B2
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Youth: MLB has a number
of programs to entice youth
Continued from Page B1
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File
Washington quarterback Jacob Eason readies a throw during an NCAA football practice
Aug. 5, 2019, in Seattle. Coach Chris Petersen named Eason the Huskies starter on Friday.
No. 13 UW names Jacob
Eason starting quarterback
Associated Press
SEATTLE — No. 13
Washington has named
Georgia transfer Jacob
Eason its starting quar-
terback for the season
opener against Eastern
Washington.
Eason was expected to
land the starting job after
transferring to the Huskies
but was in an extended com-
petition with sophomore
Jake Haener throughout
spring practice and into fall
camp. Coach Chris Petersen
said Haener will also play in
the opener.
Eason started as a fresh-
man at Georgia, playing in
13 games and throwing for
2,430 yards and 16 touch-
downs in 2016.
He was injured in the
fi rst quarter of the sea-
son opener the following
year and never regained
the starting job after Jake
Fromm took over and led
the Bulldogs to the national
championship game. Eason
transferred and sat out last
season under NCAA trans-
fer rules.
Eason’s fi rst start at
Washington will be his fi rst
game action since Oct. 7,
2017, against Vanderbilt.
Sounders best Timbers 2-1
By CAITLIN MURRAY
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Cris-
tian Roldan and Raul Ruidiaz
each scored to lift the Seattle
Sounders to a 2-1 win over
rival the Portland Timbers on
Friday night and secure this
year’s Cascadia Cup trophy.
Jordan Morris assisted
on both goals as the Seattle
Sounders (12-8-7) moved into
second place in the Western
Conference.
The Timbers (11-11-4)
have lost their last two games
after falling last week 2-0 to
reigning MLS Cup champion
Atlanta United FC at home.
The Timbers sit in seventh
place, just above the playoff
line.
The game was marked by
a fan protest of MLS’s new
policy that prohibits politi-
cal displays at games. The
Timbers Army and Emerald
City Supporters fan groups
remained silent for the fi rst
33 minutes of the game due
to a ban on fl ags showing the
anti-fascist Iron Front symbol,
which MLS says has become
politicized.
When the clock hit 33:01,
Timbers fans broke out into a
chant based on “Bella Ciao,”
an Italian protest song, and
some fans for each team defi -
antly waved fl ags with the
prohibited Iron Front logo.
Ahead of the planned fan
protest, the starting play-
ers for the Timbers and the
Sounders posed together for
a pre-game photo with ban-
ners that said “anti-racist” and
“anti-fascist.”
With the win, the Sound-
ers secured their sixth Casca-
dia Cup, tying the Vancouver
Whitecaps’ all-time record.
The Timbers have won it four
times.
The Cascadia Cup was cre-
ated by supporters of the Tim-
bers, Sounders and White-
caps, and is awarded to the
winner of the head-to-head
matches between the three
AP Photo/Serena Morones
Portland Timbers fans wait for the team’s MLS soccer match
against the Seattle Sounders on Friday in Portland. Major
League Soccer recently instituted a policy that bans political
displays at matches.
MLS
Seattle
Portland
2
1
teams each season based on
points.
In the 22nd minute, Mor-
ris crossed a ball into box
that bounced off teammate
Ruidiaz and into the path of
Roldan, who tapped it past
Timbers goalkeeper Steve
Clark. It was Roldan’s fourth
goal this season.
Two minutes into the
second half, Morris tallied
another assist, crossing the
ball to Ruidiaz, who fi red a
shot from the middle of the
penalty box for his 10th goal
this year.
Diego Valeri scored for the
Timbers in the 54th minute
via a free kick that that rico-
cheted off Ruidiaz and into
the goal.
Valeri, who has seven
goals this season, is the only
active MLS player and the
sixth player league history to
record 75 goals and 75 assists
in league play.
The Timbers nearly equal-
ized in the 58th minute when
a Valeri strike and a Cristhian
Paredes header forced two
quick saves out of Sounders
goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
In the 80th minute, the
Timbers thought they equal-
ized on a Brian Fernandez
strike, but it was called back
after a video review showed
he was offside on the play.
The win was the Sounders’
fi rst in fi ve games. They had
been winless and had allowed
multiple goals in each of their
previous four games.
Seattle has a 10-8-6 lead
all-time in regular season
meetings with Portland since
the Timbers joined MLS in
2011.
Spanish midfi elder Eman-
uel Cecchini made his debut
for the Sounders in the sec-
ond half. He was signed on
Aug. 8 via a loan from Span-
ish second-division side
Malaga.
The Timbers were with-
out usual starting defender
Larrys Mabiala, who injured
his hamstring on Aug. 14 in
a win over the Chicago Fire.
The Timbers have not said
when he is expected to return.
The Sounders were still
without Victor Rodriguez,
who has been out since July 6
with a hamstring injury.
Up next, the Timbers host
Real Salt Lake on Aug. 31.
Portland will play seven of its
last eight matches of the sea-
son at home.
SCOREBOARD
FOOTBALL
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
East
W L T
Pct
New England 3 0 0 1.000
Buff alo
3 0 0 1.000
Miami
2 1 0 .667
N.Y. Jets
1 1 0 .500
South
W L T Pct
Tennessee
1 1 0 .500
Houston
1 1 0 .500
Jacksonville 0 3 0 .000
Indianapolis 0 2 0 .000
North
W L T
Pct
Pittsburgh 2 0 0 1.000
Baltimore
3 0 0 1.000
Cleveland
2 1 0 .667
Cincinnati
1 2 0 .333
West
W L T
Pct
Oakland
3 0 0 1.000
Kansas City
1 1 0 .500
Denver
1 2 0 .333
L.A. Chargers 0 2 0 .000
PF
63
75
70
44
PA
23
50
50
41
PF PA
44 32
56 51
17 75
34 45
PF PA
47 35
81 28
63 41
63 76
PF
69
45
43
30
PA
50
34
56
36
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
East
W L T
Pct
N.Y. Giants
3 0 0 1.000
Dallas
1 1 0 .500
Washington 1 2 0 .333
Philadelphia 1 2 0 .333
South
W L T Pct
Tampa Bay
2 1 0 .667
New Orleans 1 1 0 .500
Carolina
1 2 0 .333
Atlanta
0 4 0 .000
North
W L T
Pct
Minnesota 2 0 0 1.000
Green Bay
1 2 0 .333
Chicago
0 2 0 .000
Detroit
0 3 0 .000
West
W L T
Pct
San Francisco 2 0 0 1.000
Seattle
1 1 0 .500
Arizona
1 1 0 .500
L.A. Rams
0 2 0 .000
———
Thursday’s Games
N.Y. Giants 25, Cincinnati 23
Washington 19, Atlanta 7
New England 10, Carolina 3
Baltimore 26, Philadelphia 15
Miami 22, Jacksonville 7
PF PA
88 58
23 27
42 60
49 63
PF PA
57 56
44 51
40 50
54 89
PF PA
59 44
62 74
26 55
46 85
PF
41
41
43
13
PA
24
39
46
28
Oakland 22, Green Bay 21
Friday’s Games
Tampa Bay 13, Cleveland 12
Buff alo 24, Detroit 20
Saturday’s Games
Arizona at Minnesota, 10 a.m.
Houston at Dallas, 4 p.m.
Chicago at Indianapolis, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at N.Y. Jets, 4:30 p.m.
San Francisco at Kansas City, 5 p.m.
Denver at L.A. Rams, 6 p.m.
Seattle at L.A. Chargers, 7 p.m.
Sunday’s Games
Pittsburgh at Tennessee, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 29
Indianapolis at Cincinnati, 4 p.m.
Minnesota at Buff alo, 4 p.m.
Atlanta at Jacksonville, 4 p.m.
Philadelphia at N.Y. Jets, 4 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Carolina, 4 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington, 4:30 p.m.
N.Y. Giants at New England, 4:30 p.m.
Detroit at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m.
Kansas City at Green Bay, 5 p.m.
Miami at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Dallas, 5 p.m.
Tennessee at Chicago, 5 p.m.
L.A. Rams at Houston, 5 p.m.
Arizona at Denver, 6 p.m.
Oakland at Seattle, 7 p.m.
L.A. Chargers at San Francisco, 7 p.m
More than 25 million
kids played baseball or soft-
ball in 2018, and nearly 15
million of those were “core”
players who played 13 or
more times in a year. The
number of participants in
youth football — including
tackle, touch and fl ag —
was down by nearly 1.7 mil-
lion over the same stretch,
and soccer participation
dropped by nearly 900,000.
According to the Aspen
Institute, which promotes
youth sports participation
and uses SFIA data, 13.6%
of kids ages 6-12 played
baseball in 2018, a 3%
increase from 2015. Base-
ball was the second-most
popular sport for kids in that
age group, after basketball,
which had a 14.1% partici-
pation rate.
The 2018 numbers were
released this month as 11-
and 12-year-old ballplay-
ers gathered in South Wil-
liamsport, Pennsylvania,
for their annual ESPN-tele-
vised showcase at the Little
League World Series.
David Fox coaches and
his kids play in Washing-
ton’s Capitol Hill Little
League, which didn’t even
exist a decade ago. It was
founded in 2011 and has
grown from 120 players in
its initial season to more
than 640 baseball and soft-
ball players this spring.
Fox said a well-run Little
League with engaged par-
ents can build loyalty to the
sport.
“My son’s group of
friends are all baseball play-
ers, all kids he has ever
played baseball with or con-
tinues to play baseball with,
so I think the thing I love
about Little League is it’s
community-based. Every-
body lives on Capitol Hill,
goes to their local schools
and lives within a few min-
utes’ drive,” Fox said. “Our
circle of friends are the fam-
ilies I coach with, the par-
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
David Fox, from left, with his sons Dewey and Jimmy, put
their hands together as they wrap up practicing baseball
Friday at a fi eld in northeast Washington. Youth baseball
participation has been on the rise the past few years.
ents we’ve played with for
the last fi ve or six years.
We’ve vacationed with
them, go to restaurants with
them. We hang out.”
It’s clear, too, that some
parents are looking at base-
ball as a safer option than
football, given research that
shows the vulnerability of
younger players to brain
injuries.
“That’s defi nitely part
of the appeal,” said Emily
Cichy, who has two boys
who played in Capitol Hill
Little League before the
family moved to Seattle.
“Although both soccer and
baseball have their own con-
cerns, we are not interested
in our kids playing football.
If they really expressed an
interest, we’d have a con-
versation about it.”
Baseball participation
has also benefi ted from
the growth of travel ball,
said Tony Reagins, who
leads MLB’s development
group for baseball and
softball. But travel ball is
much more expensive and
time-consuming than Lit-
tle League or other recre-
ational leagues, and there
is concern about baseball
becoming a niche sport for
wealthier families that can
afford to put their kids in
travel programs and pay for
private coaching.
“I would be naive to say
the cost of playing in a travel
ball program is not insignif-
icant. There is a cost asso-
ciated with that,” Reagins
said. “We need to continue
to create programs that
eliminate the cost factor.”
The increase in partici-
pation correlates with sev-
eral youth baseball pro-
grams MLB has launched
or sponsored in recent
years. For the Play Ball pro-
gram, MLB joined with the
U.S. Conference of May-
ors to introduce kids to the
sport. Another initiative,
Fun At Bat, from MLB and
USA Baseball, provides
free baseball gear to physi-
cal education classes to help
kids learn basic skills. Fun
At Bat could reach up to
3 million kids in the U.S.,
Mexico, Puerto Rico and
the United Kingdom during
the upcoming school year,
according to MLB.
MLB also has the
long-running RBI pro-
gram, which stands for
Reviving Baseball in Inner
Cities. It has more than
175,000 participants in 217
leagues in underserved
communities.
Whether these efforts
can turn kids into devoted
baseball players will be a
factor in the sustainability
of youth baseball’s growth.
Photo courtesy of Jeanne Jewett
Hermiston’s Colby Lerten started playing golf when he was 2 years old. Now 12, Lerten
has qualifi ed to play in the Charlotte Tournament of Champions on Sept. 21, 2019, at
Creekside Golf Course in Salem.
Heart: Lerten is one heck of a golfer
Continued from Page B1
Lerten has a big heart
for a young man. He has
been attending Rotary
meetings in Hermiston this
summer with his grandma,
Jeanne Jewett, and helped
the organization with
its booth at the Umatilla
County Fair. He likes
that Rotary helps people
locally and internationally.
An honor student, Ler-
ten also was in Leadership
Club at Rocky Heights
Elementary School in the
fi fth grade.
Lerten would like to
take his game to the PGA,
but not to be famous or
pocket a lot of money.
“I have been watching
tournaments on TV,” he
said. “I want to donate to
St. Jude’s and the Amer-
ican Heart Association.
The more kids who are
helped have a chance to
play golf and be successful
in what they want to do.”
Love of the game
Lerten’s parents have
fostered his love of golf.
They are members at Big
River, they take him to
tournaments, have him
work with a swing coach,
and recently, they put a
bunker and putting green
in their backyard.
“I can practice when-
ever I want,” Lerten said.
Lerten has worked with
Chris Issacson at Wine
Valley Golf Course in
Walla Walla on his swing,
and he likes to play the dif-
ferent courses in the area,
with Wildhorse being his
favorite.
“Chris has taught me a
lot of stuff,” Lerten said.
“Wildhorse has better
greens and they are fast.
They have a nice club-
house, a golf simulator and
a restaurant.”
His top course is Las
Vegas National. He has
played there once, and
would like a return trip,
before he’s 21.
His favorite player is
Jordan Spieth, but his
favorite person to play
golf with is recent Herm-
iston graduate Garrett
McClannahan.
“I’ve played with some
pretty good golfers, but
Garrett is my favorite to
play with,” Lerten said.
Lerten has a few years
before he can play for
Hermiston High School,
which is the fi rst step in
his planned golfi ng future.
“I want to get a schol-
arship to the University
of Oregon and play in the
PGA,” he said. “Not a lot
of my friends golf, but
some have been learning
the game. I want to grow
the game more.”