10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Warrior
girls win
seventh
straight
game
Ducks take ‘another level’ to
first Final Four in 78 years
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
After a demoralizing loss to Ore-
gon this season, Arizona coach Sean
Miller suggested that if the Ducks had
another level they’d be dangerous.
Turns out Oregon did have another
level — and it took the team all the
way to the Final Four.
The Ducks wrapped up their sea-
son at 33-6, setting a record for wins,
on the way to just the second national
semifinal appearance in school his-
tory. It was the team’s fifth straight trip
to the NCAA Tournament, and sec-
ond straight season they’d reached the
Elite Eight.
Oregon also won a share of the
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
to Joel Berry II.
Like Meeks, Berry missed both of
his free throws, this time with 4 sec-
onds left. Like the previous go-round,
Oregon again couldn’t keep the Tar
Heels off the offensive glass.
Later that night Bell posted four
words to Twitter: “I am so sorry. ...”
Bell, Dorsey and top scorer Dil-
lon Brooks all said after the game that
they had not made a decision about
their futures. Brooks and Bell are
juniors, while Dorsey is a sophomore.
“I’ll have great feelings about this
team. It will just take a while for us
to get through and get rid of some of
this hurt. But we will. We will,” Ore-
gon coach Dana Altman said. “And
the guys, they’ll bounce back.”
Pac-12 regular-season title and went
undefeated at home for the second
straight season.
But despite their accomplish-
ments, Oregon players were still stung
by their 77-76 loss to North Carolina
on Saturday night with a trip to the
national championship game on the
line.
Jordan Bell sobbed at his locker,
taking responsibility for two missed
rebounds at the end.
Oregon pulled within 77-74 on
Tyler Dorsey’s 3-pointer with 45 sec-
onds left, then cut it to 1 on Keith
Smith’s layup. The Ducks fouled Ken-
nedy Meeks, who missed both free
throws, but the Ducks were unable to
box out Theo Pinson, who got the ball
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Oregon’s Jordan Bell (1) walks off
the court as North Carolina play-
ers celebrate after the semifinals
of the Final Four NCAA college
basketball tournament, Saturday
in Glendale, Ariz.
NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT
Santiam sweeps
Knappa girls
The Daily Astorian
MILLS CITY — A rough
day for the Knappa softball team
started with two losses on the field,
and ended with a broken-down
bus on the way home.
Santiam swept the road-weary
Loggers, 15-5 and 13-3, in a non-
league doubleheader Saturday
afternoon.
Kaitlyn Truax had the Logger
highlight of Game 1 with a home
run, while Paris Vanderburg had a
double. Vanderburg took the loss,
as she struck out five batters with
three walks.
Knappa freshman Emily Nich-
olson pitched all five innings of
Game 2, and “pitched well enough
to win,” said coach James Nichols,
striking out three with two walks.
But multiple errors allowed
Santiam to score 12 unearned runs
to win.
Truax and Aiko Miller were
each 2-for-3 for the Loggers.
Amity defeats
Warrenton, 7-6
The Daily Astorian
AMITY — The Amity War-
riors scored two runs in the bottom
of the seventh for a 7-6 win over
the Warrenton Warriors Friday, in
nonleague baseball action.
Playing their first game since
March 23, Warrenton held a 6-3
lead through five innings, before
Amity scored twice in the sixth
and two more in the seventh for
the victory.
With a doubleheader scheduled
for the next day, five pitchers saw
action on the mound for Warren-
ton, which still managed to hold
Amity to six hits.
Amity pitchers Clint Hatch and
Jordan Dyche limited Warrenton
to three hits — two doubles by
Kaleo’o Kapua and another dou-
ble from Derek Ham.
AP Photo/Matt York
Fans cheer before the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament between
South Carolina and Gonzaga, Saturday in Glendale, Ariz.
Gonzaga? Tiny school with
funny name plays for title
By EDDIE PELLS
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. — For those who follow college
basketball, the idea that Gonzaga is playing North Car-
olina for the national title doesn’t seem all that strange.
For those who don’t — or only get involved when
it’s time to fill out a bracket — it still might.
Gonzaga? Really?
That a Jesuit school with 7,800 students based in
Spokane, Washington is going up against a behemoth
from Tobacco Road in tonight’s NCAA final is testa-
ment to a coach with a stubborn streak, an administra-
tion that bought in to basketball and the modern-day
realities of a sport that allows for little guys to reach the
biggest stage.
“I know you have to believe,” Gonzaga athletic
director Mike Roth said. “The biggest drawback some
other schools have is that someone in that hierarchy
says, ‘We can’t do that,’ or ‘We can never be like …’
Well, if that’s the case, then you probably can’t.”
In the mid-1990s, Gonzaga was a nothing program,
an afterthought in the West Coast Conference with a
dandy of mascot, the Bulldog, that wore a sailor’s cap .
Changing the mascot was part of the equation.
Dan Monson, a longtime assistant coach, got the top
job and put some other pieces in place.
He nabbed a group that included the scrappy for-
ward with the awesome name, Casey Calvary. Gonzaga
made the tournament in 1999 and pulled off upsets over
Minnesota, Stanford and Florida on the way to the Elite
Eight. At that point, it was a Cinderella story, the likes
of which we see almost every year when programs like
Butler, Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) and George
Mason come from out of nowhere and make anything
look possible.
But in Gonzaga’s case, 1999 marked the first in a
string of 19 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, the
last 18 of which have come since Monson left for Min-
nesota and the current coach, Mark Few, took the helm.
Counting his time as an assistant, Few has been at Gon-
zaga since 1989.
“When we first started coaching, our boss, Dan Fitz-
gerald, would always say, ‘Don’t waste the school’s
money on (recruiting) a Pac-10 player. We’re not going
to beat those schools,’” Monson said. “To Mark, that
was motivation. It would make him recruit the kid
harder. That’s who he’s always been. He’s very smart
and very stubborn, and for a coach, those are two really
good qualities to have.”
Lady Gulls win Knappa baseball sweeps
in Arizona, 4-2 Santiam with good at-bats
The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian
GLENDALE, Ariz. — There was at least one team from
Oregon that won in Glendale, Ariz., over the weekend.
While the Oregon Ducks came up short in the Final Four,
the Seaside Gulls’ baseball team salvaged their spring break
trip to Glendale with a 4-2 win over Ketchikan Friday.
Tied 1-1 going into the seventh inning, the Gulls scored
three runs in their at-bat, then held Ketchikan to one run in the
bottom of the seventh.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Payton Westerholm
singled to right field, scoring Isaias Jantes for the go-ahead run.
Ketchikan committed four errors on the day, including a
big error on a ground ball by Brent Walsh in the seventh, scor-
ing Ashton Boyd and Westerholm to give the Gulls a 4-1 lead.
Seaside had five hits — two apiece for Westerholm and
Dawson Blanchard.
Westerholm scored twice, with additional runs by Jantes
and Boyd.
Gage McFadden pitched the complete game for Seaside,
limiting Ketchikan to just three hits and no walks, with three
strikeouts.
McFadden threw 75 pitches, 54 for strikes.
The Gulls open Cowapa League play Tuesday at Valley
Catholic.
MILLS CITY — Knappa baseball returned
to the field for the first time in nine days, and
scored two easy victories over Santiam,
14-4 and 13-0, in a nonleague dou-
bleheader Saturday afternoon.
Four Knappa pitchers gave
up just a combined two hits
on the day, both in Game
1, while Michal Goodman
and Kaleb Miller combined
on Knappa’s first no-hitter
of the season in the second
game.
Offensively, the Loggers col-
lected 20 hits, and had plenty of
base runners. Knappa batters were hit by
pitches nine times in Game 1, and the Loggers
drew eight walks in Game 2.
“We’re getting a lot of quality at-bats,” said
Knappa coach Jeff Miller. “That’s one thing
that’s been real pleasing. Our hitting has been
real strong, we’re getting good at-bats and our
approach at the plate has been real good.
“We’re still not where we need to be defen-
sively,” he said, as the Loggers committed two
errors in the opener.
Knappa led just 4-2 through three innings
of Game 1, before scoring seven in the
fourth.
Dale Takalo and Mason
Hoover combined on a
two-hitter, while Andrew
Goozee, Jason Miller and
Eli Takalo had two hits
apiece. Kaleb Miller walked
twice, was hit by two pitches
and was 1-for-1 with a triple.
The Loggers scored four
runs in the first inning of Game
2, and led 13-0 after three.
Goodman and Kaleb Miller combined
to strike out nine batters with four walks, while
Jason Miller, Dale Takalo and Hoover had two
hits each. Kaleb Miller had a double and scored
three runs.
Knappa is scheduled to play at Clats-
kanie Wednesday, with a single game at Taft
Saturday.
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The win
streak is up to seven for the War-
renton softball team, which scored
a 7-1, 5-2 doubleheader sweep over
Willamina Friday, 7-1 and 5-2, in
nonleague action at Warrenton.
Warrenton tied the school
record for consecutive wins to start
a season, equaling the 7-0 mark
set in 2003, when the Warriors fin-
ished 17-6.
The No. 12-ranked Warriors are
currently 7-0 overall, best at the 3A
level.
Warrenton pitcher Niqui
Blodgett threw 225 pitches on
the day, and struck out 22 batters
with seven hits allowed to run her
record to 7-0.
After giving up a run in the top
of the first in Game 1, the Warriors
answered with one run of their own
in the bottom of the first, then two
in the third and three in the fourth.
Six players had hits for the
Warriors in the opener, two apiece
for Landree Miethe and Blodgett.
Both had a double, while Rachel
Dyer drove in two runs. Six War-
riors also scored runs, with Dani
Bue scoring twice.
Blodgett threw 125 pitches, and
allowed six hits with 11 strikeouts
and six walks.
Willamina committed four
errors and stranded 12 base run-
ners in Game 1.
The Warriors never trailed
in Game 2, building a 4-0 lead
through three innings.
Blodgett threw another 100
pitches, and struck out another 11
batters, with two walks and one hit
allowed.
Willamina’s Jami Gravely took
the loss in both games, allowing 15
hits on the day.
Miethe had two hits with a
triple and two RBIs in the sec-
ond game, Bue was 2-for-2, and
Blodgett and Melia Kapua each
had a double.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Boys Golf — Astoria at Molalla Invi-
tational, TBA
TUESDAY
Baseball — Astoria at Scappoose, 5
p.m.; Seaside at Valley Catholic, 5 p.m.
Softball — Rainier at Astoria, 4 p.m.;
Clatskanie at Seaside, 4:30 p.m.; South
Bend at Ilwaco (2), 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Baseball — Warrenton at Naselle, 4
p.m.; Knappa at Clatskanie, 4:30 p.m.
BASEBALL
Game 1
Knappa 14, Santiam 4
Knappa
220 73—14 12 2
Santiam
200 02—4 2 3
D.Takalo, Hoover (4) and Goozee. W:
D.Takalo. L: Nycot. 2B: Kna, Goodman,
Cruz. 3B: Kna, K.Miller.
Game 2
Knappa 13, Santiam 0
Knappa
436 00—13 8 0
Santiam
000 00—0 0 4
Goodman, K.Miller (4) and Goozee.
W: Goodman. L: Look. 2B: Kna, J.Miller,
Hoover, K.Miller.
Amity 7, Warrenton 6
Warrenton 201 030 0—6 3 4
Amity
010 112 2—7 6 7
Morrow, Little (2), Breitmeyer (4), Jack-
son (6), Kapua (6) and Breitmeyer, Mor-
row (4); Hatch, J.Dyche (6) and Berrier.
W: J.Dyche. L: Kapua. 2B: War, Kapua
2, Ham; Ami, Nyseth.
SOFTBALL
Game 1
Warrenton 7, Willamina 1
Willamina 100 000 0—1 6 4
Warrenton 102 301 x—7 8 1
WP: Niqui Blodgett (11 K’s, 6 walks).
LP: Jami Gravely (4 K’s, 1 walk). RBI:
Wil, Leno; War, Dyer 2, Miethe, Kapua.
2B: Wil, Leno; War, Blodgett, Miethe.
HBP: Wil, Neville; War, Duncan. LOB:
Willamina 12, Warrenton 4.
Game 2
Warrenton 5, Willamina 2
Willamina 000 000 2—2 1 0
Warrenton 121 001 x—5 7 5
WP: Niqui Blodgett (11 K’s, 2 walks).
LP: Jami Gravely (1 K, 3 walks). RBI:
Wil, Anderson; War, Miethe 2, Little,
Blodgett, Bue. 2B: War, Blodgett, Kapua.
3B: War, Miethe. LOB: Willamina 4,
Warrenton 4.