E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2019
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A8
Pendleton Linebacker’s Club to add 14 new members to Hall of Fame
Inductees will be honored
Friday at the Pendleton
Convention Center
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The Pendle-
ton Linebacker’s Club is adding
14 new inductees into their Hall of
Fame this weekend, and Buckaroo
fans will get a chance to see it all
happen.
This Friday, the Lineback-
er’s Club is hosting a reception in
honor of their Hall of Fame’s new-
est members, all of whom were
voted on by the Pendleton athletic
community at the beginning of the
year.
Among this year’s honorees is
Casey Hunt, who graduated from
Pendleton High School in 1998.
Hunt was a three-time Intermoun-
tain Conference wrestling cham-
pion and placed third in the state
as a junior before going 35-0 at 135
pounds as a senior. He would later
go on to become a three-year let-
terman at the University of Oregon
at 141 and 149 pounds.
Sarah Keeler, a highly deco-
rated Buckaroo basketball player
from the class of 1999, will also be
honored. After high school, Keeler
continued her career on the court
at the University of Washington,
where her team won the PAC-10
Conference once and competed
twice in the NCAA, making it to
the Elite 8.
Current Pendleton baseball
assistant coach Mike Hodgen will
also be inducted. Hodgen played
football, basketball, and baseball
as a PHS student. He has spent
over 40 years as a high school
baseball coach.
“Let’s face it,” said Lineback-
er’s Club President Dennis Hunt,
“a lot of people probably don’t
know much about these nominees,
but they are all people who have
contributed so much to Pendleton
athletics. Most of them were not
only great high school athletes, but
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Vanderbilt wins
2nd national title
AP Photo/John Peterson
Vanderbilt players celebrate after defeating Michigan in Game 3 of the NCAA College World Series baseball fi nals on Wednesday
in Omaha, Neb.
By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press
O
MAHA, Neb. —
Mason
Hickman
and Jake Eder com-
bined for 14 strike-
outs, Vanderbilt knocked out
Michigan ace Karl Kauff-
mann in the fourth inning, and
the Commodores won the Col-
lege World Series with an 8-2
victory in Game 3 of the fi nals
Wednesday night.
Vandy (59-12) won its sec-
ond title in its four CWS
appearances, all since 2011.
The other one came in 2014.
Hickman struck out 10 in
six innings and limited the
Wolverines (50-22) to one hit
after he gave up three in a row
to start the game.
Kauffmann, making his
third start in the CWS, strug-
gled with his control, and
Vandy broke open the game
with three runs in the third
inning and two in the fourth.
When Ako Thomas fl ew
out to center to end the game,
the Vandy dugout and bullpen
emptied and catcher Philip
Clarke sprinted to the mound
to embrace Eder.
The Commodores were
a model of consistency from
start to fi nish this season.
They swept the Southeast-
ern Conference regular-sea-
son and tournament titles, set
the league record for wins, tied
the record with 13 draft picks
and lost back-to-back games
just twice.
“It’s maturity,” coach Tim
Corbin said. “It’s maturity and
the ability to stay centered for
a long period of time. I don’t
have any other word for it. It
helps having seven seniors
back, and the seven seniors
deserve this. It came full circle
for them and I’m very happy
for them.”
Freshman Kumar Rocker,
who was dominant in two
CWS starts for the Commo-
dores, was named Most Out-
standing Player.
Vandy is the sixth national
champion from the SEC since
2009 and 12th overall, second
only to the 18 won by the Pac-
AP Photo/Nati Harnik
Michigan pitcher Jeff Criswell, left, adjusts his cap as he walks
to the dugout after the fourth inning of Game 3 of the NCAA
College World Series baseball fi nals against Michigan on
Wednesday in Omaha, Neb.
12 and its previous iterations.
At No. 2, Vandy became the
highest national seed to win it
all since Miami in 2001.
The loss ended a surprising
postseason run for Michigan,
which went from being one
of the last four teams picked
for the 64-team NCAA Tour-
nament to becoming the fi rst
See Vanderbilt, Page A9
had tremendous college careers.
Everyone here is outstanding in
their fi eld.”
The Linebacker’s Club is an
ever-changing organization. The
club was established in 1983 and
kickstarted the Don Requa Memo-
rial Golf Tournament in 1989 to
preserve the longtime Pendleton
coach’s memory.
In 2004, they introduced the
Football Hall of Fame to honor
See Hall of Fame, Page A9
Mariners
top Brewers
4-2 for 3rd
straight win
By ANDREW WAGNER
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE — J.P. Crawford
drove in three runs and Wade LeB-
lanc struck out six in fi ve innings
and the Seattle Mariners extended
their winning streak to three
games with a 4-2 victory over the
Milwaukee Brewers on Wednes-
day night.
Crawford put Seattle on the
board with an RBI double in the
fi rst inning and then made it a 3-0
game with a run-scoring triple in
the second.
Those runs came at the expense
of Brewers right-hander Adrian
Houser, who had earned a spot
start with an impressive showing
out of the bullpen over the past few
weeks.
Houser (2-2) allowed three runs
and four hits. He walked three and
struck out four.
Freddy Peralta came on in the
third inning and struck out fi ve
while allowing two hits and a
pair of walks over four scoreless
innings.
Mariners opener Matt Cara-
siti needed just 18 pitches to get
through his one inning. LeBlanc
(5-2) took over in the second and
kept Milwaukee off the board until
Mike Moustakas led off the sixth
with his 23rd home run.
Ben Gamel got the Brew-
ers within 3-2 when he hit a line
drive down the left-fi eld line that
bounced into left fi eld allowing
him to score on an inside-the-park
home run — the fi rst by a Brewer
since Tyler Saladino did it on May
14 of last season at Arizona and the
fi rst at Miller Park since Orlando
Arcia on June 17, 2017, against the
Padres.
LeBlanc allowed fi ve hits and
a walk in fi ve innings. With the
right-handed-hitting Jesus Aguilar
set to lead off the seventh, the Mar-
iners turned to right-hander Aus-
tin Adams, who left the tying run
stranded when he struck out Chris-
tian Yelich.
Crawford struck again in the
ninth, driving in Mallex Smith
with a two-out double off Jeremy
Jeffress, and Rolenis Elias worked
two scoreless innings for his 10th
save of the season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: 3B Kyle Seager was
held out of the starting lineup after
suffering a minor injury to his right
hand Tuesday night in the series
opener. Manager Scott Servais said
the move was precautionary and
that Seager could return Thursday.
See Baseball, Page A9
SPORTS SHORTS
Bob Ley retires after 40 years
(AP) — Bob Ley, a fi xture at ESPN since the
network’s launch 40 years ago, has decided to step
away.
The 64-year-old Ley announced his retirement
Wednesday. He said during a phone interview that
he made the decision late last month and started
calling close friends and colleagues Tuesday with the
news.
Ley had been on sabbatical since last September.
He was supposed to return in March but told the net-
work he needed more time.
“The company was understanding and I couldn’t
have asked for more,” Ley said. “It was a constant
process (in reaching a decision). When you step away
and reassess things, life assumes a diff erent contour
where it is not to-the-second deadlines ruling your
life and sometimes a personality.
“There’s a heavy emotional component to all of
it, but I am managing it.”
Ley was ESPN’s longest-tenured anchor, join-
ing “SportsCenter” on the channel’s third day of
operation on Sept. 9, 1979.
He hosted the fi rst NCAA selection show and
the inaugural live broadcast of the NFL draft in
1980. He also anchored many of sports big-
gest news stories over the past 40 years,
including the Boston Marathon bombing
and the death of Muhammad Ali.
ESPN Photo/Allen Kee, File
Federer seeded No. 2 at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England (AP)—
Eight-time champion Roger Fed-
erer was seeded No. 2 for Wim-
bledon, one spot ahead of Rafael
Nadal, reversing their positions
in the ATP rankings and creat-
ing a debate about whether the
All England Club’s seeding system
should be changed.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the
defending champion, was seeded
No. 1 on Wednesday at the grass-
court Grand Slam tournament,
where recent results on the surface
are used to help determine seed-
ings. The other majors do not do
that.
Nadal told a Spanish TV sta-
tion that he doesn’t think it makes
sense that Wimbledon is the only
tournament that uses its own seed-
ing system. Former U.S. Davis Cup
captain Patrick McEnroe and for-
mer player and coach Brad Gilbert
tweeted that they thought Nadal
should have been seeded No. 2.