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TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2018
1B
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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
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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.