10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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Five Warrenton players
Warrenton’s Wolfe
earn all-league honors named Coach of the Year
The Daily Astorian
The Daily Astorian
Not surprisingly, the two dominant teams of
Lewis & Clark League softball also dominated
the league’s all-league selections, as voted on
by the league’s coaches.
Rainier junior Taleah King was named
Player of the Year, to go with nine of her team-
mates who joined King on the all-league team
(six first-team, four second-team). Rainier’s Jim
Knox was selected as the Coach of the Year, as
the Columbians came up short in the 3A state
championship game to Dayton, which defeated
Rainier 3-2 Saturday.
Clatskanie finished second behind Rainier in
the league standings, and lost to Dayton in the
state semifinals. The Tigers had seven players
named all-league, including three freshmen on
the first team.
Warrenton finished third in the league stand-
ings and had five players on the all-league team,
including senior pitcher Niqui Blodgett and
sophomore outfielder Kenz Ramsey on the first
team.
Junior Claire Bussert was selected to the
second team, along with Warrior sophomores
Paisley Baker and Melia Kapua.
Last-place Portland Christian was given the
Sportsmanship Award.
The Lewis & Clark League’s baseball team
of the present is also its team of the future, as
the Warrenton Warriors had six players named
to the league’s all-league squad, none of them
seniors.
Rainier junior Austin Cantrell was selected
as the league’s Player of the Year, joining eight
other Columbian players on the all-league team,
four on the first-team.
Warrenton’s Lennie Wolfe earned Coach of
the Year honors for the 10th time in his career
and first since 2011, as the Warriors went from
1-17 in 2017 to 17-5 and league co-champions
this season.
The Warriors had three sophomores on the
first team: catcher Jacob Morrow, and pitcher/
infielders Devin Jackson and Austin Little.
Juniors Kale’o Kapua and Dalton Knight
were named second team, along with sopho-
more Gabe Breitmeyer.
Last-place Portland Christian was given the
Sportsmanship Award.
Devin Jackson was one of four Warrenton
sophomores on the all-league team.
Lewis & Clark All-League
Player of the Year: Austin Cantrell, Rainier
Coach of the Year: Lennie Wolfe, Warrenton
First Team
Austin Cantrell, Jr., Rainier
Dawson Carr, Sr., Rainier
Dawson Evenson, So., Clatskanie
James Helmen, So., Clatskanie
Devin Jackson, So., Warrenton
Austin Little, So., Warrenton
Jacob Morrow, So., Warrenton
Kaleb Osborne, Sr., Portland C.
Caymon Rea, Sr., Rainier
Joey Tripp, Jr., Rainier
Cade Warren, So., Clatskanie
Ned Williamson, Sr., Catlin Gabel
Second Team
Hunter Boulch, Jr., Rainier
Gabe Breitmeyer, So., Warrenton
Darian Guerr, Sr., Rainier
Jordan Kangas, So., Rainier
Logan Keizur, Jr., Rainier
Kale’o Kapua, Jr., Warrenton
Dalton Knight, Jr., Warrenton
Nelson Marshall, Sr., Portland C.
Ubedei McGautha, Fr., Catlin Gabel
Aidan Perry, Sr., Portland C.
Conner Rea, So., Rainier
Sean Uan-Zo-Li, Fr., Catlin Gabel
Sportsmanship: Portland Christian
Lewis & Clark All-League
Player of the Year: Taleah King, Rainier
Coach of the Year: Jim Knox, Rainier
First Team
Taleah King, Jr., Rainier
Niqui Blodgett, Sr., Warrenton
Shelby Blodgett, Fr., Clatskanie
Kyla Howell, Jr., Rainier
Paige Kellar, So., Rainier
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Sophomore Kenz Ramsey was one of five
Warrenton players to earn Lewis & Clark
All-League honors.
Jaedyn Larsen, So., Rainier
Aspen Norman, Sr., Rainier
Rylee O’Brien, Jr., Rainier
Kenz Ramsey, So., Warrenton
Alexis Smith, Fr., Clatskanie
Olivia Sprague, Fr., Clatskanie
Olivia Warren, Sr., Clatskanie
Second Team
Paisley Baker, So., Warrenton
Kim Brusco, Jr., Rainier
Claire Bussert, Jr., Warrenton
Josie Ernst, Fr., Portland C.
Qira Faught, Jr., Rainier
Trinity Hamm, So., Clatskanie
Briana Harrison, Sr., Rainier
Maris Jackson, Jr., Clatskanie
Melia Kapua, So., Warrenton
Jayden Makinson, So., Clatskanie
Reese Schimmel, Fr., Rainier
Olivia Stumetz, Fr., Portland C.
Sportsmanship: Portland Christian
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Reality check about to arrive
for the first-place Mariners
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
S
Phil Huber/The Dallas Morning News
San Francisco 49ers wide re-
ceiver Dwight Clark makes ‘The
Catch’ on Jan. 10, 1982.
Dwight Clark,
49er great
who made
‘The Catch,’
dies at 61
Associated Press
SANTA CLARA, Calif.
— Dwight Clark will forever
be remembered for one iconic
moment, his leap in the back of
the end zone to make a fingertip
grab of a game-winning touch-
down that launched the San Fran-
cisco 49ers dynasty and is one of
the most indelible images in NFL
history.
Clark, the author of one play
simply known as “The Catch,”
died Monday just more than one
year after revealing he had ALS.
He was 61. He suspected play-
ing football might have caused the
illness.
Former 49ers owner Eddie
DeBartolo Jr. recently hosted a
reunion in Montana where many
of Clark’s former teammates came
for one final goodbye.
“My heart is broken,” DeBar-
tolo said in a statement. “Today,
I lost my little brother and one of
my best friends.”
Clark won two Super Bowls
with the 49ers during a nine-year
career that ended in 1987. He
memorably pulled down the win-
ning touchdown pass from Joe
Montana in the NFC champion-
ship game against the Dallas Cow-
boys on Jan. 10, 1982, following
the 1981 season. The 49ers went
on to win the game 28-27 and then
their first Super Bowl two weeks
later against Cincinnati.
It’s considered one of the most
significant plays in NFL history.
The Niners went on to win five
Super Bowl titles in 14 seasons.
EATTLE — The last time the
Seattle Mariners were in first
place this deep into the season,
the current hitting coach was the des-
ignated hitter, the current “Special
Assistant to the Chairman” was hit-
ting .352 at the top of the order, and
the club won 93 games but missed the
playoffs.
Yes, it has been a long time since
Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki had
the Mariners in contention like they
are right now.
“We just love playing for each
other right now,” pitcher Marco Gon-
zales said. “We’re all rallying around
each other and it’s a lot of fun to be
out there.”
The Mariners started Monday at
37-22 and with a one-game lead in the
AL West, a position they haven’t held
this far into a season since late August
2003. That’s nearly 15 years since the
club has sniffed the clear air of the
division lead outside the early stages
of the regular season. An entire gener-
ation of Little Leaguers in the Pacific
Northwest who look up to the likes of
Nelson Cruz, James Paxton and Dee
Gordon have never seen the Mariners
in contention like this on the cusp of
summer’s arrival.
And it’s not happening because the
division is terrible — four teams are
above .500 — but rather because Seat-
tle is finding ways to win despite inju-
ries and suspension. The Mariners are
15 games over .500. They lead base-
ball with 18 one-run wins. They’re
6-0 in extra-inning games. Since Rob-
inson Cano first broke a bone in his
hand, and then was suspended for 80
games two days later for violating
baseball’s joint drug policy, the Mar-
iners are 14-5.
But a reality check may be on the
horizon.
“We’ve taken care of business so
far to put us in this position and I think
our guys are really looking forward to
the next three weeks,” manager Scott
Servais said. “We’ll find out how good
we are.”
The quality of Seattle’s start
shouldn’t be diminished, yet it hasn’t
come against the elite of the American
League. Seattle has played the major-
ity of its games against teams with
records below .500 as of the start of
play Monday. They haven’t seen Bos-
ton or the New York Yankees.
So Servais understood when he
was asked about the Mariners’ upcom-
ing schedule. Beginning Tuesday, the
Mariners play 15 of the next 19 games
against Houston, Boston, the Yankees
and the Angels.
“We’re exactly where we should
SPORTS
IN BRIEF
Capitals on
verge of Cup
after blowing out
Golden Knights
WASHINGTON — Evgeny
Kuznetsov smiled about getting
four assists. He tried not to smile too
much at the thought of being one
win away from the Stanley Cup.
With Kuznetsov and goalten-
der Braden Holtby leading the
way, the Washington Capitals are
on the verge of capturing the first
title in their 43rd season after rout-
ing the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2
on Monday night to take a com-
manding 3-1 series lead.
Alex Ovechkin and the Cap-
itals will get their first chance to
hoist the Cup in Game 5 on Thurs-
day night in Las Vegas.
Florida St. tops
Washington, takes
lead in title series
AP Photo/John Froschauer
Seattle Mariners’ Dee Gordon, left, and Guillermo Heredia celebrate a
win over the Tampa Bay Rays during Sunday’s game in Seattle.
UP NEXT: MARINERS
• Seattle Mariners (37-22)
at Houston Astros (37-24)
• Today, 5:10 p.m. TV: RTNW
‘It’s just a
different feeling.
I can’t really
describe it other
than to say I
love our team.’
Scott Servais
manager
be. We’ve played well to this point,”
Servais said. “The teams we have
coming up — and we talk about every-
body looks at their schedule when it
comes out, and during spring training,
and we need to get off to a good start.
And people say you’ve got this pocket
here you’re going to be on the road for
a while or playing the tough teams in
June or July, everybody has got those
stretches in their schedule.”
Last year at this time, Seattle was
already 13½ games back in the divi-
sion. They’ve reached first place
despite an extensive injury list that
goes back to spring training when top
reliever David Phelps was lost for the
season due to Tommy John surgery.
Among the position players, there
have been two oblique injuries (Ben
Gamel and Mike Zunino), two ankles
(Nelson Cruz and Ryon Healy), a
hand fracture (Cano) and a fractured
toe (Dee Gordon). All told, those six
missed a combined 67 games due to
injury.
Seattle is still a flawed team, espe-
cially without Cano in the lineup. In
the 19 games since Cano went out, the
Mariners have scored less than four
runs 11 times. But the pitching staff
has been solid with unexpected suc-
cess from Gonzales and Wade LeB-
lanc, and Edwin Diaz leading the
league in saves.
“We haven’t had this run we’ve
had here with all the close games and
doing it the way we were doing,” Ser-
vais said. “We had stretches where
we’d win six out of seven, or we had
the stretch a couple of years ago in
September where we won eight or
nine in a row. But this has been differ-
ent in the fact that it’s early in the sea-
son, we have a lot to play for, we have
a lot of big games ahead of us. It’s
just a different feeling. I can’t really
describe it other than to say I love our
team.”
OKLAHOMA CITY — Some-
thing had to give.
Both Florida State’s Meghan
King and Washington’s Gabbie Plain
entered Game 1 of the Women’s
College World Series championship
series with two wins and no earned
runs allowed in Oklahoma City.
Finally, Florida State broke
through. Sophomore catcher Anna
Shelnutt’s solo homer in the sixth
inning helped the Seminoles defeat
Washington 1-0 on Monday night
to start the best-of-three series.
Shelnutt had hit just five home
runs this season, but the player her
teammates call “Postseason Anna”
came through.
Trump scraps
Eagles visit to
avoid low turnout
WASHINGTON — Fuming
over the risk of low turnout, Pres-
ident Donald Trump canceled a
White House visit for the Super
Bowl champion Philadelphia
Eagles and eagerly stoked fresh
drama Tuesday over players who
protest racial injustice by taking a
knee during the national anthem.
“Staying in the Locker Room
for the playing of our National
Anthem is as disrespectful to
our country as kneeling. Sorry!”
Trump tweeted Tuesday — even
though none of the Super Bowl
champion Eagles had taken a knee
during the anthem in 2017.
— Associated Press