4-5-17 Section B Sports.Indd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Buffalos, Bulldogs & Community Sports Editor: Will Denner • [email protected] Madras Pioneer Wednesday, April 5, 2017 541-475-2275 Madraspioneer.com B1 Ceciliani begins season in Triple A Despite late spring the 26-year-old outfielder spot was up for grabs. In left of Blue Jays outfielders. however, was a 29 percent If another opportunity and Madras High alum to the field, essentially it came However, he showed several strikeout rate. arises, Ceciliani will do push, 26-year-old Triple-A Buffalo Bisons to down to Ceciliani and Eze- moments of brilliance that Whatever the decision things a little differently. A begin the 2017 season. quiel Carrerra, 29. put him in contention may have been that gave couple weeks ago, nearing Toronto outfielder The Toronto outfield, be- The Blue Jays opted for a big league ros- Carrerra the edge over Ceci- the end of spring training, he hind typical starters Jose for the more experi- ter spot. His eight liani is uncertain, but it isn’t acknowledged that he tried heads back to Buffalo Bautista and Steven Pillar, enced Carrera, which RBIs were the most something that should be to seize the moment, perhaps was uncertain before the fi- put Ceciliani back in on the team and 15 dwelled on for long. Similar a little too overzealously. BY WILL DENNER nal roster decisions. Melvin Buffalo, where he hit hits were second to last season, Ceciliani will “I got a chance last year Sports Editor Upton Jr. and Dalton Pom- .266 with 10 home best. Granted, those always be one call away from and I tried to do too much,” pey, who is currently on the runs and 40 RBIs last numbers are inflated the Blue Jays if an outfielder Ceciliani said, per Mark Zlo- Darrell Ceciliani’s late 10-day disabled list after get- season. He also hit because the Blue gets injured. winski of the Toronto Star. “I push in spring training put ting a concussion during the .338 with runners in Jays’ established He got the call on two sepa- got outside of myself, outside people on notice, but it World Baseball Classic, were scoring position. DARRELL bats had far fewer ap- rate occasions, and posted a of what I can do. If I get an- wasn’t enough to earn an in the mix, as was Steve Going into spring CECILIANI pearances at the pedestrian .111 average with other opportunity, I have to opening day roster spot with Pearce, who can play a multi- training, Ceciliani plate, but those three hits, one RBI and 14 be myself, and more impor- the Toronto Blue Jays. tude of positions beyond the was in an uphill battle to marks were significant. One strikeouts in 29 plate appear- tantly, do that and help this The Blue Jays optioned outfield. But the last outfield shake up a deep depth chart thing working against him, ances. team win games.” Big schools still wield OSAA favors five classifications The Culver Bulldogs would also re- Reclassifcation committee main in the 2A classification, and go the most in support of Draft 13, to back to the Tri-River Conference, which they were part of before join- take effect in 2018-19 ing the Columbia Basin Conference in 2014. That league would include influence Central Linn, Crow, East Linn Chris- BY WILL DENNER tian Academy, Jefferson, Kennedy, Sports Editor Oakridge, Regis, Santiam, St. Paul Latest news on and Western Mennonite. In the debate of five versus six Generally speaking, this recom- reclassifcation leaves classifications, the former appears to mendation came down to a decision be winning out. of which was more important be- schools Class 4A Following the latest public meet- tween competitive balance and trav- ing, held on March 20 in Wilsonville, el distance in each classification. The and below in limbo the OSAA classification and district- current six-classification model, by ing committee is most accounts, of- BY WILL DENNER recommending a fers more balance Sports Editor five-classification between teams, model for the but also requires Love it or hate it, parity in four-year block greater distances high school sports is a good that will take ef- to travel, particu- thing. fect in 2018-19. If larly in rural ar- Another phrase for it is finalized, this de- eas where schools competitive balance — one cision will pro- are further apart PIONEER FILE PHOTO that has come up many times vide the frame- from one another. A five-classifcation system could see the Madras White Buffalos (red) in the 4A during the course of OSAA work that the The committee Intermountain Conference with The Dalles Riverhawks (white), as well as Crook County, reclassification meetings. committee makes noted in its Pendleton, Redmond and Ridgeview. The reclassification and subsequent deci- March 22 memo- districting committee recent- sions around go- randum sent to ly announced that it is in fa- ing forward. OSAA superin- sustainable system for the state.” school (Pendleton) would require vor of a five-classification More specifi- tendents, princi- Draft 13 would certainly benefit them to exceed that distance for model over the current six- cally, the commit- pals and athletic Madras in terms of travel. The Buffs’ away contests. classification system. tee is in support directors, “A five- current Tri-Valley Conference The bigger concern for Madras, The rationale for the deci- of draft 13, which would put the Ma- classification approach better ad- league forces them to travel for away and schools of similar size, is a po- sion came down to a reduc- dras White Buffalos in the proposed dresses travel concerns, especially in games over 100 miles to four of five tential imbalance in competition. Ma- tion of travel for schools 4A Intermountain Conference with some outlying geographical areas, league schools, with the lone excep- dras Athletic Director Evan Brown, across the state, which it cer- the likes of Crook County, Pendleton, and provides greater depth in each tion being Crook County. In the In- tainly would Redmond, Ridgeview and The Dalles. classification for an overall more termountain Conference, only one See FIVE/ Page B8 in five class- es. But the competitive element of re- classification appears to have taken a backseat, and that’s pretty Madras down, not out WILL alarming if you’re a 4A DENNER school or League play offers the White Buffalos a clean slate, but they have much work to do smaller. During a Jan. 30 meeting, representatives in each clas- BY WILL DENNER play Tillamook, and in a 10-0 win, sification presented a survey Sports Editor looked the part of a team with the of their athletic directors. talent to contend for a postseason The question was simple: Do This was supposed to be the Ma- bid. you favor a six- or five-classi- dras baseball team’s turning point Not only did the Buffs’ pitching fication system? 6A was the — its time to get back on track. staff play their part, led by junior only classification to voice Instead, for the White Buffalos, Lewis Fine, who struck out 10 Tilla- overwhelming support for a who hosted an eight-team tourna- mook batters in five innings of work, five-classification format, ment last Thursday through Satur- they took advantage of six Tillamook with 48 of 51 ADs voicing day, it was the weekend that wasn’t. errors in ways they haven’t been able their support. The Buffs ended the weekend with to consistently. The 5A survey was less a 1-2 mark, after losses to Pleasant Kanim Smith added four hits and supportive, as 57 percent Hill and La Pine on Friday and Satur- two RBIs, and when he relieved Fine voted in favor of five classifi- day. The Buffs have started 1-7 out of on the mound in the sixth inning, cations. Below that, from 4A the gate, with their lone win coming struck out two of the final three bat- down to 1A, a clear majority last Thursday, 10-0 over Tillamook, ters to preserve a shutout victory. It leaned in the direction of in the opening round of the Madras was only one game, but a convincing maintaining six classifica- Tournament. win nonetheless tions. Their record is hardly a vote of The following two games, however, That’s why this latest rec- confidence heading into this Friday’s said otherwise. ommendation of five classifi- Tri-Valley Conference opener at Mo- In a 3-1 loss to Pleasant Hill, Ma- cations reaffirms that the lalla. Then again, when considering dras was held scoreless until the bot- biggest schools — most of the fact that many of those noncon- tom of the seventh inning, when Ty- which are situated in the ference losses could have been wins ler Lockey led off with a double, even- Portland metro-area and on if not for a few self-inflicted mistakes, tually scoring the Buffs’ lone run. down the Interstate 5 corri- perhaps all the Buffs need is a clean Madras had the bases loaded with dor — hold the most influ- slate in the form of a 0-0 record in no outs after Jared Holliday was ence in this decision. conference, which will ultimately be walked, but couldn’t drive any more Sure, cutting travel down the one that counts for playoffs. runners in. could benefit a lot of schools But before Madras can get that far The following afternoon against La that have already seen their ahead, it has to work out the issues Pine, a team Madras had already lost athletics budgets stretched that continue to plague the team, par- to once earlier this season, the Buffs thin.