10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017
CONTACT US
FOLLOW US
facebook.com/
DailyAstorianSports
Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
ghenley@dailyastorian.com
Braves
win two on
Astoria’s
Senior Day
Spurs face quick turnaround
before conference finals
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Associated Press
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The No. 2-ranked Banks soft-
ball team put the finishing touches
on another league championship sea-
son Thursday, as the Braves swept past
Astoria in a Cowapa League double-
header at CMH Field, 6-1 and 11-3.
Astoria’s three seniors had their
moments on Senior Day at the ball-
park, but the Braves had the big
innings.
Game 1 was scoreless through
three innings before Banks scored four
in the top of the fourth, and that was
plenty for Braves’ pitcher Michaela
Shaw.
The sophomore allowed just two
hits — both by Astoria senior Rylee
DeMander — and struck out eight
with no walks. Shaw faced the mini-
mum number of batters (18) through
six innings, before DeMander had a
leadoff single in the seventh, took sec-
ond on an error and eventually scored
on a passed ball for Astoria’s lone run.
Banks collected 11 hits off Asto-
ria freshman Julia Norris, six for extra
bases.
Katie Ragsdale had a pair of dou-
bles, while Mary Schorn opened the
scoring with a solo home run to lead
off the fourth.
Teammate Alyssa Rogers had a
two-run double later in the inning, but
was thrown out at third by DeMander.
Senior Abi Danen had two of
Astoria’s five hits in Game 2, and
DeMander had her third hit of the day.
The Lady Fish also held their only
lead in the nightcap.
With two outs and no runners on in
the first inning, Astoria senior Caitlyn
Hougham drew a walk, Danen singled
to left, and a base hit up the middle by
McKailyn Rogers scored Hougham.
With two outs and no runners on
again in the second inning, Astoria’s
Jenna Barendse singled to center.
DeMander followed with a base hit
to left, and a wild pitch and a passed
ball allowed Barendse to score for a
2-0 lead.
The Braves erased the deficit with
three runs in the top of the third, and a
two-run homer by Hannah McCourt in
the fifth made it 6-2.
The big blast of the day belonged to
Schorn, the senior who belted a grand
slam home run in the top of the sixth.
Kayla Helligso scored on a wild
pitch for Astoria’s final run in the sev-
enth inning.
Defensively, Danen and DeMander
both had big days in the infield, field-
ing a number of line drives off the
Braves’ bats.
While Banks improved to 21-1
overall (14-1 in league), the Fishermen
still finish third in the Cowapa with an
8-7 record, 11-13 overall.
Astoria will likely host a Regional
Play-in game, day and time to be
announced.
In a Cowapa League season finale
at Broadway Field Thursday, Scap-
poose swept Seaside, 13-0 and 32-4.
The No. 5-ranked Indians finish sec-
ond in the league standings at 13-2,
20-3 overall.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Banks at Astoria, 5 p.m.
(CMH Field); Scappoose at Seaside, 5 p.m.;
Warrenton at Clatskanie (2), 3:30 p.m.; Ver-
nonia at Knappa (2), 3 p.m.
Softball — Warrenton at Clatskanie (2),
3:30 p.m.; Vernonia at Knappa (2), 3 p.m.
Track — Cowapa League Champion-
ships, at St. Helens, TBA; Lewis & Clark
League Championships, TBA; NWL Cham-
pionships, at Portland Christian, TBA
SATURDAY
Track — Lewis & Clark League Champion-
ships, TBA; NWL Championships, at Port-
land Christian, TBA
SOFTBALL
Game 1
Banks 6, Astoria 1
Banks
000 411 0—6 11 2
Astoria
000 000 1—1 2 2
WP: Michaela Shaw (8 K’s, 0 walks). LP:
Julia Norris (2 K’s, 1 walk). RBI: Banks, Rog-
ers 2, Ragsdale 2, Schorn. 2B: Ragsdale
2, Rogers, Wise, H.McCourt. HR: Banks,
Schorn. LOB: Banks 5, Astoria 1.
Game 2
Banks 11, Astoria 3
Banks
003 035 0—11 12 1
Astoria
110 000 1—3 5 3
WP: Kaylin Hernandez (5 K’s, 1 walk).
LP: Rylee DeMander (0 K’s, 1 walk). RBI:
Banks, Schorn 5, Ragsdale 2, H.McCourt
2, Wise; Ast, Rogers. 2B: Banks, Davis. HR:
Banks, H.McCourt, Schorn. LOB: Banks 6,
Astoria 3.
AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith
San Antonio Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots over Houston Rockets
guard Patrick Beverley (2) during the second half in Game 6 of an NBA basketball sec-
ond-round playoff series Thursday, in Houston. San Antonio won 114-75.
UP NEXT: WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME 1
• San Antonio Spurs (61-21) at Golden State Warriors (67-15)
• Sunday, 12:30 p.m. TV: ABC
HOUSTON — The San Antonio Spurs are
thrilled to be in the Western Conference finals
for the first time since winning the title in 2014.
But they won’t have much time to celebrate
with a series against the well-rested Golden
State Warriors starting on Sunday.
In fact, they were barely going to give them-
selves two hours to bask in their 114-75 win
over the Houston Rockets in Game 6 before
looking ahead.
“We’re just going to enjoy this one right
now until midnight, at least,” Danny Green
said. “I think this one prepared us for the next
one. They’re a fast-paced team that likes to
shoot on the perimeter. We have to communi-
cate even better and be more perfect because it
doesn’t get any easier.”
While San Antonio fought through six
games with the Rockets, the Warriors have
been off since wrapping up a sweep of the Utah
Jazz on Monday.
Along with the fatigue factor, there are also
questions about the their lineup heading in
Game 1 after All-Star Kawhi Leonard sat out
on Thursday night after rolling his left ankle in
Game 5.
Coach Gregg Popovich didn’t provide many
details about Leonard’s injury on Thursday.
When asked if he protested when he chose to
sit him, Popovich said: “He’d rather play.” But
it still seemed to be bothering him quite a bit
after the game when he headed to the bus still
walking with a noticeable limp.
The Spurs will certainly need his stel-
lar defensive skills to contend with a Warriors
team that not only swept the Jazz, but also elim-
inated the Trail Blazers in four games in the first
round.
“We understand that the team we’re now
facing is the most dangerous team in the league
with a lot of weapons,” Pau Gasol said. “You
have to prepare for this team a different way.
The challenges they present, in some ways, are
similar to Houston as far as the ability to shoot
the ball from the 3-point line, but they have dif-
ferent personnel overall.”
The Spurs know that limiting Golden State’s
3-point shooting will be a key in the next round,
just as slowing Houston from long range was
in the conference semifinals. Houston averaged
20.5 3-pointers in its two wins and just 13 in the
four losses.
Leonard’s ankle problem wasn’t the only
injury San Antonio dealt with in this series, as it
came after the Spurs lost veteran Tony Parker to
a season-ending quadriceps injury in Game 2.
Neither injury seemed to have a major
impact on the team, except for the fact that it
gave LaMarcus Aldridge a chance to emerge
as a dominant scorer for the Spurs. The 11-year
veteran, in his second season with the Spurs,
averaged just 9.5 points in the first two games
before averaging 23.5 in the last four, high-
lighted by a season-high 34 in Game 6.
“Once he got it going, we tried to keep
going back to him,” Patty Mills said of Game
6. “He was an absolute beast (Thursday), and
that’s who he is.”
Pearce, Smoak hit homers Grasshoppers, cookie dough
as Blue Jays beat Mariners among new MLB hits
By IAN HARRISON
Associated Press
TORONTO — Marco Estrada
rebounded nicely from a rough first
inning against the red-hot Seattle
Mariners.
Steve Pearce hit a three-run home
run, Justin Smoak had a solo homer
and finished with four RBIs, and the
Toronto Blue Jays beat the Mari-
ners 7-2 on Thursday night, snapping
Seattle’s win streak at four games.
After giving up two runs in the
first, Estrada (2-2) held Seattle score-
less for the next five innings, help-
ing Toronto win for the fourth time in
five games.
“He shut us down tonight,” Mari-
ners manager Scott Servais said.
Smoak went 3 for 3 with a walk
against his former team. He had an
RBI single in the first, walked in the
fourth, singled home two runs in the
fifth, and connected off rookie Sam
Gaviglio in the seventh.
“He’s a little more aggressive
early in the count, and he’s laying
off that breaking ball,” manager John
Gibbons said.
Mariners slugger Nelson Cruz hit
a two-run homer but Seattle’s offense
came up empty after the first.
After scoring 21 runs in their previ-
ous two games, the Mariners jumped
on Estrada in the opening frame. Jean
Segura led off with a double and Cruz
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Seattle Mariners (17-18)
at Toronto Blue Jays (14-21)
• Today, 4:07 p.m. TV: RTNW
drilled a one-out homer into the cen-
ter field party deck, his eighth.
“That first inning was kind of
tough,” Estrada said. “Even the outs
were kind of hit pretty hard. I’m glad
I was able to turn things around and
make better pitches after that.”
Smoak halved the deficit with an
RBI single off Chase De Jong in the
bottom half.
Toronto took the lead by scoring
five times in a two-out rally in the
fifth. Smoak lined a bases-loaded sin-
gle over the head of shortstop Segura,
who had shifted out behind second
base, and Pearce followed with his
fourth home run.
“It kind of got away from us pretty
quickly there,” De Jong said.
Aaron Loup, Jason Grilli and Leo-
nel Campos each worked one inning
of relief for the Blue Jays.
De Jong (0-3) allowed six runs in
five innings.
“I really wasn’t as crisp as I’d like
to have been,” De Jong said.
Seattle dropped one game below
.500. The Mariners have not had
a winning record at any point this
season.
By NOAH TRISTER
Associated Press
The idea of serving edible
grasshoppers at a baseball game
isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
The Seattle Mariners brought
that curious offering to their ball-
park this season, and although it
might have seemed like a head
scratcher to many fans and food-
ies, this crispy snack was more
than just a quirky attention
grabber.
“This is like an authentic local
delicacy,” said Diana Evans, a vice
president of strategy and market-
ing for Centerplate, the Mariners’
hospitality partner. “We’re thrilled
that people are excited about it.”
The chapulines — toasted
grasshoppers with chili-lime salt
seasoning — arrived at Safeco
Field this season courtesy of
Poquitos, a Mexican restaurant in
Seattle that serves them. For those
fans who could wrap their minds
(and mouths) around the idea of
eating insects, the item proved
quite popular, selling out during
the opening home series.
In an era when ballparks are
constantly trying to add new fea-
tures and attractions, spicing up
the menu can be an easy way to
enhance the experience for spec-
tators. There will always be room
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Toasted chile-lime grasshop-
pers are displayed on a menu
at a baseball game between
the Seattle Mariners and the
Los Angeles Angels in Seattle.
for hot dogs, popcorn and peanuts,
but Seattle’s experience with the
chapulines shows how a creative
new food offering can become the
talk of baseball for a little while —
and any team can pull it off.
“Much like teams will use the
offseason to make a big splash
with a free agent signing or reno-
vation ... from a food and bever-
age standpoint, we’ll use the off-
season to evaluate our menus and
develop new offerings as well,”
said David Freireich, a spokes-
person for Aramark, which pro-
vides food and beverage services
at eight ballparks.