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Wednesday, June 19, 2019
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Pendleton’s Garton headed to Texas to play softball
Weatherford College
is the next stop for
shortstop aspen Garton
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PendLeTOn — aspen Gar-
ton knew after one informal prac-
tice with the softball team that
Weatherford College was the place
for her.
The recent Pendleton graduate
made her official visit to the two-
year Texas school in February, and
felt right at home.
“I fell in love with the team
and the coach (Haylee Williams),”
Garton said. “I got to practice with
the team, and that’s when I knew I
could play there. I liked the school
and the facility. That made it easy
to make my decision.”
Garton, who primarily plays
shortstop, also looked at other
schools in Texas, arizona and
new Mexico.
“arizona is really dry,” Garton
said. “Texas can be hot too, but I
am lucky I will miss it when it’s
really hot and humid. I will still
be in the heat, but I love that. That
was part of my decision.”
The Coyotes finished 34-21 this
season, and fell short of a return
trip to the NJCAA Division I
Championships.
“They have a great team,” Gar-
ton said of Weatherford, which has
not had a losing season since 2012.
“They play in the best conference
in Texas (northern Texas Junior
College athletic Conference). The
Hodgen Distributing
sweeps Idaho Cubs
softball is really good.”
an elementary education
major, Garton also plans to minor
in Spanish. She received a gener-
ous scholarship from Weatherford,
and she also will get a helping
hand when it comes time to take
her game to a four-year school.
“They help you move on,”
See Texas, Page A9
Deputy in
clash with
Raptors exec
has concussion
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ
Associated Press
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Nic Sheley, of Hodgen Distributing, crosses home plate and looks at the action elsewhere on the field during the first of two
games Tuesday against the Idaho Cubs in Pendleton. Idaho catcher Cooper Moore also looks on.
nic sheley posts
three doubles in home
doubleheader
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
P
endLeTOn — second
base saw plenty of nic she-
ley on Tuesday.
during a home double-
header against the Boise-based Idaho
Cubs, he notched three doubles to
help Pendleton’s Hodgen distributing
to a 12-6 win in game one, and a 5-2
victory in the closer.
according to Hodgen distributing
coach Travis Zander, Sheley is more
than just a force at the plate.
“He’s been hitting really well for
us,” Zander said, “but the best thing
he adds to this team is innings on the
mound. He’s solid in relief pitching.
We haven’t started him much this sea-
son, but we will. He’s a great addition
to the program.”
Sheley finished the opener with
a 3-for-4 showing at the plate and
scored a run along with two RBIs. an
incoming junior transfer from south
Albany High School, he got his first
hit off a single in the bottom of the
second inning and made it to third on
two consecutive wild pitches. He was
left stranded before he could cross
home plate, but he got his chance to
do so two innings later.
The Cubs grasped the lead in
the top of the third thanks to Kaden
Brown’s two-RBI single, but Pendle-
ton rallied back with eight runs in the
bottom of the fourth to put the game
away.
Ty Beers led off with a single and
stole second and third, leaving it open
for Sheley to double and drive him in
on the next at-bat.
“That was important,” sheley said
of his hit. “It didn’t necessarily make
things easier, but it definitely relieved
some stress.”
Kobe Fell also posted an RBI-dou-
ble in the same inning. Grayson
Clarke sent a double to left field that
drove in two more runs.
Idaho’s Zach Merritt homered
over left field in the top of the sixth,
and dylan Guerrero got an RBI-dou-
ble in the seventh, but Pendleton had
already pulled too far ahead.
See Baseball, Page A9
san FRanCIsCO — a dep-
uty suffered a concussion and is
on medical leave after an alter-
cation with the president of the
Toronto Raptors as he tried to join
his team on the court to celebrate
their nBa championship, a lawyer
said Tuesday.
The 20-year-veteran of the Ala-
meda County Sheriff’s Office also
has a serious jaw injury and is con-
sidering filing a lawsuit against
Raptors President Masai ujiri,
attorney David Mastagni said.
“The officer is off work, dis-
abled and wants to go back to
work,” Mastagni said. The name of
the deputy has not been released.
The clash between the dep-
uty and ujiri happened as the dep-
uty checked court-access creden-
tials after the game Thursday in
Oakland against the Golden state
Warriors.
authorities say ujiri tried to
walk past the deputy but the deputy
stopped him because he didn’t see
ujiri’s on-court credentials.
ujiri pushed the deputy, who
pushed him back before ujiri
“made a second, more significant
shove and during that shove his
arm struck our deputy in the side of
the head,” sheriff’s sgt. Ray Kelly
said. He said ujiri also shouted
obscenities.
Several bystanders intervened
and ujiri got onto the court without
displaying any credentials, Kelly
said.
Investigators were question-
ing witnesses and the office hopes
to file a report to prosecutors this
week recommending a misde-
meanor battery charge against
ujiri, Kelly said.
They are also reviewing foot-
age from body cameras worn by
the deputy along with footage from
the arena surveillance system and
cellphones.
The office does not plan to
release the deputy’s body camera
footage to the public during the
investigation, Kelly said.
Kelly confirmed the officer is on
medical leave.
Pelicans primed to draft Zion — and another top-5 prospect
By BRETT MARTEL
Associated Press
neW ORLeans — now that
six-time All-Star Anthony Davis’
trade request has been honored,
it’s time for the new Orleans Peli-
cans to start a new era by drafting
the next face of the franchise.
Duke star Zion Williamson is
widely seen as the top pro pros-
pect to enter any nBa draft since
Davis in 2012, and the Pelicans —
thanks to an unlikely nBa draft
lottery victory last month — have
the right to select him first overall
on Thursday night.
While new Pelicans executive
vice president of basketball oper-
ations David Griffin and coach
Alvin Gentry have declined to
announce their draft intentions,
Gentry chuckled when describ-
ing the pressure to get the decision
right as “Really very little. Mini-
mal, OK? I think we’ll make the
right decision.”
The ability to make that first
pick this year “gives a boost to
our franchise right away,” Gentry
said. “We’re going to end up with a
really good basketball player.”
The Pelicans even posted a
compilation of Williamson’s duke
highlights on their official website.
The 6-foot-7, 285-pound Wil-
liamson was just the second fresh-
man to be a consensus national
player of the year, along with
Kevin Durant with Texas in 2007.
While Williamson has yet to
exhibit consistent outside shoot-
ing, he has displayed a dominant
mix of power, quickness and skill
that has convinced scouts of his
extraordinary promise as a pro.
He averaged 22.6 points per
game at Duke and also was voted
to the ACC’s All-Defensive Team
after averaging 8.9 rebounds,
2.12 steals and 1.8 blocked shots
per game. He leaves Duke as
the holder of several freshman
records, including single-game
scoring after his 35-point outburst
against syracuse in January.
And this draft could have enor-
mous, long-term implications for
New Orleans even beyond the
addition of Williamson because
of the bounty of first-round draft
choices the Pelicans are to receive
from the Los angeles Lakers as
part of the Davis deal.
See NBA, Page A9
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Duke’s Zion Williamson (1) dunks during the second half of an NCAA col-
lege basketball game Jan. 5 against Clemson, in Durham, N.C. The Blue
Devils freshman is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick Thursday
in the NBA draft.