E AST O REGONIAN
Saturday, december 21, 2019
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B1
Eastern Oregon University names new head baseball coach
By RONALD BOND
EO Media Group
La GraNde — eastern Ore-
gon university has named the head
coach who will lead its reinstated
baseball program.
mike mcInerney, who recently
completed his eighth season as pitch-
ing coach at Western Oregon uni-
versity, and also is the Wolves’ asso-
ciate head coach, will head up the
mountaineers’ baseball program,
the school on Friday confirmed for
the Observer.
The offer is con-
tingent on the com-
pletion of a back-
ground check and
signing of an offer
letter.
McInerney
mcInerney has
been part of a pro-
gram that has been a mainstay at the
top of the NCAA Division II Great
Northwest Athletic Conference.
Western has a conference record of
153-58 and won five GNAC titles
the past eight years, and at least
five players in that span have been
selected in the MLB Draft, accord-
ing to the WOu website.
mcInerney also coached at mis-
souri Western State university, Saint
Joseph, missouri, and churchill
High School in eugene.
EOU will be McInerney’s first
head-coaching post.
McInerney beat out a field of
finalists that included Jim Horner,
an assistant coach at Washington
State University and a former minor
league baseball player in the Seattle
mariners system.
Horner had an impressive
resume, as according to the cou-
gars’ website he spent nine sea-
sons playing in the Mariners’ farm
system — reaching as high as tri-
ple-a tacoma — and has had sev-
eral coaching stints since ending his
playing career in 2004.
He has more than seven years of
managerial experience between the
Wisconsin timber rattlers and High
desert mavericks — both Single-a
ROCKETS
teams in the Mariners farm system
— and Seattle’s Double-A affiliate
Jackson Generals. He also served as
a hitting coach for Texas Tech.
Horner was named California
League Manager of the year in 2009
and has been on the WSU staff the
past four years. At least a dozen play-
ers he coached have been drafted.
blue mountain community col-
lege head coach brad baker and
Whitman college assistant coach
tommy richards were the other two
finalists.
GIRLS PREP ROUNDUP
OUT RALLIED BY BOBCATS
Myrtle Point takes
a 10-point streak
in the final quarter
to defeat Pilot
Rock at the Rocket
Invitational 2A
Preview
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Weston-McEwen’s Trinity Hearn
(4) takes a shot past Gervais’ Katie
Hanson (20). The Gervais Cougars
defeated the Weston-Ewen Tiger-
scots 52-28 in the opening game of
the Rocket Invitational 2A preview
tournament at the Pendleton Con-
vention Center Friday morning.
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
P
eNdLetON — In a
game that was tied six
times, it was almost a
matter of which side could hit
the last basket before the buzzer.
At the opening day of the
rocket Invitational 2a Pre-
view at the Pendleton con-
vention center, the Pilot rock
girls basketball team suffered
a heartbreaking 33-30 loss to
myrtle Point in nonleague play.
although the rockets were held
to just one basket in the first
quarter, they rallied to tie the
score twice before the half and
took three brief leads before giv-
ing up a nine-point bobcats run
in the fourth quarter that put the
game out of reach for good.
“We have to play four quar-
ters of basketball,” Pilot Rock
head coach amyLee Perrine
said. “I feel like we only played
two tonight. The effort was
there, but the execution was
not.”
myrtle Point’s maddi reyn-
olds, madison brown, and
Nikki Leep opened play with
a five-point streak in the first
quarter. Pilot Rock junior guard
Lillie Brewer missed two free
throws that would have opened
scoring for the Rockets with
less than three minutes left, but
rockets sophomore post emily
Lambert knocked down a basket
in the final minute as the Rock-
ets were left down 5-2 by the
quarter’s end.
rockets senior guard Whis-
per Waite and sophomore guard
Madyson Moffit combined for
three points to open the second
quarter and tie the game at 5-5.
bobcats sophomore Hayden
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
See Rockets, Page B2
Lillie Brewer (3), of Pilot Rock, shoots the ball during Friday’s game against Myrtle Point at the Rocket
Invitational 2A Preview at the Pendleton Convention Center.
Wilson leads
Heppner past
Illinois Valley
East Oregonian
Lillard scores 36 as Trail
Blazers beat Magic 118-103
By ERIK GARCÍA
GUNDERSEN
Associated Press
POrtLaNd — damian Lil-
lard scored 36 points, cJ mcco-
llum had 31 and the Portland
Trail Blazers beat the Orlando
magic 118-103 on Friday night.
Portland earned its sea-
son-high third straight win
despite losing carmelo anthony
to a bruised left knee in the sec-
ond quarter. The Trail Blazers
improved to 8-7 since anthony
joined the team a month ago.
Hassan Whiteside added
10 points and 17 rebounds for
Portland in his 13th straight
double-double.
Nikola Vucevic led Orlando
with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
Portland’s backcourt took
over in the third quarter. Lillard
had 16 points and three assists in
the period, helping the Blazers
build a 93-75 lead. mccollum
scored 10 points in the quarter.
d.J. augustin scored 17
points for Orlando, and Evan
Fournier had 16. aaron Gor-
don grabbed 11 rebounds in
the magic’s sixth loss in seven
games.
See Blazers, Page B2
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers guard Kent Bazemore, right, and guard CJ McCo-
llum react after Bazemore made a 3-point basket against the Orlando
Magic during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Portland on
Friday.
PeNdLetON — Sydney Wil-
son scored 22 points, had six steals
and six rebounds to lead Heppner
to a 53-37 victory Friday over Illi-
nois Valley at the 2a Preview tour-
nament at the Pendleton convention
center.
“We had a rough first 2 minutes
of the game,” Hepper coach Rob-
ert Wilson said. “We calmed down,
we were efficient and got some easy
looks. I’m proud of the girls.”
the mustangs (6-1) raced out to a
14-8 lead at the end of the first quar-
ter, and led 30-12 at the half. Wilson
had 16 of her points in the first half.
madelyn Nichols added 12
points and six steals for Heppner,
while Zabrena masterson had six
steals. the mustangs had 24 steals
for the game.
Megan LeMasters, a 6-foot soph-
omore, led Illinois Valley (3-3) with
12 points, while Alexis Gomez and
alyvia miller each had eight.
“We knew they were a little
short-handed with some injuries,”
Wilson said. “We wanted to pres-
sure them and push the pace.”
Heppner will play Gervais at
8 p.m. Saturday in the final game of
the tournament.
PENDLETON 76, ST. HEL-
ENS 44 — muriel Hoisington
scored 12 of her game-high 17
points in the first half of a nonleague
game in St. Helens on Friday, and
the Bucks (4-3) won their fourth
consecutive game.
“Offensively, we played very
well, and with each game the girls
get to know each other better and
are making the extra pass to find
open teammates,” Pendleton coach
Kevin Porter said. “It is so fun to see
the girls improve each day and work
so hard to make each other better.”
Hoisington had five assists and
seven steals to her credit, while
Natalie Neveau chipped in 15
points. daisy Jenness added seven
points and eight rebounds, while
chloe taber had nine points and
seven rebounds, and Josie Wilson
10 points.
DALLAS 25, MAC-HI 20 —
Poor shooting from the floor and
the free-throw line had the Pio-
neers on the losing end against the
dragons at the cascade Holiday
See Girls roundup, Page B2