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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2017
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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SPORTS
IN BRIEF
BOYS SOCCER
Gulls score three
second-half
goals to beat
Scappoose
SEASIDE — After a scoreless
first half, the No. 3-ranked Sea-
side Gulls were unstoppable in
the final 40 minutes, scoring three
goals for a 3-0 win over Scap-
poose in a Cowapa League boys
soccer game Thursday at Broad-
way Field.
Seaside improved to 5-0-1 in
the Cowapa standings, ahead of
Valley Catholic (4-1-1). The Gulls
have key road games coming up
next week at Astoria and Valley
Catholic.
Seaside spent most of the sec-
ond half on the Scappoose side of
the field in Thursday’s game.
Henry Chapman scored the
first goal, a bullet shot from 40
yards out; and a score by Chase
Januik made it 2-0.
The Gulls tacked on one more,
Nataneal Conrad scoring with 15
minutes left.
VOLLEYBALL
Tillamook
escapes Astoria
with win
The No. 4-ranked Tillamook
volleyball team backed up its
state ranking with a four-game
win at Astoria Thursday, 18-25,
25-22, 25-19, 25-22.
Astoria had a big night defen-
sively and at the net, and opened
with a win in Game 1.
But, “Tillamook is a solid
team. They’re ranked No. 4 for a
reason,” said Astoria coach Jes-
sie Todd. “We fought hard, but
just didn’t get the win.”
Chelsea Christensen and
Madi Landwehr each had 12
kills for Astoria, while Kes
Sandstrom added nine kills,
with 22 digs and three blocks.
Darian Hageman finished with
four blocks, and Corrin Howard
had 47 digs for the 10th-ranked
Lady Fishermen, who return to
league play next Wednesday at
Banks.
In other Cowapa League vol-
leyball action Thursday, Val-
ley Catholic defeated Seaside,
25-11, 25-9, 25-15.
Oregon
Episcopal tops
Warrenton
WARRENTON — Oregon
Episcopal defeated Warrenton in
three games Thursday night on
the Warriors’ home floor, 25-18,
25-21, 25-18, in a Lewis & Clark
League volleyball match.
“They have a really strong
hitter,” Warrenton coach Staci
Miethe said of the Aardvarks, and
“we weren’t really ready for her.
Additionally, our offense wasn’t
quite as effective.”
The Warriors still served well,
52-for-56 for the night.
Michelle Arney was 11-for-11,
Melia Kapua and Leah Durham
were each 10-for-10, and Mor-
gan Blodgett made all seven of her
serves.
Elly Blodgett led the Warren-
ton offense with five kills.
The Warriors hit the road for
two matches next week, at Port-
land Christian Monday and Rain-
ier Thursday.
— The Daily Astorian
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Football — Tillamook at Astoria, 7
p.m.; Valley Catholic at Seaside, 7 p.m.;
Warrenton at Blanchet Catholic, 7:30
p.m.; Knappa at Neah-Kah-Nie, 7 p.m.;
Ilwaco at Raymond, 7 p.m.
Cross Country — Tillamook XC Invi-
tational, 3 p.m.
SATURDAY
Volleyball — Columbia Christian at
Knappa, 5:30 p.m.
Cross Country — Riverwalk Run,
TBA
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Ivan DelaCruz, center, clears the ball away from the Astoria Fishermen goal during Thursday’s match against Valley Catholic.
Astoria, Valley Catholic
finish in 2-2 deadlock
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
A resilient Valley Catholic team just
wouldn’t give up Thursday night at CMH
Field.
The Valiants overcame deficits of 1-0 and
2-1, and scored a late goal to salvage a 2-2 tie
with the Fishermen, in a key Cowapa League
boys soccer showdown.
With hopes of catching Seaside atop the
league standings, the Fishermen played a
dominant first half against the Valiants, who
had defeated Astoria 5-2 in the first meeting.
And it took Astoria less than two min-
utes to jump on the scoreboard in Thursday’s
meeting, as Aldo Cruz dropped a short pass to
freshman Josh Condit, who outmaneuvered a
pair of Valley Catholic defenders to score from
close range past Valiant keeper Connor Matto,
just one minute, 27 seconds into the game.
Unfortunately for the Fishermen, that was
their only goal of the half, despite numerous
fouls on the Valiants inside their own 30-yard
line.
Matto made saves on a pair of free kicks by
Cole Beeson, and made another stop on a free
kick by Jonathan Jimenez.
At the other end of the field, Valley Catho-
lic’s Rylan Torres was wide right on an attempt
with 14:00 left in the half, and a free kick by
Gustavo Velazquez
shields the ball from
a Valley Catholic de-
fender for the Astoria
Fishermen during
Thursday’s match.
Nicolas Tubito banged off the left post with
1:30 remaining.
The Valiants came out with a more aggres-
sive offensive attack to start the second half,
with three shots on goal to Astoria’s one over
the first 12 minutes.
Fishermen goalkeeper Jake Hurd made the
save on all three Valiant shots, while Matto
managed to knock down an Astoria shot-on-
goal by Gustavo Velazquez, and later made
saves on free kicks by Beeson.
The first goal of the second half belonged
to the Valiants.
With 19:11 remaining in the game, Ethan
Hough’s crossing pass found teammate Jake
Saito, whose low shot from 10 yards out found
the back of the net for a 1-1 tie.
Are the Rams real? Seahawks to
find out in NFC West showdown
But less than two minutes later, the fouls
caught up with the Valiants.
Astoria was fouled in the penalty area on a
corner kick, and Jimenez converted the pen-
alty kick to put the Fishermen back in front.
The final 17:55 was nearly a stalemate, but
moments after a corner kick by the Valiants,
a short crossing pass resulted in a goal off a
header by Torres, with just 3:21 showing on
the clock.
Condit nearly had a game-winner for the
Fishermen, but his shot on goal in the closing
seconds deflected off the left post.
Astoria hosts its third straight home game
Tuesday, against No. 3-ranked Seaside. The
two teams battled to a 2-2 tie in the previous
Clatsop Clash, Sept. 23 at Seaside.
Altuve ascends, NLDS
opens at Washington, LA
By GREG BEACHAM
Associated Press
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The Los
Angeles Rams are 3-1 for the sec-
ond straight season. They even beat
the Seattle Seahawks at the Coliseum
during that start last year, but it quickly
degenerated into a 4-12 fiasco of a
homecoming.
Both the Rams and their opponents
seem to think their current 3-1 record
is no mirage. The latest visit from Seat-
tle should tell them a whole lot more.
“It’s very early in the season, four
games in,” Rams quarterback Jared
Goff said. “We’re happy with what
we’ve done, but a lot of work to do and
a long season ahead.”
The Seahawks (2-2) revive this bur-
geoning West Coast rivalry on Sunday
against coach Sean McVay’s Rams,
who are leading the NFL in scoring
. That’s a stunning turnaround for a
team that had the NFL’s worst offense
for the past two seasons, and the long-
time NFC West powerhouse up north
has noticed.
“The schemes don’t look so much
different, but the production is just
there,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
“Their tempo is really good. It seems
to have played into Jared’s strengths.
He had a great offseason. He had one
of the great freshman-sophomore
jumps that you can have.”
While the Rams have new left
tackle Andrew Whitworth and a
revamped receiving corps, Seat-
A look at what’s happening
around the majors today:
IN FULL SWING: Jose Altuve is
off to a smashing start in the playoffs,
hitting three home runs in Houston’s
8-2 romp over Boston in the AL
Division Series opener. The 5-foot-6
star tries to boost the Astros in the
best-of-five matchup when Dallas
Keuchel faces Red Sox lefty Drew
Pomeranz at Minute Maid Park.
Altuve, who led the majors in batting
at .346 this year, became just the 10th
player to hit three homers in a post-
season game.
THEY’RE BACK: Kris Bryant,
Anthony Rizzo and the World Series
champion Chicago Cubs begin
the playoffs when Kyle Hendricks
faces Stephen Strasburg at Nation-
als Park. It remains to be seen how
healthy Washington is — star slug-
ger Bryce Harper returned slowly
from a knee injury and there’s still
no definite word when Max Scherzer
will pitch after hurting his hamstring
last weekend.
START HIM UP: Clayton Ker-
shaw is a three-time Cy Young
Award winner, a five-time ERA
champ and a seven-time All-Star.
The lone blemish on his resume is
his postseason mark — 4-7 with a
4.55 ERA in 18 games. The LA lefty
opens the NL Division Series vs.
Arizona at Dodger Stadium. Taijuan
AP Photo/John Froschauer
Seattle Seahawks running back
Thomas Rawls (34) rushes
against the San Francisco 49ers.
UP NEXT: SEAHAWKS
• Seattle Seahawks (2-2)
at Los Angeles Rams (3-1)
• Sunday, 1:05 p.m. TV: CBS
tle’s veteran defense is even more
impressed by Goff’s improvements
— and Todd Gurley’s revitalization
as one of the NFL’s most productive
running backs. The Seahawks didn’t
allow a touchdown by the Rams in
their two meetings last season, but
these Rams aren’t the same pushovers,
even if some things appear similar to
cornerback Richard Sherman.
“Honestly, they look a lot the
same,” the Compton, California native
said. “They’re just executing. The
O-line is blocking better. Gurley has
got a lot more room to run.”
Walker will make his playoff debut
for the Diamondbacks after ace Zack
Greinke started and 15-game winner
Robbie Ray relieved in the wild-card
win Wednesday over Colorado.
THE KLUBBER: Indians ace
Corey Kluber starts Game 2 of the
ALDS against the Yankees at Pro-
gressive Field, a day after Cleve-
land won the opener 4-0. The right-
hander was 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA in
six postseason starts last year, then
went 18-4 with a 2.25 ERA this sea-
son. Kluber went 2-0 during the reg-
ular season against New York, but
didn’t face slugger Aaron Judge,
who was slumping both times the
teams met. Judge struck out all four
times Thursday after homering in the
AL wild-card win.
CC Sabathia starts for the Yan-
kees — he spent eight seasons with
the Indians, who drafted him in 1998
as a 17-year-old.
SUBBING: Outfielder Chris
Young joins the Red Sox roster after
designated hitter Eduardo Nunez
was carried off the field with a knee
injury in Game 1. Nunez pulled up
running to first base on a ground-
out in the first inning and fell to the
ground. Nunez missed 19 of the last
20 regular-season games with what
the team called a sore knee. Nunez
was removed from the postseason
roster and Young added in a switch
approved by the commissioner’s
office.