10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
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No. 8 Gulls win again
Astros end
no-hit bid
by Mariners
with HR
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Cameron May-
bin homered with one out in the
seventh inning to break up the
Seattle Mariners’ attempt at a
combined no-hitter against the
Houston Astros.
Maybin’s homer was his
eighth of the season and it came
off reliever Emilio Pagan. The
two-run shot gave the Astros a
3-1 lead, which became the final
score.
Seattle starter Ariel Miranda
tossed six hitless innings but threw
112 pitches. He was replaced by
James Pazos to start the seventh.
Pazos opened the inning getting
Carlos Beltran to fly out on the
first pitch. Brian McCann walked
and Pazos was replaced by Pagan
to face Maybin.
Miranda had five strikeouts,
but he struggled with his com-
mand and issued six walks. Three
of those walks came in the third
inning and led to Houston’s first
run. Miranda walked the bases
loaded with one out, and Alex
Bregman’s sacrifice fly scored
Beltran.
Justin Verlander started for
the Astros in his first game since
being traded by Detroit.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Alyssia Gonzales prepares to spike the ball for the Seaside Seagulls during Tuesday’s match against Gladstone.
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Seaside recovers
from Game 1 loss
Oregon Ducks
head to coast to
escape smoky air
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
S
EASIDE — The Seaside Gulls over-
came a loss in the first set Tuesday night
with three inspired victories in Game 2,
3 and 4 on their way to a win over Gladstone,
19-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-13, in nonleague vol-
leyball action at the Gulls’ Nest.
Seaside cleaned up a few errors and prob-
lems from the service line in the first two
games, and cruised from there as the No.
8-ranked Gulls improved to 4-1 overall.
Seaside had a combined 11 missed serves
in Games 1 and 2, but just three missed serves
in the final two games.
Alyssia Gonzales, Anna Huddleston and
Jetta Ideue served up aces in Game 3, and Tori
Tomlin highlighted Game 4 with three straight
ace serves to help the Gulls pull away.
Meanwhile, the struggles continue for
Gladstone, which may be part of the Cowapa
League beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
The Gladiators drop to 0-4, with their first
three losses coming by way of three-game
sweeps.
Still, Gladstone came out strong in the first
game, as senior Elli Philo had a stuff block, a
kill and an ace serve to give the Glads an early
11-7 lead.
Seaside rallied briefly, but Gladstone
opened up a 20-13 advantage on its way to the
Game 1 victory.
The Gulls trailed 7-2 in the second game,
but Gonzales caught fire from the line, serving
Seaside into a 9-9 tie.
Seaside’s Nikki Mercado had a stuff block
on a hit by Philo for a 10-9 lead, and the Gulls
never trailed again.
Consecutive kills by Mercado, Ideue,
Tomlin and Gonzales highlighted the Game 2
win, coupled with a pair of aces from Maddie
Jensen, a tap for a kill by Emy Kiser, and Hud-
dleston set Gonzales for a kill at game point.
Games 3 and 4 were not even close, as
Seaside’s offense found a rhythm, and their
EUGENE — The Oregon
Ducks moved practice to the
coast Tuesday to escape smoky
air caused by wildfires across the
state.
Players headed by bus to Siu-
slaw Middle School in Florence,
about 60 miles west of Eugene.
The Ducks, coming off a 77-21
victory over Southern Utah last
Saturday, host Nebraska this
weekend.
The Lane Regional Air Protec-
tion Agency reported that air qual-
ity in Eugene was at “hazardous”
levels.
Tori Tomlin, center, drives the ball past the Gladstone defenders for the Seaside
Seagulls on Tuesday.
hitters found open spaces on the floor.
Ideue and Tomlin had off-speed kills for
points, the left-handed Gonzales delivered a
cross-court kill, and Ideue had a pair of aces as
Seaside built an eventual 24-11 lead.
It was more of the same in Game 4, in
which the Gulls built an 11-2 lead after three
straight service aces from Tomlin.
Gladstone rallied to within 13-9, but Sea-
side bumped the lead right back to 23-10,
capped by an ace serve from Huddleston.
Fittingly, Ideue drilled the final serve into
the top of the net, but the ball crawled over for
a service ace and match point.
Through two weeks, four of the top eight
ranked teams in Class 4A are from the Cow-
apa League.
Cougs down Warriors
PORTLAND — Portland Adventist and
Warrenton opened league play in Lewis &
Clark League volleyball Tuesday night, with
the Cougars topping the visiting Warriors in
four games, 25-18, 25-16, 24-26, 25-23.
“The first two games we started off really
slow,” said Warrenton coach Staci Miethe. “We
were having trouble with our serve-receive and
let them get a couple of big runs at the wrong
time.”
Additionally, she said, “our offense was
very tentative. In (Game 3) we played more
how I expect them to play. Confident, running
the offense and keeping the ball in play. We
were able to pull that one out.”
Behind the serving of Michelle Arney, the
Warriors built an eight-point lead in Game 4,
but Portland Adventist chipped away at the
deficit and eventually took a 22-19 lead.
The Warriors rallied one last time and tied
the game at 23-23, before the Cougars scored
the next two points to win the game and match.
Warrenton’s Claire Bussert, Morgan
Blodgett and Elly Blodgett combined for six
blocks.
NEW YORK — The WNBA play-
offs start tonight with two single-elimi-
nation games in the first round.
Washington hosts Dallas, while
Seattle visits Phoenix. There’s defi-
nitely star power with Diana Taurasi,
Brittney Griner, Sue Bird, Breanna
Stewart, Elena Delle Donne and Skylar
Diggins all participating in the opening
round.
It’s the second year the league has
used this playoff format in which the
top eight teams, regardless of confer-
ence, make the postseason. The top
two teams, Minnesota and Los Ange-
les, get byes until the semifinals. New
York and Connecticut finished third
and fourth, respectively, and wait for
the winners of the opening round.
Here’s a look at a few other play-
off tidbits:
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: For the
second straight year, Seattle is playing
on the road. The eighth-seeded Storm
also opened the playoffs last year at
Atlanta and lost that game. It’s been
one long road trip for the Storm since
the team hosted the All-Star Game in
late July. They’ve played 10 of their
final 14 contests on the road and have
traveled nearly 23,000 miles during
that stretch. While Phoenix is hosting
the game, the Mercury won’t be able
to play on their homecourt because of
a Marvel Live concert in the building.
The game will be played at Arizona
State.
TOP OF THE HEAP: Taurasi and
Bird both moved into first place on
WNBA career lists this season. Taurasi
took over the top spot in points scored
and Bird in assists. The two starred
together at UConn before joining the
WNBA and have also played over-
seas together in Russia and on the USA
Basketball team, earning four Olym-
pic gold medals. Taurasi said in August
that it was special playing with Bird at
the All-Star Game this year because
she didn’t know how many more times
they’d both be on the court together.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Brandon
Clarke, who led San Jose State in
scoring last season, is transferring
to Gonzaga.
Clarke will sit out next season
and then have two years of eligi-
bility remaining.
Clarke was named first team
All-Mountain West Conference
last season after scoring 17.3
points and averaging 8.7 rebounds
per game for the Spartans.
He led the conference in shoot-
ing at 59.2 percent, and added
2.57 blocked shots per game.
— Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
WNBA playoffs set to start
By DOUG FEINBERG
Associated Press
Gonzaga adds
transfer player
from Spartans
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird moved
into first place on a WNBA career
list this season.
THURSDAY
Volleyball — Astoria at Cascade, 6
p.m.; Clatskanie at Warrenton, 6 p.m.;
Delphian at Knappa, 5:30 p.m.
Girls Soccer — St. Helens at Astoria,
7:15 p.m.; Seaside at Corbett, 4:15 p.m.
Boys Soccer — Astoria at St. Helens,
7 p.m.; Corbett at Seaside, 6 p.m.
FRIDAY
Football — Gladstone at Astoria, 7
p.m.; Seaside at Clatskanie, 7 p.m.;
Warrenton at Vernonia, 7 p.m.; Toledo at
Knappa, 7 p.m.; Toledo (WA) at Ilwaco, 7
p.m.; Rainier Christian at Naselle, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY
Volleyball — Astoria at Cascade Tour-
nament, TBA; Neah-Kah-Nie Tourna-
ment, 9 a.m.
Girls Soccer — Cottage Grove vs. As-
toria, at Mac Hi, 4:15 p.m.
Cross Country — Tualatin Invitation-
al, 8:30 a.m.; Logger Elk Run, Teevin
Ranch, 10 a.m.