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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2018)
SPORTS TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS HERMISTON Hermiston trapshooting finishes 7th in nation Bulldog trapshooting competes well on national stage By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian Before Hermiston High School’s trapshooting team departed for the USA High School Clay Target League National Championships in Michigan last week, Hermiston coach Slade Smith told himself that if Hermis- ton came home with a top 10 team finish “it would be something to be proud of and something to build on.” This is only the third year that Hermiston has been competing in the High School Clay Target League, and when it entered the first-ever USA National Champi- onships in Mason, Michigan, the team knew it would face some tough competition from power- house schools in states such as Minnesota, Michigan and Wiscon- sin that have been competing in the Clay Target League for a decade. Well, Hermiston in fact did come home proud. After a No. 1 finish out of 180 schools in the team qualifying round on Friday with 484 points, Hermiston’s five-man team of Thomas Mabbott, Case Hiatt, Blake Betz, Kaden Smith and Tyson Stocker slid down the stand- ings a bit in the finals on Sunday as they shot 461 points to finish with a two-day score of 945, enough to stay in the top 10 to finish in sev- enth place. Smith said that while he did believe some pressure did get to some Hermiston competitors on Sunday, he believes the difference just came down to other schools shooting their best and Hermiston just couldn’t quite replicate what it did on Friday. “Our kids being on top of the leaderboard going into the finals should be an indicator of how out- standing they really did,” Smith said. “The first-ever team event in the history of a high school national championship was won by HHS and nobody can ever take that away from our kids, our com- munity and our state. “We did not do terrible in the See HERMISTON/2B Photo courtesy of Slade Smith The Hermiston High School trapshooting team wrapped up a seventh place finish at the USA High School Clay Target League National Championships in Mason, Michigan, over the weekend. Pictured, left to right: Coach Slade Smith, Trevor Wilson, Thomas Mabbott, Blake Betz, Case Hiatt, Kaden Smith, Tyson Stocker. MLB ALL-STAR Sports Roundup Currin, Eng lead locals at NHSFR Rodeo kicked off on Sunday East Oregonian AP Photo/Alex Brandon Washington Nationals Bryce Harper (34) reacts to his winning hit during the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. Hometown hero Nationals’ superstar Bryce Harper wins All-Star HR Derby By DAVID GINSBURG Associated Press WASHINGTON — The ball cleared the center field wall, and the sellout crowd roared. Bryce Harper threw his bat in the air, thrust both index fingers sky- ward and yelled with delight as a shower of streamers rained upon the crowd of 43,698. It could have been a scene from a playoff game. That it was merely the All-Star Home Run Derby mattered not to Harper or the Washington Nationals fans, who were thrilled to see their hometown hero deliver the night’s final longball Monday. In the midst of it all — and in the middle of trying season — Harper grabbed the microphone and said: “This crowd: Wow! Washington Nationals, baby!” With an exceptional display of power and clutch hitting, Harper rallied in the final round, connecting on pitches from his father to beat Kyle Schwarber of the Chicago Cubs 19-18. Harper hit the contest-win- ning blast in extra time, the reward for hitting two homers at least 440 feet during the 4 min- utes of regulation. After he con- nected with the game winner, the Nationals star immediately went into celebration mode. “We have some of the best fans in all of baseball, and to be able to that with my family out there, that’s an incredible moment, not only for me but for the organization and the Nation- als fans,” Harper said. Wearing a headband that resembled the District of Colum- bia flag and displaying a right sleeve with stars and stripes, Harper trailed 18-9 with 1:20 left before rallying. He homered on nine of his last 10 swings Scherzer vs. Sale to start 89th All-Star Game By STEPHEN WHYNO Associated Press WASHINGTON — Bryce Harper will get to enjoy at least one more grand celebra- tion as a hometown fan favor- ite at Nationals Park when he trots out to right field at the beginning of the All-Star Game. Harper is batting sixth in his fifth All-Star start, the lowest he has been in the National League lineup since the No. 9 spot in 2013. In a contract year that could be his last with Washington, Harper is hitting .214 with a .365 on-base percentage, .468 slugging percentage, 23 home runs and 54 RBIs. His .214 batting average is 60 points lower than the next-closest NL All-Star hit- ter, while his 23 home runs are one shy of the overall league lead. “I look up there and see my average as well, and I look up there and go, ‘Aw man, well that sucks,’” Harper said Monday, hours before taking part in the Home Run Derby. “But I look over a little bit to the right side of that and see 23 homers and (54) RBIs and 80 walks and runs scored and stuff like that. I don’t know. “Should I be hitting .300 or .280? Yeah, absolutely. But I guess I am where I’m at, and hopefully the only way I can go is up.” Columbia Juniors Softball stunned in final inning at Western regionals Flagstaff (Arizona) Little League’s Jordan Wright hit a walk-off two-run single to lift Flagstaff over Columbia (Oregon) Juniors 12-11 at the Western Regional on Monday in Tucson, Arizona. Columbia scored five runs in the top of the first inning and led 11-7 after five innings, but Flagstaff’s offense was just too much for Columbia’s pitching and defense as it scored five runs in the final two innings to steal the win. Zuri Reeser was Columbia’s top hitter in the game, going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, while Taylor Long- horn was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Zoe Ramos and Courtney Gregerson each had one hit and two runs scored, while Myla McAdams, Alexis Shelby, Jenni- fer Flores and Rheanna Rivera each had one hit. Ramos and Reeser both pitched in the game. The loss wrapped up Columbia’s stay at the regional, after it previously lost See ALL-STAR/2B See ROUNDUP/2B See HOMER/2B Sports shorts Kerber, Djokovic win Wimbledon titles LONDON (AP) — Angelique Kerber won her first Wimbledon champi- onship by stopping Ser- ena Williams’ bid for a record-equaling 24th Grand Slam title, while on the men’s side Novak Djokovic is back at his best and the Wimbledon champion for a fourth time. Kerber played cleanly as The 2018 National High School Finals Rodeo began on Sunday evening in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and after three perfor- mances, four area high schoolers earned their way into the standings. Heppner’s Jacee Currin was the most recent area competitor as she competed in Monday’s performance of goat tying. The soon-to-be senior roped her goat in 8.89 seconds to finish seventh in the per- formance while also sliding her into 16th overall in Go 1 of the NHSFR. Daylon Eng, of Echo, competed in Sunday evening’s saddle bronc competi- tion where he rode his bronc for 70 points to finish third for the night and now sits fifth in the go. Also competing on Sunday was Heppner’s Jaiden Mahoney in barrel racing, and her time of 22.866 seconds put her 25th for the performance and 49th in the go, while Pendleton’s Trent Sorey had a rough time in tie-down roping as his time of 28.23 put him 17th for the per- formance and 46th for the go. Competition continues through Satur- day at the Sweetwater Event Center. can be, covering the court so well and picking her spots for big shots, in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Williams in Saturday’s final. It is the 30-year-old Kerber’s third Grand Slam title. She also beat Williams in the Austra- lian Open final in 2016, then won that year’s U.S. Open. Djokovic grabbed a lead right away against a weary Kevin Anderson in the final and won 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3) on Sunday. It is Djokov- ic’s 13th major trophy, the fourth-highest total in the history of men’s tennis. But it’s also his first in more than two years. At No. 21, Djokovic is the lowest-ranked Wimble- don titlist since Goran Ivan- isevic in 2001.
