10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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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.