SPORTS
Thursday, June 27, 2019
East Oregonian
A9
World Cup is huge fun, but what about other 4 years?
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Columnist
AP Photo/Aaron Gash
Seattle Mariners’ J.P. Crawford watches his RBI triple during
the second inning of the team’s baseball game against the
Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Baseball: Mariners
defeat Brewers
Continued from Page A8
Brewers: OF Lorenzo
Cain was available in an
emergency situation but
sat out a second straight
game after receiving a
cryogenic treatment on his
right thumb Tuesday. Man-
ager Craig Counsell said he
thinks Cain could return to
action by Friday when the
Brewers open a weekend
series with the Pirates.
UP NEXT
The Mariners go for the
sweep Thursday afternoon
when RHP Mike Leake
(7-6, 4.54 ERA) faces off
against Milwaukee right-
hander Chase Ander-
son (3-2, 4.70 ERA) at
Miller Park
Vanderbilt: Wins
2nd national title
Continued from Page A8
Big Ten team to play in the
finals since Ohio State in
1966.
Michigan coach Erik
Bakich was an assistant
to Corbin for seven years
at Vanderbilt, and the two
remain close friends.
“He’s put together a
remarkable year with those
guys,” Corbin said. “Where
they came from ... they gave
us everything we wanted
and more.”
Hickman gave up three
straight singles to start the
game, leading to Michi-
gan’s first run. He retired
nine of the next 10, strik-
ing out six, and got out of
trouble when the Wolver-
ines loaded the bases in the
fourth. He retired the last
six he faced before turning
the game over to Eder.
Hickman fanned nine
or more in five of his final
six starts and allowed one
or fewer runs in nine of his
last 13.
Though the Commo-
dores brought to Omaha an
offense ranked in the top
five nationally in the major
categories, it was pitching
that carried them for most
of their stay.
Vandy had eight runs
on nine hits Wednesday,
but its .221 average in six
CWS games was the lowest
for a national champion in
the aluminum bat era that
started in 1974.
Vandy got hits when it
needed them in Game 3.
Pat DeMarco sent Kauff-
mann’s hanging slider
407 feet into the left-field
bleachers — his seventh
homer of the season and
100th for the Commo-
dores — to tie it at 1 in
the second.
The
Commodores
scored three runs with
two outs in the third. Two
walks and a single loaded
the bases, and Kauffmann
walked DeMarco to force
in the go-ahead run. Ste-
phen Scott singled up the
middle for two more.
Kauffmann tied a career
high with five walks, four
coming in a stretch in which
six of seven Vandy batters
reached base. Jeff Criswell
relieved after Kauffman
walked Ty Duval leading off
the fourth, and JJ Bleday’s
single and Ethan Paul’s
sacrifice fly stretched the
lead to 6-1.
Vandy pitchers com-
bined for a 2.50 ERA over
six CWS games. Hickman
allowed one earned run and
struck out 13 in 12 innings.
Rocker, who threw the
no-hitter in super regionals
that already is part of col-
lege baseball lore, gave up
two earned runs and fanned
17 in 12 1/3 innings. Closer
Tyler Brown threw 7⅔ shut-
out innings and recorded
three saves.
The title came three sea-
sons after Vanderbilt fresh-
man pitcher Donny Everett
drowned prior to the start
of the NCAA Tournament.
The seniors on this year’s
team were his teammates.
Corbin also mentioned for-
mer athletic director David
Williams, who died in
February.
“It’s very fitting,” Corbin
said. “Sometimes you don’t
get what you want in life.
We’re fortunate we get to do
this. We lived through that.
This is a gift for the Ever-
etts, this is a gift for David
Williams, this is a gift for
Vanderbilt University.”
BRIEFLY
Butch Knowles
inducted to St. Paul
Rodeo Hall of Fame
across the globe.
Woodburn cowboy Bob
Gregory, longtime St. Paul
resident and rodeo mem-
ST. PAUL — The St. ber Elaine Smith, St. Paul
Paul Rodeo announced its Rodeo treasurer Grant
2019 Hall of Fame induct- McKillip, and seven-time
ees on Friday, and a Hep- St. Paul wild horse race
pner cowboy has made the champion Richard Ernst
cut.
were also selected
Among
the
as inductees.
five inductees is
The 2019 class
Butch Knowles,
will be honored at
who is best known
the rodeo’s annual
as a commenta-
Hall of Fame bar-
tor for the Wran-
becue on Monday,
gler
National
July 1 at 5 p.m. at
Knowles
Finals Rodeo in
the arena. A din-
Las Vegas. The Heppner ner and a silent auction
native made the list due will take place to raise
to his saddle bronc and funds for the Justin Cow-
all-around championship boy Crisis Fund.
Tickets for the dinner
wins at the St. Paul Rodeo
are $32 and must be pur-
in 1979.
Knowles is also a four- chased in advance online
time competitor at the at stpaulrodeo.com.
WNFR, where he won the
The rodeo will fol-
saddle bronc average in low on July 2-6 with per-
1987. He began his broad- formances every eve-
cast career the following ning at 7:30 p.m., as well
year. His son Blake has as a matinee on July 4
taken up the rodeo man- at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are
tle and competes in events sold online.
The weather is sup-
posed to heat up this week
in France, appropriate since
the Women’s World Cup
gets hot Friday with the
home team meeting the U.S.
in a quarterfinal matchup
that will be watched eagerly
on both sides of the pond.
The stadium will be
packed, and the TV ratings
should be big. The stakes —
and the pressure — will be
high for both teams.
And
the
showcase
couldn’t be better for wom-
en’s soccer.
“I hope it’s huge and
crazy. That’s what it should
be,” American captain
Megan Rapinoe said. “This
is the best game, this is what
everybody wanted. I think
we wanted it, seems like
they’re up for it, you guys
are of course are up for it,
and all the fans.”
The matchup has been
eagerly anticipated ever
since the World Cup draw in
December, and for good rea-
son. Elimination is at stake
for either the fourth-ranked
home team or the defending
champion Americans.
It’s a chance to cele-
brate the women’s game,
with a full house at Parc
des Princes stadium in Paris
helping to overcome scenes
of earlier games with row
after row of empty seats. It’s
also a chance to embrace
women’s soccer for an eas-
ily understood reason —
national pride.
But what it means for the
future of the women’s game
is more nuanced, no matter
the hype you’ll hear Friday.
That the women are play-
ing on the big stage for a big
crowd is huge, of course,
especially when you realize
that women’s sports in many
countries were so neglected
that it took until 1991 to
AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
U.S. fans wait for the start of the during the Women’s World
Cup round of 16 soccer match between Spain and U.S. at the
Stade Auguste-Delaune on Monday in Reims, France.
even have a Women’s World
Cup.
That these same players
will struggle between World
Cups trying to draw eye-
balls to the game, though,
is unfortunately still the
sad reality of women’s soc-
cer. So, too, is the fact they
struggle for pay equality
with the men, as evidenced
by the gender discrimina-
tion lawsuit the entire U.S.
women’s team filed against
U.S. Soccer earlier this year.
Every time the World
Cup comes around it seems
like that has to change. The
games — at least those
among the best teams — are
exciting and the level of play
gets better every four years.
But 20 years after the
U.S. women thrilled an
entire country by winning
the World Cup at home, it’s
still very much a work in
progress.
I was in the Rose Bowl in
1999 when Brandi Chastain
famously ripped off her jer-
sey after scoring the win-
ning kick against China.
It was a seminal moment
for women’s soccer, with a
record audience of some 40
million Americans watch-
ing on television and 90,185
packed into the stadium
itself.
Before the match, I
walked into the stands and
talked to fans about what
they came to see. Many of
them were families, and
there were young girls
everywhere with Ameri-
can flags and soccer balls
painted on their faces.
“Girls rule! Boys drool!
Soccer’s cool!” was the
chant that summer among
the young soccer crowd.
On that day, girls did rule
and soccer was cool. You
couldn’t pick up a sports
page for the next few weeks
without reading some story
about how soccer was tak-
ing over the country and
how the young soccer fans
in the stands would grow up
to have fans of their own.
Those girls are grown up
now, and some surely have
soccer fans — and soccer
players — of their own. But
a generation later, the dream
of women playing profes-
sionally before large crowds
is still largely unrealized
outside of the World Cup.
A pro league started in
the afterglow of the 1999
World Cup lasted just three
years. Another league fol-
Hall of Fame: Linebacker’s
Club to add 14 new members
Continued from Page A8
players, coaches, staff, and
other key members in the
Pendleton football com-
munity with the stipulation
that all honorees must have
graduated from PHS at least
10 years prior.
In 2017, the Hall of Fame
expanded to include men
and women from all Pend-
leton sports to represent the
best of the school’s athletic
programs.
“Women’s athletics have
been around for over 40
years,” Hunt said. “It’s about
time they got recognized.”
In addition to the 14 Hall
of Fame inductees, a select
few current Buckaroo ath-
letes will receive scholar-
ship funds for their college
educations.
Aiden Patterson of 2019’s
graduating class is this
year’s Don Requa Award
recipient. He’ll receive
$10,000 for his upcoming
four years at Western Ore-
gon University, where he’ll
play football for the Wolves.
Patterson is a four-time let-
terman in wrestling and
qualified for the OSAA 5A
state championships in his
junior and senior years. He
is also a three-time letter-
man in football, and holds
two letters in track and field.
Kirk Liscom, who spent
four years on the Bucks’
football team and was
named to the 5A all-state
football first team as a line-
backer for his senior year,
will receive the Alex Stu-
vland Memorial Scholar-
ship, which grants $4,000
to a selected Pendleton foot-
ball player. Liscom was a
4.0 student and reports to
the United States Naval
Academy today, making
him unable to attend Fri-
day’s reception.
The $10,000-Schindler
Bush Scholarship, which
is awarded to a three-sport
athlete that exemplifies
“integrity and true Bucka-
roo values,” will be awarded
to Shawn Yeager, a Pendle-
ton football, wrestling and
track athlete who will attend
Eastern Oregon University
this fall.
This year, the Lineback-
er’s Club will introduce their
own $1,200 award that was
funded by donations. Hunter
Blake, Pendleton’s first-
ever female varsity foot-
ball player, has been cho-
sen as the award’s premier
recipient.
Cocktails, dinner, and an
auction will precede the Hall
of Fame induction, starting
at 5 p.m. at the Pendleton
Convention Center. The cer-
emony follows at 6:45 p.m.
On Saturday, the 29th
annual Don Requa Memo-
rial Golf Tournament tees
off at the Wildhorse Golf
Resort. The event has a
shotgun start at 8 a.m. with
awards and a lunch to follow
at 1 p.m. Registration opens
before the tee-off, and Hunt
said it fills up fast.
lowed a few years later,
and folded a few years later
itself.
And while the National
Women’s Soccer League is
currently very much open
for business and features the
top players from the U.S.
national team, the league
has no national television
contract and struggles to
draw crowds of more than
a few thousand fans when
playing anywhere outside
Portland, Oregon.
That’s not likely to
change right away, no mat-
ter how well the U.S. team
does in France. The same
fans who passionately cheer
them on when wearing the
uniform of the national team
don’t feel nearly as con-
nected — for whatever rea-
son — when the front of the
uniform says Houston Dash
or Utah Royals FC.
The bright spot, perhaps,
is that men’s soccer faced
the same problem for years
before finally gaining some
traction with the suddenly in
vogue MLS. There are high
hopes the women can con-
ceivably grow in the same
direction, but so far it’s been
a slog.
Some top European clubs
have been carving out bud-
gets for women’s teams
in recent years, sparking
some more interest over-
seas for both players and
fans. A recent match in Italy
drew 40,000 fans — lured
partly by free tickets — and
another in Spain attracted
60,000.
So tune in Friday for
what should be a great show.
Invite some co-workers in to
watch together on the office
TV and discuss the subtle-
ties of the French defense
and what should be done
with VAR.
It’s sport on a high level,
with national pride at stake.
Too bad we pay attention
only once every four years.
2019
LINEBACKER’S
CLUB HALL
OF FAME
INDUCTEES
Casey Hunt — Football,
wrestling, baseball
Jon Peterson — Football,
basketball, baseball
Sarah Keeler — Basket-
ball, softball, soccer, track
Mike Hodgen — Foot-
ball, basketball, baseball
Sara Jane Rosenberg —
Track and field, volleyball
Bill McCrae — Golf, bas-
ketball, football
Michael Corey — Basket-
ball, baseball
John Fossatti — Football,
baseball, golf
Drew Larson — Football,
basketball, track and field
Mike Rickman — Foot-
ball, basketball, baseball
Leon Ransom — Football
1963-1964 Buckaroo
Football Team
Chuck Jenson — Foot-
ball, basketball, baseball
Sue Johnston — Bas-
ketball, track and field,
volleyball
SCOREBOARD
BASEBALL
NCAA COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
At TD Ameritrade Park Omaha
Omaha, Neb.
Championship Series
(Best-of-3)
Michigan 7, Vanderbilt 4
Vanderbilt 4, Michigan 1
Vanderbilt 8, Michigan 2, Vanderbilt
wins series 2-1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
East
W
L
Pct
New York
52
28
.650
Tampa Bay
45
35
.563
Boston
44
38
.537
Toronto
29
52
.358
Baltimore
22
58
.275
Central
W
L
Pct
Minnesota
52
27
.658
Cleveland
44
36
.550
Chicago
37
41
.474
Detroit
26
49
.347
Kansas City
28
53
.346
West
W
L
Pct
Houston
50
31
.617
Texas
44
36
.550
Oakland
43
38
.531
Los Angeles
41
40
.506
Seattle
37
47
.440
———
Wednesday’s Games
Chicago White Sox 8, Boston 7
N.Y. Yankees 8, Toronto 7
Cleveland 5, Kansas City 3
San Diego 10, Baltimore 5
Texas 4, Detroit 1
GB
—
7
9
23½
30
GB
—
8½
14½
24
25
GB
—
5½
7
9
14½
Oakland 2, St. Louis 0
L.A. Angels 5, Cincinnati 1
Pittsburgh 14, Houston 2
Minnesota 6, Tampa Bay 4
Seattle 4, Milwaukee 2
Thursday’s Games
Tampa Bay (Stanek 0-1) at Minnesota
(Perez 7-3), 10:10 a.m.
Texas (Jurado 4-3) at Detroit (Turnbull
3-7), 10:10 a.m.
Pittsburgh (Musgrove 5-7) at Houston
(Peacock 6-5), 11:10 a.m.
Seattle (Leake 7-6) at Milwaukee (Ander-
son 3-2), 11:10 a.m.
Oakland (Fiers 7-3) at L.A. Angels (Can-
ning 2-4), 7:07 p.m.
Friday’s Games
Cleveland at Baltimore, 4:05 p.m.
Kansas City at Toronto, 4:07 p.m.
Texas at Tampa Bay, 4:10 p.m.
Washington at Detroit, 4:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Chicago White Sox,
5:10 p.m.
Seattle at Houston, 5:10 p.m.
Oakland at L.A. Angels, 7:07 p.m.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
Atlanta
Philadelphia
Washington
New York
Miami
Central
Chicago
Milwaukee
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
W
47
42
39
37
30
W
43
42
40
37
36
L
33
38
40
44
48
L
36
38
39
41
42
Pct
.588
.525
.494
.457
.385
Pct
.544
.525
.506
.474
.462
GB
—
5
7½
10½
16
GB
—
1½
3
5½
6½
West
W
L
Pct
GB
Los Angeles
55 27 .671
—
Colorado
42 38 .525
12
Arizona
41 41 .500
14
San Diego
40 40 .500
14
San Francisco 34 45 .430 19½
———
Wednesday’s Games
San Diego 10, Baltimore 5
Arizona 8, L.A. Dodgers 2
Colorado 6, San Francisco 3
Philadelphia 5, N.Y. Mets 4, 10 innings
Washington 7, Miami 5
Oakland 2, St. Louis 0
L.A. Angels 5, Cincinnati 1
Pittsburgh 14, Houston 2
Thursday’s Games
N.Y. Mets (Wheeler 6-5) at Philadelphia
(Nola 6-2), 10:05 a.m.
Pittsburgh (Musgrove 5-7) at Houston
(Peacock 6-5), 11:10 a.m.
Seattle (Leake 7-6) at Milwaukee (Ander-
son 3-2), 11:10 a.m.
Atlanta (Wilson 0-0) at Chicago Cubs
(Chatwood 3-1), 11:20 a.m.
Washington (Strasburg 8-4) at Miami
(Alcantara 4-6), 4:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 8-1) at Colorado
(Lambert 2-0), 5:40 p.m.
Arizona (Young 0-0) at San Francisco
(Beede 1-2), 6:45 p.m.
Friday’s Games
Atlanta at N.Y. Mets, 4:10 p.m.
Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati, 4:10 p.m.
Philadelphia at Miami, 4:10 p.m.
Washington at Detroit, 4:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, 5:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers at Colorado, 5:40 p.m.
St. Louis at San Diego, 7:10 p.m.
Arizona at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m.
SOCCER
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
SECOND ROUND
Tuesday, June 25
At Montpellier, France
Italy 2, China 0
At Rennes, France
Netherlands 2, Japan 1
QUARTERFINALS
Thursday, June 27
At Le Havre, France
Norway vs. England, 12 p.m.
Friday, June 28
At Paris
France vs. United States, 12 p.m.
Saturday, June 29
At Valenciennes, France
Italy vs. Netherlands, 6 a.m.
At Rennes, France
Germany vs. Sweden, 9:30 a.m.
SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, July 2
At Lyon, France
Norway-England winner vs. France-
United States winner, 12 p.m.
Wednesday, July 3
At Lyon, France
Italy-Netherlands winner vs. Germa-
ny-Sweden winner, 12 p.m.
THIRD PLACE
Saturday, July 6
At Nice, France
Semifinal losers, 8 a.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, July 7
At Lyon, France
Semifinal winners, 8 a.m.