8A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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STATE TRACK
Knappa
runner
takes 7th in
3,000 final
The Daily Astorian
EUGENE — Day One of the
OSAA state track meet is complete,
with athletes from the 3A, 2A and 1A
levels competing in a day-long sched-
ule of preliminaries and finals Thurs-
day at Historic Hayward Field in
Eugene.
Clatsop County’s first point-scorer
on the track was Knappa sophomore
Robert Pina-Morton, who placed sev-
enth in the 2A final of the boys’ 3,000-
meter race.
Coming into the race with the
third-fastest time of 9 minutes, 34.60
seconds, Pina-Morton finished in
9:35.58, while Bandon senior Hunter
Hutton won the race in 8:59.96.
Warrenton’s Mark Warren entered
the 3A shot put competition as the No.
2 seed, but the sophomore came up
short of last week’s qualifying mark of
45 feet, 7 inches, and placed 10th with
a toss of 42-4¼.
In another 3A final, Warrenton
sophomore Faith Peterson was 12th
in the javelin, with a throw of 92-6.
Teammate Fernanda Alvarez placed
13th in the discus (84-8).
In Thursday preliminary races,
Knappa sophomore Kanai Phillip
qualified for Friday’s final of the boys’
2A 100 meter race, finishing with the
eighth-fastest time in prelims (11.78).
Jewell senior hurdler Gabi Morales
qualified for a pair of Class 1A finals,
running the fourth-best time in the
100-meter hurdles (16.92), and the
fifth-fastest in the 300-meter hurdles
(50.22).
Action at Hayward Field continues
Friday, with all classes competing. The
4A, 5A and 6A schools conclude the
meet Saturday.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jacob Morrow chases after a bunt for the Warriors.
Clatskanie edges Warrenton
in baseball league playoff
Tigers earn league’s
No. 2 seed to state
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
SOFTBALL
Warrenton season
ends with loss at
Clatskanie
The Daily Astorian
CLATSKANIE — Facing Clats-
kanie pitcher Shelby Blodgett for
the next three years isn’t too appeal-
ing for the Warrenton Warriors, who
have already seen enough of the Tiger
freshman this season.
Blodgett gave up just one hit and
struck out 12 batters Thursday, lifting
fifth-ranked Clatskanie to a 10-1 win
over the Warriors in a Lewis & Clark
League playoff game.
The Tigers (20-3 overall) scored
three runs in the bottom of the first for
all they would need, and Blodgett did
the rest, giving up only a fourth-in-
ning single to Warrenton’s Natalie
Duncan, which scored teammate
Niqui Blodgett with the lone Warrior
run.
Clatskanie had home runs by Bella
Smith in the first inning and a two-run
shot by Shelby Blodgett in the fourth.
Warrenton finishes 9-12 overall,
with Rachel Dyer and Niqui Blodgett
as the only Warrior seniors.
ARRENTON — The Warrenton
Warriors can still earn a spot in the
state playoffs, but the Warriors will
go in as a lower seed if they do, following a
heartbreaking league playoff loss Thursday.
Clatskanie — which lost three games
to Warrenton during the league season —
finally found a way to beat the Warriors.
Clatskanie pitcher James Helmen tossed
a three-hitter, and the Tigers (8-14 overall)
earned the No. 2 seed out of the Lewis &
Clark League with a 2-1 victory on Warren-
ton’s home field.
The Warriors (17-4 overall) will play the
waiting game, and will find out by 10 p.m.
Saturday (possibly earlier) if they earn an
at-large bid to the state playoffs.
Two of the final 16 teams earn at-large
bids to the playoffs, and the Warriors are cur-
rently in the on-deck circle for the first spot.
“The worst part now is a 51-hour waiting
period before we find out,” said Warrenton
coach Lennie Wolfe. “We’ll practice Friday
as an act of faith that we get in.
“Of course we could have made it eas-
ier on ourselves by winning today,” he said.
“But we just didn’t play as well as we have
been. Helmen threw a good game, and so
you have to tip your hat to him. I certainly
don’t want to diminish the way Clatskanie
played.”
Both teams scored a run in the first inning,
and that was it until the Tigers managed to
push across a run in the top of the sixth.
Helmen struck out four of the final seven
W
Devin Jackson delivers a pitch to the plate for Warrenton.
batters he faced, and finished with 10 strike-
outs, two walks.
Warrenton pitchers Devin Jackson and
Dalton Knight gave up a combined six hits
with eight strikeouts and four walks. Jackson
pitched five-plus innings before giving way
to Knight in the sixth.
The Tigers had their leadoff runner on
base in the first, third, fourth, fifth and sixth
innings, but Clatskanie had trouble coming
up with the big hit as well.
Clatskanie stranded 12 baserunners, and
left the bases loaded in the first and seventh
innings.
Warrenton’s lone run came in the bottom
of the first, when Gabe Breitmeyer’s two-out
double scored Austin Little with the tying
run.
The Warriors just didn’t have a lot of
opportunities after that.
Warrenton catcher Jacob Morrow made
what appeared to be the play of the game
in the top of the sixth. With a Tiger runner
at first and no outs, Morrow made a diving
catch off a bunt attempt by Clatskanie’s Sam
Shockley.
And, still laying on the ground, Morrow
got the ball to first before the Clatskanie run-
ner could return for a double play.
Instead, Helmen and Cade Warren fol-
lowed with back-to-back doubles that
resulted in the go-ahead run.
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — Astoria at Rainier, 4:30 p.m.;
Kennedy at Knappa, 4:30 p.m.
Softball — 4A regional play-in: Astoria at
Elmira, 4 p.m.
Track — OSAA State meet (all classes),
Hayward Field, Eugene
SATURDAY
Track — OSAA State meet, 6A/5A/4A,
Hayward Field, Eugene
BASEBALL
Clatskanie 2, Warrenton 1
Clatskanie 100 001 0—2 6 2
Warrenton 100 000 0—1 3 4
Helmen and Warren; Jackson, Knight (6)
and Morrow. W: Helmen. L: Knight. RBI: Cla,
F.Evenson, Warren; War, Breitmeyer. 2B:
Cla, Helmen 2, Warren; War, Breitmeyer.
HBP: Cla, Sterba. LOB: Clatskanie 12, War-
renton 4. DP: Warrenton.
SOFTBALL
Clatskanie 10, Warrenton 1
Warrenton 000 100 0—1 1 5
Clatskanie 321 301 x—10 9 1
W: Shelby Blodgett (12 Ks, 6 walks). L:
Niqui Blodgett (9 Ks, 3 walks). RBI: War,
Duncan; Cla, Smith 2, Blodgett 2, Sprague,
Warren. 2B: Cla, Smith. HR: Cla, Smith
Blodgett. LOB: Warrenton 6, Clatskanie 6.
Tigers put together late rally over Mariners
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Less than a week
ago, Matthew Boyd was trying to
figure out how to slow a Seattle
lineup that included Robinson Cano
and Nelson Cruz in the middle of the
batting order.
It was a bit easier for the Detroit
left-hander on Thursday night with
Cano now suspended and Cruz nurs-
ing a sore foot.
“It’s huge. Cano’s a Hall of Famer
and Cruz, he’s one of the best power
hitters in the league,” Boyd said.
“With those two out of there, you’d
be lying to say it’s not different.”
Boyd was the beginning of a
strong pitching performance that kept
the Tigers close long enough for Jose
Iglesias’ two-out, two-run single in the
eighth inning that gave Detroit a 3-2
win over the Mariners on Thursday.
Boyd struck out a career-high
nine and didn’t factor in the deci-
UP NEXT: MARINERS
Today, 7:10 p.m. in Seattle
TV: RTNW RADIO: 1490 AM
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Seattle Mariners’ Dee Gordon
heads back to the dugout after
striking out swinging in the
seventh inning.
sion but was part of a solid night by
the Tigers’ staff. After Mitch Hani-
ger’s RBI single in the third inning,
the Mariners’ only hits were a pair of
singles by Guillermo Heredia — one
in the fourth and another leading off
the seventh inning.
Boyd combined with Buck
Farmer, Blaine Hardy, Warwick Sau-
pold (2-1), Joe Jimenez and Shane
Greene to retire 20 of the final 23
batters faced. Jimenez struck out the
side in the eighth inning and Greene
pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
“Our pitchers gave us a chance,”
Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire
said. “Boyd was fantastic, got us
through six solid. Our bullpen we
had to maneuver through that and
get some big outs for us.”
Detroit rallied against Seattle’s
bullpen and specifically eighth-inning
regular Nick Vincent (1-1) to take the
opener of the four-game series.
Seahawks sign
draft picks
Griffin, Flowers
RENTON, Wash. — The Seat-
tle Seahawks continued to lock up
their 2018 draft class by signing
linebacker Shaquem Griffin and
cornerback Tre Flowers to rookie
contracts Thursday.
Third-round pick Rasheem
Green is now Seattle’s lone
unsigned draft pick. Griffin and
Flowers were both selected in the
fifth round.
The Seahawks also signed free
agent linebacker Dadi Nicolas
and wide receiver Keenan Reyn-
olds. Defensive ends Marcell
Frazier and Noble Nwachukwu
were waived to make room on
the 90-man roster. Nicolas was a
sixth-round pick of Kansas City in
2016 and appeared in 11 games,
mostly on special teams.
— Associated Press