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FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • WEdNEsday, JUNE 9, 2021 LOCAL GOLF 2 aces in 1 round for Brasada golfer Local golfer Meg Mendlin made two holes- in-one in one round on Saturday at Brasada Ranch just outside of Bend, according to Zach Swoffer, director of club operations at Brasada. Mendlin is a Brasada golf member and was playing in the 2021 Mem- ber-Member Invitational. It was a “shotgun start,” so Mendlin and her group started on the back nine. On the first par 3 of the day, No. 12, Mendlin hit her gap wedge from 71 yards, capturing her first ace of the day, and her first since 2019. On No. 4, from about 120 yards out, Mendlin got her second hole-in- one of the round. It was the third and fourth aces of her life, but her first (and second) at Brasada Ranch. Swoffer said the odds of getting two holes- in-one in one round are about 67 million to one. — Bulletin staff report NFL Packers’ Rodgers not at minicamp GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers wasn’t with the Green Bay Pack- ers for their first manda- tory minicamp session Tuesday, the latest chap- ter in the standoff be- tween the team and its MVP quarterback. Rodgers also hadn’t participated in the Pack- ers’ voluntary organized team activities, which rep- resented change from his usual offseason routine. The Packers have the op- tion to fine Rodgers just over $93,000 if he misses all three minicamp ses- sions this week. The three-time MVP has spent his entire career with the Packers, who se- lected him with the 24th overall pick in the 2005 draft. But his future with the team has been uncer- tain ever since ESPN re- ported in the hours lead- ing up to this year’s draft that Rodgers doesn’t want to return to Green Bay. Rodgers was noncom- mittal about his future in an ESPN interview that aired May 24 but did dis- cuss his frustrations with the organization. “I think sometimes people forget what really makes an organization,” Rodgers said. “History is important, the legacy of so many people who’ve come before you. But the people, that’s the most important thing. People make an organization. People make a business, and sometimes that gets forgotten. Culture is built brick by brick, the foun- dation of it by the people, not by the organization, not by the building, not by the corporation. It’s built by the people.” While Rodgers wasn’t at at Tuesday’s practice, the Packers did have their top five receivers present. Those receivers, a group headed by All-Pro selec- tion Davante Adams, had sat out the OTA sessions. The Packers are seek- ing to take the next step after losing in the NFC championship game each of the last two seasons, but the uncertainty sur- rounding Rodgers’ future has dominated offseason discussions. Packers coach Matt LaFleur and general man- ager Brian Gutekunst have both said they want Rodgers back. Gutekunst has said he won’t trade Rodgers, who has three years left on his contract. — Associated Press bendbulletin.com/sports With NCAA championships back in Eugene, will ‘Hayward Magic’ return as well? BY KEN GOE • For The Oregonian T he new Hayward Field holds its coming out TRACK AND FIELD Coming out party party this week when the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin a four-day run Wednesday. Competition starts at 1 p.m. with the decathlon 100 meters (ESPN3). Events on the track will be shown on ESPNU at 5 p.m., Howard Lao/For The Oregonian, file Track and field competition returned to the reconstructed Hayward Field as the Oregon Ducks played host to the Hayward Premiere meet on April 2 in Eugene. Hayward will host the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Wednesday through Saturday. and on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. The LSU men are heavily favored to win, although the Oregon Ducks are in position to make a bid if the Tigers falter. The battle for the women’s team ti- tle looks more competitive, with Texas A&M, LSU, USC, Alabama and Geor- gia all in the mix. The real star of the week should be the facility itself, privately constructed at an estimated cost of more than $200 million. There isn’t a track-specific stadium like it in North America. “I had a couple post-collegians run there this year,” North Carolina A&T coach Duane Ross said at a pre-meet “They just don’t know. I was like, ‘Hey, for you rookies that never experienced that Hayward Field magic, that’s the last thing you need to be worried about. These are some of the most knowledgeable fans in the world. They will do their part.’” — Robert Johnson, Oregon track coach news conference. “They call it the cathedral. … Of course, everybody knew Oregon was going to do it big when it was decided they would redo it.” The new stadium was constructed on the site of what was known as “his- toric Hayward Field,” a venue vener- ated by track fans where Bill Bower- man, Bill Dellinger, Tom Heinonen and Robert Johnson coached NCAA championship teams. It’s the place where distance runner Steve Prefon- taine became a legend. The old stadium’s last hurrah was the 2018 NCAA championships. The rebuild took two years. Last season was lost to the coronavirus. The new, 12-650-seat Hayward opened for a handful of regular sea- son meets this year. They largely were spectator-free because of COVID-19 concerns. The state of Oregon and Lane County Public Health have loosened restrictions, meaning 4,400 fans will be allowed inside. What happens next could be mag- ical. See Track / A6 NCAA BASEBALL Ducks squander lead, fall to LSU to end season Monday night BY JAMES CREPEA The Oregonian EUGENE — Oregon led when Andrew Mosiello left the game after his first career start. It led when closer Kolby Somers entered in the seventh inning. If you asked the Ducks be- fore Monday night’s winner- take-all NCAA Regional final if they’d have taken a one-run lead with their closer on the mound, they unequivocally would’ve answered in the affir- mative. The first task, of building a bridge to get to Somers, was complete thanks to the con- structive work of Mosiello and Isaac Ayon. But LSU lit a stick of dynamite to their efforts “We’re always going to be on the aggressive. We’re going to use the plays that we have that are designed to eliminate runs and win games. Tonight it didn’t work out. It’s very disappointing.” — Mark Wasikowski, Oregon baseball coach in the eighth inning and was able to hold on when Oregon mounted a ninth-inning rally. The Tigers scored three runs, including on a go-ahead balk, during a dramatic eighth inning that was a strate- gy-heavy game-within-a-game, and escaped with a 9-8 upset of the No. 14 seed Ducks before a raucous 1,640 at PK Park. With Oregon leading 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth, Gavin Dugas, the regional MVP who hit two home runs earlier in the night, worked a leadoff walk. Cade Doughty followed with a double and two batters later, Cade Beloso hit a fielder’s choice grounder to first and Dugas beat the throw home to tie the game at 7. Somers, who entered the game in the seventh inning, was attempting to wiggle out of a jam with runners on the corners with one out, the go- ahead run 90 feet from home. LSU initially called for a safety squeeze bunt by Jordan Thompson, but Oregon coun- tered by having first baseman Gabe Matthews crash in order to try and get Doughty, who was going far off third against a left-hander pitcher, out at home. “The first ball was a ball so he didn’t bunt it and for- tunately for us, because if he’d have thrown a strike we would’ve bunted the ball and they probably would’ve made the play at the plate,” Mainieri said. “We actually were for- tunate that we didn’t bunt the ball. After that I took the play off and we were going to just have Jordan hit. … They were going to force us to have to swing the bat to drive in that run there. After the balk Jor- dan came through with the big hit so who knows what would’ve happened.” Somers repeatedly threw to first to both keep Beloso an- chored but more importantly, attempt to induce Doughty to veer too far off third and get the go-ahead runner out on the base path. But the play back- fired when Somers threw to Matthews when he was no lon- ger on the base and the result- ing balk put LSU ahead 8-7, then Thompson followed with an RBI single to make it a two- run lead. See Ducks / A6 MLB COMMENTARY Kelenic’s Mariners demotion was necessary, and one that can be beneficial BY MATT CALKINS The Seattle Times This is just a blip, yeah? A temporary skid for a young prospect shouldering two tons of expectations. No reason to worry that the hoopla may have vastly ex- ceeded the hitting ability, right? Right?! The Mariners optioned 21-year-old outfielder Jarred Kelenic to Class AAA Tacoma on Monday. The demotion comes as the highly touted prospect (ranked fourth in MLB according to mlb.com) is stuck in an 0-for-39 slump, which has brought his batting average down to .096. His confidence appears akin to a goldfish among sharks. He isn’t swinging so much as guessing. But this is all part of the big-league adjustment pro- cess, no? I wrote as much a couple weeks ago when Kelenic was “He certainly is struggling right now. He is putting a little bit of pressure on himself, like all guys do when they struggle. It’s no different than anybody else. He’s a good baseball player. He’s just not getting a whole lot of hits, and a lot of luck.” — Scott Servais, Seattle Mariners manager hitting .157 with a .218 on-base percentage and a .314 slugging percentage through 13 games. His current .096/.185/.193 slash is through 23 games. Struggling early is a com- mon experience for youngsters regardless of their ability. Ken Griffey Jr’s batting average was .189 through his first 14 games. Mike Trout’s was .157 through his first 16. This isn’t nearly enough of a sample size to make any long- term judgments … but it cer- tainly isn’t good. Yes, there have been mo- ments when Kelenic made solid contact, only to watch the ball line into the glove of an MLB infielder. His 0-for-5 outing vs. the A’s last month — where this slump really began — was a prime ex- ample, as he may have had three hits had those balls veered two or three feet to the left or right. But there have also been a whole lot of whiffs. In a five-game stretch from May 31 to June 5, Kelenic struck out 12 times in 21 plate appearances. This included three consecutive games in which he was fanned three times each. Did the Mariners bring him up too soon? Maybe. Although there was (correct) Elaine Thompson/AP Seattle Mariners’ Jarred Kelenic reacts after striking out against the Texas Rangers in a baseball game on May 29 in Seattle. speculation that they would have brought him up sooner if not for service-time conditions that will keep him under club control longer. Is it fair to worry? Consider- ing the flops this organization has had, it’s hard to say “no” to that. But it’s not logical to get too worked up yet. Kelenic may be the most hyped prospect the M’s have had in years. And when your organization hasn’t made the playoffs since 2001, folks will tend to slap the “savior” label on you. See Kelenic / A7