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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 13, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF BASEBALL Knappa crushes Clatskanie, 19-0 CLATSKANIE — The defend- ing Class 2A baseball state cham- pions picked up right where they left off, as the Knappa Loggers opened the season Monday in a nonleague game at Clatskanie. The Loggers did not have to stage a seven-run, seventh inning rally in this one, as Knappa cruised to a five-inning, 19-0 win over the Tigers. Dale Takalo, Reuben Cruz and Mason Hoover combined to strike out 12 batters, with two hits allowed. Offensively, Cruz belted a two- run homer in the fourth inning, Takalo had a pair of doubles, Shaun Lackey was 2-for-3 and Logan Bartlett added a double. Clatskanie pitchers gave up 11 hits, walked 13 and hit four batters. Knappa is scheduled to play Friday at St. Paul. SOFTBALL Dayton tops Warrenton DAYTON — In a Class 3A softball season opener, Dayton defeated Warrenton 11-0 in five innings. Rachel Dyer had the lone hit for the Warriors. Warrenton returns to action Friday for a nonleague game at Nestucca. — The Daily Astorian Seahawks lock up safety McDougald with new contract RENTON, Wash. — The Seat- tle Seahawks are retaining one of their key defensive backs by sign- ing safety Bradley McDougald to a three-year contract. Bringing back McDougald was important for the Seahawks after he showed his value last sea- son with his ability to fill in at both strong safety and free safety. McDougald was able to fill in for Earl Thomas when he was injured and took over for Kam Chancellor after he was lost for the season to a neck injury. McDougald was set to become a free agent after playing last sea- son on a one-year deal. NFL.com reported McDougald’s new deal is worth up to nearly $14 million. McDougald finished the 2017 season with 67 tackles and four passes defensed. Seattle also released defen- sive back DeShawn Shead, mak- ing him an unrestricted free agent. Seattle wants to bring Shead back. He spent most of last season on the physically unable to perform list due to a knee injury and Seat- tle could have brought him back under the terms of that contract. But now that Shead is healthy, the Seahawks afforded him the chance to see his value on the open market. — Associated Press SCOREBOARD PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — Astoria at North Marion, 4 p.m.; Molalla at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Coun- try Christian at Warrenton, 4 p.m. WEDNESDAY Softball — Astoria at Gladstone, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Cascade, 4:30 p.m. Track — Warrenton at Forest Grove Icebreaker, 4 p.m. BASEBALL Warrenton 4, Nestucca 3 Nestucca 000 020 1—3 6 2 Warrenton 200 020 x—4 5 0 Link, Strober (5), Richwine (6) and Hurliman; Jackson, Breitmeyer (3), Knight (5), Little (7) and Morrow. W: Knight. L: Strober. S: Little. RBI: Nes, Strober 2, Richwine 2; War, Morrow, Jackson, Knight. 2B: Nes, Richwine 2, Strober; War, Little, Herrera. 3B: Nes, Strober. HR: War, Knight. LOB: Nestucca 6, Warrenton 4. Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Warrenton’s Austin Little connects for a double in a first inning rally by the Warriors. Warrenton holds off Nestucca, 4-3 The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — It took the Warrenton baseball team 44 days and 15 games to win their first game last season. In a sign that things may be changing, it took the Warriors a little under two hours to pick up victory No. 1 of the 2018 season. Four Warrenton pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts, four walks and six hits allowed in a 4-3 win over Nestucca, in a nonleague game Monday at Warrenton’s Huddleston Field. The Warriors scored two runs in the first, gave up two in the top of the fifth, then came back with two of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Warrenton’s fourth pitcher of the day, sophomore Austin Little, gave up two hits with two outs in the seventh, but struck out Nestucca’s Ben Hurliman with a runner at third to end the game. “We did exactly what we were hoping to do,” said Warrenton coach Lennie Wolfe. “Our pitchers were all in the strike zone, and the game was close enough that each one had to do some good pitching.” Starter Devin Jackson was followed by Gabe Breitmeyer, Dalton Knight and Little, Devin Jackson started and pitched two scoreless innings for Warrenton. with Knight picking up the win. “We were doing a comparative analysis of the game with last year’s game (Nestucca won last year’s opener, 13-2), when we gave up 13 walks and hit four batters, with numerous errors,” Wolfe said. “We played errorless ball today. Last year we had six extra base hits for the whole season, and today we had three.” Little had the first, a double in the first inning. Knight scored the first run on an RBI grounder by Jacob Morrow, and Little came in on a grounder by Jackson. Nestucca senior Cole Strober had a sin- gle, double and a triple, and sophomore Mitch Richwine added a pair of doubles for five of Nestucca’s six hits. Each also drove in two runs. After the Bobcats tied the game in the top of the fifth, Knight led off Warrenton’s next at-bat with an inside-the-park home run. Breitmeyer later drew a walk, and Morrow sprinted home from third when Breitmeyer got himself involved a rundown between first and second. “That was a state playoff team from last year with many of the same players, so it was a good game to gauge where we’re at,” said Wolfe, whose team finished 1-17 overall last year. “It was just good to get out in the sun, and we (the Warrenton coaching staff) were amazed at the size of the crowd that turned out. It’s only one game, but it was a great start.” Lillard, Blazers beat Heat Sherman says move to 49ers adds fuel to his fire for 10th straight victory By ERIK GARCÍA GUNDERSEN Associated Press PORTLAND — As the Portland Trail Blazers keep winning, Damian Lillard should keep climbing in the MVP conversation, according to Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. Lillard had 32 points and 10 assists, and the Trail Blazers beat the Heat 115-99 on Monday night for their 10th straight victory. Jusuf Nurkic added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Blazers, who have the longest current winning streak in the NBA and a two-game lead over Oklahoma City for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. After Lillard put the finishing touches on the win, Spoelstra said Portland’s All-Star deserves a little more recognition league-wide. “I don’t know if there is any other player in this league right now that is playing at a higher level than Lil- lard,” Spoelstra said. “You know the names in the MVP conversation. The way he’s playing right now and win- ning, he deserves to be in that conver- sation as well.” The Heat used an 18-2 run to start the fourth quarter to trim a 19-point deficit to three, but Lillard took charge for the Blazers, just as he has through- out the winning streak. The All-Star guard broke Portland’s drought of over five minutes with a 3-pointer midway through the period to put Portland back in front by six, and the Blazers stayed safely ahead from there. Lillard scored 21 points after half- time. He leads the league in sec- By JOSH DUBOWAP Associated Press AP Photo/Steve Dykes Portland Trail Blazers guard Da- mian Lillard hits a 3-point shot over Miami Heat guard Rodney McGruder during Monday’s game in Portland. UP NEXT: BLAZERS • Cleveland Cavaliers (38-28) at Portland Trail Blazers (41-26) • Thursday, 7 p.m. TV: NSNW ond-half scoring. “It’s not just about him being a great player, it is the timing of his greatness, that is so unique,” Spoelstra added. “Every time there needs to be a big time play, or if momentum started to go our way, he made that play.” ALAMEDA, Calif. — Rich- ard Sherman spent seven years tor- menting the San Francisco 49ers with his lockdown coverage, color- ful trash talk and celebratory turkey eating at midfield. Now he has decided to join the enemy, signing a three-year con- tract with the 49ers almost immedi- ately after being let go by the Seat- tle Seahawks last Friday. “It’s a little odd to put on a dif- ferent jersey. I’m sure it will take some getting used to for me,” Sher- man said Monday. “I’ve spent a lot of time wearing a red jersey in the Bay so I’m sure I’ll be able to fig- ure it out.” The former Stanford star has returned to the Bay Area since he wanted to stay on the West Coast to be close to his parents in Los Ange- les and his soon-to-be wife’s family in Seattle. Getting the chance to stay in the NFC West and play the Seahawks twice each year was an added bonus. “It definitely had a part of it,” he said. “I’d love to get to play in that stadium again in different col- ors. I’m going to try my best to ruin their day. I do want a chance to show what I can do out there.” Sherman, who turns 30 later this month, is coming off an Achilles tendon injury that cost him half of the 2017 season. Sherman also had a cleanup surgery on his opposite ankle during the offseason. That led to Seattle’s decision that he wasn’t worth his $13 million salary for 2018. Sherman became a star in Seattle, bringing a brash atti- tude and willingness to speak out on any topic to go along with his stellar play. His best seasons came in 2013 and 2014 when Seattle made two Super Bowl appearances. Sherman still was one of the bet- ter cornerbacks the past three sea- sons, ranking second in the NFL by allowing just 49.2 percent of passes against him to be caught, according to Pro Football Focus. Getting cut only adds fuel to Sherman. “It kind of reignited that gas- oline fire that I always had burn- ing,” he said. “It just threw a lot more gas on it and I appreciate that and I’m thankful for this motivation and inspiration. I have a lot of peo- ple to show. I’m excited about those prospects.” That fire was always evident against the 49ers, most notably when he went on a postgame inter- view tirade after sealing the NFC championship in January 2014 by deflecting a pass that turned a potential game-winning touchdown for the 49ers into an interception for the Seahawks. The following season Sherman celebrated a Thanksgiving night win at Levi’s Stadium by eating a turkey leg at midfield, although he said that was prompted by NBC producers who told him to “eat the turkey” during the interview.
