season. Most recently, Heppner defeated Culver 64-31 behind a powerful rushing attack with Beau Football Heppner Stanfield Mustangs Tigers (3-3, 2-0) (2-3, 2-0) • Friday, 7 p.m. • at Stanfield Wolters and Coby Dough- erty. Stanfield (2-3, 2-0) took some time to find success after losing nearly all of its key contributors from the 2016 squad to graduation. But the Tigers edged out Culver 22-20 and rolled over Weston-McEwen 38-16 two weeks ago to set up the high-stakes meeting with Heppner. “We’re excited to play Heppner for another league title,” Stanfield coach Davy Salas said after the win over Weston-McEwen. “The kids are having fun and playing well and we’ll be ready for Heppner.” Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the East Oregonian will have coverage of the game. Here is a quick look at the rest of the Week 8 games for the local 4A-1A schools: BAKER (1-6, 0-2) AT MAC-HI (3-2, 0-2) — What started as a promising season for Mac-Hi has hit a rut in recent weeks, but the Pioneers aim to end the regular season on a positive note. Mac-Hi has not won a Greater Oregon League game dating back to Oct. 19, 2012, though they have perhaps their best shot on Friday night as they host a struggling Baker Bulldogs team. Baker’s lone win came against Weiser (ID) 14-7 on Sept. 15 and has lost four straight, most recently 29-8 at Ontario. Meanwhile, the Pioneers have scored just six points in its last two games, including a 34-0 shutout at La Grande last week. IRRIGON (3-3, 1-2) AT UMATILLA (4-3, 1-2), 7 P.M. — The Irrigon Knights have their shortest road trip of the season on Friday night as they travel just 8 miles east to take on the Umatilla Vikings. Both the Knights and Vikings are coming off of tough losses last week, with Irrigon falling at Nyssa 46-14 and Umatilla getting shut out 46-0 at Vale. The Vikings won last year’s meeting in Irrigon 33-13, but are facing an improved Knights squad that should make Friday’s game a good one. NYSSA (5-0, 3-0) AT RIVERSIDE (2-4, 0-3), 7 P.M. — Two straight wins to start the season had the Riverside Pirates feeling confident, but the team has had a hard crash in recent weeks against some tough and talented competition. It gets even tougher for the Pirates as they host the undefeated Nyssa Bulldogs, who are fresh off a 46-14 win over Irrigon last week and are ranked No. 3 in the OSAA’s 3A rankings. River- side lost 50-6 at Burns last week, and has scored just 22 points in its last three games. PILOT ROCK (2-4) AT DUFUR (6-0, 3-0), 7 P.M. — Pilot Rock heads back to the road for the fifth time this season on Friday night as they travel west to take on the No. 1-ranked team in Class 1A, the Dufur Rangers. Last week, Pilot Rock lost to Dufur’s league foe Perrydale 42-14, while the Rangers beat up on Arlington to the tune of a 58-14 win to stay undefeated. The Rangers bring a potent offense that has scored more than 50 points in all six games this season while never giving up more than 22. ECHO (5-2, 3-1) AT COVE (5-2, 3-1), 7 P.M. — A lot is on the line on Friday night in Eastern Oregon as the Echo Cougars and Cove Leopards battle it out on the gridiron for third place in Special District 1. Echo comes in off of two straight big wins over Powder Valley (68-38) and Joseph (64-20) and has scored more than 60 points in three straight games. Cove had a three-game win streak snapped last week against a talented Wallowa team with a 66-8 loss. ARLINGTON (5-2, 1-1) AT SHERMAN (3-3, 0-1), 7 P.M. — A 1A Special District 4 playoff spot will be on the line on Friday night when Arlington travels to take on Sherman. The Honkers fell to 1-1 in league play last week with a tough home loss to Dufur, while Sherman fell to Dufur 54-22 two weeks ago. If the Honkers can beat the Huskies, Arlington clinches the district’s second playoff spot, while a loss would put them in jeopardy of missing the postseason. PLAYOFFS: Yankees get to Astros’ Keuchel to take 3-2 series lead Continued from 1B scoreboard in left field for his second homer of the playoffs — Statcast projected it to 491 feet. Javier Baez connected with two out, sending another drive deep to left. Wood then retired eight in a row before Baez got him again in the fifth, going down to pull a low 1-1 pitch over the wall in left for a 3-1 lead. “A little frustrating for sure,” Wood said. “I don’t know how many parks that ball gets out in, but it’s the nature of the beast. Made a good pitch, he got up in the air and it went out. Nothing you can do about it now.” He departed after Arri- eta’s two-out single, and Ross Stripling retired Albert Almora Jr. to end the inning. “I felt my stuff was pretty good,” Wood said. “I made two mistakes early in that one inning, gave up the two solo shots. Pulled a fastball and didn’t get the breaking ball far enough inside. Besides that, I mean, I thought my stuff was pretty good.” Wood broke out in a big way this season, helping Los Angeles to a major league- best 104 wins. He also had a career-low 2.72 ERA over 27 games, 25 starts. But the long ball was a frequent issue in the last part of the season. He allowed two homers in 80 2/3 innings before the All-Star break and 13 in his final 71 2/3 innings. “Just execution,” he said of the difference. Wood allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked none in his first career playoff start. He also pitched in Game 4 of last year’s NLCS against Chicago, tossing two scoreless innings. Game 5 is Thursday night at Wrigley Field. Ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw pitches for Los Angeles, and Jose Quintana gets the ball for Chicago. “We’re going to be all right,” Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger said. “We got the right guy going tomorrow.” While Wood faltered, the NL West champions struggled against Arrieta in what might have been in his last start with the Cubs. The right-hander, who is eligible for free agency after the season, struck out nine while pitching 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Los Angeles pulled within one on Justin Turner’s homer off Wade Davis in the eighth, but that was it for the Dodgers. Chase Utley struck out swinging with two on to end the inning, and Davis got Bellinger to ground into a game-ending double play for the save. “It’s a good team over there,” Turner said. “They are the defending champs, so they are not just going to roll over and hand it to us. We got to go out and prepare and play hard and hopefully get a better result tomorrow.” YANKEES 5, ASTROS 0 — This time, it was Masahiro Tanaka who was untouchable on the mound. And when the New York Yankees sent Houston ace Dallas Keuchel to an early exit, their rollicking crowd AP Photo/Frank Franklin II New York Yankees’ Didi Gregorius hits an RBI single during the fifth inning of Game 5 of baseball’s Ameri- can League Championship Series against the Houston Astros Wednesday in New York. let loose with a cathartic roar that must have boomed all over the Bronx. “New York is no joke,” Keuchel said afterward. One more big win, and these Yankees are World Series-bound. Tanaka pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and New York finally solved a longtime nemesis at just the right moment, beating Keuchel and the Astros 5-0 on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series. Gary Sanchez hit an RBI single off Keuchel and later homered to help the wild- card Yankees win for the third straight day at home, moving them within one victory of their first pennant since 2009 and record 41st overall. The teams head back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday night, when Justin Verlander and the reeling Astros will try to regain their footing following an off day and force a decisive Game 7. Luis Severino is scheduled to start for New York. To take the series, the Yankees knew they needed to win at least one game started by Keuchel or Verlander, both Cy Young Award winners. Now they’ve done that and they don’t want to let Houston back up. “Don’t wake that sleeping dog. So we’ve got to just keep on rolling,” Frazier said. “They’re going to be ready to go. We know that.” Houston arrived up two games to none and appeared to be closing in on its second World Series appearance. But the Astros, like defending AL champion Cleveland before them, have been unable to put away these poised Yankees, who improved to 6-0 at home this postseason in front of their cheering, chanting fans. New York has won 19 of its past 22 games at Yankee Stadium. “It’s been unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like it in Major League Baseball,” veteran Chase Headley said. “Reminds me of college football games. They’re going crazy the entire game. It’s a huge advantage for us.” Aaron Judge, Greg Bird and Didi Gregorius also delivered big hits as New York chased Keuchel in the fifth and handed him his first postseason loss. Keuchel had been Yankees kryptonite, entering 6-2 with a 1.09 ERA in eight career starts against New York including a pair of scoreless outings in playoff wins. Both of those came at the expense of Tanaka, who lost 3-0 to Keuchel in the 2015 AL wild-card game at Yankee Stadium and 2-1 in Game 1 of this series. The ace lefty with the long, bushy beard entered 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 26 2/3 postseason innings overall. New York finally broke through against Keuchel with two outs in the second, when Starlin Castro doubled and scored on Greg Bird’s sharp single. The sellout crowd of 49,647 almost sounded surprised by the hit big enough for Bird to flash both thumbs down, doubling up on the Yankees’ playful sign to each other for clutch swings. In the third, Judge grounded an RBI double just inside the third base line and past a diving Alex Bregman. Brett Gardner sped all the way around from first and scored with a headfirst slide. Bregman’s throwing error on an infield single by Headley, who had three hits in the No. 9 spot, aided the Yankees in the fifth. Keuchel walked Judge with two outs before Sanchez lined a run-scoring single into the left-field corner. Going into that at-bat, Sanchez was 1 for 16 with seven strikeouts in the series and 0 for 8 with six strikeouts against Keuchel overall. Gregorius then grounded an RBI single up the middle that grazed the glove of diving second baseman Jose Altuve. That ended the night for Keuchel and gave the Yankees a 4-0 cushion, the most runs he had ever allowed against them. With the stands pulsating, fans reveled in his slow walk to the dugout as the Yankee Stadium sound system blared Scandal’s “Goodbye To You.” “When you play at home, things like this happen and that’s why it’s so tough to win on the road in the play- offs,” Keuchel said. “Yankee Stadium is a tough place to play and it was rockin’ these three games, but it’s going to be rockin’ on Friday for us.” Sanchez hit his third postseason homer off Brad Peacock in the seventh to make it 5-0. BLAZERS: Team shot 49 percent from the floor, and outrebounded Suns 57-33 through the whole night. Offense got off to a slow start but picked up.” Portland led 60-35 at the half and outscored the Suns 64-41 in the second. The Blazers led by as many as 58, for a time flirting with the most one-sided game in NBA history, a 68-point blowout of the Miami Heat by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 17, 1991. The Suns shot 31.5 percent to Portland’s 49 percent, made 7 of 27 3-pointers to the Blazers’ 14 of 24 and were outrebounded 57-33. Phoenix had the league’s second-worst record last season at 24-58 and looked at least that bad throughout the opener. The Suns have not made the playoffs in seven seasons, the longest drought in franchise history. They are trying to rebuild with youth. That takes time and some painful moments, such as the one Wednesday Local slate Helix, Weston-McEwen, Umatilla, Stanfield at Wildhorse Invite (Pendleton), 3 p.m. Oct. 15: Los Angeles 4, Chicago 1 Oct. 16 Los Angeles 6, Chicago 1 Wednesday: Chicago 3, Los Angeles 2 x-Thursday, Oct. 19: Los Angeles at Chicago, 8:08 p.m. (TBS) x-Saturday, Oct. 21: Chicago at Los Ange- les, 4:08 or 8:08 p.m. (TBS) x-Sunday, Oct. 22: Chicago at Los Ange- les, 7:38 p.m. (TBS) Continued from 1B night. Eric Bledsoe scored 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Booker added 12 on 6-of-17 shooting. Bledsoe was 1 for 6 on 3s, Booker 0 for 3. Portland’s bench outscored Phoenix’s 61-26. After Booker’s 13-footer tied it at 17, Lillard sank a layup and the Blazers bolted away from there. Bledsoe’s three-point play cut the lead to 45-35 with 4:38 left in the third quarter, but Portland scored the final 15 points of the half 60-35 at the break. The Suns shot 29 percent in the first half (14 for 49) to Portland’s 44 percent (22 for 50). Phoenix was 1 for 11 from 3-point range in the first two quarters to the Blazers’ 7 of 13. Most tellingly, the Portland bench outscored its Phoenix counterparts 24-0. It only got worse (or better from Portland’s perspective) after that. The Blazers led a numbing 98-55 entering the final quarter. SCOREBOARD PREP FOOTBALL Friday Redmond at Hermiston, 7 p.m. Pendleton at Bend, 7 p.m. Baker at Mac-Hi, 7 p.m. Nyssa at Riverside, 7 p.m. Irrigon at Umatilla, 7 p.m. Heppner at Stanfield, 7 p.m. Pilot Rock at Dufur, 7 p.m. Echo at Cove, 7 p.m. Arlington at Sherman, 7 p.m. PREP VOLLEYBALL Thursday Pendleton at Baker, 6:30 p.m. Sherman at Condon/Wheeler, 5 p.m. Saturday Condon/Wheeler vs. TBD (Big Sky District tournament at The Dalles), 10 a.m. Helix vs. Joseph (Old Oregon districts at La Grande), 10:30 a.m. Ione vs. TBD (Big Sky District tournament at Sherman), Noon Weston-McEwen at Pilot Rock (CBC districts at Pilot Rock), Noon Echo vs. Powder Valley (Old Oregon League districts at La Grande), 9 a.m. PREP BOYS SOCCER Thursday Pendleton at Baker, 4 p.m. Saturday Mac-Hi at Baker, 1:30 p.m. Umatilla at Irrigon, 3 p.m. Riverside at Nyssa, 3 p.m. PREP GIRLS SOCCER Thursday Baker at Pendleton, 6 p.m. Mac-Hi at The Dalles, 4 p.m. Saturday Mac-Hi at Baker, Noon Umatilla at Irrigon, 1 p.m. Riverside at Nyssa, 1 p.m. PREP CROSS COUNTRY Thursday Pendleton, Hermiston, Mac-Hi, Heppner, COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL Friday Northwest at EOU, 7 p.m. Saturday BMCC at Grays Harbor Tournament, TBA Evergreen at EOU, 5 p.m. Sunday BMCC at Grays Harbor Tournament, TBA COLLEGE MEN’S SOCCER Friday EOU at College of Idaho, Noon Saturday BMCC at Wenatchee Valley, 2:15 p.m. Sunday EOU at Rocky Mountain, Noon COLLEGE WOMEN’S SOCCER Friday EOU at College of Idaho, 2:30 p.m. Saturday BMCC at Wenatchee Valley, Noon Sunday EOU at Rocky Mountain, 2 p.m. COLLEGE FOOTBALL Saturday EOU at Montana-Western, 1 p.m. Baseball MLB Postseason LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Best-of-7; x-if necessary) American League New York 3, Houston 2 Oct. 13: Houston 2, New York 1 Oct. 14: Houston 2, New York 1 Oct. 16: New York 8, Houston 1 Oct. 17: New York 6, Houston 4 Wednesday: New York 5, Houston 0 Friday: New York at Houston, 5:08 p.m. (FS1) x-Saturday, Oct. 21: New York at Houston, 5:08 p.m. (FS1) National League Los Angeles 3, Chicago 1 Oct. 14: Los Angeles 5, Chicago 2 Football NFL Week 7 Thursday’s Game Kansas City at Oakland, 5:25 p.m. Sunday’s Games Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 10 a.m. New Orleans at Green Bay, 10 a.m. Baltimore at Minnesota, 10 a.m. Tennessee at Cleveland, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at Miami, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. Arizona vs L.A. Rams at London, UK, 10 a.m. Carolina at Chicago, 10 a.m. Dallas at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, 1:25 p.m. Seattle at N.Y. Giants, 1:25 p.m. Denver at L.A. Chargers, 1:25 p.m. Atlanta at New England, 5:30 p.m. Open: Detroit, Houston Monday’s Game Washington at Philadelphia, 5:30 p.m. NCAA Top 25 Schedule Thursday No. 25 Memphis at Houston, 5 p.m. (ESPN) Saturday No. 1 Alabama vs. Tennessee, 12:30 p.m. (CBS) No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 19 Michigan, 4:30 p.m. (ABC) No. 4 TCU vs. Kansas, 5 p.m. (FOX) No. 5 Wisconsin vs. Maryland, 9 a.m. (FOX) No. 8 Miami vs. Syracuse, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) No. 9 Oklahoma at Kansas State, 1 p.m. (FOX) No. 10 Oklahoma State at Texas, 9 a.m. (ABC) No. 11 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame, 4:30 p.m. (NBC) No. 14 Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 15 Washington State vs. Colorado, 7:45 p.m. (ESPN) No. 16 So. Florida at Tulane, 4 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 18 Michigan State vs. Indiana, 12:30 p.m. (ABC) No. 20 UCF at Navy, 12:30 p.m. No. 21 Auburn at Arkansas, 4:30 p.m. No. 23 West Virginia at Baylor, 5 p.m. No. 24 LSU at Mississippi, 4:15 p.m. Hockey NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GP W L OT Toronto 7 6 1 0 Tampa Bay 7 5 1 1 Ottawa 6 3 1 2 Detroit 7 4 3 0 Florida 5 2 3 0 Boston 5 2 3 0 Buffalo 7 1 4 2 Montreal 7 1 5 1 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Columbus 6 5 1 0 New Jersey 6 5 1 0 Pittsburgh 7 4 2 1 Philadelphia 6 4 2 0 Washington 7 3 3 1 Carolina 4 2 1 1 N.Y. Islanders 6 2 3 1 N.Y. Rangers 7 1 5 1 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L OT St. Louis 7 5 2 0 Chicago 7 4 2 1 Colorado 7 4 3 0 Nashville 6 3 2 1 Dallas 6 3 3 0 Pts 12 11 8 8 4 4 4 3 GF 34 27 20 23 17 14 18 11 GA 22 23 13 21 20 18 28 27 Pts 10 10 9 8 7 5 5 3 GF 21 26 25 26 23 12 15 17 GA 13 17 29 16 24 11 18 26 Pts 10 9 8 7 6 GF 23 27 20 18 14 GA 18 18 17 17 14 Winnipeg 6 3 3 0 6 18 23 Minnesota 4 1 1 2 4 15 16 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Los Angeles 6 5 0 1 11 21 10 Vegas 6 5 1 0 10 20 15 Calgary 6 4 2 0 8 17 17 Vancouver 5 2 2 1 5 12 14 Anaheim 6 2 3 1 5 12 17 San Jose 5 2 3 0 4 13 16 Edmonton 5 1 4 0 2 11 19 Arizona 6 0 5 1 1 12 25 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. ———— Wednesday’s Games Toronto 6, Detroit 3 St. Louis 5, Chicago 2 Los Angeles 5, Montreal 1 Thursday’s Games Tampa Bay at Columbus, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Boston, 4 p.m. N.Y. Islanders at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m. Nashville at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Edmonton at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. St. Louis at Colorado, 6 p.m. Carolina at Calgary, 6 p.m. Dallas at Arizona, 7 p.m. Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Toronto FC 20 5 8 New York City FC 16 9 8 Chicago 16 10 7 Atlanta United FC 15 9 9 Columbus 16 12 5 New York 13 12 8 New England 12 15 6 Philadelphia 10 14 9 Montreal 11 16 6 Orlando City 10 14 9 D.C. United 9 19 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Vancouver 15 11 7 Seattle 13 9 11 Pts 68 56 55 54 53 47 42 39 39 39 32 GF 72 54 61 68 51 51 50 44 50 38 30 GA 35 41 44 38 47 46 59 46 55 52 58 Pts GF GA 52 49 47 50 49 39 Portland Sporting K.C. Houston San Jose FC Dallas Real Salt Lake Minnesota United Colorado Los Angeles 14 12 12 12 10 12 10 9 8 11 8 10 14 10 15 17 18 17 8 13 11 7 13 6 6 6 8 50 49 47 43 43 42 36 33 32 58 39 54 36 43 47 45 31 44 49 27 45 58 47 54 67 48 62 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Sunday’s Games Chicago at Houston, 1 p.m. Colorado at Seattle, 1 p.m. Columbus at New York City FC, 1 p.m. Los Angeles at FC Dallas, 1 p.m. Minnesota United at San Jose, 1 p.m. New England at Montreal, 1 p.m. New York at D.C. United, 1 p.m. Orlando City at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at Real Salt Lake, 1 p.m. Toronto FC at Atlanta United FC, 1 p.m. Vancouver at Portland, 1 p.m. END REGULAR SEASON Basketball NBA Wednesday’s Games Cleveland 102, Boston 99 Houston 122, Golden State 121 Wednesday’s Games Detroit 102, Charlotte 90 Indiana 140, Brooklyn 131 Orlando 116, Miami 109 Washington 120, Philadelphia 115 Milwaukee 108, Boston 100 Memphis 103, New Orleans 91 Atlanta 117, Dallas 111 Utah 106, Denver 96 San Antonio 107, Minnesota 99 Houston 105, Sacramento 100 Portland 124, Phoenix 76 Thursday’s Games Chicago at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. New York at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. L.A. Clippers at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m.
