A8
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 15, 2019
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Gary Henley | Sports Reporter
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No sophomore
jinx season
for Seaside’s
Maddi Utti
‘TOUGH,
TOUGH
YOUNG
WOMAN’
By NEIL BRANSON
For The Daily Astorian
AS VEGAS — After
watching five Pac-12 wom-
en’s tournament basketball
games over three days, I
took in the Fresno State vs.
University of Nevada-Las Vegas quar-
terfinal in the Mountain West Confer-
ence tournament.
Best game ever.
And I say that as — after the Fresno
State game — I caught the Gonzaga
Bulldogs, the then-No. 1 men’s team
in the national, play Pepperdine.
Maddi Utti, a four-year stalwart for
the Seaside girls basketball team, is in
her sophomore season for the Bulldogs
of Fresno State.
When I caught my first glimpse
of Utti during the team warmups, I
thought “Maddi has spent some time
in the weight room.”
My judgments connected to the
question I posed to Marci Utti, Mad-
di’s mother, when I asked what her
thoughts were on her daughter’s time
and success at Fresno.
Marci’s first response was a non-
verbal expression of pride in Maddi.
I could see it in her eyes and a pause
to catch her breath and gather her
thoughts.
“Maddi has worked really hard,”
she said. “Being a college student-ath-
lete is very demanding and she has
stepped up in every facet of her studies
and basketball.”
Mom is very thankful that her
daughter is in a program with excellent
coaching that is demanding and caring.
“Maddi has grown in so many
ways beyond basketball, as the team is
required to engage in community ser-
vice, participate in kid’s camps and
meet with team boosters,” she said.
Prior to making the trip to watch
Maddi, I contacted her two high school
coaches, Wally Hamer and Mike
Hawes.
They both had words of praise for
her relentless work ethic, natural abili-
ties and team focus.
Said Hamer, “Maddi, since she was
little, had the ability to make everyone
around her better. She has always been
a great competitor and passed that on
to her teammates.”
Women’s basketball is a tough
L
MADDI UTTI
Was recently named to the
all-Mountain West women’s
basketball team. She was on the
conference’s all-freshman team
last season.
Fresno State University
See Utti, Page A7
Astoria falls to Clatskanie in opener Knappa walks
The Daily Astorian
over Naselle, 10-0
Clatskanie’s two-run second
inning was the difference Thurs-
day, as the Tigers posted a 2-1 win
over Astoria in a nonleague softball
game at Clatskanie.
It was the season opener for the
Lady Fishermen, who scored their
lone run on a two-out rally in the
top of the fourth.
Sophomore Emma Biederman
had a two-out triple, then scored
on a base hit by freshman Tenley
Matteucci.
Clatskanie pitcher Shelby
Blodgett allowed six hits, with 11
strikeouts and three walks. Astoria
stranded eight baserunners.
Julia Norris went the distance
in the circle for Astoria, giving up
four hits with four strikeouts.
Alexis Smith had a double and
Olivia Sprague had a triple for
Clatskanie.
The Fishermen have home
games Tuesday and Wednesday
against Yamhill-Carlton and North
Marion, respectively.
The Daily Astorian
Knappa scored three runs
in the bottom of the first, then
erupted for seven in the bottom
of the fifth for a 10-0 win over
Naselle, in a cross-river baseball
battle Thursday afternoon.
With 40 straight wins going
back to the 2017 season, the Log-
gers are now tied with Argyle
High School of Argyle, Texas,
for the nation’s longest high
school baseball win streak.
Argyle’s win streak recently
ended at 40, so Knappa can take
over the country’s longest win
streak with a victory Monday at
Clatskanie.
“We’re just 2-0 this year,”
said Knappa coach Jeff Miller.
“We know we’re probably going
Gladstone edges
Astoria with late rally
SCOREBOARD
PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE
TODAY
Baseball — North Marion at Astoria, 5 p.m.;
Nestucca at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Softball — Seaside at Gladstone, 5 p.m.;
Nestucca at Warrenton, 4 p.m.
Track — Astoria at Cotton Invitational, 4:30 p.m.;
Seaside at Grant, 4:30 p.m.
Seaside baseball tournament
Friday-Sunday
(at Broadway Field)
Friday’s schedule
11:15 a.m.: Tillamook vs. Hockinson
1:30: La Center vs. Ft. Vancouver
3:45: Seaside vs. Corbett
6:00: Hoquiam vs. Centralia
to get drilled when we go to Ari-
zona (March 25-26, when the
Loggers are scheduled to play
teams from California and Col-
orado, against schools with over
2,000 enrollment). But you have
to play the good teams to get
better.”
Knappa took advantage of 13
walks in Thursday’s win, includ-
ing five in the first inning. The
Loggers had six hits off multiple
Naselle pitchers.
Tristin Wallace pitched all
five innings for Knappa, allow-
ing two hits and a walk with nine
strikeouts.
Wallace and Eli Takalo each
scored two runs, while Wal-
lace reached base four times,
after reaching five times the day
before in a win at Warrenton.
The Daily Astorian
Vicki O’Brien
Astoria pitcher Julia Norris allowed four hits in a Thursday loss at Clatskanie.
Tied 5-5 going into the sixth
inning, Gladstone scored three
runs in the bottom of the sixth on
its way to an 8-6 win over Asto-
ria in a nonleague baseball game
Thursday at Gladstone.
Astoria’s Burke Matthews had
a double in the top of the seventh
for a run, but the Gladiators were
able to record the final out with
two Fishermen on base.
Will Reed started and pitched
a solid four-and-a-third innings
for Astoria.
The Fishermen return to
action Friday at home (5 p.m.,
Tapiola Park) against North
Marion.