THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015
SPORTS
7A
Lady Warriors blank
the Cougars, 9-0
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Seaside’s Sam Hinton chips a shot on the green of the 14th hole of the Fish Invitational at the Astoria Country Club
Monday. He was medalist in Thursday’s meet against Astoria at Gearhart Golf Links.
Gulls win the golfers’ Clatsop Clash
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — The
Seaside boys golf team im-
proved to 2-0 in Cowapa
League play, with a 326-389
victory in golf’s version of
the Clatsop Clash Thursday
at the Gearhart Golf Links.
Seaside’s Sam Hinton
was medalist with a 75,
while teammate Shane Frit-
ter was second with an 80,
followed by Aaron Richard-
son at 81.
Kevin Lacoste had the
other counting score for
Seaside with a 90, with Jo-
sef Barbic rounding out the
Gull golfers with a 102.
Will Keeran and Joey
Voeller both shot 95 to lead
Astoria. Also competing for
the Fishermen varsity were
Kirk Fausett (98, personal
best), Ron Schumacher (101)
and Arthur Clark (102).
Hinton and Richardson
played together in the first
group and had quite a battle
between themselves, at least
after Richardson took a 10
on the second hole.
Throwing out that hole,
the two went back and forth
with the duo recording 23
pars and four birdies be-
tween them. Fritter added
two more birdies and was
tied with Hinton through 13
holes before Hinton birdied
the next two holes. Lacoste
added a birdie for the Gulls
with a two on the 15th.
“We had some troubles
out there today,” said Sea-
side coach Jim Poetsch,
“but we were still able to
put up a decent score. Sam
was solid again today. He
had his highest score of
the year and was still only
3-over-par. Aaron was able
to overcome a 10 on the
second hole, with the help
of two two’s, and posted a
respectable number.”
He added, “It is promis-
ing when we have some hic-
cups on the course and are
still able to post a score that
would be competitive in any
tournament.”
TRACK
Fishermen win 11 events
TILLAMOOK — The
Astoria track team compet-
ed against a host of smaller
schools Tuesday, in an invi-
tational track meet hosted
by Tillamook.
Team results were in-
complete, as were some in-
dividual events.
Astoria athletes won 11
separate events, including
nine on the girls’ side.
The Lady Fishermen col-
lected victories from fresh-
man Darian Hageman in
three different events (pole
vault, 10-feet; long jump,
16-11 ½; triple jump, 35-2
½); Natalie Cummings in
two events (100 meters,
12.62 seconds; 200 me-
ters, 26.78); Kaylee Mitch-
ell in both the 400 meters
(1:00.79) and 800 meters
(2:29.94); Kaisa Johnson
(1,500 meters, 5:22.70); and
the 400-meter relay (Jillian
Ketcham, Shrida Sharma,
Mitchell and Cummings,
53.10).
Winners for the Astoria
boys included Lucas Caru-
ana in two events (800,
2:11.19 seconds; and the
1,500, 4:24.69).
For Knappa, Devin Lew-
is Allen won the 400 meters
(53.52).
PORTLAND — The
Warrenton Lady Warriors are
off to a perfect start in league
play, as they opened the Lew-
is & Clark League softball
season with a 9-0 win at Port-
land Adventist Thursday.
Warrenton pitcher Niqui
Blodgett tossed a six-hitter
against the Cougars, striking
out 10 with no walks.
Landree Miethe led off
the game with a single,
stole second and eventually
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Alyssa Casteel, for the only
run Warrenton would need.
Rachel Dyer added a
two-run single in the fourth,
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bunt by Alyssa Herrera that
scored Ally Hanna.
Warrenton tacked on four
runs in the sixth and one in
the seventh.
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with nine hits, led by Dyer
(3-for-4) and Miethe (2-for-
5, scored twice). Brianna
Marsch had two RBIs.
Warrenton hosts Seaside
today.
Clatskanie 7, Astoria 5
CLATSKANIE — In
another nonleague softball
contest between the Lewis &
Clark League and the Cowa-
pa League, Clatskanie rallied
for a 7-5 win over Astoria
Thursday.
The Fishermen built a 5-0
lead before the Tigers an-
swered with seven runs over
the third and fourth innings.
Clatskanie pitcher Mak-
enzie Mitchell allowed six
hits with six strikeouts and
three walks.
She also had three hits
at the plate, while teammate
Sage Miller was 2-for-4 with
a triple.
BASEBALL
Seaside 5, Tillamook 3
TILLAMOOK — Sea-
side bounced back from
Tuesday’s 16-5 loss to Til-
lamook with a 5-3 win over
the Cheesemakers Thursday,
in Cowapa League baseball
action at Tillamook.
Sophomore Brent Walsh
pitched a complete game for
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with 10 strikeouts and one
walk. He retired the last 14
batters he faced.
At the plate, Walsh had a
key two-out, two-run single in
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in added a double for Seaside,
which hosts Warrenton for a
single game at noon Saturday.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
SOFTBALL
TODAY
Baseball — Horizon Christian at
Astoria, 4 p.m.; Faith Bible at Knap-
pa (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Warrenton
(2), 4 p.m.
SATURDAY
Baseball — Warrenton at Sea-
side, Noon
Softball — Molalla at Seaside, 4
p.m.
Track — Lower Columbia Invita-
tional, TBA; Meet of Champions (at
Willamette U.), 10 a.m.; Warrenton
at De La Salle, 11:30 a.m.
MONDAY
Girls Golf — Seaside Invitational,
11 a.m.
Boys Golf — Banks Invitational,
1 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOLS
Warrenton 9, P. Adventist 0
W: Niqui Blodgett (10 K’s, 0 walks).
L: Tori Johnson. RBI: Marsch 2,
Dyer 2, Casteel, Herrera. 2B: War,
Miethe. 3B: PA, Gressele. LOB:
Warrenton 7, Portland Adventist 5.
Warreton 100 034 1—9 9 0
P.Adventist 000 000 0—0 6 3
BASEBALL
HIGH SCHOOLS
Seaside 5, Tillamook 3
Walsh and Quicke; Reeves, Ru-
mage (6) and Harmon. W: Walsh.
L: Reeves. 2B: Sea, Plampin; Til,
Reeves.
Seaside
000 030 2—5 7 0
Tillamook 003 000 0—3 5 1
Clerk: It’s up to county’s insurance
to respond to the torts claim notice
Continued from Page 1A
Somers said it is up to the
county’s insurance agency as to
“Ms. Grimes felt torn be- whether or not the county will
tween the clear direction she had respond to the torts claim notice.
received from the SOS and Mr.
“I don’t know if we will re-
Somer’s demand that she ignore spond. It’s up to our insurance
that direction,” Altschul wrote.
agency,” Somers said. “We have
The notice claims Kennedy insurance for these kinds of
*ULPHVZDVXQODZIXOO\¿UHGEH- things. If they want to respond,
cause she insisted on implement- they will.”
ing the lawfully required process.
An internal investigation
6KH ZDV RI¿FLDOO\ ¿UHG RQ completed by Somers in No-
'HF $OWVFKXO VDLG KH ¿UVW vember found that the clerk’s
contacted the county on Dec. RI¿FH GLG QRW IROORZ LWV HVWDE-
15 regarding Kennedy Grimes’ lished protocol for proofreading
employment law claims against the draft ballots before the elec-
the county.
tion.
+LV ¿QGLQJV GHVFULEHG DQ
issue with distractions and
multitasking. The proofread-
ers worked individually rather
than following the procedure of
reading out loud while another
proofreader reads along, Somers
said.
In response, the torts claim
notice states, Kennedy Grimes
revised the proofreading process
because it was no longer practi-
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and increased workload.
“Notably, Mr. Somers un-
truthfully stated that Ms. Grimes
failed to follow procedures even
though Ms. Grimes had the au-
thority to and did implement
updated procedures,” Altschul
wrote.
Altschul concludes that if
there was a failure of leadership
and process, it was Somers’ fail-
ure as “ultimately responsible,
and the person accountable.”
Kennedy Grimes served as
Clatsop County clerk from 2011
to 2012, then returned to the po-
sition in June 2013.
Valerie Crafard, former clerk
of the Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners, was hired as
Clatsop County clerk in March.
The Astoria ballot for the South Slope in the November
general election.
Somers: Mill Creek opportunity is one he didn’t want to overlook
Continued from Page 1A
“Scott is a really great
manager and we would hate
to lose him,” Clatsop Coun-
ty Board of Commissioner
Chairman Scott Lee said.
“Someone of his caliber, I
can see how other places
would want to recruit him.
He has done such a great job
balancing our budget, and
handled controversy really
well.”
In recent months, Somers
had been the focus of com-
plaints in anonymous letters
sent to the Board of Com-
missioners and The Daily
Astorian that questioned his
management style.
He has admitted a large
number of changes have oc-
curred in his time as manag-
er.
Since March 2013, at
least six department heads
have left the county.
County Clerk Maeve
Kennedy Grimes was fired
in December after errors
were discovered on the gen-
eral election ballot. In ad-
dition, half the county staff
were moved to the higher
deductible health plans and
the Juvenile Detention Cen-
ter closed, as Somers men-
Daily Astorian file
Clatsop County Manager Scott Somers fields a question from Skip Hauke about getting more manufacturing jobs on
the North Coast during an economic forum last year.
tioned in his cover letter.
To put the concerns to
bed, Somers proposed a
third-party, 360-degree re-
view of himself to the Board
of Commissioners.
The Board of Commis-
sioners hired Kennedy Con-
sulting, a Portland-based
firm with over 25 years
experience, in March to
conduct the 360 review of
Somers.
Hiring Kennedy Consult-
ing will cost the county be-
tween $10,000 and $12,000.
If Somers does get hired
in Mill Creek, he said, the
Board of Commissioners
should still pursue the 360
evaluation because it entails
a review on county manage-
ment in general.
“I would recommend
continuing to move for-
ward no matter what. It’s an
overall review of the county
and management process,”
Somers said. “It will be very
good information for the
commission, the citizens and
(county) employees.”
Somer’s resume lists his
address as Hillsboro, al-
though he said, he has an
apartment in Astoria where
he stays during the week.
With a Master of Pub-
lic Administration from
the University of Arizona,
Somers started his public
service career in White Bear
Lake, Minn., as an assistant
to the city manager and then
as the assistant city adminis-
trator in Savage, Minn., near
Minneapolis.
Somers describes the Mill
Creek position as an oppor-
tunity he did not want to
overlook.
“It think, for me, it’s kind
of a natural progression or
evolution in my own pro-
fessional
development,”
Somers said. “It fits in nice-
ly with what could be a next
step for me.”