SPORTS
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016
7A
Titans score two wins over Astoria
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria Ford Junior
State baseball team went look-
ing for some competition over
the weekend … and found it.
The West Salem Titans —
featuring players who helped
win a Class 6A Greater Valley
Conference championship last
spring — swept a pair of games
in Astoria Friday and Saturday,
10-6 and 4-1.
Still, the Titans had work
hard for both wins.
West Salem had to come
from behind twice to win Fri-
day’s game at Aiken Field, as the
teams hooked up for an exciting,
well-played nine-inning thriller.
The Fishermen scored a
run in their irst at-bat, a sacri-
ice ly by Fritz Fremstad that
brought in Kyle Strange.
West Salem answered with
three runs in the top of the sec-
ond, before Astoria Ford rallied
to tie in the third.
Strange was hit by a pitch,
Fremstad doubled to right, and
both scored on a single by Ole
Englund.
The Fishermen retook the
lead on a sharp double down
the left ield line by Fremstad in
the bottom of the fourth, allow-
ing Tristan Wallace and Strange
to sprint home for a 5-3 lead.
The Titans fought right back
with two runs in the ifth, then
scored a run in the top of the
seventh for a 6-5 lead.
Astoria Ford wasted lit-
tle time in tying the game in
the bottom half of the seventh,
as Cade O’Brien had a leadoff
single, took second on a wild
pitch, and scored on Trey Hage-
man’s single to center.
Hageman was left stranded,
however, as the Titans retired
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Kyle Strange approaches third base on his way to another
run Friday, as he scored three times in Astoria Ford’s loss
to West Salem.
SCOREBOARD
SPORTS SCHEDULE
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Ford’s Tyler Lyngstad takes a look at third after fielding a ground ball in Friday’s
game against West Salem.
the next three in order to send
the game to extra innings.
Strange had a one-out dou-
ble in the eighth for the Fisher-
men, but was stranded and the
game went to the ninth.
And West Salem took con-
trol in the top of the inning.
Jaden Perez was hit by a pitch
to lead off, Brenton Reddy sin-
gled to center and Blake Buch-
heit walked to load the bases
with no outs.
Ross McConnell followed
with a two-run double to left,
then one out later scored on a
single by Grant Thies. A sacri-
ice ly scored another run for a
four-run lead.
The Fishermen still man-
aged to make it interesting
in the bottom of the ninth, as
Hageman, Jasyn Gohl and Wal-
lace all drew walks to load the
bases with two outs, which
brought Strange to the plate
representing the tying run, but
he was thrown out in a close
play at irst to end the game.
The second game of Fri-
day’s doubleheader was rained
out, with the Titans leading 7-0
in the third inning when the
game was called.
About 13 hours later, the
teams met Saturday morning
at CMH Field, where Astoria
Ford grabbed a 1-0 lead in the
bottom of the irst.
O’Brien drew a lead-
off walk, stole second and
advanced to third on an error,
then scored on a wild pitch.
That, however, would be
Astoria Ford’s only run of the
day, as West Salem starter
Logan Chuhlansteff went the
distance on the mound, allow-
ing only three hits with eight
strikeouts.
Tyler Lyngstad and Gohl
had inield singles in the fourth,
and Hageman had a two-out
single in the sixth.
TODAY
Junior State Baseball — Warrenton at Seaside (2), 4 p.m.
THURSDAY-SATURDAY
Junior State Baseball — North Coast Tournament at Seaside,
TBA
Englund was equally tough
for the Fishermen, as he held
the Titans — who were playing
with many of the same players
who took part in the 6A quarter-
inals — scoreless through ive
innings.
After a pitching change, West
Salem inally jumped on the
scoreboard with three runs in the
sixth, scoring on a wild pitch, an
RBI single from Perez and a dou-
ble to left by Logan Johnson.
McConnell capped the scor-
ing with an RBI single in the
seventh to score Reddy.
Chuhlansteff, a 6-foot-3
junior, retired 10 of the inal 11
batters he faced.
“I was real happy with how
we played,” said Astoria Ford
coach Dave Gasser. “We had
four ninth-graders starting in
Saturday’s game, and we’re
still up 1-0 through ive. Ole
threw a great game.”
But, “we only have so much
pitching to work with,” he said.
“We’re just going out and doing
the best we can.”
Astoria Ford returns to
action Thursday, in a three-
day tournament at Seaside. The
Fishermen open against Grant
Union, 12:30 p.m. Thursday at
Broadway Field.
Five-time NBA champ Tim Duncan retires
The Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — Tim
Duncan spent nearly two
decades as the quiet storm in the
middle of the San Antonio Spurs
franchise, putting the team on
his broad shoulders and carry-
ing it to heights unseen in mod-
ern American sports.
With Duncan as the focal
point, the Spurs won ive
championships, made the play-
offs in all 19 of his seasons and
cemented themselves as one of
the most successful franchises
in all of sports.
And now, the tireless and
reluctant superstar is inally
calling it a career. The 40-year-
old Duncan announced his
retirement on Monday, mark-
ing the end of an era for the
Spurs and the NBA.
“The greatest power for-
ward ever,” the Los Angeles
Clippers’ Jamal Crawford said
Monday, as the tributes to Dun-
can’s career began coming.
Few would dare argue.
Duncan was the No. 1 over-
all pick in 1997 and teamed
with coach Gregg Popovich,
point guard Tony Parker and
shooting guard Manu Ginobili
to turn the Spurs from a solid
franchise that could never quite
get over the hump into one of
the league’s superpowers.
The unassuming Duncan
won two MVP awards and
was one of just four players to
be named NBA Finals MVP
at least three times. He was a
15-time All-Star, a member of
the All-NBA irst team 10 times
and is one of only three players
— joining Kareem Abdul-Jab-
bar and Robert Parrish — to
win at least 1,000 games in his
career. He is ifth on the NBA’s
career list in blocks, sixth in
rebounds and 14th in scoring.
“The constant staple of their
franchise,” Cleveland’s LeBron
James said earlier this year.
Duncan was never one for
big endorsement deals or look-
at-me press conferences, which
is why he was often overshad-
owed in the public eye by more
outsized personalities like the
James and Kobe Bryant, who
also retired this year after 20
seasons, all with the Los Ange-
les Lakers. But he leaves this
game as one of the league’s true
giants, perhaps the best power
forward to ever play and one
who left as indelible a mark on
his franchise as any player to
come before him.
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
German gymnast Oksana Chusovitina performs during
the artistic gymnastics women’s vault final at the 2012
Summer Olympics. Chusovitina will compete at her sev-
enth Olympics when she goes to Rio de Janeiro, becom-
ing the oldest Olympic female gymnast in history at age 41.
At 41, Chusovitina
prepares for seventh
McLaughlin, 16, earns spot to Rio Olympics Olympic Games
By PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writer
EUGENE — Fast fact: Teenager Syd-
ney McLaughlin can juggle on a unicycle.
That’s nothing compared to this: The
16-year-old is headed to Rio as the young-
est to make the U.S. Olympic track team
since 1972.
And to think, the 400-meter hurdles
phenom had a panic attack before the start
of the trials. She thought the stage might
be a tad too big for her.
It wasn’t. McLaughlin, a soon-to-be
senior at Union Catholic in Scotch Plains,
New Jersey, inished third on Sunday,
behind winner Dalilah Muhammad and
Ashley Spencer.
“Sometimes, I just forget that I’m 16,”
McLaughlin said. “There’s not as much
expectation. You know, I don’t get paid
for this. I’m here just for fun.”
Once she got to work, she certainly had
a ball. She planned to celebrate by going
out for dinner. On her menu — a cheese-
burger, maybe some sweet potato fries,
and possibly topped off with a slice of
cheesecake.
“I want be like her when I grow up,”
said the 23-year-old Spencer. “At 16 years
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Sydney McLaughlin reacts to her
third-place finish in the finals of the
women’s 400-meter hurdles at the
U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials,
Sunday, in Eugene.
old, I wasn’t doing anything. I was run-
ning track, but it was like, meh? She’s an
Olympian.”
It has always taken a bit of coaxing
to get McLaughlin to the starting line —
both as a kid, when her father bribed her
with a chocolate bar with almonds to keep
her running at 6, and just before the trials.
But her high school coach, Mike
McCabe, has a counseling degree that he
put to good use. He told her it was only
nerves and everyone gets them.
“I think it was more self-doubt,” he
explained. “It was the big stage, ‘I don’t
know if I can do this, I don’t know if I
belong here.’
“We shared with her that everybody
has this. It’s not just her because she’s so
young. The elites have it, and they’ve been
doing it for years.”
The pep talk hit the mark. Although,
the world and American junior record
holder isn’t exactly used to trailing like
this. She inished in a world junior-record
time of 54.15 seconds, which was still
1.27 behind Muhammad. She also was
able to hold off fourth-place inisher Kori
Carter.
“She’s a beast,” Carter said. “She’s
the truth. I was in every single heat with
her and she carries herself like a pro. I
know she’s going to represent the U.S.
amazingly.”
Cano, Lind homer to help Mariners hold off Royals
By ANDREW
HAMMOND
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
The Seattle Mariners desper-
ately wanted to go into the
All-Star break with a winning
record.
Robinson Cano and Adam
Lind homered in a ive-run
seventh inning and the Mari-
ners held off the Kansas City
Royals 8-5 on Sunday.
Cano’s two-run shot to deep
right ield for his 21st home
run of the season extended the
Mariners’ lead to 5-0. Lind hit
a three-run shot, his 13th, a
few batters later.
“A lot of good at-bats,”
Seattle manager Scott Servais
said. “Guys were grinding.
Deinitely want to go to the
break above .500. It was an
important game for us today.”
The Mariners (45-44) head
into the break above .500 for
the second time since 2010,
after going 51-44 in 2014.
The Royals scored ive runs
over the inal three innings, pull-
ing within three on Alex Gor-
don’s homer leading off the ninth.
Mike Montgomery (3-3)
pitched 6 1/3 strong innings,
giving up one run and ive hits,
in his irst start of the season.
Dillion Gee (3-3) struggled
early and picked up the loss for
the Royals, giving up three runs
and ive hits in 3 2/3 innings.
One of the key moments in
Gee’s rough outing occurred in
the irst inning where an errant
throw on a double play oppor-
tunity eventually led to Seat-
tle’s irst score.
“I kinda got caught in
between when I came up to take
a look at second,” Gee said. “It
was right when the umpire was
kinda like, making his way into
position and I tried to slow up a
little bit and it sailed on me. Just
a costly mistake”
By NESHA STARCEVIC
AP Sports Writer
BERGISCH-GLAD-
BACH, Germany — In the
retro-looking gym that serves
as the talent-honing center for
Germany’s potential Olym-
pian gymnasts, girls aged six
and seven in leotards execute
their somersaults and back lips
under watchful trainers.
From a distance, it is dif-
icult to distinguish Oksana
Chusovitina from the kids.
However, she has a son who is
about three times the age of the
young aspiring gymnasts.
Only when she approaches,
do features on her small frame
reveal differences: The mus-
cles hardened by years of top-
level competition, and the
lines around the face tell of
experience.
Chusovitina will compete
at her seventh Olympics when
she goes to Rio de Janeiro,
becoming the oldest Olympic
female gymnast in history at
age 41.
“I am feeling good,” she
said, speaking German in an
interview with The Associated
Press. “On the podium, every-
one is the same whether you
are 40 or 16. You have to go out
and do your routine and your
jumps.
“But it’s a pity there are
no points for age,” she added,
breaking into an easy smile.
Chusovitina, back repre-
senting her native Uzbeki-
stan, is an anachronism in
an age when gymnasts enter
major competitions at 16, and
most are teenagers. A legal
limit was imposed to prevent
ever younger girls coming
to competitions.
Her dedication and love of
the sport keep her going, she
said.
“I have no pain, no prob-
lems. The toughest for me is
to wait until the next training,”
Chusovitina said.
As the Olympics approach,
she trains two, three hours a
day, or as she puts it, “not so
much.”
About 1.50-meters (ive-
feet) tall and weighing about 43
kilograms (95 pounds), Chuso-
vitina looks very it. She cannot
really pinpoint the reason for
her competitive longevity.
“I don’t know how I stay
it, I think you have to ask my
mother,” she said, suggesting
good genes.
“I love this sport, I love
training, I am always eager to
train,” Chusovitina said.
Chusovitina’s best chance
for a medal in Rio is the vault,
in which she won a silver medal
at the 2008 Beijing Games,
then competing for Germany.
She has 10 medals in the vault
at world championships, plus
one in the loor.
But she is reluctant to speak
about a podium inish in Rio.
“I don’t want to talk about
the podium or the medals. I
irst want to prepare in the time
before the games, ly to Brazil,
and be healthy,” she said.
Speaking of which, Chuso-
vitina said she was not wor-
ried about the Zika virus even
though some top male golfers,
notably, have pulled out of the
Olympics because of fears of
getting infected.
“I am not lying to Brazil to
get pregnant,” she said, laugh-
ing loudly.