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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com BASEBALL IN BRIEF Knappa perfect against Cascade Tough start, strong finish for Seaside SEASIDE — The Seaside baseball team lost its first two games of the annual Spring Break Tournament at Broadway Field, but bounced back Sunday to defeat Corbett, 5-0. A late rally came up short for the Gulls in Friday’s first round game, as Fort Vancouver escaped with a 6-5 win. McKay posted a 14-1 win over Seaside in a Saturday afternoon contest. In Friday’s loss to Fort Vancou- ver, Seaside scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh before the final out was recorded. The Gulls out-hit the Trappers, 8-6, but Fort Vancouver’s Nick Laurenza was 3-for-3 with a dou- ble and scored twice. Teammate Tyler Runkle was 0-2, but scored four runs, while Zeke Block and Joe Endonino drove in two runs apiece for Fort Vancouver, which led 5-2 after six innings. In Saturday’s late three-inning exhibition against Cascade, Sea- side scored four runs in the sec- ond inning for all the runs it would need. The Cougars were playing their third game of the day, after games earlier vs. Ilwaco and Knappa at CMH Field. Seaside pitcher Travis Fen- ton gave up three hits over three innings, striking out four. Dylan Meyer and Payton Westerholm had multiple hits for the Gulls. In Sunday’s win over the Car- dinals, the Gulls built a 4-0 lead through three innings, then added one in the sixth. Gage McFadden went the dis- tance on the mound for Seaside, allowing just three hits on 63 pitches, with five strikeouts and one walk. Duncan Thompson and Brayden Johnson had two hits apiece for the Gulls. Sandy defeats Astoria, 7-2 SANDY — Astoria’s biggest opportunity of the game ended in a triple play for Sandy in a non- league baseball contest Friday. Sparked by their big defensive play in the top of the first inning, the Pioneers went on to score a 7-2 win over the Fishermen, who drop to 0-3. Astoria had runners at first and second with no outs in its first at-bat, when a line drive to cen- ter field by Trey Hageman was caught by a diving outfielder, who whipped the ball to second and then on to first for a triple play. Sandy scored two runs in the bottom of the first, then three in the third on its way to the win. Astoria’s Burke Matthews went 2-for-3 with a double, while Hageman and Josiah Hirsch each added a double for the Fishermen. Zac Patterson had an RBI single in the fourth inning. Fishermen batters struck out 11 times, and the Astoria defense committed four errors in the loss. Astoria hosts St. Helens Tues- day, tentatively scheduled for Aiken Field. — The Daily Astorian SCOREBOARD The Daily Astorian Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Warrenton pitcher Niqui Blodgett faced a tough Taft team Saturday, one day after striking out 12 bat- ters in a win at Nestucca. Taft sweeps Warrenton Blazers win 13th straight, beat the Clippers The Daily Astorian W ARRENTON — War- renton softball fans got a sneak peak at a future league matchup, as the Warriors hosted the Taft Tigers for a non- league doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The two teams will both be a part of the Coastal Range League, beginning with the 2018-19 school year. In Saturday’s nonleague twin- bill, the Tigers scored a 7-0, 24-4 sweep over the Warriors. Taft pitcher Emma Coulter struck out the first four batters she faced, on her way to a no-hit shut- out in Game 1. Coulter allowed a few base runners on infield errors, but the sophomore controlled the game from start to finish. Taft teammate Alyssa Tanksley drove in the first run, a single in the third that scored Naomi Rini. Madison Clanton’s dou- ble in the fourth brought in Cait- lyn Rundstrom, and sophomore Hailee Danneker had a two-run single in the fifth. Lilly Salsbery capped the scoring with a two-run double in the top of the seventh. In Game 2, Warrenton pitcher Niqui Blodgett took a line drive off her forehead in the first inning. Freshman Shelby Chester finished in the circle. Blodgett suffered a concussion, but will not miss any games. Kenzie Ramsey and Rachel Dyer had two hits apiece for the Warriors. Warrenton won the junior var- sity game, 12-11, in walk-off fashion. Associated Press Warrenton infielders Melia Kapua, left, and Dani Bue, center, try to chase down a Taft baserunner in Saturday’s first game. Brianna Quaschnick had a line drive off the fence for the game-winning run, helping the Warriors rally from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning. Warriors defeat ‘Cats CLOVERDALE — The War- riors began the weekend with a 15-8 win at Nestucca Friday. Melia Kapua drove in five runs, with a triple in the first inning, sin- gles in the second and third, and a double in the seventh. Warrenton led 10-7 after just three innings, then scored twice in the fourth and added two more in the sixth to pull away. The Lady Warriors racked up 19 hits, three apiece for Kapua and Niqui Blodgett, who had a double and scored twice. Dani Bue, Lilly Thomas, Rachel Dyer, Natalie Duncan and Paisley Baker all had multiple hits for the Warriors, who drew six walks and three hit batters. Baker had a double and drove in four runs. Blodgett and Mia McFadden combined on a seven-hitter, with Blodgett striking out 12 in six and two-thirds innings for the win. She threw 140 pitches, 89 for strikes. The Warriors stranded 14 base runners. PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — Knappa at Dayton, 4 p.m. Softball — Clatskanie at Astoria, 4:30 p.m. TUESDAY Baseball — St. Helens at Astoria, 4:30 p.m.; Seaside at Estacada, 4:30 p.m. Softball — Astoria at Cascade, 4:30 p.m.; Estacada at Seaside, 4:30 p.m. Track — Warrenton at Scappoose, 3:30 p.m. BASEBALL Warrenton 1, Nestucca 1 Warrenton 001 000 000—1 4 5 Nestucca 100 000 000—1 4 3 Knight, Jackson (8), Breitmeyer (8) and Morrow; Richwine, Link (8) and Hurliman. (No decision). 2B: War, Mor- row; Nes, Chatelain, Garcia. Knappa 11, Cascade 0 Cascade 000 00—0 0 2 Knappa 704 0x—11 8 0 W: E.Takalo. L: 8. RBI: Kna, Cruz 2, Bartlett, Weirup, D.Takalo, Hoover, Miller, E.Takalo. 3B: Kna, Hoover. HBP: Kna, Cruz, Miller. With their game at St. Paul postponed, the Knappa baseball team picked up an impromptu contest Saturday afternoon with Cascade at Astoria’s CMH Field. And the 4A Cougars proved no competition for the Loggers, as Knappa pitchers Eli and Dale Takalo combined to throw the Loggers’ first perfect game of the season for an easy 11-0 win. Knappa improves to 2-0, hav- ing outscored their opposition 30-0 in two games. The Takalos threw 58 pitches (40 for strikes), and struck out nine with no walks in retiring all 15 batters they faced. Eli started and pitched three innings, before Dale finish the fourth and fifth innings. The Loggers scored seven runs in the first inning and four in the third. Reuben Cruz drove in two runs, while Mason Hoover, Dale Takalo, Eli Takalo, Logan Bart- lett and Colton Weirup all drove in additional runs for the Loggers. Cruz was 2-for-2 and Hoover was 2-for-3 with a triple to lead Knappa’s eight-hit attack. BASEBALL Nestucca, Warrenton finish in a rare tie, 1-1 The Daily Astorian CLOVERDALE — In their second meeting of the week, the Nestucca and Warrenton baseball teams battled into the darkness Friday before the game was finally called after nine innings. The result was a 1-1 tie — the first official tie in 34 years of coaching for Warrenton’s Lennie Wolfe, whose team is now 1-0-1. Five pitchers took part in the defensive battle. Warrenton managed to overcome five errors, but the War- riors also came out on the short end of a few controversial calls late in the game. A two-out, two-run single by War- renton’s Austin Little in the top of the ninth was disallowed, when the first runner to score was called out for missing home plate, ending the inning. Nestucca pitchers Mitchell Richwine and Wyatt Link allowed four hits, with Richwine striking out eight and walking three. Dalton Knight, Devin Jackson and Gabe Breitmeyer combined on a four-hitter for the Warriors. The Bobcats scored their lone run in the first inning, after a leadoff dou- ble by Gabe Garcia. Warrenton answered with a run in the third, when Duane Falls drew a walk, advanced to third and scored on a grounder by Austin Little. “Both starting pitchers were out- standing,” Wolfe said. “Richwine’s numbers were a little flashier, but Dal- ton was equally effective. He got out of a couple big jams,” including a bas- es-loaded, no outs situation in the fifth inning, with the help of a 1-2-3 dou- ble play. “We didn’t win because we didn’t score enough, but we didn’t lose, either,” Wolfe said. “It was just a great game.” The Warriors play at Neah-Kah- Nie Wednesday. LOS ANGELES — Maurice Harkless thinks he sees something pleasantly repetitive about the Portland Trail Blazers’ 13-game winning streak. “Every time a team tries to go on a run, we always bounce back,” Harkless said. There was more of that Sun- day night, with the Blazers jump- ing out to double-digits leads and the desperate Los Angeles Clip- pers trying to put a run together, only for Portland to bounce back and roll to a 122-109 victory. Even Portland stars Damian Lillard (23 points) and CJ McCo- llum (21) can sense a change among the Blazers. “In the past when teams have made a run, I’ve tried to go out there and will us in the right way, or CJ will try,” Lillard said. “But this year, we’re leaning on each other. We trust in each other and guys are coming through. We’re getting guys hitting big shots, big steals, big defense, hitting big free throws. We’re just trusting in it more and more.” Portland’s dynamic guard duo led five Blazers players in dou- ble-figures, with Harkless scoring 21 points, Jusuf Nurkic 17 along with 12 rebounds and Al-Farouq Aminu adding 16 points. It was all too much for a Clip- pers team that dropped a third con- secutive game and fell two games back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Clippers have 13 games remaining. “They played last night and you couldn’t tell,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of the Blazers. “They played hard. I thought they played better than us, which I don’t say very often. We got attacked all night on both ends of the court and then everybody made shots for them.” UP NEXT: BLAZERS • Houston Rockets (56-14) at Portland Trail Blazers (44-26) • Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. TV: TNT