SPORTS
8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2016
Mariners sitting atop AL
West as optimism grows
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Astoria shortstop Olaf Englund fields a high chopper during Thursday’s win at Seaside.
Fishermen win Clatsop
Clash in ive innings
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Astoria’s
“Scandinavian Connection”
shut down the Seaside Gulls
Thursday, as Fridtjof Fremstad
and Tyler Lyngstad gave up just
three hits in an 11-1, ive-inning
win for the Fishermen.
With their 31st straight win
over Seaside, Astoria improves
to 8-6 in the Cowapa League
baseball standings, one game
ahead of Scappoose (7-7). Sea-
side falls to 2-12.
The Fishermen close out
league play today at Banks,
while the Gulls travel to
Scappoose.
Astoria scored eight runs in
the irst inning of Thursday’s
game, a nightmare inning for
the Gulls.
The Fishermen sent 14 bat-
ters to the plate, and loaded the
bases with no outs.
Olaf Englund’s single to
center scored the irst two runs,
and Trey Hageman’s grounder
brought in Carter Wallace for a
3-0 lead.
SEATTLE — When new
general manager Jerry Dipoto
went about rebuilding the Seat-
tle Mariners in the offseason,
he bet heavily on the rebound.
Dipoto believed the Mari-
ners could be revamped without
spending heavily in free agency
through shrewd acquisitions of
players who struggled in 2015
or had perhaps fallen out of
favor with their former club.
Through the irst six weeks
of the season, that bet is pay-
ing off.
“The game is about a
series of ive- , six-week pock-
ets. Where we are on May 11
is we have 20 more wins that
we won’t have to accrue later.
They’re all important,” Dipoto
said. “The season is long and
what you’re doing is build-
ing up equity because some-
times in this league it’s feast
or famine. Through the irst
(34) games we feasted. We put
ourselves in a good position.
We’re not always going to go
as good as we’re going now but
there is no reason why we can’t
play consistently as well as we
have played.”
After completing a three-
game sweep of Tampa Bay,
the Mariners are 21-13, their
best start since 2003. They ind
themselves in the rare posi-
tion of being in irst place in
the AL West into the middle of
May and are starting to ener-
gize a fan base that’s grown
apathetic during the longest
playoff drought of any team in
baseball.
Making the start even more
impressive was a ive-game
losing streak the opening week
of the season that did its part to
create the perception that these
were going to be the same old
Mariners.
For now, the losing streak
has been the exception and
good starting pitching, timely
hitting and a stellar bullpen the
norm. Take away those shaky
irst eight games and Seattle
has the best record in the Amer-
ican League since April 13.
“Some adversity helps too
because you see what people
are made of,” catcher Chris
Iannetta said. “We deinitely
had some adversity with that.
Anytime you lose ive in a row
it’s not fun.”
No player has deined Seat-
tle’s rebound more than Rob-
inson Cano. After scufling
through the irst half of last sea-
son, Cano has started 2016 on a
tear. He leads baseball in RBIs
with 33 and is second in home
runs with 12. Last year, Cano
didn’t record his 12th homer
until Aug. 7.
“As a player you go home,
you prepare yourself for a good
season and the best thing is
when you start early,” Cano
said. “You look at my start last
year, it was a tough irst half. ...
But you want to start from the
irst game of the year. ... We’ve
played a different game this
year. Hopefully it continues.”
While Cano’s been the
offensive star, Seattle’s rotation
has — as expected — been one
of the top starting units in the
American League thanks to
the emergence of young right-
hander Taijuan Walker. Felix
Hernandez is still the ace of
the staff — even with drops in
his velocity — but Walker has
shown signs of having a break-
out season at age 23.
Lady Fish top the Tigers
The Daily Astorian
Ryan Palek watches his base hit to deep right-center field in
the second inning, a ground-rule double that scored a run.
From there, the Fisher-
men scored two runs on wild
pitches, and three more on three
Seaside errors.
Ryan Palek’s ground-rule
double in the second scored
Ryker Helmersen, and Englund
capped the scoring with a two-
run double in the third.
Englund led Astoria’s sev-
en-hit attack with a single, dou-
ble and four RBIs.
On the mound, Fremstad
started and pitched two innings
before giving way to Lyngs-
tad. The two combined for ive
strikeouts and two walks.
Freshman Duncan Thomp-
son had two of Seaside’s three
hits.
The Astoria softball team
took a break from league play
Thursday, and scored an 8-5
win over Yamhill-Carlton at
CMH Field.
Taylor Mickle’s bas-
es-loaded,
bases-clearing
double in the second inning
helped the Lady Fishermen
build an 8-1 lead through six
innings, before the Tigers
scored four in the seventh.
Mickle inished 2-for-4,
while Catilyn Hougham was
3-for-3 with a double.
Astoria inishes the league
season with a doubleheader
at Banks today, and will play
a nonleague game at Rain-
ier Tuesday, before hosting a
Regional Play-in game next
Thursday.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Astoria at Banks, 5 p.m.; Seaside at
Scappoose, 5 p.m.; Clatskanie at Warrenton (2),
3:30 p.m.; Knappa at Vernonia (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Astoria at Banks (2), 4:30 p.m.; Sea-
side at Scappoose (2), 3:30 p.m.; Clatskanie at
Warrenton (2), 3:30 p.m.; Knappa at Vernonia (2),
3 p.m.
Track — Cowapa Championships, at St. Helens
HS, 3:30 p.m.; District 1/3A, at Portland Christian
HS, 11 a.m.
SATURDAY
Track — District 1/3A, at Portland Christian HS, 11 a.m.
BASEBALL
Astoria 11, Seaside 1
Astoria
812 00—11 7 1
Seaside
001 00—1 3 3
Fremstad, Lyngstad (3) and Helmersen, Gohl (3);
Bassett, Walsh (1) and Landwehr. W: Fremstad. L:
Bassett. RBI: Ast, Englund 4, Hageman, Palek. 2B:
Ast, Palek, Englund. HBP: Ast, Englund. LOB: Astoria
5, Seaside 4.
Seaside’s Brent Walsh, right, slides in under the tag of Astoria’s Tyler Lyngstad for the
Gulls’ only run Thursday.
Seahawks’ Lockette steps away
after injury: ‘Life goes on’
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
RENTON, Wash. — Ricardo
Lockette arrived in the NFL
with zero fanfare, just another
undrafted free agent with a spe-
ciic skill who was being given
a chance.
He stepped away from foot-
ball Thursday, retiring from the
Seattle Seahawks with a formal
news conference in an audito-
rium packed with staff, former
teammates and coaches.
The turnout spoke to the last-
ing impact Lockette had in Seat-
tle — a story that can’t be told
through statistics — before retir-
ing because of a severe neck
injury suffered last season in a
game against Dallas.
“My teammates helped me
to be who I was and we inspire
each other and we became a
family,” Lockette said. “So
it’s not that I’m surprised that
they’re here. I appreciate them
being here, but that’s what fam-
ily does. Family sticks up for
each other in times of need.
This is a bittersweet day and
I’m glad I can enjoy it with my
family.”
Not yet 30, Lockette is leav-
ing with three Super Bowl
appearances under his belt, a
Super Bowl ring, four career
touchdown catches and the
infamy of being the intended
receiver on Russell Wilson’s
pass that was intercepted by
Malcolm Butler to end Seattle’s
bid for a second straight title.
Lockette is also leaving with
titanium plates holding together
his cervical spine. If not for the
proper response from train-
ers and medical personnel on
the ield in Dallas last Novem-
ber, Lockette could have died,
a chilling story he retold when
visiting irst responders in the
Seattle area during the winter.
Concerns about his future
health were at the root of Lock-
ette’s decision to leave. He
arrived at Thursday’s event
without the neck brace he wore
continuously following the sur-
gery to stabilize the ligaments
and vertebras in his neck. He
only has 50 percent rotation in
his neck, and will have to avoid
roller coasters and lifting heavy
objects going forward to avoid
potential risk to the repaired
area.
Asked if it was tough to
retire, Lockette said: “No,
because I love my family and
I’d rather walk.”
Despite entering the NFL
with little football pedigree,
Lockette found a home in Seat-
tle because of his speed, his
work ethic and the self-con-
idence he could be a profes-
sional football player. He jok-
ingly referred to himself as
“Channel 83” and said it was
only available on pay-per-view,
even if his opportunities as a
wide receiver were limited and
leeting.
But once Lockette accepted
that he could be a differ-
ence-maker for Seattle on spe-
cial teams — during a second
stint with Seattle after spending
a short time in San Francisco —
he had to be watched. Lockette
became a player teams had to
scheme against because of his
speed getting downield and his
disrupting returns.
“He was so talented and so
raw early on. It just took him
a while to get it going,” coach
Pete Carroll said. “But once he
was able to channel all this won-
derful ability and wonderful
spirit, he became a magniicent
part of our team and a teammate
and guy that we’ll always miss.”
It was during one of those
returns that Lockette’s career
ended. He was running down-
ield to cover a punt when he
was hit by Dallas’ Jeff Heath.
Lockette was knocked out and
remained motionless for sev-
eral minutes. He was eventu-
ally strapped to a backboard
and taken off the ield. Lockette
underwent surgery the next day
to stabilize his neck and was told
the trainers and medics handled
his injury “perfectly.”
He was also told that if he
had stood up, been pulled by a
teammate or handled incorrectly
by trainers he could have died.
Built on
Dedication
Good People Are Where Great Care Begins
CMH honors those caregivers who are celebrating an employment
milestone this year, particularly those who have been with the hospital
for 25 or more years. hank you, and congratulations to:
Debbie Hahn, 40 years
Joyce Shepard, 40 years
Carol Langston, 30 years
Jennifer Quigley, 30 years
Susan Harrington, 25 years
Cheryl MacLean, 25 years
Daniel Marineau, 25 years
People Centered, Quality Driven
& Service Focused.
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503-325-4321 • www.columbiamemorial.org