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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 26, 2018)
SPORTS TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 2018 SPAIN REACHES GROUP OF 16 2B 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Legion baseball Hodgen Distributing wins Elkhorn Classic East Oregonian Hodgen Distributing put together its second perfect week- end of the summer as it won the Elkhorn Summer Classic in Baker City on Sunday — the second tour- nament win for Hodgen in three weeks. Hodgen (13-4) had to go to extra innings to clinch the tour- nament championship on Sunday, defeating Spring Creek 3-2 behind a seventh inning rally and a walk- off RBI single by Ryan Stahl in the bottom of the 10th to score Jimmy Jones. However, Stahl’s walk-off wouldn’t have happened if not for Rudy Esparza’s seventh inning heroics. Trailing 2-1 and just three outs from a runner-up finish, Tucker Zander led off the seventh with a walk and was promptly moved over to second with a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Field. Esparza then followed through with a single to left field to score Zander to tie the game. Esparza led Hodgen with two hits and two RBI, also hitting an RBI single in the fifth inning to drive in the game’s first run. Stahl also had two hits, while Logan Weinke, Matthew Demianew, Ty Beers and Jones each had one hit. Kyle Field pitched seven solid innings with three strikeouts and only two runs allowed, while Jones pitched the final three innings of relief, allowing only one hit and three walks. To reach the championship game, Hodgen squeezed past the same Spring Creek 12-11 on Sat- urday morning, breezed past Pay- ette 14-4 in five innings on Sat- urday afternoon, and defeated the host Baker 4-1 in the semifinals on Sunday. Against Spring Creek, Field led the offense with three hits and See LEGION/3B Photo courtesy of Karen Demianew The Hodgen Distributing 17u Legion baseball team won the Elk- horn Summer Classic Tournament in Baker City on Sunday to fin- ish off a perfect 4-0 weekend. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Game 1 of CSW finals postponed by rain By ERIC OLSON Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. — Game 1 of the Col- lege World Series finals between Arkan- sas and Oregon State was postponed until Tuesday night because of rain — just the latest in a line of delays caused by the weather this year. “In my 16 years of being involved with this championship, this has been the most challenging College World Series as it relates to inclement weather,” NCAA director of championships and alliances Randy Buhr said. Rain fell most of the day Monday, and officials announced late in the afternoon that the game would be delayed. The decision to postpone came 90 minutes after the scheduled first pitch. Arkansas (47-19) will start Blaine Knight (13-0) against Luke Heimlich (16- 2) of Oregon State (53-11-1) on Tuesday. Game 2 of the best-of-three finals is set for Wednesday and, if necessary, Game 3 would be Thursday. More than 4 inches of rain have fallen in Omaha since the start of the CWS on June 16. The Texas-Arkansas game on June 17 was interrupted for 2 hours, 49 minutes. There was a delay of 4:31 in the Washing- ton-Oregon State game on June 18. The start of the Texas Tech-Arkansas game on June 20 was delayed 3 ½ hours. Skies cleared over TD Ameritrade Park late Monday afternoon, but a line of rain was approaching Omaha from the southwest. That left the NCAA Base- ball Committee, a meteorologist working for the NCAA and representatives of the teams, among others, to decide whether the game should start as scheduled. “We made the right decision not start- ing it at 6 o’clock,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “The meteorologist said it was going to rain, and he nailed it. With a wet field and playing late and this being a championship, and the next two or three days looking really nice, I think it’s best we didn’t play tonight.” Coaches were adamant they didn’t want the game to start if there were a chance it would have to be stopped after three or four innings, Buhr said. “You want to protect the student-ath- letes first and foremost and their welfare,” See OSU/3B AP Photo/Patrick Semansky Seattle Mariners’ Denard Span, right, high-fives teammate Chris Herrmann after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday in Baltimore. M’s cage Birds Gordon’s 2 RBIs, key bunt carry Mariners past Orioles 5-3 By DAVID GINSBURG Associated Press BALTIMORE — Instead of using the long ball to win, the Seattle Mariners took a different approach. Take a walk, drop down a bunt, make a play in the field. Employing those basic skills, the Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Monday night for just their second victory in eight games. Dee Gordon’s slick sev- enth-inning bunt was the lone hit in a two-run uprising that put Seattle ahead for good, and the Mariners took advantage of 10 walks to get back on track after losing successive series at Yan- kee Stadium and in Boston. “Most definitely, it’s the lit- tle things that win ball games and we were trying to do those tro (2-3) and advanced when Gordon pushed a bunt inside the first-base line and beat the throw by a step. “Dee’s a really accomplished bunter, trying to move people along. That’s his game,” man- ager Scott Servais said. A walk then loaded the bases, and Heredia scored on a wild pitch before Gordon scooted home on a sacrifice fly by Mitch Haniger. “We drew a lot of walks, went deep into counts, bunts, sac flies,” Servais said. “Been doing that most of the season. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky That’s the way we’re built. We Seattle Mariners’ Dee Gordon singles in the second inning of don’t want to rely just on the a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday in home runs.” Baltimore. Denard Span and Chris Herrmann scored on the Backed by several fine play. defensive plays — most nota- bly by shortstop Jean Segura — Gordon gave the Mariners an Seattle starter Felix Hernandez things tonight,” said left fielder Denard Span, who contributed early lead with a two-run sin- (7-6) earned his first win in four a solo homer and a run-sav- gle then provided the key hit in starts, allowing three runs in six ing catch. “Last couple series a seventh inning that began with innings. Edwin Diaz worked the ninth we weren’t able to do that, but score tied at 3. tonight we were able to manu- Guillermo Heredia drew a See MARINERS/3B facture a win.” leadoff walk from Miguel Cas- Sports shorts Devon Allen wins tight 110 meter hurdles at USATF outdoor meet DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Devon Allen is used to winning close races. Allen might never enter another event that’ll be as close as the 110-meter hurdles Sunday at the USATF Outdoor championships. Allen, the former Oregon receiver, crossed in 13.452 seconds — with the up-and-coming Grant Holloway in second at 13.454 — after a weather delay that lasted just under three hours. World record-holder Aries Merritt, who missed the 2016 Olympic team by 0.01 and missed a national title a year ago by 0.07 after a kidney transplant three years ago, was fourth at 13.52. THIS DATE IN SPORTS Texas hires away Oregon softball coach Mike White AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The University of Texas hired Oregon softball coach Mike White on Monday to lead a program that has been a steady presence in the postseason without becoming a powerhouse. In White, the Longhorns get a coach who led the Ducks to five Women’s College World Series in nine seasons, and earned the overall No. 1 seed this past season. Texas finished fourth in the Big 12 last sea- son. White went 435-111-1 at Oregon with five Pac-12 titles the past six years. 1995 — The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a random drug-testing pro- gram in Vernonia, Ore. The 6-to-3 decision allows public high school officials to require student-athletes to submit to random urinalysis as a condition of being allowed to play interscholastic sports. 2012 — Major college football finally gets a playoff. A commit- tee of university presidents approve the BCS commissioners’ plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season. 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