East Oregonian : E.O., August 21, 2019, Page 32, Image 32

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2019
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A8
Hermiston’s Ramirez taking his game to California
Star three-sport athlete
will play baseball at Santa
Barbara City College
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Jordan Ramirez was a standout
football, basketball and baseball
player at Hermiston High School,
but the recent graduate put his
focus on baseball his junior year
in hopes of getting
a chance to play at
the college level.
That day has
come.
Ramirez signed
to play at Santa
Ramirez
Barbara City Col-
lege three weeks ago after making
a visit to the California school.
“I went for a visit and it was
nice,” Ramirez said. “The coach
(Jeff Walker) was really cool. I
had interest from Blue Moun-
tain, and no offense, but this is a
better experience.”
Led by pitcher Ian Churchill,
the Vaqueros fi nished 24-15 last
year, including a 13-7 record in the
Western State Conference North.
They have reached the playoffs
nine consecutive years.
Ramirez is coming off his
senior year, where he was a fi rst-
team all-Mid-Columbia Confer-
ence outfi elder. He hit .396 and
struck out just four times in 48
at-bats.
“Jordan deserves to go play
(at the college level),” Hermiston
coach Kevin Moore said. “It also
lets people in the Hermiston com-
munity know that a kid can go
play college baseball. It makes our
program look good.”
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound
Ramirez, who was a receiver in
football and a guard on the basket-
ball team, said it will be good for
him to focus on just one sport.
“I can’t wait to get down there
and show my skills,” he said.
“Since my junior year, I chose
baseball to be my main priority. I
had a good season and I’m looking
forward to it.”
The Bulldogs struggled in
their fi rst year in the MCC, but
Ramirez said the quality of pitch-
ing he faced will help him at the
See California, Page A9
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Seattle Mariners pitcher Tommy Milone
delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the
second inning of a baseball game Tues-
day, Aug. 20, 2019, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Murphy
homers again
in Mariners’ 7-4
win over Rays
By DICK SCANLON
Associated Press
Tom Murphy is on a power surge
unprecedented for a Seattle catcher, and
it is coming at a bad time for the Tampa
Bay Rays.
Murphy hit a tiebreaking homer, his
sixth in the last four games, in the sixth
inning Tuesday night to lift the Mariners
to a 7-4 win over the Rays.
Murphy’s 16th homer of the season
came off Jalen Beeks (5-3) after a walk
to Kyle Seager. Murphy became the
fi rst Mariners catcher to homer in four
straight games. He said it is a matter of
“staying within the strike zone,” like he
did for two months in Triple-A back in
2016.
“I can see it like it was yesterday,”
Murphy said. “It was the best I’ve ever
hit in my life, that’s for sure. ... I don’t
have the numbers off the top of my head,
but it feels like everything I hit was hard
hit.”
That’s the same way it looks now
to Seattle manager Scott Servais while
watching Murphy and Seager, who also
homered.
“Those guys are really locked in right
now, and it’s fun to watch,” Servais said.
Tommy Milone (3-7) got the win
after giving up four runs in fi ve innings
of relief, helping Seattle to its sixth vic-
tory in eight games. Matt Magill pitched
the ninth for his second save in two tries.
The Rays, who have dropped to 33-31
at home by losing three of fi ve games to
last-place teams on their current home-
stand, began the day one game ahead of
Oakland for the AL’s second wild card.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Hermiston Lacrosse Association is eyeing a 20-acre section of the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center property for a new
lacrosse fi eld.
Hermiston Lacrosse Association eyeing EOTEC grounds for new field
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
H
ERMISTON — Most sports in
Hermiston have their place. Soccer
has Butte Park. Baseball has the Field
of Dreams. But the lacrosse program has
long been in search of a permanent home.
Hermiston’s lacrosse club, which con-
sists of age groups from kindergarten
through high school, has grown from 40
members to over 150 in just four years.
They practice at Sandstone Middle
School, and play home games and tourna-
ments at elementary and middle schools
all across town. As the program contin-
ues to grow, so does the need for its own
fi eld.
“It goes back to a problem that all of
our youth sports are having,” former
Hermiston Lacrosse Association Pres-
ident Scott Purswell said. “No one has
enough grass. We’re all fi ghting for it.
It just doesn’t work. We’re beggars. We
get the scraps. We talked about buying
grounds, and someone asked, ‘Why not
EOTEC?’”
The lacrosse team plays most of its
away games in the Tri-Cities, Spokane,
and Yakima, but its home fi eld is always
changing.
Purswell said EOTEC has the kind of
clean, buildable grounds that a lacrosse
fi eld would need. The program has been
serious about its search for a location for
the past two years, and the EOTEC board
took an interest.
“EOTEC is a possible long-term solu-
tion,” Hermiston Parks and Recreation
Director Larry Fetter said. “(The lacrosse
program) has had some very noticeable
growth over the years, and it looks like
its popularity will only grow. They need
a home.”
Hermiston’s AYSO soccer teams went
through the same dilemma over 30 years
ago, before Butte Park became its home
for local matches.
“Lacrosse doesn’t have that bene-
fi t right now,” Fetter said. “They have to
hunt for any scrap turf they can. They’re
going to be around for a long time.”
Of the 100 acres on the EOTEC prop-
erty, the lacrosse program is eyeing 20 of
it to construct their proposed fi eld, which
would include fresh turf, lights, and a
sprinkler system. Once built, they hope to
host all local practices, games, and tour-
naments at the location.
The program has been working
with the city of Hermiston, EOTEC,
and EOTEC’s private management
company VenuWorks to set things
in motion, but it’s a process that has
taken longer than intended.
“We had hoped to start last year after
the (Umatilla County Fair) ended. That’s
when we wanted to start the earth work,”
Purswell said. “It takes four months to get
the grounds cleaned and sprinklers set
up.”
The lacrosse team’s fall season is
played up in the Tri-Cities, but its spring
schedule, which kicks off at the end of
February, is played locally. Purswell said
the goal is to make even more progress
before then.
“I hope it would be soon,” he said
of construction. “Our season is in the
spring — we need to get the grass
established.”
The team is funded entirely by dona-
tions. Purswell noted that it is only able
to cover expenses for pipes and sprinklers
alone. Their dream, he said, is to install
their own lighting system, as well.
“We’re looking for help to build
this project,” he said. “(Lacrosse) has
elements of soccer, hockey and foot-
ball. There are kids who were meant
for baseball. They’ll play it no matter
what. But there’s a lot of kids just sit-
ting inside. We’re seeing growth year
after year. They love lacrosse. We’re
running out of room for them. We want
to get the kids active.”
See Baseball, Page A9
SPORTS SHORTS
Nike signs merchandising agreement with NYC
NEW YORK (AP) —
Sneaker giant Nike will sell New
York City-branded merchan-
dise under a two-year licensing
agreement.
The deal reached last week
will allow Beaverton-based
Nike to sell apparel with the
logos of the NYPD or other
iconic city institutions.
A Nike spokeswoman said the
deal is the company’s fi rst agree-
ment for a merchandise license
with a city in North America.
The agreement gives 5% of
Nike’s revenue on the branded
merchandise to NYC & Com-
pany, New York City’s tourism
bureau.
Nike has come under criti-
cism for its labor practices in the
past. But Jane Meyer, a spokes-
woman for Democratic Mayor
Bill de Blasio, said Nike has
agreed to the ethical standards
typical in the city’s licensing
contracts.
The branding deal was
fi rst reported on the news site
The City.
AP Photo, File
Nike expansion could bode well for U.S. manufacturing.