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