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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2021)
E AST O REGONIAN SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 2021 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS B1 SURVIVING ROUGH WATERS Pilot Rock community comes together to repair ball fi eld damaged by fl ood By ANNIE FOWLER For the East Oregonian P ILOT ROCK — Play ball! Those are the words baseball and softball fans in Pilot Rock hope to hear this spring after spending the past several months repair- ing the Pilot Rock Little League fi eld after a May 20, 2020, fl ood destroyed the fi eld. “It has been a tough year,” Pilot Rock Little League president Kris Thieme said. “The water was raging across the fi eld and it was under water. It was dangerous.” Heavy rains in May caused the East Birch Creek to overfl ow, not only fl ood- ing the ball fi eld but causing dam- age throughout the small town south of Pendleton. The adjacent Pilot Rock High School football fi eld was spared, but the ball fi eld, shared by the Little League pro- gram and the high school softball team, suffered signifi cant damage. “We weren’t allowed down there until mid-June,” Thieme said. “It was a mess. First COVID hit, then this. It was extremely overwhelming.” The water from East Birch Creek tore through part of the outfi eld, destroyed the infi eld and damaged the fence. The dug- outs also will need to be replaced, and a retaining wall will need to be added behind home plate. The batting cages, concession/ announcer building and a storage con- tainer also had to be cleared of mud and debris. The fi eld is on property owned by the school district, but is maintained by the Little League program. There was no fl ood insurance on the fi eld. With a big task at hand, the commu- Kris Thieme/Contributed Photo A group of boys help lay sod during a work party to repair the damaged Pilot Rock Little League fi eld on Sept. 30, 2020. The ball fi eld was damaged by a fl ood on May 20, 2020, when East Birch Creek burst its banks and fl ooded the fi eld and other portions of Pilot Rock. nity rolled up its sleeves and got to work. Many hands do good work The Little League board, school administrators and community members devised a plan of action in June. The Little League program would be in charge of the cleanup and restoration of the fi eld, and the school district would replace the fencing. Without insurance to fund the project, the League League board sought help. It applied for and received a $2,500 grant from Umatilla Electric Cooperative, and received a matching grant from CoBank. The board also received a $2,000 grant from Cascade Natural Gas. “Without those grants, we’d be in a hole,” Thieme said. Work began on the fi eld on June 23. The debris left behind by the fl ood fi lled 13 dump trucks. Cody Thacker, of Thacker Contracting LLC, loaned a mini excavator for the work, and Jimmy Doherty, of Eastern Oregon Waste Management, provided a dump truck. McLaughlin Landscap- ing and RDO Equipment also provided key pieces of equipment, while commu- nity members also lent a hand with heavy equipment. Once the fi eld was cleared, Paul Roe and Eric Snivley worked their magic to bring the fi eld back to life. Roe, the Little League maintenance manager for the past 18 years, had kept one of the most meticulous fi elds in the area. He and Snivley put in countless hours to grade and level the fi eld with a small John Deere tractor. They were able to salvage most of the topsoil, saving the program money. “Those two put in thousands of hours of their time to make this happen,” Thieme said. “Without their knowledge and time, I don’t know what we would have done. It’s unbelievable what they did.” McLaughlin Landscaping stepped in to help fi x the irrigation and underground sprinkler system. By the end of September, the fi eld was ready for sod, which was purchased from Buttercreek Sod in Hermiston. A work party that included Lit- tle League board members and players, community members and employees of McLaughlin Landscaping installed the infi eld sod on Sept. 30. The school dis- trict paid to reseed the outfi eld. “If I wanted 500 people, they would have shown up to help,” Thieme said. “The kids helped and the community came together to lend a hand. We appre- ciate all the help we have received.” There still is work to be done in regards to the dugouts and fencing, but the Little League program and school district count See Flood, Page B2 NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE NFL races go down to the wire in AFC South and NFC East By BARRY WILNER Associated Press NEW YORK — As the calendar turns to 2021, the NFL is experiencing pretty much what it covets. Try two division races, and fi ve wild-card berths out of six still undecided. Not to go unnoticed, naturally, is that the league is about to fi nish an entire schedule on time, with a few postponements but not nearly the disruptions plaguing the other major sports organizations in 2020. The focus in Week 17 will range from coast to coast. Miami, Baltimore, Cleveland, Tennessee and Indianapolis are chasing post- season qualifi cation in the AFC, while the Cardinals, Rams, Bears, Giants, Cowboys and Washington seek NFC spots. AFC South Both contenders for this division face NFL tailenders. The Titans have every- thing in their control, while the Colts need assistance. Tennessee (10-5) at Houston (4-11) “It doesn’t get any more clear than it is for us right now,” Titans quarterback Ryan Tan- neill says. “We win this game, fi nd a way to win, win the division. That’s one of the things we set out to do this year. It’s pretty clear what we need to do. We just have to go out and make it happen.” To do so, and take the AFC South for the fi rst time since 2008, they’ll certainly rely on Derrick Henry. He’s assured of repeating as NFL rushing champ, the fi rst since Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006-07. Henry has a career-high 1,777 yards rush- ing and ran for 212 yards in his most recent game against the Texans. He had 211 yards See Races, Page B2 Metcalf on verge of toppling 35-year-old Seahawks record By TIM BOOTH Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — As DK Metcalf was fi nishing up his rookie season a year ago, he took a glance at the Seattle Sea- hawks record book. After having 900 yards receiving as a rookie, Metcalf knew the single-season franchise record was well within reach. “I knew it was going to be on the agenda this year to break it,” Metcalf said. Metcalf will likely need just one catch on Sunday, Jan. 3, to topple the record that has stood for 35 years. He is 6 yards shy of besting Steve Largent’s single-season franchise record. Largent had 1,287 receiving yards in 1985, the best of a nine-season run during which the Hall of Famer topped 1,000 yards eight times. Largent only failed to reach the mark during the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Seahawks can only hope this sea- son is the beginning of a similar run by its young second-year star, who with each passing week looks more like one of big- gest draft steals in recent memory. “He can make every catch, do everything you want him to do,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “To be even mentioned in the same category as a guy like Steve Largent so early is a blessing in itself.” Metcalf goes into Week 17 against San Francisco already among the elite in the league. He’s sixth in the league in yards receiving (1,282), touchdown catches (10) and yards per reception (16.0). He’s just the second wide receiver in team history to receive a Pro Bowl selection in his fi rst two seasons, joining Brian Blades. See Seahawks, Page B2 SPORTS SHORT U.S. beats Sweden 4-0 for 3rd straight shutout, wins Group B Associated Press EDMONTON, Alberta — Bos- ton College’s Spencer Knight made 27 saves and the United States opened the fi rst and second periods with two-goal bursts to beat Swe- den 4-0 on Thursday night, Dec. 31, 2020, and win Group B in the world junior hockey championship. The United States will face Slo- vakia — the fourth-place fi nisher in Group A — in the quarterfi nals Saturday, Jan. 2. After opening with a 5-3 loss to Russia, the United States has reeled off a team-record three straight shutouts, beating Austria 11-0 and the Czech Republic 7-0 to set up the showdown with Sweden for the top spot in the group. Boston College’s Drew Helleson and Boston University’s Trevor Zegras scored in the fi rst four min- utes, and Minnesota’s Ryan John- son and Wisconsin’s Alex Turcotte connected in quick succession early in the second. Sweden lost in regulation in the preliminary round for the fi rst time since falling 2-0 to Canada in 2006. In the other quarterfi nals, defending champion Canada will play the Czech Republic, Sweden will face Finland, and Russia will play Germany. Earlier, Dylan Cozens scored twice, Devon Levi made 18 saves and Canada beat Finland 4-1 to win Group A. Dylan Holloway and Peyton Krebs also scored to help Canada complete pool play 4-0. Brad Lam- bert scored for Finland. In the fi rst game of the day, the Czech Republic took the fi nal Group B slot in the quarterfi nals, routing Austria 7-0. Austria fi n- ished 0-4, and is 0-21 in the event. Martin Lang scored twice for Finland. Simon Kubicek, Filip Prikryl, Pavel Novak, David Juricek and Jan Mysak added goals and Nick Malik made 15 saves. Jason Franson/Associated Press United States’ Alex Turcotte celebrates his goal against Sweden during the second period of an IIHF World Junior Hockey Champi- onship game on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta.