B4
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 8, 2019
Bucks: Pendleton returns to title game for fi rst time since 1992
Continued from Page B1
McNary in Portland.
It goes to show that it isn’t
often a team gets a shot at
the state title.
“It was tough,” said Pend-
leton head coach TJ Hague-
wood. “Baseball’s funny
that way. The ball could
land 3 feet one way or the
other, and that could change
the game.”
In the beginning
The Bucks’ season didn’t
start out with a state title
within sight. Despite their
conference championship
and 5A run, Haugewood
said that the journey through
the preseason was a rocky
one — the team suffered
the bulk of their losses just
before kicking off league
action.
“Every year is a tran-
sition,” said Haguewood.
“You lose seniors as the
underclassmen step up. The
roles are always changing.
We had a lot of question
marks and holes to fi ll. We
knew we had to replace a lot
of power.”
The Bucks dropped fi ve
of their eight preseason
games as they struggled to
fi nd their groove.
“I looked at (assistant
coach) Wes (Armstrong) at
the beginning of the year
and told him, ‘I could pen-
cil in four guys and know
where they are. The rest, I’d
have to fl ip a coin,’” Hague-
wood said.
Luckily, things started to
fall into place as the Bucks
entered the IMC. The team
had just come off of their
last season in the Colum-
bia River Conference, where
they took the league title.
But with a new league comes
a new set of challengers.
“We knew Hood River
Valley, The Dalles, and
Redmond would be com-
petitive,” Haguewood said.
“Crook County was another
question mark. We expected
to be right in the thick of
things.”
Haguewood was right to
be wary of Hood River Val-
ley — the Eagles outlasted
Pendleton for a 4-3 victory
during their fi rst meeting. It
wouldn’t be for another few
weeks that the Bucks could
exact revenge. It came in the
form of a 4-1, 6-5 double-
header sweep of the Eagles
that put Pendleton at the top
of the IMC standings.
It would be a true turning
point for the Bucks.
“At that point, the boys
got a lot of confi dence,”
said Haguewood. “They
played with a lot of energy
ble memories during those
lunches. It helped build our
chemistry.”
Early in the season,
coach Haguewood had
to take time off from the
team to turn his attention
to his brother Ty, who was
experiencing serious health
issues.
“When I came back,
the team was wearing
‘Ty Strong’ T-shirts and
wristbands,” Haguewood
recalled. “That unifi ed us.
It’s a Buckaroo family.”
Making history
Staff photo by Kathy Aney, File
Runner Ty Beers, of Pendleton, watches home plate from
second base during a game against the Redmond Panthers
and passion.”
A winning formula
A key component to any
team’s success is chemis-
try, no matter the sport. And
once Pendleton found theirs,
not many could stop them.
“At the beginning of the
year, we were struggling.
A lot of it had to do with
our chemistry,” said senior
catcher Justin Duso. “But
once we got that, we became
a well-rounded team. We
had less errors and played
solid defense. Our defense
became our strong suit.”
If you ask any given
Buckaroo
ball
player,
chances are they’ll tell you
that their fondest memories
with the team happened off
the fi eld. The Bucks would
gather for barbecue lunches
in between practices, which
proved to be just as vital of
a ritual as anything done in
the diamond.
“It was a tradition we
carried over from last year,”
said senior centerfi elder
Gabe Umbarger. “There
are so many unforgetta-
Junior pitcher Cooper
Roberts kept Crescent Val-
ley scoreless in the 5A quar-
terfi nals game, and from
there, Pendleton hit the
road to West Albany for the
semifi nals, where Umbarger
came in clutch.
Umbarger hit a three-run
homer to overcome their
defi cit and put the Bucks
out front for the rest of the
game, securing their spot in
the championships.
“It was huge,” Umbarger
said. “It gave us the men-
tality that we could really
do this. Getting that win
showed us that we’re a high
caliber team. For me, it felt
good. It showed me that all
my hard work over the sea-
son had paid off.”
Four days later, and the
Bucks found themselves at
the Volcanoes Stadium in
Keizer. They were about
to square up against the
5A’s top team, and were the
underdog in the fi ght.
Although the game
didn’t fall the way they had
hoped, it was the deepest
run at a state title a Pendle-
ton baseball team had made
in nearly three decades.
That alone is a monumental
accomplishment.
“It was an honor,” Duso
said. “I loved everything
about the experience —
from the locker rooms to
playing in front of all those
people. I remember walk-
ing out with the guys before
the game, looking down that
baseline, and hearing the
National Anthem. It was a
pretty cool moment.”
Despite the loss, it was
a moment that will long be
remembered in Pendleton
High School.
“We didn’t just want
to play in the champion-
ships — we wanted to win,”
Haugewood said. “That
was the ultimate goal. But
the boys did a good job of
understanding that they
did a lot of good things to
get there. They’re a family.
They love each other. That’s
being successful.”
NBA: Raptors move within victory
Hodgen: Team will play 2 games today
Continued from Page B1
Continued from Page B1
NBA FINALS
Arena before the team’s
move to new Chase Center
in San Francisco next sea-
son. Stephen Curry added
27 points but shot just 9
for 22 and 2 of 9 from
3-point range on the heels
of his postseason career-best
47-point outing in a 123-109
Game 3 defeat.
Serge Ibaka scored 20
points on 9-of-12 shooting
in 22 minutes off the bench
for the composed and confi -
dent Raptors, who for a sec-
ond straight game found an
answer to every Warriors
threat at raucous Oracle
— where home fans were
stunned and silenced when
the fi nal buzzer sounded.
A huge section of Toronto
fans then broke into singing
“O Canada!”
“It’s awesome,” Rap-
tors coach Nick Nurse said.
“Our fans travel really well
in the regular season. We
get this a lot on the road. It’s
really amazing. It’s Cana-
da’s team, and Canadians
from all over the country are
traveling down and making
Raptors
Warriors
105
9 2
Game 5: Monday, 6 p.m., at
Toronto. TV: ABC
Toronto leads seris 3-1
plans when we play in Flor-
ida or California or Detroit
especially.”
The two-time defend-
ing champions’ quest for a
three-peat is suddenly in
serious jeopardy.
Toronto will take its fi rst
try at the title in Game 5
on Monday night back at
Scotiabank Arena. Golden
State, still hopeful of injured
star Kevin Durant’s return,
must stave off elimination
to guarantee one more game
at Oracle. It would be next
Thursday.
“It’s not over. It’s not a
good feeling right now, obvi-
ously,” Curry said. “We’ve
been on both sides of it and
for us it’s an opportunity to
fl ip this whole series on its
head.”
Leonard’s 2017 postsea-
son with San Antonio got cut
short against the Warriors in
Game 1 of the Western Con-
ference fi nals after he re-in-
jured his troublesome left
ankle when Zaza Pachulia’s
foot slid under his.
Leonard’s two jumpers
in the fi nal 42 seconds of
the third put the Raptors up
79-64 heading into the fi nal
12 minutes. Fred VanVleet
then dealt another dagger
on the fi rst possession of the
fourth with a 30-footer.
A bloodied VanVleet
then went to the locker room
with 9:35 left after being hit
in the face by Shaun Liv-
ingston’s left elbow when
the Warriors guard went up
for a shot and VanVleet was
just behind him. Replays
showed a tooth in the mid-
dle of the key even after play
resumed.
These poised Raptors
kept level heads again after
falling behind by 11 points in
the fi rst half. Pascal Siakam
scored 19 for Toronto.
Travis Zander said. “We
had great weather — just
a little downpour. It helped
settle the dust on the fi eld.
Mike, coach Wes, our vol-
unteer Doug Rowe, and
our umpire assigner Rick
Jaggers have all done a
great job. We couldn’t do
any of this without them.”
Legends third baseman
Wyatt Earp drew a walk
and took third on back-to-
back wild pitches in the
top of the fi rst. What fol-
lowed sent the game into a
screeching halt.
With Parker Robinson
batting for La Grande and
Pendleton’s Cooper Rob-
erts on the mound, Rob-
inson hit a hard line drive
that clipped Roberts in the
back of the head. He was
sent to the hospital and
received three staples in
his scalp.
Armstrong said Rob-
erts will be back on the
mound “eventually,” but it
is unclear when.
Earp would score on
the hit to give the Legends
their fi rst lead.
Tanner Sweek stepped
onto the hill in place of
Roberts, and would tally
nine strikeouts over 4 1/3
innings to keep the game
within reach.
In the top of the third,
Robinson smacked a dou-
ble to deep centerfi eld to
score a run, and advanced
to third on the throw. Rob-
inson crossed home on
the next at-bat to give the
Legends some breathing
room.
“It’s part of baseball,”
Robinson said. “You gotta
come in clutch for your
team. At the time, it just
happened to be me.”
Simons homered over
the left fi eld fence to bring
Hodgen
Distributing
within one run of the lead
in the bottom of the third,
and Jordan DeGeer’s sin-
gle drove in a run to knot
the score.
The home run was
Simons’ fi rst of his career.
“That was important
for all of us,” Simons said.
“It felt really good, as a
sophomore, to get my fi rst
home run on this fi eld.”
But La Grande was
quick to take over once
again — Logan Paustian’s
RBI-double in the top of
the fourth gave the Leg-
ends an advantage they
wouldn’t relinquish.
Weinke’s solo homer
came in the bottom of the
seventh, when he sent the
second pitch over right
fi eld and out of the park.
It would bring Pendle-
ton within one run of La
Grande, but it wouldn’t be
enough.
“We hit and pitched
really well today,” Simons
said. “I’m excited to
see what we can do this
season.”
Weinke led Hodgen
Distributing with a 2-for-4
batting performance that
scored a run and an RBI.
Robinson went 3-for-4
with a run and two RBIs
for La Grande.
“I like this team,”
Armstrong said. “We’ve
got some younger kids
playing with our var-
sity kids. They’ll do good
things together.”
EASTERN OREGON
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Friday, and Saturday
from 9:00 to 4:00
Tread climber by bowflex, three
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Accumulation of 50+ years of
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“Sunridge addition”
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502 Real Estate
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601 & 606 SE Emigrant build-
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