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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com SPORTS IN BRIEF Healy, Mariners rally past Astros for 4-game sweep Associated Press HOUSTON — Edwin Diaz was supposed to be off on Sun- day after earning saves in each of the last three games for the Seat- tle Mariners. Instead, after the Mariners tied the Houston Astros in the ninth inning, the All-Star closer told bullpen coach Brian De Lunas to call the dugout to say that he wanted to try to make it four in a row. Ryon Healy hit a tying home run with two outs in the ninth, Mitch Haniger delivered an RBI double in the 10th and Diaz fin- ished up as the Mariners beat Houston 4-3 to sweep a four-game series from the AL West leaders. Diaz allowed one hit in a score- less 10th for his major league-high 46th save. Manager Scott Servais was pleased but not surprised that Diaz offered to help out on Sunday. “Sometimes you’ve got to do that,” he said. “That’s how Eddie’s wired and how this team is wired.” It’s the first time in franchise history that Seattle swept a four- game series from the Astros. The third-place Mariners pulled within four games of Houston. AP Photo/Elaine Thompson Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman George Fant runs off the field after a June practice. Vancouver snaps Portland’s unbeaten run Associated Press PORTLAND — Kei Kamara and Cristian Techera scored for the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-1 Cascadia Cup victory over Port- land on Saturday night, snapping a 15-match unbeaten streak for the Timbers. Portland (10-3-8) had not dropped a league match since los- ing 3-2 at Orlando City on April 8. The 15-match streak was the longest in MLS this season and equaled a franchise record. “We came in here and we knew what the record was. It’s all about that, sometimes, in soccer. You kind of want to spoil the party for somebody else,” Kamara said. The Whitecaps (9-9-6) were without 17-year-old midfielder Alphonso Davies because of a groin injury. Bayern Munich acquired Davies last month for a transfer fee that could, with bonuses, total an MLS record of $22 million. He’ll move to the German team after Vancouver’s season. US beats Japan in final of softball championship Associated Press MAKUHARI, Japan — Kelsey Stewart drove in the winning run in the bottom of the tenth inning as the United States beat Japan 7-6 in the final of the women’s world softball championship on Sunday. Stewart’s single down the third base line scored the runner from third as the defending champions rallied with three runs in the tenth off Japan starter Yukiko Ueno. Fant travels long road back for Seahawks By MATT CALKINS The Seattle Times G eorge Fant stands 6 feet 6, weighs 322 pounds and likely treats 20 ounce steaks as finger food. If any- one wanted to approximate life as Peter Dinklage, they’d need only stand next to Fant for two seconds. The man is a giant among behemoths — a Himalaya among Alps. Yet, last year at this time, the hype surrounding him was about 10 times bigger. An undrafted rookie in 2016, Fant seemed to have made unparalleled strides two offsea- sons ago. On the first day of training camp last year, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Fant was the player whose gains most caught his attention. It seemed the panacea for Seattle’s protec- tion woes lay in a former basketball player turned left tackle. Then came Week 2 of the preseason, when Fant rolled up his leg in the second quarter and left on a stretcher. Torn ACL. Out of the season. This was painful for the Seahawks but devastating for Fant. The former forward at Western Kentucky — where he weighed 245 pounds — seemed to have developed into a legitimate NFL starter. His strength and size had skyrocketed. His footwork improved exponentially. Tes- timony suggested the now-third-year player had emerged from his cocoon as a potential Pro Bowler. Then the 26-year-old learned it would be nearly a year before he’d even be able to prac- Heisman darkhorses: Can UW’s Browning repeat Mayfield’s path? Associated Press Washington’s Jake Brown- ing is hoping to repeat what Baker Mayfield did last year. Mayfield was a Heisman Trophy longshot in the pre- season, but ended up winning the award while leading Okla- homa to the College Football Playoff for the second time in three years. Browning was sixth in the Heisman voting two years ago after leading the Huskies to the Pac-12 title and the playoff, where they lost to Alabama in the semifinals. His productiv- ity declined last year though as his touchdowns fell from 43 to 19. Washington was 10-3 last season, but is the preseason favorite to win the Pac 12. Browning and the Huskies will also have an early opportunity to make a favorable impres- sion to rest of the nation as they face Auburn in the opener in Atlanta on Sept. 1. Browning — who has thrown for over 9,000 yards and 78 touchdowns the past three seasons — is facing high expectations, but none might be bigger than what coach Chris Peterson expects out of the senior. “Jake plays really good football and has made some spectacular plays in his career,” Peterson said. UP NEXT: PRESEASON • Seattle Seahawks (0-1) at Los Angeles Chargers (0-1) • Saturday, 7 p.m. TV: FOX tice again. For a brief second, he wondered what the point of it all was. “I felt like I put all that work in for noth- ing,” Fant said. “I had a lot of expectations and expected a lot of things.” The public didn’t see or hear much from Fant after that, but his disappointment was clear to those around him. Asked about him earlier this week, Carroll said Fant was “crushed” by the injury after “putting every- thing he possibly could into the offseason.” But it wasn’t long before the melancholy morphed into motivation. And George had his wife to thank for that. A standout forward at Western Kentucky, Chastity Gooch righted her husband’s men- tality almost instantly. She herself had expe- rienced injuries throughout her playing days, but finished her senior season as the Confer- ence USA Player of the Year. Fant didn’t want to say what she said to him directly. Might not have been safe for a family paper. But it is safe to say her words resonated with George and got him back on the right path _ even if he had to use crutches to navigate it. “(The injury) wasn’t for nothing. I didn’t lose anything,” Fant said. “I haven’t lost con- fidence in myself at all. I still want to be one of the best in the game.” Of course, much has changed in the past 12 months since that torn ACL. Last season, the Seahawks acquired Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown, who would most certainly keep Fant on the sideline if healthy. The team has been insistent on keeping Fant at left tackle since coming back to prac- tice, although Carroll said an eventual move to the right side is possible. The main thing right now is trying to ease him back into competition. “We don’t even want to try to evaluate him for a couple more weeks,” said Carroll, adding that he still sees Fant as “a heck of a prospect. “Just let him keep getting back and showing what he can do right now.” There wasn’t much talk about Fant after the game Thursday night, but he did play against the Colts. And even though it isn’t time to evaluate him yet, that doesn’t mean he can’t feel a great sense of achievement. It had been nearly a year since he had played in front of tens of thousands of peo- ple, and shortly after taking the field, he took to Twitter to express himself. “So happy to step back on CenturyLink Field last night,” Fant said. “So many emo- tions last night and it’s been a long road back.” With injuries to fellow tackles Jamarco Jones and Isaiah Battle on Thursday, Fant’s chances to impact the Seahawks this year grew. The man who “still wants to be one of the best in the game,” as he said, might get to help his team sooner than expected. At this point, the hype has disappeared. Now is Fant’s chance to show that he hasn’t.
