A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • MoNday, JUNE 7, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
NCAA BASEBALL
Indoor football
A NIGHT OF FIRSTS FOR
HIGH DESERT STORM
Photos by Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
High Desert Storm’s Caleb Stennis (5) runs past a group of Idaho Horsemen defenders and into the end zone to score during the first quarter Saturday night at the
First Interstate Bank Center in Redmond.
Local pro indoor football team wins its home opener, handing Idaho Horsemen their first-ever loss
BY BRIAN RATHBONE
The Bulletin
High Desert
Storm’s
Davonte “Buck”
Solomon (2)
pulls in a pass
to score during
the third
quarter against
the Idaho
Horsemen
on Saturday
night at the
First Interstate
Bank Center in
Redmond.
EDMOND — Saturday marked a night of firsts at First Interstate
Bank Center.
It was the first home game for the newly formed Oregon High
Desert Storm of the American West Football Conference, and it was the
first time that defensive back Terrious Triplet returned an interception
for a touchdown in his football career.
But perhaps the most sweet for the new pro indoor football team in
Central Oregon, it was the first time that the Idaho Horsemen were
handed a loss in team history, falling 44-40 to the Storm.
“First time they’ve been beaten,” said Storm coach Keith Evans. “I had
them beat when I was coaching in Wenatchee four times. I was up 19-0
once against them and they came back and won. They had me sweating
bullets tonight.”
R
See Football / A6
LPGA | U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
NBA | PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
Saso wins on 3rd playoff hole
Kidd removes
himself from
consideration
for coach job
BY JOSH DUBOW
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Yuka Saso
modeled her golf game after Rory
McIlroy, spending hours watching
videos of his swing before going to
bed each night in order to perfect
her own.
All that work paid off and now
Saso is a U.S. Open champion just
like her idol thanks to a clutch play-
off putt after a back-nine collapse
by Lexi Thompson.
Saso’s 10-foot putt for birdie
on the third playoff hole Sunday
helped her edge out Nasa Hataoka
and become the second teenager to
win the U.S. Women’s Open.
Saso overcame back-to-back
double bogeys early in the round to
make the playoff and then became
the first player from the Philippines
to win a golf major.
“I was actually a little upset,” Saso
said about her poor start. “But my
caddie talked to me and said, ‘Just
keep on going; there’s many more
holes to go.’ That’s what I did.”
Both players made pars at Nos.
9 and 18 in the two-hole aggregate
playoff, sending the tournament
to sudden death back at the ninth
hole. That set the stage for Saso to
win it just up the road from Daly
City, dubbed “Little Manila” for its
large population of Filipinos.
There were many on hand for the
final round, including several with
Filipino flags for the occasion.
“I don’t know what’s happening
in the Philippines right now, but I’m
BY AARON FENTRESS
The Oregonian
Jed Jacobsohn/via AP
Yuka Saso, of the Philippines, celebrates her victory during the final round of the
U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament at The Olympic Club, Sunday in San Fran-
cisco. Saso defeated Nasa Hataoka, of Japan, in a three-hole playoff.
just thankful that there’s so many
people in the Philippines cheering
for me,” she said. “I don’t know how
to thank them. They gave me so
much energy. I want to say thank
you to everyone.”
Saso matched 2008 winner Inbee
Park as the youngest U.S. Wom-
en’s Open champion at 19 years, 11
months, 17 days.
Thompson, who had a five-
stroke lead after the eighth hole,
played the final seven holes in 5
over to finish a stroke back.
“I really didn’t feel like I hit any
bad golf shots,” she said. “That’s
what this golf course can do to you.”
The only other players to finish
under par on the Lake Course at
Olympic Club were Megan Khang
and Shanshan Feng, who both were
at 2 under.
High school junior Megha
Ganne played in the final group but
shot 77 and finished 3 over as the
low amateur for the tournament.
“I’m going to remember this for
the rest of my life,” Ganne said. “It’s
everything I’ve wanted since I was
little, so it’s just the best feeling.”
Saso has talked frequently about
her time studying McIlroy’s swing
and the four-time major winner
said he saw the similarities and was
flattered by it. McIlroy also sent
Saso an Instagram message before
the final round imploring her to get
the trophy.
Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason
Kidd has removed his name from consider-
ation for the vacant head coaching position
with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to
a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“Portland’s a first-class organization and
will have great candidates … but I’ve de-
cided not to be one of them,” Kidd said, ac-
cording to Wojnarowski.
According to a report from Yahoo Sports
on Friday, Blazers star Damian Lillard iden-
tified Kidd as someone he would want to see
replace Terry Stotts.
Stotts and the franchise mutually agreed
to part ways after nine seasons.
Kidd, a hall of fame point guard and for-
mer 10-time All-Star, has solid head coach-
ing experience with stints at Brooklyn and
Milwaukee (183-190 combined record) but
also a sordid past.
Kidd pleaded guilty to domestic violence
in 2001 following an incident in which he
slapped his ex-wife during an argument.
His ex-wife, during 2007 divorce proceed-
ings, alleged numerous counts of abuse.
Kidd, who filed for divorce, claimed he was
abused in the relationship.
Four other candidates have emerged as
potential replacements for Stotts: Juwan
Howard, Chauncey Billups, Jeff Van Gundy
and Mike D’Antoni.
Beavs beats DBU
on walk-off HR
The Oregon State
Beavers ’ dramatic run
through the Fort Worth
Regional is not over yet.
The Beavers defeated
Dallas Baptist 5-4 Sunday
night on a walk-off solo
home run from Garret
Forrester, claiming their
second come-from-be-
hind win of the day at
Lupton Stadium to stay
alive in the NCAA base-
ball tournament.
The teams will play
meet at 1 p.m. Mon-
day in a winner-take-all
matchup, playing for the
third time in four days for
the right to advance to
the Super Regionals.
The never-say-die
Beavers put themselves
in position to continue
in the tournament with
a miraculous Sunday
that included a pair of
game-winning hits in the
ninth inning.
They started the day
by outlasting No. 1 seed
and tournament host TCU
3-2, staying alive with a
go-ahead RBI-single from
Justin Boyd in the top of
the ninth inning. Then
OSU one-upped the one-
upped the drama in the
second game of its elim-
ination double header,
when Forrester became
the latest tournament
hero.
The Beavers entered
the ninth with a 4-3 lead,
but coughed it up on
a two-out run-scoring
single by Dallas Baptist
second baseman Jackson
Glenn, setting the stage
for Forrester’s memorable
moment.
The 6-foot-0 freshman
led off the inning and,
after working the count
full, crushed a line drive
home run over the left
field fence. The ball sailed
just inside the foul poll
over the 325 sign on the
fence, and Forrester was
mobbed at home plate
by teammates.
It avenged a 6-5 loss
to Dallas Baptist in the
opening-round and set
the table for more drama
on Monday.
— The Oregonian
LSU beats Oregon
to force rematch
Oregon couldn’t solve
LSU freshman pitcher Je-
von Coleman or contain
left fielder Gavin Dugas
and the teams will play a
winner-take-all rematch
Monday night in an NCAA
regional final.
Coleman allowed just
one run on three hits and
three walks and struck out
six over a career-long 6.0
magnificent innings and
Dugas went 3 for 4 with
a double, triple, home
run and two runs scored
to lead the Tigers to a 4-1
victory over the No. 14
seed Ducks Sunday night
at PK Park.
The Ducks (39-15) had
a chance with the tying
run at the plate and two
outs in the ninth but
couldn’t break through.
The teams will meet
again at 7 p.m. Monday
in Eugene in the deciding
game of the regional final
and for the right to ad-
vance to play a Super Re-
gional at No. 3 Tennessee
next weekend.
The Tigers (37-23)
struck first as Dylan Crews,
who went 3 for 3, led off
the game with a dou-
ble to right, and scored
on a fielder’s choice. LSU
turned to Coleman after
just one inning scoreless
inning from Trent Viet-
meier.
Back-to-back singles by
Gavin Grant and Tanner
Smith and an error gave
the Ducks runners on sec-
ond and third to open the
third, then Kenyon Yovan
hit a sacrifice fly to right to
tie it at 1.
— The Oregonian