10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2018
ASTORIA SPRING SPORTS PREVIEW 2018 • MORE ON PAGE 4
Challenges ahead for new-look Astoria team The future is
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
ASTORIA BASEBALL
“Filling big shoes” will be
the theme this year for Astoria
baseball, from the players to the
coach.
While the players are busy try-
ing to replace nine seniors off last
year’s team, Glen Fromwiller
steps in as the new coach, and all
he has to do is replace the winnin-
gest coach in Oregon high school
baseball history.
Dave Gasser has retired for
good, and Fromwiller is facing
his first big challenge as he takes
over.
With the major hit that Astoria
took in the graduation department
last season, the Fishermen find
themselves in a rebuilding phase.
There will be a lot of unproven
talent on the varsity field to start
the 2018 season.
“We’re a little inexperienced
at the varsity level,” said From-
willer, who was the junior varsity
coach. “It’s a good group of guys.
The juniors who are coming up to
help us from JV are a competitive,
hard-working group.
“We’ve had great JV teams the
last couple years, and I’m confi-
dent they’ll be able to step into that
role. We just have to get some actual
time at the varsity level. The speed
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Ebin Hillard and a young Astoria base-
ball team have some high hopes in 2018.
of the game is what they need.
“As far as being skilled play-
ers and knowing the fundamentals,
it’s pretty solid,” he said. “It’s just
a different game between JV and
varsity.”
THE COWAPA
“I expect Banks to be one of the
teams to beat,” Fromwiller said.
“Something’s happening in Banks
— they’re rolling in all their sports.
“Scappoose is always there, and
Seaside’s improving. Banks and
Scappoose will be a challenge, but
I won’t look past anyone this year.
Seaside will be a tough game, and
even Tillamook and Valley.”
THE FISHERMEN
In addition to the nine seniors
Coach: Glen Fromwiller,
1st year
2017: 20-6 (12-3 Cowapa)
Playoffs: Won state play-
off games at Estacada (3-0)
and Hidden Valley (8-7); lost
at La Grande (2-7)
Key losses: Jackson Arns-
dorf, Ole Englund, Fridtjof
Fremstad, Jasyn Gohl, Tyler
Lyngstad, Cade O’Brien,
Kyle Strange, Samboy Tui-
mato
Key returners: Trey Hage-
man, Burke Mathews
lost, junior pitcher Tristan Wal-
lace could miss the major-
ity — if not all — of the ‘18
season, after a knee injury in
football.
Still, the Fishermen won’t be
completely without experience
on the mound.
Trey Hageman is one of just
two seniors, and will be looked to
as the No. 1 pitcher.
As for Wallace, Fromwiller
said, “Everything I’ve heard, his
rehab will take him into the summer.
That does put a hamper on our pitch-
ing staff. It is what it is.”
That means Hageman will “take
on a big brunt of the load, now that
we don’t have Tristan,” he said.
When he’s not pitching, Hage-
man will move from his spot at third
base and will see action in the mid-
dle infield.
Taking over at third will be senior
Zac Patterson, a backup at third the
last two years.
Sophomore Dylan Rush will
pitch and also hold down a spot in
the middle infield.
Others with limited varsity
experience include juniors Josiah
Hirsch (first base), and pitchers Cal-
vin Kaul, Burke Mathews and Will
Reed.
“Our four pitchers will be Trey,
Calvin, Burke and Dylan,” From-
willer said. “From there, we go
young. (Sophomore) Ryan Stutzneg-
ger can pitch, along with a sopho-
more transfer, Adam Feldman.”
Sophomore Brooks Fromwiller
could also see action on the mound,
while sophomore Ebin Hillard will
split time at catcher with Feldman,
in addition to being one of Astoria’s
heavy hitters.
“There’s going to be competition
to earn your spot this year,” coach
Fromwiller said. “Nobody’s coming
with an ‘I own this spot’ attitude. As
young as we are, I welcome that. It’s
fun to have that competitive edge,
even at practice.”
Pitching coach Ralph Steinback
returns, along with assistant Ryker
Thornton, while former Fishermen
Ian Erickson and Tyler Lyngstad
will coach the JV program.
Talent, big numbers and Hageman lead Astoria
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
While the Astoria girls are
focused on winning their fourth
straight state championship, the
Astoria boys are hoping to work
their way up the 4A podium on
their side of the meet, as the 2018
track season gets underway.
“It’s pretty common that once you
have a lot of success, it continues to
build on itself,” said Astoria coach
Garrett Parks. “And our boys have
been sitting in the wings and have
been very supportive of the girls, and
kind of biding their time. Now we’re
starting to see not just the talent, but
the numbers go up like crazy.”
Astoria’s
preseason
roster
includes a whopping 51 athletes on
the boys’ side.
“We have a handful of seniors
who have come out with not a lot of
experience, but definitely have a lot
of potential,” Parks said.
For the girls, meanwhile, when
you have just one athlete on the
team who can outscore 90 percent
of all the other teams at the state
meet … senior Darian Hageman
is the reason the Lady Fishermen
(surprise, surprise) are the favor-
ites once again to capture another
4A state title, as the Astoria girls
look to extend the dynasty one
more year.
Graduation and a few other
losses may make it a little tougher
than in the past.
“There’s a lot of new faces,”
Parks said. “We’re looking at a
lot of young kids having to step in
and fill some big holes. We’ve lost
some really good talent over the
last couple years.”
In the sprints, Astoria lost
Natalie Cummings (second at state
in the 100) to graduation, and sis-
ter Gracie Cummings (eighth at
state in the 100 and 200) to golf.
But Astoria has reloaded with
some young talent, namely fresh-
men Kelsey Fausett (sprinter,
middle distances), Abby Gron-
cki (distances) and Lillian Randall
(sprints).
And of course there’s the
returning talent that includes soph-
omore Elizabeth Barnett in the
hurdles, seniors McKenzie Bur-
nett and Libbie Nash in the dis-
tance races, and Astoria’s return-
ing state champion 400-meter
relay squad still has Andrea Har-
ris and Nara Van de Grift. In their
first meet of the season, Astoria
won with a completely new four-
some of Barnett, Fausett, Randall
and Sophie Long.
In the throws, Kes Sandstrom
will be looking to improve on her
ninth place finish at state in the
discus, and should challenge the
Cowapa’s top thrower — Sea-
side’s Gretchen Hoekstre — in
the shot put. Senior Taylor Cosner
is currently ranked fourth in the
state in the discus and javelin, and
Kajsa Jackson should be strong in
the javelin.
Astoria’s star athlete is obvi-
ously Hageman, already signed
and sealed for Oregon State next
year.
Hageman is the defending state
champion in the high jump and tri-
ple jump, and also placed second
in the long jump and sixth in the
pole vault.
Joining Hageman in the jumps
will be juniors Heaven Barrett and
Emilli DeLong.
On the boys’ side, the obvious
point-scorer will be senior thrower
Tim Barnett.
Barnett currently has the best
marks at the 4A level in the shot
put and discus, second-best in the
javelin. He is also closing in on
some very old school records.
By the time the district meet
rolls around, Barnett could be the
state favorite in all three events.
“(Barnett’s) attitude and work
ethic in the off-season have been a
huge driving component for the other
athletes getting on board and work-
ing out in the off-season,” Parks said.
“Our throwers are always strong and
carry us in many ways, but we’re
going to be strong in the jumps
(Karsten Johnson, Isaac Brockman,
Michael Kee, Justin Villa) and the
hurdles (Kee, Ian Hunt, Niko Caru-
ana). We’re building well and look-
ing to continue that.”
Prediction: Another state title for
the Lady Fishermen; a league title for
the boys?
Large turnout of players for Astoria girls golf team
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
The numbers keep improving
for Astoria girls golf. From five
golfers two years ago, to eight
last year, and now the Lady Fish-
ermen will field 11 golfers for
the 2018 season.
Astoria has just three return-
ers — senior Sarah Lertora and
juniors Samantha Hemsley and
Jenna Travers.
The rest are first-year golf-
ers. The list includes senior Sierra
Adams, junior Gracie Cummings,
sophomore Kaitlyn Boutin, and
freshmen Xochitl Perez, Constance
Rouda and Annalyse Steele.
Rounding out the roster will be
foreign exchange students Emilie
Bonacina from Italy and Yaein Kim
from South Korea.
Eleven golfers will go a long
ways in sending Astoria to the state
tournament.
In the Cowapa League, “I expect
Valley Catholic to be the top team,
ASTORIA YOUTH
with Scappoose, Seaside and us
battling for second,” said Asto-
ria coach Chris Hunt. “Valley and
Scappoose have the top two return-
ing individuals in Caroline Hobson
(Valley Catholic) and Morgan Hall
(Scappoose).”
Behind Hobson and Hall, Hunt
said that two of his golfers —
Hemsley and Travers — “should be
in the next tier of golfers battling to
round out the top five individuals in
the league.”
Elsewhere,
“Sarah
(Ler-
tora) improved greatly last year,
and will provide us with a solid
player in the No. 3 slot,” he said.
“Much of the early part of the sea-
son will be getting the new play-
ers lots of reps, as I get an idea
of who will fill out the No. 4 and
No. 5 slots.
“Overall, it’s a great bunch of
players, with outstanding lead-
ership from my returnees and
first year players who are pick-
ing things up and improving
quickly.”
Life happens...That’s why we’re here!
now for young
Astoria team
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
A 3-1 start to the 2017 season
quickly went south for the Astoria
softball team.
The same day the Lady Fishermen
beat Cottage Grove 19-1 in the Sea-
side Tournament, Astoria lost its next
game to Warrenton, 11-0, then pro-
ceeded to lose four of its next five
games.
The Fishermen bounced back
briefly in league play, opening with an
18-8 win over Tillamook. But Astoria
would finish just over .500 in league at
8-7. The hopes were higher for a team
that went 9-6 the year before.
THE COWAPA
“Banks is definitely going to be tough,
and Scappoose is always good,” said
Astoria coach Kent Israel Jr. “We won’t
be sorry to see Scappoose go,” as the
Indians leave the Cowapa League after
this school year, and will move to the 5A
level.
Astoria lost its 2018 league opener
at Scappoose, 13-6, in a game that was
much closer, as the Fishermen held an
early 4-1 lead over the Indians, who
played in last year’s state quarterfinals.
“We’re definitely making progress
and getting better,” Israel said after the
game. “The score was not indicative of
how close it was. We had some errors
that gave them some extra outs. The sixth
inning alone we gave them seven outs.”
THE LADY FISH
The expectations will be high again
for Astoria, which returns with a two-
year starter in the circle and three
all-leaguers.
Julia Norris and McKailyn Rog-
ers will take turns starting at pitcher,
exchanging spots in center field when
the other one is pitching. Both could
also see time at shortstop.
“I’m still getting that pitcher/short-
stop/center field rotation sorted out,”
Israel said. “Julia, McKailyn and Hai-
ley O’Brien are all in the mix there.”
And no matter who the starters are
in the outfield, he said, “this could be
the strongest outfield we’ve had since
that group two years ago.”
At the corner infield spots, Astoria
has Brooklynn Hankwitz at first base
and Lexxis Lyngstad at third.
Kayla Helligso takes over behind
the plate, replacing Caitlyn Hougham.
Besides Rogers, the only other
seniors on the Astoria roster are Moira
Welsh and starting outfielder Hailey
Ranta.
There’s also only two juniors —
Lyngstad and starting infielder Jenna
Barendse.
The freshmen and sophomores
take up most of Astoria’s roster.
Taileigh Cole is the fifth sopho-
more, joining Hankwitz, Helligso,
Norris and O’Brien.
And all five freshmen (Emma Bie-
derman, Madi Both, Halle Helmersen,
Allyson Pritchard, Shelby Rasmus-
sen) have already seen action.
ASTORIA SOFTBALL
Coach: Kent Israel Jr., 3rd year
2017: 11-14 (8-7 Cowapa)
Playoffs: Lost regional play-in at North Bend
(0-10)
All-league losses: Abi Danen, Rylee De-
Mander, Caitlyn Hougham
All-league returners: Julia Norris, So., Hailey
Ranta, Sr., McKailyn Rogers, Sr.
DEL’S O.K. TIRE
ATHLETICS
would like to thank
M c D O N A L D S ,
F U L T A N O S PIZ Z A ,
V A N D U S E N B E V E R A G E S ,
C L A T S O P D IS T R I B U T I N G
& the Astoria community for their
continued support of youth athletics.
AYA is a non-profi t athletic booster club
committed to supporting and promoting
youth sports, k-12 in Astoria, through
volunteer service and fi nancial assistance.
“Growing community through youth athletics”
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