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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2018)
SPORTS THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON College spotlight Kline powers EOU to NAIA tourney By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Antonio Fernandez, of Hermiston, won both the discus and shot put Wednesday at the CRC District Track and Field Championships. Fernandez showcases Dawgs’ talent at districts After Day 1 at districts, three Bulldogs and four Buckaroos punched their ticket to state By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian H ERMISTON — When Herm- iston senior AJ Fernandez walked toward his parents in the bleachers along the shot put pit at Hermiston High on Wednesday, he was very clear on how he wanted to finish his heat at the Columbia River Conference Track and Field District Championships. “I want 50,” he said. In his first attempt in the finals Fernandez nearly hit the mark, recording 49 feet even. After throwing everywhere from 45 feet 7 inches to 48 feet 10 inches on his next three attempts, the fifth time was the charm. Fernandez secured first place with a throw of 50 feet 7 inches and a sweep of the shot put and discus throw. CRC’s newest champion knew he secured the title before the shot hit the dirt. “As soon as I threw it — I watched that line every day at practice so I try and hit it every day, but finally hitting it was not as good as a state championship but still pretty good,” Fernandez said. Earlier in the discus throw, Fer- nandez threw 140 feet 6 inches on his second attempt, and matched it on his sixth and final attempt, to claim the top spot to defend his district title. “Considering it’s my senior year and that I have improved a lot since last year, I’m really happy with it (my season),” he added. Joining Fernandez at state after the first of the two-day meet will be Jackson Morgan and Jazlyn Romero. Morgan won the boys high jump district title after clearing 6 feet 2 inches to edge out some tough competition from The Dalles and Pendleton. Romero was also challenged in the girls javelin throw as she battled a See DISTRICTS/3B Staff photo by Kathy Aney Edwin Linares, of Pendleton, punches his ticket to state in the long jump Wednesday at the CRC District Track and Field Cham- pionships with a leap of 20 feet, 8.75 inches. Since transferring to Eastern Oregon from Blue Mountain Com- munity College, Pendleton grad and pitcher Hailey Kline has been a workhorse in the circle. In her first two seasons in La Grande, Kline won 31 games in 60 appearances and struck out 253 batters. As a senior this Hailey Kline season, Kline put together her best season yet for the Mountaineers. Spanning 26 appearances and 23 starts, Kline is 16-8 with a 1.87 ERA and has 160 strikeouts in 164 1/3 innings. Her shining moment, though, came over the weekend in the Cas- cade Collegiate Conference tour- nament. After a tough loss to Brit- ish Columbia in the opening round, Kline responded with 17 2/3 shut- out innings in elimination game wins over Oregon Tech, British Columbia and Corban to help the Mountaineers secure a berth in the conference championship and the NAIA national tournament. In those three outings, Kline tallied 19 strikeouts. For her efforts, Kline was selected as the CCC Pitcher of the Week. Kline and her Mountaineers will now make the trip to Okla- homa to take on No. 1 seed Okla- homa City in the first round of the NAIA tournament on Monday. Here is a look at the rest of the top collegiate performances for the week of May 2-8: ● Darian Lindsey (Pendle- ton), Portland State softball — In the regular season finale series at home with Southern Utah, Lindsey went 5-for-7 (.714) with a home run, five RBI, three runs scored and two walks as the Vikings lost 2-of-3 in the series. Portland State next plays Montana in the opening round of the Big Sky Tournament on Thursday in Ogden, Utah. ● Mikayla Kopacz (Herm- iston), Columbia Basin soft- ball — In a region doubleheader See SPOTLIGHT/3B Blue Jays use four-run 8th to beat M’s 5-2 By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO — Yangervis Solarte hit a game-tying double in the eighth inning and Justin Smoak followed with a go-ahead double as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2 on Wednesday night. Toronto started the eighth with five straight hits off Mariners reliever Juan Nicasio (1-1), turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Josh Donaldson doubled and scored on Solarte’s hit and Solarte was replaced by pinch runner Anthony Alford, who scored on Smoak’s double to right. Kevin Pil- lar hit an RBI single to left, but was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Russell Martin ended Nicasio’s outing with a double. Erik Goeddel replaced Nicasio and struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but gave up an RBI single to Luke Maile. Teoscar Hernandez homered and had three hits for the Blue Jays, who came in having lost five of six at home. Ryan Tepera (3-1) pitched one inning for the win and Tyler Clip- pard pitched around a leadoff sin- gle in the ninth to earn his first save. Jean Segura had three hits for the Mariners, who have not won consecutive games since April 28 and 29. The roof at Rogers Centre was open for the first time this season. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP Toronto Blue Jays’ Russell Martin, right, slides safely into home plate as Seattle Mariners catcher Mike Zunino watches. Sports shorts Rivalry Hijinks: Timbers tease the Sounders before match PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The salvos are being launched well before Sunday’s rivalry game between the Portland Timbers and the Seattle Sounders. It will be the 100th meeting between the two Pacific Northwest teams, dating back to a rainy May day in 1975 when both teams were in the North American Soccer League. The Timbers put out a mock-documentary about the rivalry Tuesday, poking fun at Seat- tle’s traffic, the departure of the SuperSonics and even Clint Dempsey’s ill-fated attempt at rap . It points out that Portland won its MLS Cup championship before the Sounders got theirs. THIS DATE IN SPORTS Mets undercut 1st-inning rally by batting out of order CINCINNATI (AP) — The Mets batted out of order in the first inning against the Reds on Wednesday, undercutting a rally. Cincinnati went on to win 2-1 in 10 innings. Wilmer Flores batted second and struck out against Sal Romano for the second out of the inning. Asdrubal Cabrera came up next — following the bat- ting order announced pregame — and doubled to left. When cleanup hitter Jay Bruce came to the plate, umpire Gabe Morales took out the lineup card the Mets had turned in and called an out for batting out of turn. 1969 — The plans for the NFL- AFL merger are completed. The NFL will consist of two conferences of 13 teams, the AFC and NFC. The NFL will move three franchises, Baltimore, Cleveland and Pitts- burgh, to the AFC. 1970 — Bobby Orr’s goal gives Boston its first Stanley Cup in 29 years. The Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 for a four-game sweep. 1973 — The New York Knicks win the NBA title in five games with a 102-93 victory over the Lakers. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
