E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2020
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
A8
Former Hermiston star Robles sets strikeout record
Left-hander fans 17 to
set Missouri Western
State University record
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Photo courtesy of Missouri Western State University
R.J. Robles, a 2016 Hermiston graduate, set
a single-game record for strikeouts with 17
for Missouri Western State University on
Jan. 31, in a 5-3 win over Oklahoma Baptist.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — R.J.
Robles wasn’t quite sure why the
bullpen was so excited, but it turns
out they were celebrating the fact
their teammate had just set the
Missouri Western State Univer-
sity school record for strikeouts in
a single game.
“It was cool to hear,” Robles
said. “I wasn’t really paying atten-
tion when I was pitching. I got my
15th, and the bullpen went crazy
— they were screaming.”
A 2016 graduate of Hermis-
ton High School, Robles held the
Missouri Western record of 14
strikeouts (Feb. 8, 2019), along
with Anthony Castasneda (twice
in 2019) and A.J. Huttenlocker
(2009).
By the time Robles got through
six innings against Oklahoma
Baptist on Jan. 31, the left-hander
had rung up 17 strikeouts as the
Griffons held on for a 5-3 road
win.
The 6-foot, 195-pound Robles
scattered two hits, walked fi ve
and gave up one run on his way
to history.
“It was really nice to be able
to share that with the guys and
Vera takes
over Irrigon
baseball
program
See Record, Page A9
Gonzaga gets boost from
international contingent
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
Irrigon native Fredy Vera recently was hired to coach the Knights baseball team. Vera was an assistant last year for
Randy Henrichs, who stepped down at the end of the season.
I
Robles, 22, grew up playing
youth football, basketball and
even wrestled before he got to
high school. Once he put on the
Hermiston purple and gold, it was
baseball only.
His senior year at Hermis-
ton, he was named the Columbia
River Conference Pitcher of the
Year. He had a 1.40 ERA with 40
strikeouts and 21 walks over 25
innings. He also earned fi rst-team
CRC honors as an outfi elder.
On April 8, 2016, he threw a
perfect game on the road against
Parkrose — a 12-0 win that saw
Robles strike out 13.
AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
RRIGON — Fredy Vera was
encouraged when 26 kids
showed up to the fi rst baseball
meeting Monday after school.
The fi rst-year Irrigon baseball
coach was trying to gauge the inter-
est in the program, and get a look at
returning players.
“We will be really young,” Vera
said. “I’m excited to see what we can
build in Irrigon.”
Vera takes over for Randy Hen-
richs, who quietly retired at the end of
last season after leading the Knights to
a 20-5 record and the Eastern Oregon
League title with an 11-1 record.
“He told me the fi rst week of prac-
tice last year that he was thinking of
retiring, and told me I should look into
it,” Vera said.
So he did.
“I was really nervous when I
thought about it, but I had the experi-
ence,” Vera said. “Every day I worked
with Randy, I was learning.”
Vera was hired last Friday, and put
the wheels in motion.
“Randy was the fi rst person I called
and told,” Vera said. “I was excited
for the job. He told me he would be
around to help out with the fi eld, and
for advice.”
When the position opened up, Irri-
gon athletic director Mike Royer said
there wasn’t a lot of interest in the job.
Great adventures
Gonzaga forward Filip Petrusev (3) drives against San Fran-
cisco forward Remu Raitanen (11) during the second half of an
NCAA college basketball game on Saturday in San Francisco.
Former three-sport
standout at Irrigon
was an assistant
for the Knights
last year
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
coaches,” Robles said. “We got
back to the hotel and had some
good food. We have to earn it.”
Robles, who is majoring in
computer technology with a
minor in business, is a senior for
the Griffons.
Last year, Robles appeared
in 12 games, with seven starts.
He had an 0-2 record with a 6.09
ERA. He gave up 32 hits, along
with 37 walks and 44 strikeouts.
“The level here is pretty good,”
said Robles, who played two years
at Treasure Valley Community
College right out of high school.
“When I fi rst got to Missouri, it
was hard to get used to the humid-
ity and the bugs. I do like the west
side (of the United States) more.”
“We feel fortunate to have some-
one like Fredy,” Royer said. “He played
for Randy and coached under him last
year. Even though he is young, we felt
fortunate that he applied. The kids
around here look up to him.”
The school district also got a look at
Vera’s coaching style when he coached
middle school basketball this year.
Royer said they were impressed.
“I’m confi dent in him doing a good
job,” Royer said. “He has already put in
a lot of work, and it’s just been a week.”
Three-sport star
Vera, 22, is a 2016 graduate of Irri-
gon High School. He was a three-sport
athlete for the Knights in football, bas-
ketball and baseball.
He was a crucial part of Irrigon
teams that won back-to-back 2A state
basketball championships in 2014 and
2015.
He was the Columbia Basin Con-
ference Player of the Year for 2016. He
was a fi rst-team all-state player in 2016,
and a second-team pick in 2015.
After high school, he went on to
play two years of basketball at Clack-
amas Community College.
“Afterward, I came back home,”
Vera said. “I wanted to take a year off
and fi nd something new.”
In baseball, Vera was the Columbia
Basin Conference Player of the Year
his senior year. A center fi elder, he hit
.525, scored 41 runs, hit three home
runs and had 14 RBIs. He was named
to the 2A/1A fi rst-team all-state roster.
As a senior, Vera was named a
fi rst-team Columbia Basin Confer-
ence running back, and a second-team
linebacker. He also played in the 2016
East-West Shrine All-Star Game.
“That was one of the best times of
my life,” Vera said of the Shrine Game.
“My favorite sport was football. I liked
basketball too, but I enjoyed playing
football more.”
Vera also is part of a group of ath-
letes who will be remembered for
helping both the Irrigon baseball and
football teams clinch berths to their
respective state tournaments during
the 2015-16 school year for the fi rst
time in school history.
“Now days, you don’t see kids tak-
ing advantage of that,” Vera said of
being a three-sport athlete. “I think for
small-school kids, they need to take
advantage of that. You don’t get those
opportunities at a big school.”
Giving back
Vera, who works at N.W. Metal
Fabricators in Hermiston, said return-
ing to his hometown was always part
of the plan.
“That was the biggest thing,” he
said. “I wanted to give back to the com-
munity. I went to high school here for
four years and it was amazing. I want
to give back so other kids can have that
experience. It’s cool to look back. We
had a bond. It’s different now, but it can
still be good.”
SPOKANE, Wash. —
Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd
has been to so many countries
looking for the best interna-
tional talent during his 19 sea-
sons on the Gonzaga staff. So
many passport books fi lled. So
many stamps.
“I had a cool one from Zim-
babwe. They had a sticker and
you had to pay $20 cash when
you got in the country in U.S.
dollars. That’s how crazy it
was,” Lloyd said. “That’s going
back 20 years or something.”
Today the travel is less
extensive, a little less exotic
for Lloyd. But the infl uence of
international players on Gon-
zaga’s roster remains strong.
Going back to the days
when Ronny Turiaf was one
of the best players in the coun-
try, there’s always been a bit of
an international fl avor to the
Bulldogs’ roster. Countries
like Martinique, Brazil, Ger-
many, Russia and France — to
name a select few — have had
some of their best end up play-
ing in little Spokane, Wash-
ington, for the school with the
funny-sounding name.
But this year, with the Zags
ranked No. 2 in the coun-
try heading into this week’s
games against Loyola Mary-
mount and Saint Mary’s,
takes the top spot. Six play-
ers from fi ve different coun-
tries are on the roster. The
dominant conversation inside
the palatial locker room could
be any mix of languages all
bonded together by a game
that has become far more
international.
Coaches like Lloyd have
found themselves at the fore-
front of that expansion.
“This was kind of born
out of necessity. We wanted
to keep growing the program
and we needed to recruit at
a higher level,” Lloyd said.
“Eastern Washington is a great
place, but it’s not necessarily a
hotbed for basketball talent.
So we had to think outside the
box, so we started investing
time and resources and devel-
oping relationships overseas.”
Those relationships have
yielded a bounty of stars. It’s
started in the early 2000s with
Turiaf, the gregarious for-
ward from Martinique who
has become an ambassador
for the school in basketball
circles. Other standouts like
J.P. Batista (Brazil), Przemek
Karnowski (Poland), Elias
Harris (Germany), Domantas
Sabonis (Lithuania) and Rui
Hachimura (Japan) have also
cycled through Spokane.
And that list doesn’t include
the large number of Canadians
like Robert Sacre, Kevin Pan-
gos and Kelly Olynyk.
This year’s group includes
leading scorer Filip Petrusev
of Serbia. Starters Killian Til-
lie and Joel Ayayi make up the
French contingent. Martynas
Arlauskas (Lithuania), Pavel
Zakharov (Russia) and Oumar
Ballo (Mali) are on the Bull-
dogs bench.
Petrusev is averaging 17
points per game and had a
See Gonzaga, Page A9
SPORTS SHORTS
Mickelson says he won’t accept U.S. Open exemption
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
AP Photo/Alex Gallardo, File
Phil Mickelson follows through on the fourth tee during
the third round of The American Express golf tourna-
ment in La Quinta, Calif., on Jan. 18.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil
Mickelson is still not exempt for the
U.S. Open and says he won’t accept a
special invitation.
The U.S. Open is the one major
keeping Mickelson from the career
Grand Slam and no other major has
given him more grief. His six run-
ner-up fi nishes, most recently at Mer-
ion in 2013, is a U.S. Open record.
The U.S. Open occasionally
awards a special exemption to the
game’s best players when they are not
eligible. Ernie Els has received such
an exemption each of the last two
years. Jack Nicklaus received eight
of them.
Mickelson, who has won fi ve
majors, is certain to receive at least
one if he needs it.
But he made clear Tuesday he
doesn’t want one.
“I won’t accept it,” Mickelson said
at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am,
where he won last year for his 44th
career PGA Tour victory. “So I am
either going to get in the fi eld on
my own or I’ll have to try to qual-
ify. I’m not going to take a special
exemption.”
Mickelson did not fi nish in the top
10 after his Pebble Beach victory last
year until he fi nished third last week
in the Saudi International. He fell out
of the top 50 in the world late last
year for the fi rst time in 26 years.