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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2018)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 CONTACT US FOLLOW US facebook.com/ DailyAstorianSports Gary Henley | Sports Reporter ghenley@dailyastorian.com Oregon’s Dye named second-team All-America By RALPH D. RUSSO Associated Press AP Photo/John Locher Oregon linebacker Troy Dye runs for a touchdown against Boise State during the Las Vegas Bowl. Heisman Trophy runner-up Bryce Love of Stanford and Outland Trophy winner Ed Oliver of Houston high- light The Associated Press preseason All-America team. Chosen by AP poll voters, the team announced Tuesday also features West Virginia quarterback Will Grier and his teammate, receiver David Sills V. Love, along with Clemson defen- sive end Clelin Ferrell, Wisconsin line- backer T.J. Edwards and Utah kicker Matt Gay, were the only players who made first team All-American after last season and first team to start this sea- son. Love ran for 2,118 yards and 8.05 per carry last season and was second to Baker Mayfield in the Heisman Trophy voting. Clemson and Wisconsin led the way with three players on the first team. Ala- bama and Wisconsin each had a total of five players on the first and second teams combined. Washington’s Myles Gaskin and Taylor Rapp made the first team, while the Huskies’ Byron Murphy was named to the second team. Oregon junior linebacker Troy Dye was named to the second team. FIRST TEAM Offense Quarterback — Will Grier, senior, West Virgin- ia. Running backs — Bryce Love, senior, Stan- ford; Jonathan Taylor, sophomore, Wisconsin. Tackles — Jonah Williams, junior, Alabama; Mitch Hyatt, senior, Clemson. Guards — Beau Benzschawel, senior, Wis- consin; Nate Herbig, junior, Stanford. Center — Ross Pierschbacher, senior, Ala- bama. Tight end — Noah Fant, junior, Iowa. Receivers — A.J. Brown, junior, Mississippi; David Sills V, senior, West Virginia. All-purpose player — Myles Gaskin, senior, Washington. Kicker — Matt Gay, senior, Utah. Defense Ends — Nick Bosa, junior, Ohio State; Clelin Ferrell, junior, Clemson. Tackles — Ed Oliver, junior, Houston; Chris- tian Wilkins, Senior, Clemson. Linebackers — Devin White, junior, LSU; Devin Bush, junior, Michigan; T.J. Edwards, senior, Wisconsin. Cornerbacks — Greedy Williams, sophomore, LSU; Deandre Baker, senior, Georgia. Safeties — Jaquan Johnson, senior, Miami; Taylor Rapp, junior, Washington. Punter — Mitch Wishnowsky, senior, Utah. SECOND TEAM Offense Quarterback — Trace McSorley, senior, Penn State. Running backs — A.J. Dillon, sopho- more, Boston College; Damien Harris, junior, Alabama. Tackles — David Edwards, junior, Wisconsin; Greg Little, junior, Mississippi. Guards — Alex Bars, senior, Notre Dame; Mi- chael Dieter, senior, Wisconsin. Center — Sam Mustipher, senior, Notre Dame. Tight end — Kaden Smith, junior, Stanford. Receivers — N’Keal Harry, junior, Arizona State; Anthony Johnson, senior, Buffalo. All-purpose player — Deebo Samuel. senior, South Carolina. Kicker — Rodrigo Blankenship, junior, Geor- gia. Defense Ends — Rashan Gary, junior, Michigan; Rae- kwon Davis, junior, Alabama. Tackles — Dexter Lawrence, junior, Clemson; Jeffrey Simmons, junior, Mississippi State. Linebackers — Cameron Smith, senior, Southern California; Troy Dye, junior, Ore- gon; Mack Wilson, sophomore, Alabama. Cornerbacks — Byron Murphy, sophomore, Washington; Julian Love, junior, Notre Dame. Safeties — Lukas Dennis, senior, Boston Col- lege; Andrew Wingard, senior, Wyoming. Punter — Jake Bailey, senior, Stanford. SPORTS IN BRIEF Cano homers late, lifts M’s in win over Astros SEATTLE — Robinson Cano is searching for any way to help the Seattle Mariners stay in the playoff race and try to make up for the 80 games he was gone while being suspended. On Monday night, it was hit- ting a game-winning home run — his first long ball in more than three months. “It was a good swing but to be in that situation to hit a homer to get the team ahead and win the game, it’s pretty special,” Cano said. Cano hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Seattle to a key 7-4 win over the Houston Astros, the Mariners fifth straight win over their division rival. Even before he stepped to the plate in the eighth, Cano was on his way to a big night with a pair of doubles — his first two extra-base hits since coming back from his suspension for violating baseball’s joint drug policy Seahawks release longest-tenured player, punter Ryan RENTON, Wash. — The Seat- tle Seahawks have put an end to the kicking competitions in train- ing camp, releasing kicker Jason Myers and punter Jon Ryan, who had been the longest-tenured member of the team. Ryan posted a lengthy goodbye to the Seahawks and their fans on social media Monday morning. “I never wanted this day to come, but knew it would someday,” Ryan wrote. The Seahawks announced later that Myers had been released, leaving Sebastian Janikowski as the only kicker on Seattle’s ros- ter. Myers had signed with Seat- tle in the offseason after being cut by Jacksonville early in the 2017 season. IndyCar driver Wickens has rods, screws placed into spine ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Indy- Car driver Robert Wickens had tita- nium rods and screws placed in his spine to stabilize a fracture associ- ated with a spinal cord injury suf- fered in a crash at Pocono Raceway. IndyCar says in a statement Tuesday the severity of the spinal cord injury was unknown. Wickens is expected to undergo more surgeries to treat fractures in his lower extremities and right forearm. He remains in stable condition. His car sailed into the fence at Pocono when he and Ryan Hunt- er-Reay made slight contact on Sunday. Hunter-Reay’s car spun and Wickens’ car launched over it and into the fence. A large hole was torn into the fence. The race was delayed 2 hours to repair the damage. — Associated Press From left to right, Oregon Legends Dave Gasser, Jack Dunn, Jim Joyce, Teri Mariani, Dale Scott, Rick Wise, Sue Seaver, Art Larrance, Joe Etzel, Mike Clopton, Jerry Gatto, Ad Rutschman and Dick McClain. Gasser now an ‘Oregon Legend’ By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian F ormer Astoria baseball coach Dave Gasser was honored recently, along with 12 oth- ers, by the Friends of Baseball organiza- tion, as part of their first group of “Oregon Leg- end” inductees. “It was a pretty neat deal,” Gasser said. “It’s an organization that was created in 2006, to pro- mote baseball at the youth level and grassroots level, and they want to acknowledge people in the state who have made contributions at all levels, baseball and softball, from players and coaches to umpires.” And his years at Astoria late in his coach- ing career had everything to do with his being inducted, Gasser said. “Had I not coached at Astoria, I wouldn’t have been included. Every significant milestone I reached in my career was the result of having come back to coach Astoria, so I’m thankful to the community for the support.” Gasser played on two-time PIL and state champion baseball teams at Madison, and the 1969 national champion American Legion base- ball team. He coached Madison to eight con- secutive PIL championships and the 1981 state championship, and coached Astoria to two state McFADDEN NAMED GULLS’ COACH In other high school baseball coaching news, Seaside named Dan McFadden as the next varsity coach, replacing Joel Dier- ickx, who stepped down last spring. McFadden recently led Seaside’s junior state team to a third-place finish in the summer state tournament. titles in 2006 and 2009. He holds the record for most high school coaching wins in Oregon his- tory, with five state champions at three different schools, 18 league champions and 12 semifinal appearances. Other inductees in Oregon baseball and softball: • Mike Clopton (longtime coach at Wilson High). • Jack Dunn (39-year coaching veteran, retired in 1994 after 20 consecutive winning sea- sons at Portland State). • Joe Etzel (University of Portland coach). • Jerry Gatto (longtime coach at Cleveland High and Lewis & Clark College). • Jim Joyce (Oregon resident and former Major League umpire, 2000-2016). • Art Larrance (Linfield baseball). • Teri Mariani (former softball coach at Port- land State). • Dick McClain (coached at Madison High for five years; only coach in Oregon to win American Legion World Championship; won five of six Oregon Community College titles at Linn-Benton). • Ad Rutschman (baseball coach at Linfield for 13 years). • Dale Scott (longtime MLB umpire, 2000-2017). • Sue Seaver (softball umpire). • Rick Wise (Madison High alumni, led his Portland team to the Little League World Series in 1958, then went on to pitch in the majors for 18 years with Philadelphia, St. Louis and Boston). “They had a neat affair for the induction,” Gasser said, as the Friends of Baseball organi- zation staged a “Ten Grands on the Diamond” event Aug. 11 at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, where the inductees were introduced. “It was nice that it included Dick McClain, who was my mentor at Madison, and coached my American Legion team that won a national championship (1969, the only Oregon team to ever win an American Legion title). “And Rick Wise played at Madison, so three of the 12 inductees had ties to Madison.” No. 1 Alabama tops preseason Top 25; Clemson, Georgia next By RALPH D. RUSSO Associated Press Alabama will begin its quest for a second consecutive national champi- onship with a rare three-peat. The Crimson Tide is just the sec- ond team to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for three straight seasons. Ala- bama received 42 out of 61 first-place votes. No. 2 Clemson received 18 first- place votes. Georgia is No. 3 and Wis- consin is fourth. The Badgers received one first-place vote. Ohio State was ranked No. 5. The preseason AP poll started in 1950 and since then only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started No. 1 in three straight years until now. Ring up another milestone for coach Nick Saban’s Tide dynasty. Ala- bama has won five national champi- AP Photo/David Goldman Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith celebrates his touchdown during overtime in the champion- ship game against Georgia. onships since 2009 and now has been No. 1 to start the season five times under Saban. Last season was the first time Saban’s team started and finished the season No. 1. The Tide enter this season with a question at quarterback, but there appears to be two good answers from which Saban has to choose: Tua Tagovailoa won the College Football Playoff championship game for Ala- bama with a second-half comeback and overtime touchdown pass. Jalen Hurts has led the Tide to the national title game in each of his two seasons as a starter. Whoever is quarterback, Ala- bama’s offense should be potent with running back Damien Harris working behind a powerful line anchored by tackle Jonah Williams. The Tide’s always tough defense will have all new starters in the sec- ondary, but defensive end Raekwon Davis and linebackers Mack Wilson and Dylan Moses are primed to be Alabama’s next All-Americans. The machine never stops in Tusca- loosa. One again, everybody is chas- ing Alabama. NO. 1 AT BEING NO. 1 The AP poll began in 1936 and Ala- bama is approaching the top of a very storied list: Ohio State — 105 weeks at No. 1 Alabama — 104 Oklahoma — 101 Notre Dame — 98 Southern California — 91 Florida State — 72 Nebraska — 70 PRESEASON FAVORITES This is Alabama’s seventh time overall being a preseason No. 1, match- ing USC for fourth most. Oklahoma — 10 preseason No. 1 rankings Ohio State — 8 Alabama — 7 USC — 7 Florida State 6 Nebraska — 6
