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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Indians get Lady Fish sweep the Valiants at CMH Field past Gulls by a single stroke The Daily Astorian The Daily Astorian GEARHART — One stroke was all that separated the Seaside boys golf team from winning the Seaside Invitational, held Mon- day at Gearhart Golf Links. For the second year in a row, the team title came down to the final golfers. The Seagulls led the tournament by two strokes at the turn, and the team scoring was back and forth with Scappoose the rest of the way. Seaside led after four golf- ers from each team were finished. Scappoose’s Colton Bush needed a 99 for a tie, which would have given Seaside the win via a tiebreaker from the fifth player’s scores. When Bush came in with a 98, it was Seaside’s turn to hope their fifth player could pull them back ahead. The Gulls’ John Whittle came in with a career-low score of 92, but it wasn’t enough as Scap- poose narrowly escaped with a one- stroke victory. Scappoose won with a team score of 345 to Seaside’s 346. Molalla was third with a 362, fol- lowed by Ilwaco (364), Astoria (376), Tillamook (377), Cottage Grove (382), Kennedy (423), Taft (430) and Banks (447). Individually, Ilwaco’s Blake Kukula avenged last year’s play- off loss for the title by shooting a3- under-par 69, running away with medalist honors with a 12-stroke victory. Seaside’s Jackson Kunde won a tiebreaker to finish fourth with an 82. The Gulls finished with four players in the top 10 as Samson Sibony tied for seventh with Asto- ria’s Kirk Fausett at 86. Mason Sha- mion and Connor Merrell each shot 89 to finish in a tie for ninth. John Whittle finished 15th out of 50 golf- ers with a 92. “Losing by one is always hard,” said Seaside coach Jim Poetsch. “But many great teams have been born out of tough losses. We may not have won a title a few years back had we not missed out on a trophy by three strokes the previous year, and our basketball team may not have been as good as it was this year had we not narrowly missed a title last year. “Hopefully this will be the moti- vation we need to go from trying to compete with the top teams to beat- ing the top teams,” he said. “We got four kids into the 80s today and nearly all five of them. We’ve said all season it is not how you play in March; it is how you play in May. Heading into May, we are playing some pretty good golf.” The Gulls play in the State Pre- view meet at Trysting Tree today. SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — Clatskanie at Warrenton, 4 p.m.; Gaston vs. Knappa (at CMH Field), 6 p.m. Softball — Astoria at Banks, 5 p.m.; Clatskanie at Warrenton, 4 p.m.; Gaston at Knappa, 4:30 p.m.; Life Christian at Ilwaco (2), 3 p.m. Girls Golf — Seaside at Marshfield Invitational, 10 a.m. BASEBALL Astoria 4, Seaside 0 Astoria 101 100 1—4 8 0 Seaside 000 000 0—0 1 5 Arnsdorf and Gohl; Plampin, McFad- den (4), Walsh (7) and Walsh, Landwehr (7). W: Arnsdorf. L: Plampin. RBI: Ast, O’Brien. 2B: Ast, Gohl; Sea, Blanchard. LOB: Astoria 9, Seaside 4. BOYS GOLF Seaside Invitational Team: Scappoose 345, Seaside 346, Molalla 362, Ilwaco 364, Cottage Grove 372, Astoria 376, Tillamook 377, Kenne- dy 423, Taft 430, Banks 447. Medalist: Blake Kukula, Ilwaco (69) Seaside (346) Jackson Kunde 40-42—82 Samson Sibony 42-44—86 Mason Shamion 45-44—89 Connor Merrell 42-47—89 John Whittle 44-48—92 Ilwaco (364) Blake Kukula 34-35—69 Ethan Bannister 49-44—93 Aslyn Fisher 57-43—100 Brenden Chabot 49-53—102 Tenyson Ramsey 56-47—103 Astoria (376) Kirk Fausett 44-42—86 Brian Wilder 45-49—94 Taylor Palmberg 46-50—96 Josh Olson 52-48—100 Dylan Altheide-Nielson 52-50—102 The Astoria Lady Fishermen — coming off an 18-3 nonleague softball loss to Estacada Saturday — returned to Cowapa League play with a dou- bleheader sweep over Valley Catholic Monday at CMH Field, 7-0 and 18-8. Astoria geared up for today’s first- place showdown at Banks with a pro- ductive day at the plate, where Hai- ley Ranta highlighted Game 1 with a home run over the fence in the first inning. Hailey O’Brien — batting leadoff with Rylee DeMander currently out of the lineup — was 3-for-4, while Cait- lyn Hougham was 2-for-2 with a dou- ble and a triple, and Abi Danen had two hits, including a double. McKailyn Rogers pitched a com- plete-game, allowing just three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. She also had a triple at the plate. Julia Norris pitched all six innings of Game 2, allowing 10 hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Danen was again 2-for-3 with a double; Norris had a double and a tri- ple; Lexx Lyngstad added a triple and Jenna Barendse was 3-for-3. Astoria improved to 4-2 in league, while Valley Catholic slips to 1-5. The Lady Fishermen can pull into a first-place tie with a win over Banks (5-1) today. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Scott Plampin, on the mound for the Seaside Seagulls, delivers a pitch to an Astoria batter during a game Monday. Astoria wins its 32nd straight Clatsop Clash By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — A moral victory for Seaside … was just another win for Astoria Monday night at Broadway Field, where the Fishermen defeated the Gulls 4-0, in Cowapa League/Clatsop Clash baseball action. For the record, it was Astoria’s 32nd straight win over the Gulls, whose last vic- tory over the Fishermen took place in Game 2 of a doubleheader on April 13, 2006 — when most of the current Astoria players were just starting grade school. On the plus side for the Gulls, Astoria’s four runs in Monday’s game was the lowest run total for the Fishermen against Seaside since Astoria’s 4-2 win over the Gulls (also on April 13, 2006, in Game 1 of the double- header that day). Jackson Arnsdorf was all Astoria needed Monday, as the senior tossed a one-hit shut- out, with six strikeouts and two walks over seven innings. Seaside starter Scotty Plampin worked a solid 3 2/3 innings, striking out five with one walk. Unfortunately for the Gulls, Seaside committed a few too many errors. “You have to give credit to their kid (Plampin),” said Astoria coach Dave Gasser, “but it didn’t look like us at the plate. It was our first Monday game, but you still have to play ’em. You still have to be ready. “Seaside’s improved, and we didn’t have a whole lot of good ABs (at-bats), but thank- fully we did our customary defensive thing, and Arny has been throwing real well,” he said. “He was in the 70s today, so he’s good to come back Friday (at Banks). Ole (Englund) will also be ready, and Tyler Lyngstad is get- ting the OK to start throwing.” Astoria scored one run in the first on a leadoff walk to Englund, followed by two SPORTS IN BRIEF Associated Press Warriors sweep the Trail Blazers PORTLAND — The Warriors can breathe for a bit after a first-round series filled with drama. With a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State now Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Jason Gohl dives headfirst during a close play at the plate for the Astoria Fishermen during their game Monday against Astoria. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Olaf Englund takes a big cut and puts the ball in play for the Astoria Fishermen during a game Monday versus the Sea- side Seagulls. errors, and Englund scored on a first-and- third steal. awaits the conclusion of the series between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers — currently tied at 2. The Warriors will also await word on coach Steve Kerr’s health — with the short break perhaps provid- ing more clarity about when he can rejoin the team. Kerr missed the last two games after symptoms from his back surgery two years ago suddenly flared up. The 51-year-old coach was in obvious discomfort just before the team left for the two games at Port- land’s Moda Center. Astoria’s Burke Matthews had a leadoff infield hit in the third inning, took second on a one-out single to center by Samboy Tuim- ato, then scored on the third of Seaside’s five errors. The Fishermen had three straight hits to score one run in the fourth — a double down the left field line by Jasyn Gohl, a single to right by Arnsdorf, and a bunt single by Cade O’Brien that scored Gohl. After a scoreless fifth and sixth, Astoria tacked on a run in the seventh, when Kyle Strange reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, then scored on the Gulls’ fifth error of the day. Gohl had two of Astoria’s eight hits, while the Fishermen stranded nine base runners. The Fishermen and Gulls meet again Wednesday at Astoria, tentatively set for Aiken Field. Dale Earnhardt Jr. to retire at end of 2017 season CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earn- hardt Jr. abruptly announced his retire- ment at the end of the season today, a decision that will cost NASCAR its most popular driver as the series scrambles to rebuild its fan base. Colorful, candid and talented, Earnhardt has been plagued by con- cussions the last several years and he missed half of last season recov- ering from the latest head injury. It caused him to delay contract talks on an extension to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet, and the two-time Daytona 500 winner with deep family roots in auto racing appears ready to call it quits. A third-generation racer, Earn- hardt turns 43 in October, is newly married and has said he wants to start a family. Earnhardt has become a vocal advocate for research of sports-re- lated brain injuries.