E AST O REGONIAN
Friday, May 31, 2019
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B1
State finals a clean slate for Pendleton, Central
Bucks will take
on top-ranked
Panthers in 5A title
game
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
at this point of the sea-
son, rankings, records and
stats don’t mean a thing.
There are just two teams
left in the bracket, with a
state title on the line.
The Pendleton Bucks
find themselves as one of
the final two teams in the 5A
state baseball bracket. They
will take on Central High
School at 5 p.m. Saturday
at Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
Stadium for the champion-
ship trophy.
“They are ready,” Pend-
leton coach TJ Haguewood
said. “For some, there is no
better opportunity than now
to get to play for a champi-
onship. They are prepared
and they are excited.”
It’s the first time since
1992 that the Bucks have
advanced to the title game.
That year, they lost the
4a championship game to
McNary 7-4 at Civic Sta-
dium in Portland.
The Bucks, who have
never won a state baseball
title, also placed second in
1985 (3-2 loss to Beaverton),
1975 (6-0 loss to Klamath
Union), and 1963 (5-0 loss
to Madison).
Central has one state
baseball title to its credit —
beating Myrtle Creek 6-0 in
the a-2 championship game
in 1958.
Coach Tom roberts said
the Panthers have not had
this type of success since
the 1980s.
“it’s been a while since
Central baseball has reached
this level,” Roberts said. “I
have a big senior class and
they have won some big
games over the years, but
they haven’t been able to put
it all together. We have that
fighting mentality. We are
30 miles from the stadium,
so we are hoping for a good
crowd.”
The Bucks (18-8), who
won the regular-season
intermountain Conference
title with a 12-3 record,
opened the state playoffs
with a 4-3 victory over
Wilsonville.
Pendleton shut out Cres-
cent Valley 6-0 in the quar-
terfinals, then topped West
albany 4-3 on Tuesday in
the semifinals.
“We have a lot of respect
for Central,” Haguewood
said. “We have beaten
three really good ball clubs
already. Central has been
No. 1 all year, and they have
good pitching and defense.
We know it will be a bat-
tle. We know we have to
execute. We have as good a
chance as anyone else.”
Pendleton will start
junior Cooper roberts, and
while he has had a success-
ful season, the Bucks have
See Game, Page B2
Taking
aim at
the title
Cooper roberts will make his
championship game debut on the
mound for the Pendleton Bucks on
Saturday
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
This is Cooper Roberts’ first season on the varsity
baseball team, and he’s about to take on the biggest
responsibility a Pendleton pitcher has had in 27 years.
The Bucks will hit Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer
on Saturday to challenge Central High School in this
year’s 5A championship game. It will mark Pendle-
ton’s first title game appearance since 1992.
roberts, a junior, will start the game on the mound.
“Of course I’m nervous,” said Roberts, 18, “but I
just have to trust myself and do my thing.”
roberts pitched an inning here and there for the
varsity team last season, but made the cut for the first
time this year. His team is going into their final game
with an 18-8 overall record.
The Bucks earned the top spot in the intermoun-
tain Conference standings for their debut year in the
league.
roberts is part of a pitching power trio, sharing the
mound with seniors ryan Stahl and Chris Large. But
Stahl and Large both threw against West albany on
Tuesday, leaving it up to Roberts to start the Bucks’
deepest state run in almost three decades.
“He’s such a good competitor,” coach TJ Hague-
wood said. “He doesn’t let emotions get to him. if
something bad happens, he flushes it and reengages.
He knows the most important pitch is his next pitch.”
The 6-foot, 2-inch Roberts holds the best ERA
amongst the three Bucks pitchers with a 1.00. He was
also named to the iMC baseball all-league second
team.
“One of the things that sets him apart on the mound
is that he enjoys the competition between himself and
the hitter,” Haguewood said. “He pounds the zone,
keeps guys off-balance, and lets his defense work.”
and that chemistry roberts shares with his defense
often makes the difference in a game.
Last Friday, he threw a complete game shutout
at Crescent Valley as the Bucks brought home a 6-0
quarterfinals victory. He threw 88 pitches and tallied
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
See Roberts, Page B2
Pendleton pitcher Cooper Roberts will take the mound during the state title game on Saturday against Central.
Raptors take NBA Finals opener, beat Warriors 118-109
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
TOrONTO — Pascal
Siakam scored a playoff
career-high 32 points and
the Toronto raptors won
the first NBA Finals game
played outside the U.S.,
beating the Golden State
Warriors 118-109 on Thurs-
day night.
The raptors hardly
looked like newcomers to
the NBa’s biggest stage,
controlling the action most
of the way against a Golden
State team beginning its
fifth straight NBA Finals
appearance.
Kawhi Leonard added 23
points and Marc Gasol had
20 for the raptors.
Stephen Curry scored
34 points and Klay Thomp-
son had 21 for the War-
riors, who had won all four
Game 1s in the last four
years. all those had come at
home, but this time Golden
State doesn’t have home-
court — or home country
— advantage.
Game 2 is Sunday night
in Toronto, which is host-
ing an NBa Finals game for
the first time after the Rap-
tors entered the league as an
expansion team in 1995.
The raptors were per-
haps a little jittery at the
start, with Kyle Lowry fir-
ing a pass well out of bounds
on their first possession. But
they quickly settled in after-
ward, building a building a
10-point lead by halftime.
Siakam then went 6 for 6
in the third quarter to keep
Golden State from gaining
much ground, and the rap-
tors kept their lead around
double digits for much of
the final quarter, countering
every attempt the Warriors
made to catch up.
all four of the War-
riors’ previous finals were
against LeBron James and
the Cleveland Cavaliers,
and they struggled to fig-
ure out a new opponent.
Toronto shot 50.6 percent
from the field and the War-
riors never found an answer
for Siakam, the finalist for
Most Improved Player who
has a nice start for an NBa
Finals MVP resume.
The party 24 years in the
making started early, with
fans arriving at Jurassic
Park outside the arena in the
morning. There were lines
at the arena entrances hours
before the game.
deMarcus Cousins made
it back from a torn left quad-
riceps to come off the bench
in his first NBA Finals game,
but the Warriors remained
without Kevin Durant, the
MVP of the last two NBa
Finals.
The Warriors had won
every game since he got hurt
in the second round but sure
missed him against the rap-
tors, who are on a roll after
falling behind 2-0 to Mil-
waukee in the Eastern Con-
ference finals.
AP Photo/Nathan Denette
Toronto Raptors forward Pascal Siakam (43) blocks a shot by
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during
the second half of Game 1 of basketball’s NBA Finals on
Thursday in Toronto.