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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 13, 2018)
SPORTS FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS NBA PLAYOFFS: RND 1 No. 6 seed No. 3 seed NEW PORTLAND ORLEANS vs TRAIL PELICANS BLAZERS (48-34) (49-33) Game 1: Best of 7 series Saturday, 7:30 PM At Portland, Moda Center TV: ESPN Prep roundup Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston’s Patrick Wicks returns a volley as his doubles partner Thomas McCullough looks on during their match against Capitol on Thursday in Hermiston. Golden Eagles swoop in for a sweep In its pit stop through town, Capital defeated Hermiston 4-2 twice By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian H ERMISTON — On Thursday, Hermiston’s Jason Morris walked off the tennis court at Armand Larive Middle School and told his teammates, “the wind is insane.” With gusts around 25 miles per hour, the weather remained a factor as the Hermiston boys tennis team hosted Capital (ID) for an early afternoon dual. The Golden Eagles were welcomed by a Bulldog team who had been on the court the past two days and by conditions that made balls linger in the air or sore across Hermiston’s Thomas McCullough returns a volley as his doubles partner Patrick Wicks looks in on their match against Capital on Thursday in Hermsiton. Staff photo by E.J. Harris the court — that was up to the wind. “Obviously we need to be mentally tough to be able to play though these conditions,” head coach Shann West said after Herm- iston couldn’t muster up enough points to topple the visitors. Captial won the dual 4-2. After Morris, Hermiston’s No. 1 singles player, dropped his match 6-0, 6-1, the No. 1 doubles pair of Thomas McCullough and Patrick Wicks were playing simul- taneously on the other end of the courts. They too were affected by See TENNIS/3B COLLEGE SPOTLIGHT Kopacz signs with Wildcats to cap big week Hermiston alum headlines this week’s College Spotlight By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian The 2018 softball season has been one to remember for former Hermiston standout Mikayla Kopacz. After appearing in only 10 games as a freshman for Columbia Basin College due to an injury, Kopacz has become one of the top hitters for CBC and even the NWAC as a sophomore. In 16 conference games, Kopacz is hitting .538 with seven home runs, nine doubles with 23 RBI and has scored 22 runs. Her average is fourth in the conference, and she is tied for second in home runs. That performance has helped Kopacz land an opportunity to continue her softball career next spring, as she signed a National Letter of Intent with NCAA Division-II Central Washington University on Thursday. “I’m beyond excited to get an opportunity to play at the next level,” Kopacz said. “It was so surreal when (CWU coach Mike) Larabee called me and said he was interested ... After my injury last year I contemplated my ability to play at the next level a lot, consid- ering I may not come back stronger than I was. I figured since I didn’t have much for stats or basically a freshman season at CBC no one would offer me. “I knew I was going to have to work extra hard to get where I was before and it slowly paid off and I have came back even stronger than I was ... I love CBC and the home it has given me for the past two years, but I’m beyond excited for my new journey at CWU and the opportunities that are to come!” Kopacz leads off our new weekly college spotlight series, where we will highlight some of the best performances of week from local athletes playing a college sport. For the week of April 4-11, Kopacz hit for a .545 average (12-for-22) with four home runs, 11 RBI, three doubles and scored 12 runs over six games. Here’s a look at the rest of the week’s best performances: ● Hailey Kline (Pendleton), Eastern Oregon softball — In two starts, Kline tossed a combined 17 innings with 20 strikeouts while allowing only three runs in a pair See COLLEGE/3B Contributed photo from Mikayla Kopacz Former Hermiston standout and current Columbia Basin College softball player Mikay- la Kopacz signs her National Letter of Intent to continue her collegiate softball career at Central Washington University next season. Buckaroo girls tennis sweeps The Dalles East Oregonian PENDLETON — Battling through 25 mph winds and chilly temperatures, the Pendleton girls tennis team stayed focused and earned a clean sweep over The Dalles on Thursday. “I was happy with our team for staying focused in the wind and with our game,” Pendleton coach Rocky Dillenburg said. “It (the wind) was a factor, it was hard to keep the ball on the court, it made it tough to serve.” All four of Pendleton’s singles players — Bethany Flanagan, Abby Williams, Denae Smith and Gabby Cuthbert — won handily in their matches, never dropping more than three games in a set. The Buckaroos’ No. 2 doubles pairing had the toughest match of the day as they won the first set by a close 7-5 margin and then were tied 6-6 in the second set before going on to win a 7-0 tiebreaker. UP NEXT Pendleton next travels to Herm- iston on Tuesday. ———— Singles Bethany Flanagan (P) def. Dalia Mondragon, 6-2, 6-2. Abby Williams (P) def. Michaela Haight, 6-3, 6-2 Denae Smith (P) def. Arlette Santillian, 6-0, 6-1 Gabby Cuthbert (P) def. Hannah Biehn, 6-2, 6-3 Doubles Scanlin/Senkerikova (P) def. Contreras/Varland, 6-1, 6-3 Walker/Chambers (P) def. Huila/Guzman, 7-5, 6-6 (7-0) Bradt/Davies (P) def. Najera/Warren, 6-3, 6-1 Florence/Spicknall (P) def. Lobato/Eziquio, 6-2, 6-0 GOLF HEPPNER INVITATIONAL — At Heppner, the Mustang boys and girls golf teams dominated the competition at Willow Creek Golf Course on Thursday, each earning first place finishes. The Mustang boys had the best day of any team competing, finishing with a team score of 310. All five starters carded scores of 82 or better, led by Kellen Grant’s 75, Reno Ferguson’s 76 and Cason Mitchell’s 79. Grant finished tied with Grant Union’s Duane Stokes for first place. The Heppner JV team did well, also, shooting a 351 to finish second among the boys teams. The Mustang girls team finished the day with a score of 325, as Sasha Keown led with a 76 and Sophie Grant followed with a 77. Rounding out the Mustangs day was Nicole Propheter’s 80, Madison Combe’s 92 and Caitlyn Scrivner’s 95. Sports shorts 49ers’ Reuben Foster charged in assault against girlfriend SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster has been charged with felony domestic violence after being accused of dragging his girlfriend and punching her in the head, leaving her with a ruptured eardrum, authorities said. The Santa Clara County District Attorney charged Foster on Thursday, when he was also arraigned in San Jose. A judge ordered him not to have any contact with his girlfriend. Foster was accompanied to court by 49ers teammate Richard Sherman. He did not enter a plea and was released after posting $75,000 bail. THIS DATE IN SPORTS Whalen will do double duty as Gophers coach, Lynx star player MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lindsay Whalen is going to be busy this year: She has been named the new women’s basketball coach at Minnesota, her alma mater, and will continue to play for the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx. Athletic director Mark Coyle announced Whalen’s hiring on Thursday. The 13-year WNBA veteran says becoming coach and being a Gopher again “is a dream come true.” The WNBA regular season begins in early May and runs through mid-August. The Gophers won’t open their season until October. 1940 — Dutch Warmerdam becomes the first man to clear 15 feet in the pole vault in a small track meet at Cal-Berkeley. Warmerdam, the last to set records with a bamboo pole, will have 43 vaults over 15 feet at a time when no other vaulter in the world clears 15 feet. 2016 — Kobe Bryant goes out with a Hollywood ending to his remarkable career, scoring 60 points in his final game, wrapping up 20 years in the NBA with an unbelievable offensive show- case in Los Angeles’ 101-96 victory over Utah. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
