8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Seahawks release former second-round pick McDowell SPORTS IN BRIEF Another safety holdout overshadows start of Seahawks camp Associated Press RENTON, Wash. — The Seat- tle Seahawks released defensive lineman Malik McDowell at the start of training camp Thursday. The 2017 second-round pick never played a down for the team following an ATV accident. RENTON, Wash. — For the second time in four seasons, the Seattle Seahawks have started training camp with a star safety absent because of his contract situation. This one may not end as ami- cably as the last time. In an offseason already filled with big name departures, the Seahawks opened camp Thursday without safety Earl Thomas, who is trying to force the hand of the only franchise he’s played for in his attempt to get a new contract. Thomas’ current deal runs through the end of the upcoming season. He announced his inten- tions in June to skip any team activities until Seattle addressed his long-term security and he held true to that statement by skipping the mandatory minicamp and not showing up for the Seahawks’ first practice. Cornerback DeAndre Elliott were also released ahead of Seat- tle’s first practice. McDowell was released with a non-football injury designation, while Elliott failed his physical. Seattle had high hopes for McDowell when he was taken as the Seahawks’ first draft pick in 2017. He never saw the field, though, after suffering a severe concussion in an ATV accident prior to the start of training camp a year ago. The team remained vague about his specific inju- ries throughout last season, but it became clear he might never suit up. The Seahawks also placed safety Kam Chancellor on the reserve/physically unable to per- form list. The procedural move was expected after Chancellor announced he was unlikely to play again due to a neck injury but didn’t officially retire due to his contract. Lara Mack Tennant, defending women’s champion, tees off over the water on the ninth hole. SCOREBOARD W LOCAL SPORTS SCHEDULE TODAY Golf: Oregon Coast Invitational, at As- toria Golf & Country Club, all day. GOLF Oregon Coast Invitational Thursday’s results Women’s Championship flight: Gigi Stoll def. Molly Edmunds; Alex McMenamin def. Cappy Mack; Lara Tennant def. Amanda Jacobs; Gretchen Johnson def. Brooke Hamilton. First flight: Ali Battaglia def. Robin Wood; Linette Weislogel def. Joey Ring- wald; Kat Magner def. Marcella Betts; Katie Sturgell def. Dawn McIntosh. Women’s Seniors Championship flight: Terry Mattson def. Wanda Osgood; Leslie Bickmore def. Marie Gann; Dotty Johnson def. Kristin Finnegan; Vicki Okazaki def. Bet- sy Furrer. First flight: Mary Jacobs def. Leanne Dehn; Mary Swingle def. Kathy Hub- bard; Jody Orrell def. Beth Clark; Debbi Adams def. Susan Bartholomew. Second flight: Karen Hoffman def. Barb Sloan; Luanne Fordney def. LaVo- na Goforth; Jan Whitty def. Mary Stein; Zeta Rennie def. Kathleen Casey. Third flight: Mary Wohler, bye; Kandi Walters def. Debby Gerrish; Kim Kress def. Kathleen Cooney; Ann Johnson def. Deborah Lacey-Baker. Seniors Championship flight: Robert Tennant def. Scott Melrose; Rob Turk def. Tom Mulflur; Patrick Regan def. Bruce Hart; Doug Wiese def. Bob Knutsen. First flight: Mike Ivory def. John Mc- Gowan; George Osgood def. Wayne McDonnell; Mark Dunbar def. John May- er; Bill Hurst def. Bryn Torkelson. Second flight: Mark Gutzler def. Greg Hope; Rick Campbell def. Harold Buell; Bill Bristol def. Skip Nau; Bret Stevens def. Paul Robben. Third flight: Jim Whittemore def. Rob- ert Smith; Dan Whealdon def. Chris Peterson; Walter Yeaw def. Rick Nelson; Fred Hamel def. Andy Gauntz. Fourth flight: John Shepherd def. Brent Seppa; George Vance def. John Lamont; Mark Branlund def. John Holmes; John Holt def. Larry Perkins. Fifth flight: Randy Zmrhal def. Ev- ans Van Buren; Bart Bartholomew def. Michael McNamara; Jesse French def. Richard Yugler; Mike O’Brien def. Steve Hart. Sixth flight: Bill Stevens def. Robert Sznewajs; Alex Reverman def. John Lansing; Rick Fordney def. Jack Kron; Ed Kropp def. Royal Latham. Seventh flight: Jim Carder, bye; Chester Trabucco, bye; Steve Scruggs, bye; Jerry McCoy, bye. Super Seniors Championship flight: George Mack, Sr. def. Michael Healy; Gaylord Da- vis def. John Lewis; Bill Scharwatt def. Gordon Harris; Jack Cartwright def. Jeff Leinassar. First flight: Marshall Gleason def. Lang Bates; Jeffrey Dehn def. David Vis- tica; Mike Kuratli def. Larry Wobbrock; Roger Stalick def. Jon Palmberg. Second flight: Lou Libby def. Jarrett Jones; Tom Isenhour def. Ray Grubbs; Jerry Romano def. Hugh Stelson; Sam Kress def. Phillip Patton. Third flight: Mike Capri def. Clifford Fick; Stanley Gott def. Kevin Kelly; An- thony Rennie def. Scott Peterson; Steve Ariens def. John Dunkin. Photos by Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Collegiate golfers taking over the Coast Invitational By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian ARRENTON — It was “college all-star day” in the women’s division of the Oregon Coast Invitational. The 108th annual tournament entered Day 4 of match play at the Astoria Golf & Country Club, as the women golfers took to the course Thursday, along with men’s seniors and super seniors. And the championship flight of the women’s division has perhaps the most talent that it’s ever had. Thursday’s action included col- legiate experience in nearly every match. On the course were current Gigi Stoll of the University of Ari- zona and Alexandria McMenamin, a sophomore-to-be at George Fox University. They were joined by Amanda Jacobs, a former University of Idaho Vandal, and ex-Oregon Ducks Brooke Hamilton and Cappy Mack. Former Arizona Wildcat Lara Mack Tennant was a quarterfinalist, along with ex-Port- land Pilot Molly Edmunds. Stoll and McMenamin both scored victories in the champi- onship flight quarterfinals, while Tennant topped Jacobs. Gretchen Johnson was 4-up after nine holes and went on to defeat Hamilton, setting up a rematch of last year’s champion- ship final with Tennant. Stoll will face McMenamin in Friday’s other semifinal. The Ari- zona senior has been turning heads all week with her solid play. In Thursday’s match, Stoll was 7-up after nine holes on her way to the win over Edmunds. “I’m playing well,” Stoll said Bob Knutsen reacts to a narrow miss on the third hole in Thurs- day’s round. Brooke Hamilton, right, and her caddy measure a putt in Thursday’s match. at the turn of Wednesday’s match. “I had five birdies on the front nine, so I’m feeling good. “I just hit it over the green in two on No. 9 (a 424-yard par 5 hole), and chipped to about an inch of the hole. That was probably one of my best holes so far. There’s some good competition coming tomorrow and the next day.” In the championship flight of the seniors division, Robert Ten- nant posted a win over Astoria’s Scott Melrose. Rob Turk and Pat- rick Regan also carded victories, and Doug Wiese topped longtime golfing friend Bob Knutsen. More familiar tournament names came up winners in the super seniors division, as George Mack Sr., Gaylord Davis, Bill Scharwatt and Jack Cartwright all advanced to the semifinals. The semifinals are also set in the championship flight of the women’s seniors division. Terry Mattson will face Astoria Golf’s Leslie Bickmore, and Dotty John- son of Astoria will play Vicki Okazaki. USOC dismisses Solo’s complaint about US Soccer COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Olympic Com- mittee has dismissed a complaint by former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Hope Solo that accused the U.S. Soccer Feder- ation of illegally favoring Major League Soccer. Solo filed the complaint in January when she was among the candidates running for USSF president, a race she lost the fol- lowing month to Carlos Cordeiro. In a ruling signed Tuesday and released Thursday, a panel of three arbitrators ruled Solo had failed to pursue and exhaust her claims within the USSF grievance pro- cess, a necessary step under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Ama- teur Sports Act. That grievance process would have had the case heard by a member of the Amer- ican Arbitration Association or of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Franklin misses out at US Nationals IRVINE, Calif. — Missy Franklin missed out at the U.S. national championships, failing to qualify for the two biggest meets leading up to the 2020 Olympics. Franklin didn’t make the final in either of her events and as a result will miss next month’s Pan Pacific championships in Tokyo and the 2019 world championships. She led through the first three laps in the C final of the 200- meter freestyle on Thursday night before fading to third and touch- ing in 1 minute, 59.15 seconds. “I’ve trained really, really hard the past seven months, and was definitely hoping it would show up a little bit more,” Franklin said. — Associated Press Mariners hoping slumping offense can rediscover punch By TIM BOOTH Associated Press SEATTLE — When the Seat- tle Mariners surged in June and sud- denly became a legitimate playoff contender in the American League, it was largely on the strength of an offense that was scoring plenty of runs with jolts of power at the plate. Just as quickly, that offense has disappeared and become a major con- cern for a team that has seen its lead for the second AL wild card shrink to only a couple of games. “The offense has kind of cooled down. That’s baseball. It’s going to happen once in a while,” short- stop Jean Segura said. “Everybody is dragging, even myself. Every time we go out there we’re trying to do the best that we can ... and sometimes it’s AP Photo/Ted S. Warren Seattle Mariners’ Jean Segura watches his tie-breaking RBI sin- gle during the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants in Seattle. going to be one of those games where you’re dragging and it’s going to be a (lot of) close games down the stretch. One of those teams is going to sepa- rate to make it to the playoffs because those kinds of games you’re going to need to advance to the playoffs.” Whether the Mariners can redis- cover their offensive punch is a major concern with the non-waiver trade deadline approaching and Oakland suddenly nipping at Seattle’s heels in the wild-card race. Seattle’s June surge saw the Mar- iners go 19-9 while averaging 4.5 runs per game, hitting 40 home runs and batting .261 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .754. Everything changed in July. In 18 games this month, the Mariners are averaging 3.2 runs per game, their batting average has dropped to .232 and the OPS to .651. In 11 of the past 14 games, the Mariners have scored three runs or less, putting even more pressure on a pitching staff that so far has thrived in high-pressure situa- tions this season. “You can tear down the stats any way you want to tear it down. It’s baseball. You go a little bit streaky here and there. That’s where we’re at. We weren’t going to play at the pace that we were playing as far as the wins and losses go. It’s just the way the game is set up to be,” man- ager Scott Servais said. “I think every team out there has areas of the whole team they need to improve and get better at. Offense for us has been a little bit of a strug- gle putting up big numbers, to go out there consistently and put up five, six runs every game. When we do that we win. Most teams do because our pitching is pretty good. It just hasn’t been easy for us here the last 20 games.”