SPORTS
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
East Oregonian
A11
Soccer: ‘They always have a lot of talent’
Continued from Page A10
Bryce Dole/East Oregonian
Bikers wearing masks wait at the start line for the 13th
annual “Echo Red to Red” cross-country mountain bike
race on Saturday, March 20, 2021.
Race:
Continued from Page A10
“It’s a beautiful piece of
desert,” said Lloyd Piercy,
a longtime Echo resident
and farmer who owns the
property where the race was
held. Piercy also sponsored
the race.
The trail is maintained by
and named after many Echo
residents over the years,
Piercy said. The annual
race has become a tradition
embraced and supported by
the community, though some
“are upset because they live
in a sleepy town and all of a
sudden it’s not sleepy for one
day of the year.”
Standing along Main
Street between old buildings
he has helped restore, Piercy
spoke optimistically about
the direction of the Echo
community, commenting
on an infl ux of young people
and new businesses coming
to town, including day spas,
coff ee shops and high-end
restaurants.
“We keep a lot these
events happening and keep
the town vibrant,” he said.
Piercy added that seeing
the crowd come out to the
mountain bike race was a
“pleasure.”
“The way I view the
world is, I don’t own prop-
erty,” he said. “I’m here for
a short period of time. I’m a
steward. So it’s part of my
stewardship, sharing this
place with all these folks.”
Throughout the morning,
bikers rode throughout the
town, warming up on the
sunny but cool, and breezy
spring morning. Several
bikers said they were excited
to ride after a year without
races due to the pandemic.
Brandon Egger, a radiol-
ogy technologist from
Chewelah, Washington, said
he hadn’t raced since June of
2019.
“I’m excited,” said Egger,
who was riding the 32-mile
race. “I’m trying to fi ll up my
schedule now and make up
for all the lost time.”
Eggers said when races
were canceled last year, it
was diffi cult to stay moti-
vated, but this year he hopes
to “get in fi ve to 10 races this
year.”
Derick Mosman, a real
estate property manager
from Salem, was participat-
ing in his fi rst mountain bike
race. Mosman was part of a
team of riders from Salem,
called Capitol Velo, who
made the trip out to the race.
“All the guys from Capi-
tol Velo always come over
here and say it’s an awesome
race,” he said. “I might not
have come this far other-
wise. But a lot of the guys,
who have been in the club for
a long time, are familiar with
the race.
Mosman said that he’s
typically ridden by himself
for the past year, so he was
excited to be out at a race
with other people.
12-4 and reached the 4A state
semifi nals.
The Pioneers have gotten
stellar performances from the
older and younger players this
season and have outscored
their opponents 26-3 in six
games. Their one tie was a
2-2 game with Riverside on
March 11.
“They always have a lot of
talent,” Garcia said of River-
side. “I remember when we
used to kill Riverside years
ago. Their coach asked me
to talk to his players a while
back. I told them they needed
to work hard, play for their
coach and each other, and
have dreams. Three years
later, boom, they are beating
us.”
Since their tie with River-
side, the Pioneers have kicked
things into high gear. They
have posted shutouts against
The Dalles (4-0), Umatilla
(6-0) and Irrigon (6-0).
The Pioneers have had
the luxury of having several
players step up in the scoring
column this season.
Seniors Kael Castruita, and
Rolando Castillo have done
their part, and freshman Sean
Molina has stepped up and
been creative with a few goals
of his own. Senior Hector
Castillo protects the back end.
“Sean is a hard worker,”
Garcia said. “He is a tiny,
small kid. I think people lose
track of him.”
Hector Castillo can score
with the best of them, but he
is more valuable on defense.
“I can’t aff ord to put him
up front,” Garcia said. “He
can’t be beat, he is so fast
back there. Last year against
Ontario, they beat us 3-1 the
fi rst time. Their No. 10 (Greg
Rodriguez) killed us. The
second game, I asked Hector
to play defender and he said he
would play where we needed
him. We fi nished in a tie and
he (Rodriguez) didn’t do
anything.”
Roland Castillo was a work
in progress, but this season he
is a team leader and leads the
team in assists.
“He played in middle
school and he was terrible,”
Garcia said, “and his attitude
was bad. He has improved so
much. He started as a sopho-
more, and his junior year he
kept asking if he could do this
and that. He wanted to learn.”
In net, junior Leonardo
Rodriguez has had an impres-
sive start to the season.
“There are times he has
been overconfident, but he
has done a good job for us,”
Garcia said.
While Garcia has enjoyed
his years with the Pioneers,
there are a couple of moments
that have made the adventure
worthwhile.
His son, Favian Garcia,
was a senior goalkeeper when
the Pioneers won the 3A state
title in 2005. Mac-Hi also
won 4A state titles in 2006
and 2007.
“He was a great goalie,”
Garcia said. “I can say he
didn’t get the recognition he
deserved.”
This season, his grandson
Romario Garcia is a freshman
on the team.
“That’s been special,”
Garcia said.
Oregon: Ducks sink seven 3-pointers
Continued from Page A10
ovation from the limited
crowd allowed in Bankers
Life Fieldhouse.
Joe Wieskamp added 17
points, but the rest of the
Hawkeyes weren’t of much
help to the big fella, sending
them out of the bracket early
with other top seeds Illinois,
Ohio State and Texas.
“It’s heartbreaking, so
surreal, it kind of hit me all
at once that this is the last
time I’ll put on this jersey
and that hurts a lot,” Garza
said. “I feel bad that I wasn’t
able to lead this team to
where it needs to go.”
The Ducks managed to
navigate a diffi cult season
full of pauses and injuries
to win their second straight
Pac-12 regular-season title.
Oregon earned a No. 7
seed in Indianapolis and
faced what was expected to
be a diffi cult opener against
VCU and its Havoc defense.
But the Ducks learned
ON THE
SLATE
TUESDAY, MARCH 23
Prep girls soccer
Pendleton at The Dalles/Dufur, 4:30 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
The Dalles/Dufur at Pendleton, 6 p.m.
THURSDAY, MARCH 25
Prep football
Hermiston at Chiawana, 7 p.m.
Irrigon at Umatilla, 5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Hermiston at Walla Walla, 2 p.m.
Prep slowpitch softball
Hermiston at Pasco (2), 4 p.m.
FRIDAY, MARCH 26
Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Iowa’s Luka Garza (55) hugs a teammate following a sec-
ond-round game against Oregon in the NCAA men’s col-
lege basketball tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, on
Monday, March 22, 2021, in Indianapolis.
during their pregame meal
that they would advance
without playing a game,
leaving them with a huge
break before facing the No.
2 team in the region.
Nerves? Rusty? Nope.
The Ducks went on the
attack from Richardson’s
opening layup and used
quick ball movement to set
up open looks throughout
the fi rst half.
Oregon hit seven 3s —
two by Figueroa late —
made 22 of 37 shots and
used a 10-0 run to lead
56-46 at halftime despite
having three players in foul
trouble.
Prep football
Pendleton at Redmond, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld at McLoughlin, 7 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 7 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Ione/Arlington, 7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Echo at Bickleton, 5 p.m.
McLoughlin at Riverside, 1 p.m.
SATURDAY, MARCH 27
Prep football
Weston-McEwen at Heppner, 2 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Ridgeview at Pendleton, 11 a.m.
Hermiston at Pendleton, 3 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
La Grande at Hermiston, noon
McLoughlin at Riverside, 1 p.m.
Umatilla at Stanfi eld/Echo, 1 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
McLoughlin at Riverside, 3 p.m.
Prep cross-country
Walla Walla, Southridge at Hermiston,
3 p.m.
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