10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2017
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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.