SPORTS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017
1B
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Astros bring home fi rst title
WORLD SERIES
Houston fi nishes
off rebuild with
ultimate prize
By BEN WALKER
Associated Press
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Houston Astros’ George Springer reacts after hitting a two-run
home run during the second inning of Game 7 of baseball’s World
Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday in Los Ange-
les. Springer was named World Series MVP.
LOS ANGELES — From laugh-
ingstock to lift off.
George Springer and the Houston
Astros rocketed to the top of the
baseball galaxy Wednesday night,
winning the fi rst World Series
championship in franchise history
by romping past the Los Angeles
Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7.
Game 7
Houston
Los Angeles
5
1
Playing for a city still recov-
ering from Hurricane Harvey, and
wearing an H Strong logo on their
jerseys, the Astros brought home
the prize that had eluded them since
they started out in 1962 as the Colt
.45s.
For a Series that was shaping
up as an October classic, Game 7
quickly became a November clunker
as Houston scored fi ve runs in the
fi rst two innings off an ineffective
Yu Darvish. Hardly the excitement
fans felt during the Cubs’ 10-inning
thriller in Cleveland last fall.
Well, except for everyone
wearing bright orange.
Jose Altuve, one of four carry-
overs from a club that lost an
embarrassing 111 times in 2013
after switching from the NL to the
AL, and this collection of young
stars silenced Dodger Stadium from
the get-go. Charlie Morton fi nished
up with four stellar innings of relief
for the win.
Springer led off the evening with
a double against Darvish, and soon
it was 2-0.
Springer hit his fi fth homer —
tying the Series mark set by Reggie
Jackson and matched by Chase
See WORLD SERIES/3B
Prep Football
OSAA Boys Soccer Playoffs
Dawgs ready
to start playoff
run at home
Pirates breeze to Round 1 win
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The Hermiston
Bulldogs may not have envisioned
their regular season ending the way
it did, but after jumping to No. 3 in
the rankings and hosting Round 1 of
the state championship playoffs, they
certainly aren’t complaining.
“Truth be told our goal was to win
a conference championship,” head
coach David Faaeteete said. “We fell
a game short, but we felt like we’re
See DAWGS/2B
5A First Round
#14 La Salle Prep #3 Hermiston
Mascot
Bulldogs
(X-X)
(7-2)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Kennison Field, Hermiston
Buckaroos
face tough task
with Lancers
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — After a three-
year hiatus, the Pendleton Buckaroo
football team is back in the postseason.
Despite a tough loss to Hermiston
in Week 9, the Buckaroos (5-4
overall) earned a spot into the 5A
playoffs by way of a tiebreak with
Bend and Summit, all three of which
fi nished with identical 4-3 records
in the district. The Buckaroos won
the tiebreak and fi nished third in the
district by having the higher OSAA
ranking of the three, coming in at No.
14 with Summit at No. 15 and Bend
at No. 17. It made for some nervous
times from the Buckaroo coaches
following the loss to Hermiston, as the
group waited for the OSAA rankings
See BUCKS/2B
5A First Round
#13 Pendleton
#4 Churchill
Buckaroos
Lancers
(5-4)
(9-0)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Churchill HS, Eugene
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Riverside’s Francisco Chavez kicks the ball between Creswell’s Tristan Ward (7) and Ben Vaughn in the Pirate’s 11-0 win against the
Bulldogs on Wednesday in Boardman.
Riverside, Mac-Hi, Hermiston all earn first round victories
Riverside’s
Ulyces Lopez
runs down
the ball pur-
sued by Cre-
swell’s Tristan
Ward in the
Pirate’s win
against the
Bulldogs on
Wednesday in
Boardman.
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ &
ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN — It was a
high scoring affair in Boardman
on Wednesday, as the Riverside
Pirates hosted the Creswell Bull-
dogs in Round 1 of the 3A/2A/1A
state championship playoffs.
From the start, the Pirates
(14-0-1) maintained control of the
game. Riverside took 25 shots on
goal in the fi rst half, and allowed
Creswell into its half only twice
— neither time led to a Bulldogs
shot.
The scoring started early, and
happened often. Senior Ulyces
Lopez got things started with
two back-to-back goals with a
little over 25 minutes left until
Staff photo by E.J.
Harris
halftime. His fi rst score was a
beautifully placed shot that hit the
inside of the right post and landed
in the back of the net. His second
was a header off a cross.
“The only option I had today
was to score and that’s exactly
what I did,” Lopez said. “I already
knew they
were going to man mark me
coming into the game, and I just
had to play my best.”
Creswell goalkeeper Jaxon
Wilkerson had a busy night and
made many good saves early on,
but Riverside’s attack was too
3A First Round
#16 Creswell
#1 Riverside
1
11
much for just one person to stop.
The Pirates used aggressive
play and fancy footwork to bob
and weave through defenders.
They would enter the half up 5-0
after seniors Quincy Castillo and
Kevin Madrigal both knocked one
in, and senior goalkeeper Kevin
Ruelas sent an undefendable
penalty kick past Wilkerson.
After the break, Creswell
showed signs of life and quickly
moved into Riverside’s back third.
See SOCCER/3B
Sports shorts
Spurs’ veteran PG Parker returns
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio
Spurs have recalled Tony Parker from their
G-League affi liate.
The move comes one week after the veteran
point guard started working out with the Austin
Spurs as part of his rehab program.
Parker is working his way back from
a ruptured left quadriceps tendon
that he suffered during last spring’s
Western Conference semifi nals.
It’s unclear if Parker will play
Thursday night when defending
champion Golden State visits San
Parker
Antonio for one of this season’s
biggest games. Coach Gregg Popovich said last
weekend Parker would not rejoin the team until he
was 100 percent.
The Spurs have lost three straight after starting
4-0. Parker has averaged 16.2 points and 5.8
assists in 1,143 career games and has won four
NBA titles.
“I was planning if we were
World Series champions,
I was going to do it right
there. I don’t think that’s a
stage you can create, it just
has to happen. And we
were able to win tonight,
so perfect timing for me
to get engaged. I’ve been
thinking about it for months
now, but I was waiting for
the perfect opportunity, you
know.”
— Carlos Correa
Houston Astros shortstop proposed
to his girlfriend on the fi eld at Dodg-
er Stadium after his Astros won the
World Series on Wednesday.
Duke picked No. 1 in preseason
AP men’s basketball poll
(AP) — Duke is No. 1 in The Associated
Press preseason poll for the second straight
season and ninth time as a program, matching
North Carolina for most all-time.
Led by senior guard Grayson
Allen and freshman phenom
Marvin Bagley III, the Blue
Devils received 33 of 65 fi rst-
place votes from a national media
panel in the AP Top 25 released on Wednesday.
Duke had three players leave school early,
but coach Mike Krzyzewski restocked the Blue
Devils with another stellar recruiting class.
No. 2 Michigan State received 13 fi rst-place
votes, No. 3 Arizona had 18 and No. 4 Kansas
got one.
Kentucky rounded out the top 5, followed by
Villanova, Wichita State and Florida. Defending
national champion North Carolina is No. 9 and
Southern California rounds out the top 10.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
2015 — LeBron James
becomes the youngest player
to reach 25,000 career points,
leading the Cleveland Cava-
liers past the Philadelphia
76ers 107-100. James, 30,
scores 22 points to become the
sixth active player with 25,000
points and the 20th overall.
2016 — The Chicago Cubs
win their fi rst World Series
championship since 1908 when
Ben Zobrist hits a go-ahead
double in the 10th inning,
beating the Cleveland Indians
8-7 in a thrilling Game 7
delayed by rain early. Chicago
is the fi rst club to overcome
a 3-1 Series defi cit since the
1985 Kansas City Royals.
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