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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 18, 2017)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Athletes of the Week (FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 8-13) DARIAN HAGEMAN Astoria MASON HOVER Knappa DALE TAKALO Knappa Krissy Barendse-Goodman/For The Daily Astorian he Northwest League title is always a given for the Knappa baseball pro- T gram. And the Loggers formally clinched this year’s title with “our best pitching performance of the year,” said coach Jeff Miller, after a 9-2 win at Ver- hree” was the magic number for the Astoria junior last week. In her ‘T third year of high school track, Hageman won three events in the Cow- apa League championship meet in St. Helens Friday and Saturday. She cleared nonia May 9. Takalo pitched four-and-a-third innings, and Hoover fi nished, as the two combined on a four-hitter, with 13 strikeouts and two walks. Three days later, Knappa swept Vernonia 13-3 and 14-3 in a doubleheader at CMH Field. Takalo was 5-for-7 at the plate with a double, and Hoover was 4-for-6 with a double in both games. The bad news for the rest of the Northwest League — both Hoover and Takalo are juniors for the No. 2-ranked Loggers. a season-best 10-6 in the pole vault, jumped 17-2 in the long jump and 37-3½ in the triple jump. Hageman tied for the title in the high jump, clearing 5-2 along with Valley Catholic’s Kate MacNaughton. Hageman’s victories helped Astoria to its third straight Cowapa League title. The Lady Fishermen now have their sights set on their third straight state title this week. An Astoria state championship would be the fi rst time that a 4A team has won three in a row since Henley won three straight in 2007, ’08 and ’09. Summit has won 10 straight championships at the 5A level. EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS Logger girls win one and lose one The Daily Astorian FOREST GROVE — One year after a disappoint- ing, season-ending loss to Neah-Kah-Nie in a North- west League playoff, the Knappa softball team evened the score Wednesday. Competing in the league playoffs at Pacifi c University, the Lady Loggers opened with an 8-4 win over Neah-Kah-Nie in Game 1, end- ing the Pirates’ season. But Knap- pa’s season came to a close just hours later, as Gaston scored a 10-7, loser-out victory over the Loggers to earn the Northwest League’s No. 2 seed. Knappa fi nishes the season 8-17 overall. In Wednesday’s opening win over the Pirates, Neah- Kah-Nie scored three runs in the top of the fi rst, but Knappa answered with four runs in its fi rst at-bat. Jaden Miethe drew a lead- off walk, and Alisha Murphy and Paris Vanderburg fol- lowed with singles. The Pirates committed an error on a grounder by Kait- lyn Truax, scoring Miethe; Madelynn Weaver reached on another error that score Murphy; and a bases-loaded walk to Laciee Hendrickson scored Vanderburg. The Loggers tacked on two runs in the second and two in the fi fth. Knappa had just fi ve hits, but took advantage of 11 walks. Weaver allowed six hits, with six strikeouts and three walks. Truax had a double for her only hit, and drove in four runs. Vanderburg had one hit and walked three times. TODAY Softball — 4A Regional Play- in: Astoria at North Bend, 4 p.m.; Lewis & Clark Playoff: Clatskanie vs. Warrenton (at St. Helens), 4 p.m. Track — 3A/2A/1A OSAA State Meet, Eugene, TBA FRIDAY Baseball — 4A Regional Play- in: Gladstone at Astoria, 5 p.m. Track — 6A-1A OSAA State Meet, Eugene, TBA SATURDAY Track — 6A/5A/4A OSAA State Meet, Eugene, TBA SOFTBALL Game 1 Knappa 8, Neah-Kah-Nie 4 By KYLE HIGHTOWER Associated Press Gaston 10, Knappa 7 It was Gaston that built an early lead in the second game, as the Greyhounds scored eight runs in the bottom of the second for a 9-3 advantage after three innings. Gaston still led 10-5 going into the top of the seventh, when the Loggers staged a brief rally. Truax led off with a solo home run, and Weaver fol- lowed with a single, took sec- ond on an error and advanced to third on a passed ball. She scored on a grounder by Hendrickson, but that would be Knappa’s last run, as Gas- ton pitcher Charity Hall struck out the fi nal batter to preserve the win. Weaver gave up 11 hits in the loss, while Hall allowed eight hits with four strikeouts. “Gaston hit the ball well, and had that one good inning,” said Knappa coach James Nichols. “Otherwise, we played right with them. “We’ve got a lot com- ing back next year,” he said. “Madelynn and K.K. (Truax) both return, and Paris has really come on and hit the ball well the last couple weeks. Knappa softball has a bright future.” SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE LeBron, Love help Cavs rout Celtics 117-104 Neah-Kah-Nie 300 100 0—4 6 3 Knappa 420 020 x—8 5 2 WP: Madelynn Weaver (6 K’s, 3 walks). LP: Hannah Grider (3 K’s, 7 walks). RBI: NKN, Lilly, Nelson; Kna, Truax 4, Hendrickson, Van- derburg, Weaver, McCall. 2B: Kna, Truax. HBP: NKN, Grider; Kna, Murphy. LOB: Neah-Kah-Nie 6, Knappa 10. Game 2 Gaston 10, Knappa 7 Knappa 120 020 2—7 8 3 Gaston 081 001 x—10 11 4 WP: Charity Hall (4 K’s, 2 walks). LP: Madelynn Weaver (0 K’s, 2 walks). RBI: Kna, Truax 2, Hen- drickson 2, Murphy, Weaver; Gst, Heisler 2, Bassel 2, Clark 2, Hall, Jordan, Moore, Zawadney. 3B: Gst, Hall, Watkins. HR: Kna, Tru- ax. LOB: Knappa 7, Gaston 4. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Christian Bergman throws to an Oakland Athlet- ics batter during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday in Seattle. Bergman has best career start in Mariners’ 4-0 win over A’s By DAIMON EKLUND Associated Press SEATTLE — Christian Bergman had the best start of his career right when the Seattle Mariners needed it. Bergman pitched into the eighth inning Wednesday night, holding the Oakland Ath- letics to two hits with a career-high nine strikeouts in Seattle’s 4-0 win. It was the fi rst time in his career Berg- man (1-1) had reached the eighth inning in a start, and his strikeout total tied James Paxton for the most in a game by a Mariners pitcher this year. He held Oakland without a hit until the fi fth and earned his fi rst win since May 5, 2016, when he was a member of the Rock- ies. It was his fi rst win as a starter since Sept. 21, 2014. After the game, Bergman said the strike- outs, more than anything, made him realize this was a special night. “If I strike out fi ve or six in a game it feels like 10. It’s not something I normally do,” Bergman said. “It felt like a lot tonight. It was a good night.” UP NEXT: MARINERS • Chicago White Sox (17-21) at Seattle Mariners (19-22) • Today, 7:10 p.m. TV: CSCh, RTNW Bergman’s start gave the Mariners’ bullpen a much-needed rest. Seattle has already used nine starters this season, tied for the league high, and the bullpen has been taxed recently. “We talked before the game what we needed to do to give our bullpen a breather,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I think it was only the second time our starters got us into the eighth inning. It’s been a while.” Bergman, who was making his 17th start in 58 career appearances, joined the Mariners when he was selected from Triple-A Tacoma on May 7. He gave up seven hits and three runs over fi ve innings in his previous start at Toronto on Friday. He quickly showed this time out would be different, retiring the fi rst six batters of the game with three strikeouts. He walked just two, one of them coming in the eighth to the fi nal batter he faced. BOSTON — So much for the Cavaliers being rusty. LeBron James embarrassed every defender Boston threw at him and Cleveland picked up where it left off following a long layoff, rolling to a 117- 104 victory Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Confer- ence fi nals. James had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Love added a playoff career-high 32 points and had 12 rebounds to help the Cavaliers improve to 9-0 in the fi rst three rounds of the playoffs. They opened 10-0 last season en route to their fi rst NBA title. “It was our two bigs that set the tone — Kev and Double-T (Tristan Thompson), they were phenomenal,” James said. “I saw it in Kev this morning. I knew what type of game he was going to have. So he came through for us.” But there’s no denying it has started with James, who has scored at least 35 points in fi ve straight games. Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said James’ effi ciency continues to make things easier for every- one on both ends. “He’s playing at a high level. And that’s the reason why we’re riding him so much,” Lue said. “When LeBron’s playing at that level other guys just have to be solid and we have a good chance to win.” Game 2 is Friday night in Boston. Early rash of injuries causing daily headaches for Seattle By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — In Robin- son Cano, Felix Hernandez and James Paxton, the Seattle Mariners might have more star power on the disabled list than on the active roster. Seattle has been slammed with injuries through the fi rst six weeks of the season, leav- ing a club expected to contend in the American League des- perately trying hang around .500 in the hope of getting close to full health near midseason. Seattle has not played a game all season with the starting lineup and rotation it expected when spring training began in February, instead end- ing up in a constant scramble just to fi nd 25 players. “I don’t know if there is any rationalization behind it. We’ve gotten bit by the bug,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “I’ve never gone through anything like this, ever,” Ser- vais added. The injuries have created a dizzying whirlwind of activity in the front offi ce. Seattle has made 69 transactions on the 40-man roster since the start of the regular season. From May 9 through Wednesday, the Mariners were forced to make 16 roster moves, most of them to a depleted staff that used 24 pitchers in the fi rst 40 games. For general manager Jerry Dipoto, it’s been a daily chore trying to piece together the roster. “It’s a challenge for the players,” Dipoto said. “Through absolute neces- sity, we’ve thrown a lot of new faces on a lot of different days, and we don’t have much choice.” It’s not so much the quan- tity of injuries — although it’s becoming a signifi cant total — but the quality of the players that have gone down. Four of Seattle’s fi ve pro- jected opening day rotation members are on the DL, and only Paxton (forearm strain) has a chance of being back around June 1. Hernandez (shoulder infl ammation) likely won’t return until mid-June, Drew Smyly (fl exor strain) has yet to throw a regular-sea- son pitch and Hisashi Iwakuma (shoulder infl ammation) could be out until July.
