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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Warrenton wins two baseball games The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — Three teams converged on Warrenton’s Hud- dleston Field for three days of baseball over the weekend, as the Warriors hosted Clatskanie and Kennedy for a Junior State four- game exhibition. Kennedy and Warrenton opened the action Friday, with the Trojans topping the Warriors 2-1 in a defen- sive pitcher’s duel. Warrenton’s Austin Little gave up seven hits with strikeouts and two walks in six innings of work, but he didn’t get much offensive support as Kennedy scored the win. The Warriors bounced back Sat- urday against Clatskanie, which had to borrow a few players from Kennedy to field a team. Warrenton pitcher Dalton Knight earned the victory, allowing 10 hits but striking out 11 in a 9-7 Warrenton win. And the Warriors wrapped up the weekend Sunday afternoon with a 14-8 win over Kennedy, with Gabe Breitmeyer pitching five-and- a-third innings, striking out eight. “Austin really pitched well enough to win Friday’s game, we just didn’t have much behind him offensively,” said Warren- ton coach Lennie Wolfe. “And our boys played Saturday’s game after a couple basketball games in the morning.” For the weekend, Kale’o Kapua moved into the leadoff spot and was just 2-for-5 over the three games, but scored four runs and was on base nine out of 11 times at bat. Little was 3-for-7 and scored seven runs, Jacob Morrow went 5-for-8 with three doubles and a tri- ple, Breitmeyer was 5-for-9, and Alec Herrera was 4-for-10. The Warriors were missing Devin Jackson for Saturday’s game, and Knight for Sunday’s contest. Still, “It was just a fun week- end,” Wolfe said. “It was great to have two high-quality teams in for a tournament-style weekend of baseball. That’s what you want in the summer. Kennedy is just a first- class program. I’ve always been a fan of (Kennedy coach) Kevin Moffatt and his teams. Great fans, they’re a quality program and they do everything in a quality way.” The Warriors host a double- header Wednesday vs. Neah-Kah- Nie, beginning at 4 p.m. Warren- ton will also be hosting its annual alumni game Saturday at noon. Seaside sweeps past Astoria Ford The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Two solid pitch- ing performances helped Seaside score two solid wins Friday at Broadway Field, where the Gulls hosted Astoria Ford in a Junior State baseball doubleheader. Duncan Thompson went the distance on the mound for Sea- side in Game 1, a 4-3 win for the Gulls, as Thompson got the best of Astoria’s Dylan Rush in a pitch- er’s duel. In the nightcap, Seaside’s Brayden Johnson pitched five innings then gave way to Justin Morris, who managed to hold off the Fishermen for a 9-7 win. Gressel ties it in Atlanta United’s 1-1 draw with Timbers Associated Press ATLANTA — Julian Gressel tied it in the 56th minute and Atlanta United held on for a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on Sunday. A loose ball deflection off defender Larrys Mabiala bounced into Gressel’s path and he pounced on it with a right- footed volley. Atlanta (10-3-4) stayed atop the MLS standings and extended its unbeaten streak to five games. AP Photos/Nati Harnik Oregon State first baseman Zak Taylor smiles after a double play against Mississippi State ended the sixth inning of Saturday’s NCAA College World Series baseball elimination game in Omaha, Neb. Oregon State Beavers out to finish redemption tour against Arkansas By ERIC OLSON Associated Press O MAHA, Neb. — Oregon State has won 109 of 127 baseball games over two seasons with mostly the same cast of players. The Beavers see winning a national championship as the only way to val- idate their body of work. “Ultimately,” Beavers coach Pat Casey said Sunday, “nobody cares how many games you win unless you win the last one.” Standing between Oregon State (53-11-1) and the title is Arkansas (47-19) in the best- of-three College World Series finals starting Monday night. The Beavers lost their CWS opener and staved off elimination four times to reach the finals for the first time since 2007, when they won the second of two straight championships. The Razorbacks swept through their bracket in three games, knocking off defend- ing champion and No. 1 overall seed Florida to make the finals for the first time in the best- of-three era. Arkansas was runner-up in 1979. Oregon State showed up in Omaha last year as the No. 1 seed and with a 54-4 record, the highest winning percentage (.931) of any team entering the CWS since Texas came in 57-4 (.934) in 1982. The Beavers won their first two games, then lost two straight to LSU in a shocking ending to the season. The Beavers have been on a redemption tour in 2018 with an everyday lineup including all but one player from last year and a pitching staff that returned two weekend starters. Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn is in awe of what the Pac-12’s Beavers have accomplished. “To win that many ballgames, it’s almost amazing to me, because I how hard it is to win,” he said. “We talk about it all the time. UP NEXT: CWS • Arkansas Razorbacks (3-0) vs Oregon State Beavers (3-1) • Today, 4 p.m. TV: ESPN ‘NOBODY CARES HOW MANY GAMES YOU WIN UNLESS YOU WIN THE LAST ONE.’ Pat Casey | Oregon State Beavers coach How are they doing it? It’s not like they’re in Houston where they can just run down the street and grab players. They’re going all over the place and they’re doing it with kids from their region.” The Razorbacks, previously in Omaha in 2015, have been ascending since going 26-29 and failing to make the NCAA Tournament in 2016. They lost in a regional final last year and now are in position to play for the title. Like Oregon State, Arkansas has many of its key contributors back. The Razorbacks also have two of the best freshmen in the country in third baseman Casey Martin and left fielder Heston Kjerstad, who have combined for 27 home runs. Pitching plans Arkansas’ Blaine Knight (13-0) will start Monday, followed by Kacey Murphy (8-5) on Tuesday and Isaiah Campbell (5-6) if a game Oregon State coach Pat Casey talks to reporters during Friday’s practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. is necessary Wednesday. Casey didn’t name a Game 1 starter. Ace Luke Heimlich (16-2) would be coming off four days of rest after not getting out of the third inning in either of his starts in Omaha. Two-out tenacity Oregon State is batting .449 (35 of 78) with two outs, and 28 of its 47 RBIs have come with two outs. “I would prefer that they would start that a little sooner before we get two outs,” Casey said. “Maybe we can score a few more runs.” ‘Ducks at the Beach’ brings in ex-Oregon players By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — There was lots of green and yellow attire on the golf course Friday afternoon at the Astoria Golf & Country Club. Hats, shirts, shorts, jackets … and most it was Oregon Ducks-related. That’s because fans of the University of Oregon — in addition to some real- life Oregon Ducks — covered the course for the annual “Ducks at the Beach” event. The country club was the host course for the ninth annual gathering, a yearly fundraiser for the University of Oregon. For a fee, fans and follow- ers of the Ducks get to play golf with former players and an ex-coach. Year after year, the event held at the Astoria Country Club draws some pretty famous names to Clatsop County. And those famous names enjoy the trip to the North Coast. They must, because they keep coming back. “I think I’ve been here every single year,” said former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, making his ninth trip to the North Coast. “Ducks at the Beach is one of the annual things we do and have a lot of fun at. And it’s actually nice weather today. They prom- ise me good weather every year — it doesn’t always happen, but this is pretty nice. Tim Regan (the event organizer) and his crew do a nice job of putting up this thing.” In addition to the coach, Ducks at the Beach Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, left, helps wife Colleen line up a putt Friday at the Asto- ria Golf & Country Club. brings in a short list of ex-Oregon players. This year’s group included former receivers Jeff Maehl (2007-10) and Greg Moser (1979-82), along with quarterbacks Jason Fife (2002-03) and Chris Miller (1983-86), and more recent Ducks Brent Haberly, Brandon McLemore, Kevin Mitchell and Rasuli Webster. After his college career, Miller starred for the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams in the NFL. He’s also a pretty good golfer. “We’re in Astoria, the sun’s out, it’s gorgeous, it’s not too windy and not raining, I’m out with a bunch of former Ducks … so I’m having a good time and enjoying it,” Miller said. Miller coaches football at West Linn High School, and brought his team to Seaside for a sum- mer scrimmage in 2016. And the day would not have been complete with- out a little Oregon football forecast for the 2018 season. The Ducks have a new head coach, as Mario Cristobal replaces Willie Taggert after one season, and becomes Oregon’s third coach in three years. The change brings “excitement, to a degree,” said Bellotti, Oregon’s all-time leader in coaching victories. “You have someone who has been on the staff before, so he’s somewhat of a known commod- ity, at least as a person and a coach. Maybe not as a head coach, but I think Mario Cristobal is going to do a great job. He’s taken up the mantle of recruit- ing for Willie Taggart, and that was one of the things that Taggart brought to the program. “He’s got Justin Herbert coming back, (defen- sive coach) Jim Leavitt and that defense … so I see them having a really good year. Probably eight to 10 games in the win column. I’m excited to see what the Ducks are going to be under Mario Cristobal.”
