10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2018
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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BRITISH OPEN
Spieth takes
a stumble
in his title
defense
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
CARNOUSTIE, Scotland —
Through 14 holes, Jordan Spieth
was challenging for the lead in the
British Open and making it look
easy.
“Just a clean round of golf,”
he said.
And then it got messy in a
hurry.
Spieth came undone on the
tough closing stretch at Car-
noustie, dropping four shots over
the final four holes. One shot
went into the bunker. Another
went into the Barry Burn. Another
was closer to the gallery than the
green.
He had to sign for a 1-over
72, the fifth time in his last seven
majors that he was over par after
the opening round.
What bothered Spieth was not
so much a shot, but a decision.
His slide began on the 492-
yard 15th hole, when he chose
4-iron off the tee and the ball
bounced to the left on the crusty
links into wispy fescue. That
wasn’t a problem. Spieth was 202
yards from the front of the green
and decided to hit 6-iron that
would land short of the green and
roll onto the putting surface.
The risk was hitting into a pot
bunker, and he found the worst
one.
“Even if goes 20 yards over
the green, it’s an easy up-and-
down,” Spieth said. “And that’s
what I would consider a signif-
icant advantage for me is rec-
ognizing where the misses are.
And I just had had a brain fart. I
missed it into the ... only pot bun-
ker where I could actually get in
trouble. And it plugged deep into
it.”
Thomas wins
in yellow on
Alpe d’Huez and
distances Froome
By ANDREW DAMPF
Associated Press
ALPE D’HUEZ, France —
Geraint Thomas sprinted away
from Sky teammate Chris Froome
to win the legendary climb up
Alpe d’Huez while wearing the
yellow jersey in the Tour de
France on Thursday.
With questions over which
rider Sky is backing for vic-
tory, it was a bold demonstration
of strength by Thomas, who has
been Froome’s loyal lieutenant for
years.
“In my eyes Froomey is still
our leader,” Thomas said. “I’m
just going to enjoy it now.”
Thomas took yellow with a
victory a day earlier. Now he has
become the first British rider to
win atop Huez and the first of any
nationality to win here in the yel-
low jersey.
Lance Armstrong won an indi-
vidual time trial up Huez in 2004
while wearing yellow but that vic-
tory was later stripped for doping.
“Unbelievable. Not in my
wildest dreams did I ever think I
would win up here,” Thomas said.
“It’s one of those things that’s
going to stay with me for the rest
of my life.”
SCOREBOARD
LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Junior baseball: State tournament
(at Crescent Valley HS): Warrenton vs.
Crescent Valley, 5 p.m.
BASEBALL
Vancouver 7, Hilander Dental 5
Vancouver 021 102 1—7 12 2
Hilander
000 310 1—5 6 1
Mansur, McCarthy (6), Rogina (7),
Minich (7) and Francis; Hensley, Jenkins
(6) and Miller. W: Mansur. L: Jenkins.
RBI: Van, Gulliford 2, Donohoe, Hill,
Mansur, McCarthy, Moen; HD, D.Takalo
2, Miller 2, Jenkins. 2B: Van, Gulliford,
Hill, Mansur; HD, Brown. HBP: HD, E.
Takalo. DP: Vancouver.
Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Knappa’s Kaleb Miller laid down two big bunts Wednesday, one that scored Trey Hageman with the tying run.
Vancouver scores win over Hilander Dental
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
L
ONGVIEW, Wash. — The contingent
from Clatsop County kept it close, but
ultimately their team fell short in a AAA
Legion baseball game Wednesday evening in
Longview, Washington.
The Vancouver Mavericks built a 4-0 lead,
lost it, then outscored Hilander Dental 3-1
over the final two innings for a 7-5 win, in a
game played at R.A. Long High School.
Vancouver needed four pitchers to hold off
Hilander, the sponsor for the Lower Columbia
Baseball Club’s AAA Legion team.
Hilander Dental rallied with three runs in
the bottom of the fourth and one in the fifth
to tie the game at 4-4 heading into the sixth
inning.
The tying run for Hilander came by way of
a sacrifice bunt from Knappa’s Kaleb Miller,
scoring Astoria’s Trey Hageman from third
base.
The Mavericks answered quickly, scoring
two runs in the top of the sixth. Vancouver
also turned a key double play in the bottom of
the sixth to squelch a potential Hildander rally.
Both teams scored a run in the seventh
inning
It was the final home game of the
season for Hilander Dental, which will take
part in a four-day tournament in Newport
LEFT: Seaside’s Payton Westerholm, right, flips the ball to teammate Zach Brown for a
force out in Wednesday’s game. RIGHT: The infield for Hilander Dental, including Asto-
ria’s Trey Hageman, left, and Knappa’s Dale Takalo, second from left, during a break in
the action late in Wednesday’s game.
beginning Thursday.
With over half their starters from Clatsop
County, it’s no surprise that the representa-
tives from Astoria, Seaside and Knappa con-
tinue to put up the big numbers for Hildander
Dental.
In Wednesday’s game, Miller and
Logger teammate Dale Takalo drove in
two runs apiece, while Hageman scored two
of the five runs.
Hageman, Miller and Knappa’s brother
tandem of Dale and Eli Takalo combined for
11 “quality at-bats,” while each Takalo had a
stolen base, and Miller picked off a runner at
first base from his catcher position.
Zach Brown (from Wahkiakum) went
3-for-4 to lead Hilander Dental, which drops
to 17-13-1, behind Vancouver’s 20-14-2.
THE ESPYS
Sex abuse victims join hands, accept courage award
By BETH HARRIS
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — More than
140 survivors of sexual abuse by a
former team doctor for USA Gym-
nastics and Michigan State University
joined hands on stage to be honored
with the Arthur Ashe Award for Cour-
age at the ESPYs.
The women who spoke out against
the abuse by Larry Nassar stood
together Wednesday night in a pow-
erful and solemn closing to the show
highlighting the past year’s top ath-
letes and moments in sports.
Gymnast Aly Raisman, softball
player Tiffany Thomas Lopez and
gymnast Sarah Klein, who said she
was Nassar’s first victim 30 years
ago, took turns speaking. Klein
chided the U.S. Olympic Committee,
USA Gymnastics and Michigan State
for placing “money and medals above
the safety of child athletes.”
Olympic snowboarding cham-
pion Chloe Kim won a leading three
ESPYs, including best female athlete,
while Alex Ovechkin claimed best
male athlete.
Kim had tears in her eyes as she
listened to the Arthur Ashe recipients.
“We must start caring about chil-
dren’s safety more than we care about
adults’ reputations,” Klein said. “If
we can just give one person the cour-
age to use their voice, this is worth it.”
Raisman added: “For too long
we were ignored. It could have been
avoided. All we needed was one adult
to have the integrity to stand between
us and Larry Nassar.”
Phil McCarten/Invision/AP
Former gymnast Sarah Klein, former Michigan State softball player Tiffa-
ny Thomas Lopez and gymnast Aly Raisman, from left in front, and others
who suffered sexual abuse accept the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at
Wednesday’s ESPY Awards at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
The audience gave the group
a prolonged standing ovation and
remained on its feet while the women
spoke.
“What a powerful stage up here,”
host Danica Patrick said before sign-
ing off.
Ovechkin joined Roger Federer
and Olympic snowboarder Shaun
White as double winners. Ovechkin
was in Russia with his wife, Nastya,
who is 8½ months pregnant.
Newly retired racecar driver Pat-
rick became the first woman to host
the show, held at the Microsoft The-
ater in downtown Los Angeles. Her
opening monologue mostly fell flat,
with athletes sitting stone-faced or
wincing at many of the jokes.
Kim took female athlete honors
over Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin,
WNBA player Sylvia Fowles and
soccer player Julie Ertz.
“This year has been filled with so
many incredible memories I will hold
onto the rest of my life,” Kim said as
she held the silver trophy. “I really
want to thank my family. They’ve
sacrificed so much for me.”
Kim also claimed trophies for
best female Olympian and female
action sports athlete. At the Pyeongc-
hang Games in February, she became
the youngest to win a snowboard-
ing medal when the then-17-year-old
claimed gold in halfpipe.
Ovechkin, who led the Washing-
ton Capitals to their first Stanley Cup
championship, also won for best NHL
player. He beat out Patriots quarter-
back Tom Brady and fellow first-time
nominees Jose Altuve of the Hous-
ton Astros and James Harden of the
Houston Rockets for male athlete.
Federer’s five-set victory at the
Australian Open in January for his
20th Grand Slam singles title earned
honors for record-breaking perfor-
mance, and he also received best male
tennis player.
White won best Olympic moment
with his final-run performance in
South Korea featuring back-to-back
1440s to take gold, and best male
Olympian.
The Astros were honored as best
team for winning the franchise’s first
World Series.
LeBron James, soon to be star-
ring across the street at Staples Cen-
ter with the Los Angeles Lakers, won
best NBA player for the third straight
year on his 14th consecutive nomina-
tion in the category.
Brady claimed best NFL player,
while Mike Trout of the Los Angeles
Angels won MLB player.
On a big night for Olympians, the
U.S. women’s hockey team earned
best game honors for its shootout vic-
tory over Canada in the gold-medal
game in South Korea.
Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz
earned breakthrough athlete honors.