10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Astoria’s
Rogers shuts
down Mark
Morris, 11-5
The Daily Astorian
LONGVIEW, Wash. — Asto-
ria won for the second time in
three days Thursday, with a non-
league softball victory at Mark
Morris, 11-5.
McKailyn Rogers went the dis-
tance in the circle for the Lady
Fishermen, who broke the game
open with seven runs in the fifth
inning.
Rogers struck out three and
allowed seven hits, and she went
3-for-4 at the plate to lead the
Astoria offense.
The Fishermen were on the
verge of several more big innings,
but stranded 14 base runners on
the day. Astoria twice loaded the
bases with no outs, only to come
up empty.
Astoria improves to 2-1 over-
all, and is scheduled to host R.A.
Long today. The Fishermen take
part in the Seaside Tournament
Monday and Tuesday.
In other nonleague softball
action Thursday, Corbett defeated
the Gulls 11-1 at Broadway Field.
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Warrenton’s Ray Alcobendas
takes his turn at bat in Thurs-
day’s game versus Nestucca.
Warriors
lose opener
to Nestucca
Bobcats
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The clouds
parted just long for the field to
dry out, and the Warrenton base-
ball team finally opened the 2017
season Thursday, as the Warriors
hosted Nestucca for a nonleague
game at Huddleston Field.
With two games under their
belt, the Bobcats had a slight
advantage coming in, and it
showed in a 13-2 Nestucca victory.
The Warriors were making
their season debut … and it was
the high school baseball debut for
10 Warrenton freshmen players.
“We looked like we were get-
ting our feet wet for the first time,
no pun intended,” said Warrenton
coach Lennie Wolfe. “It was wet,
but the field conditions weren’t
the issue. We were playing on
our field for the first time. We had
practiced twice on our football
field, and that was it.”
Still, the Warriors had two runs on
two hits in their first at-bat
of the day, which included a
leadoff bunt single by Jake
Morrow, and a two-run single
from Austin Little.
Wyatt Link got the win for
Nestucca, while Morrow — one
of five Warrior pitchers on the day
— took the loss.
Warrenton is scheduled to
host a doubleheader with Regis
Saturday.
Trail Blazers
rout Knicks
in 110-95 win
BY ERIK GARCIA
GUNDERSEN
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Damian Lil-
lard knows what can happen in
games like Thursday.
So with the New York
Knicks sitting Carmelo Anthony
and Derrick Rose, Lillard made
sure the Portland Trail Blazers
didn’t go easy on the guys who
did play.
Lillard scored 30 points and
the Trail Blazers never trailed in a
110-95 victory.
“I know how these games can
go,” Lillard said. “You can come
out and take for granted that guys
like D. Rose and Carmelo are not
playing and say, ‘All right this is
going to be an easy win.’ I think
it was my third year, towards the
end of the year, we played Utah
and everybody sat out. They came
in here and beat us.”
With that memory in mind, the
Blazers rolled.
UP NEXT: BEAVERS
• Minnesota Timberwolves
(28-42)
at Portland Trail Blazers (33-38)
• Saturday, 7 p.m.
TV: CSNW, FSN
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Astoria at Stayton, 4:30
p.m.; Cascade at Seaside, 4:30 p.m.
Softball — R.A. Long at Astoria, 4:30
p.m.
SATURDAY
Baseball — Regis at Warrenton (2),
1 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Warrenton (2),
Noon
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Warrenton softball pitcher Niqui Blodgett spins a ball toward the plate in Thursday’s win over Nestucca.
Warrenton girls score
22 runs on soggy day
The Daily Astorian
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
NCAA set to
pick title sites,
could leave out
North Carolina
Associated Press
WARRENTON — Whenever softball teams
from the Northwest League and Lewis & Clark
League meet on the field — take the team from Clat-
sop County, every time.
One day after Knappa pounded Portland Chris-
tian, 32-0, the two leagues met on the field again
Thursday, as Warrenton hosted Nestucca.
And the Warriors led 22-0 after four soggy
innings, on their way to an eventual 22-2 win over
the outmatched Bobcats.
Warrenton pounded out 13 hits in just four at-bats,
and scored three or more runs in every inning.
The Warriors had several multiple hitters, as
Landree Miethe, Niqui Blodgett, Tyla Little, Natalie
Duncan and Kenz Ramsey all had two hits apiece.
Miethe, Rachel Dyer, Little and Ramsey all scored
three runs each, with Dyer and Little driving in three
runs apiece.
Blodgett did the rest on the mound, as she allowed
just four hits with 10 strikeouts and six walks.
Miethe led off the game with a triple and scored
moments later on a grounder by Dyer, and the War-
riors took advantage of three walks and a hit bat-
ter later in the inning, scoring two runs on one wild
pitch, and scoring a third on another.
The Bobcats also committed seven errors, as they
drop to 0-3.
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Warrenton coach Staci Miethe, left, sends player
(and daughter) Landree Miethe toward the plate
for Thursday’s first run in the win over Nestucca.
NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT
Ducks end Michigan’s run
Oregon men face
Kansas in Elite 8
matchup Saturday
Mariners option
1B Vogelbach to
Triple-A Tacoma
Associated Press
By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyler
Dorsey’s teammates call him “Mr.
March.”
Yeah, that fits.
Dorsey scored 20 points and made
the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left, and
third-seeded Oregon held on to end
No. 7 Michigan’s dramatic postseason
run with a 69-68 victory in a Midwest
Regional semifinal on Thursday night.
“We lean on him right now,” the
Ducks’ Dylan Ennis said. “He’s play-
ing his best basketball, and it’s coming
at the right time.”
Dorsey’s recent surge has been
timely, for sure. He’s scored 20 or
more points in six straight games, a
stretch that has seen Pac-12 player of
the year Dillon Brooks struggle with
his shot.
Oregon didn’t have the win secured
until Derrick Walton Jr., who had car-
ried the Wolverines the last three
weeks, was off with his long jumper
just before the buzzer.
For the Ducks (32-5), it’s on to the
RALEIGH, N.C. — The
NCAA will start deciding on loca-
tions for its upcoming champion-
ships next week and has indicated
it will leave North Carolina out
of that process if the state hasn’t
changed a law that limits LGBT
rights by that time.
In a statement Thursday,
exactly one year to the day after
the law was passed, the sports
organization said its commit-
tees will begin picking champi-
onship sites for 2018-22 and will
announce those decisions April
18. The statement also noted that
“once the sites are selected by the
committee, those decisions are
final.”
The NCAA stated its position
has not changed since last fall,
when it pulled seven champion-
ship events from the state because
of the law known as HB2.
The law requires transgen-
der people to use restrooms at
schools and government buildings
corresponding to the sex on their
birth certificates. It also excludes
gender identity and sexual
orientation from local and
statewide
anti-discrimination
protections.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Oregon guard Tyler Dorsey (5) drives to the basket over Michigan’s
D.J. Wilson, left, and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (12) during the
second half of a regional semifinal of the NCAA men’s college basket-
ball tournament, Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
Elite Eight for the second straight year.
For the Wolverines (26-12), it was
the end of a wild ride.
“The kids fought their hearts out
this whole season,” Michigan coach
John Beilein said, “but particularly this
last six weeks to be more than a story.
It was a great team. They were becom-
ing a great team before the story. We
weren’t sharp as we would have liked
to have been today, but you have to
credit Oregon with that.”
PEORIA, Ariz. — The Seattle
Mariners have optioned first base-
man Daniel Vogelbach to Triple-A
Tacoma, meaning Danny Valencia
will be the everyday first baseman
when the regular season begins.
Seattle made the surprising
roster move Thursday. Vogelbach,
a left-handed hitter, and Valen-
cia, who bats right-handed, had
been expected to split time at first
depending on pitching matchups.
But Vogelbach has struggled in
spring training, hitting just .228
and will now start the season in
the minors.
Vogelbach appeared in just
eight games for the Mariners late
in the 2016 season. At Triple-A
last season, Vogelbach hit .292
with 23 home runs and 96 RBIs in
133 total games.
Valencia, another offseason
acquisition by Seattle, hit .275
against right-handed pitching last
season with Oakland.
Taylor Motter will be the
backup at first base.