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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2019)
C2 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 5, 2019 HOMETOWN REPORT PREP ROUNDUP BOYS SOCCER Astoria tops Tillamook, moves into second place A strong second half resulted in a 2-1 win for Astoria, in a Thursday night boys soccer match against Tillamook at CMH Field. “We had a less than stellar first half,” said Astoria coach Lee Cain, “and let Til- lamook pass and move all over the field. We were a bit too cautious, not working as hard as we should’ve been. “But I’m quite proud of the guys for fixing that problem in the second half,” he said. “They came out of the locker room with a totally different mindset and put their plan into action.” A shot by Astoria’s Dalton Byrd from 22 yards out early in the second half went in just below the cross bar, which “was critical in firing the team up,” Cain said. “Michael (Postlewait) soon followed with another from about the same distance.” The Fishermen nearly made it 3-1, but a free kick by David Bermudez from 35 yards out did not touch a teammate on the way into the net, which disqualified the shot since it was an indirect free kick. Still, “Our defense was really solid the second half, having figured out how to shut down (Tillamook’s) speedy No. 10 (Ethan Miller),” Cain said. “Overall the team did very well. Now we just need to focus on Valley Catholic.” The match Tuesday at CMH Field will be a first-place showdown in the Cowapa League, with the No. 1-ranked Valiants currently on top of the standings at 2-0, a half-game up on Astoria (2-1). GIRLS SOCCER Own-goals cost Astoria at Tillamook in 3-1 loss Astoria’s unlucky week continued Thursday night in Tillamook, where the Lady Mooks posted a 3-1 win over the Fishermen in a Cowapa League girls soc- cer match. Two first half goals by the Lady Fish, unfortunately, went into their own net. The two own-goals put Astoria in a hole, but the hard-working Fishermen still made a game of it. Astoria’s Elle Espelien scored off a corner kick from teammate Meghan O’Meara, but Tillamook answered with a goal for a 3-1 halftime lead. Astoria held the Mooks scoreless in the second half. Still winless in league play at 0-2- 1, Astoria will try to bounce back Tues- day at Valley Catholic, in the second of four straight road games for the Lady Fishermen. VOLLEYBALL Valley Catholic sweeps past Astoria Astoria traveled to Beaverton to take on the No. 1-ranked Valley Catholic vol- leyball team Thursday night, and the top- ranked Valiants scored the win, 25-17, 25-15, 25-9. The ninth-ranked Lady Fishermen drop to 2-2 in the Cowapa League stand- ings, while Valley Catholic improves to 3-0, 16-1 overall. Astoria has a week off before play- ing at Seaside next Thursday, followed by an appearance in the Seaside tourna- ment Oct. 12. In other Cowapa League action Thurs- day, Tillamook defeated Seaside, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19. Banks scores sweep over Warrenton Warrenton took a break from league play with a step up in competition Thurs- day night, in a nonleague volleyball match at Banks, ranked No. 7 at the 4A level. And the Braves made quick work of the Warriors, defeating Warrenton in straight sets, 25-16, 25-9, 25-8. Warrenton coach Staci Miethe said, “The first 15 points of the first game we played some of our best volleyball, then all of a sudden we couldn’t pass or serve. “We did some good things that I was hoping we could do, like get touches and plays on some tough attacks and played scrappy, but our serve-receive let us down,” she said. Avyree Miethe led the Warriors with four kills, followed by Leah Scheiwe with three. Warrenton returns to league action Tuesday at home vs. Taft. Vernonia tops Knappa in Logger showdown It was a match of Loggers on Thurs- day night in Vernonia, where Knappa faced the No. 7-ranked Vernonia volley- ball team. Vernonia scored the win, 25-13, 25-14, 25-14, sending Knappa to its fourth loss over the last five matches. Knappa plays Saturday at Columbia Christian. — The Astorian Acereros del Norte Conor Harber delivers a pitch in one of his latest games with Acereros del Norte. Former Fisherman Harber leads team in Mexican League title win Travis Fenton, Fr., Western Oregon football Alexander Teubner, R-Fr., Boise State football Tori Tomlin, Fr., Linn-Benton volleyball Astoria grad caps big season By GARY HENLEY The Astorian Conor Harber’s 2019 baseball season went into the month of October, as the 2012 grad- uate of Astoria High School pitched his lat- est game Wednesday night for Acereros del Norte. And his last start of the year turned out to be Game 7 of the Mexican League champi- onship series, between the “Steelers of the North” and the “Leones de Yucatan,” in the Mexican equivalent of the World Series. Acereros del Norte was the ultimate vic- tor, scoring a 9-5 win over Yucatan to give the team its first Mexican League championship since Acereros was founded in 1974. And Harber played a huge role in their drive to the title. The Astoria grad — who has played in numerous cities since his days on the North Coast — finished one of his longest seasons ever by making six starts in the playoffs. Managed by former Tacoma Rainiers manager Pat Listach, the Acereros run to the championship went against the odds, as the team faced elimination in all three playoff series. They trailed Tijuana 3-2 in the semifinal- sand were down 3-2 against Yucatan in the championship series. No. 71 on the Acereros roster, Harber got the start in Wednesday’s Game 7. He only gave up two hits, but both were home runs. An unfortunate error on Acereros extended one inning, in which Yucatan took advantage with a three-run homer to tie the contest. Acereros broke a 5-5 tie with a run in the sixth, two in the seventh and one more in the eighth. Harber pitched five-and-a-third innings and finished with a no-decision, but capped his 2019 season with a great finish. In his last 10 appearances of the year, Har- ber had a 4-2 record, with a 3.19 earned run average over 59.1 innings pitched, with 54 strikeouts and 18 walks. Ilwaco Ethan Personius, Fr., Evergreen soccer Regional athletes competing in fall sports: Banks Evergreen State College Astoria graduate Chloee Hunt on the attack at the net for Evergreen College. Gaston Zach Kress, So., Linfield football Neah-Kah-Nie Tristan Bennett, Fr., Western Oregon football August Davidson, Fr. SW Oregon cross country Seattle Pacific University Former Astorian Kaylee Mitchell, the GNAC female Athlete of the Week, for two weeks running. PREP SPORTS SCHEDULE SATURDAY Volleyball — Knappa at Columbia Christian, 2:30 p.m. MONDAY Volleyball — Mannahouse Christian at Knappa, 6:30 p.m. TUESDAY Volleyball — Seaside at Banks, 6:30 p.m.; Taft at Warrenton, 6 p.m.; St. Paul at Jewell, 6 p.m. Girls Soccer — Astoria at Valley Catholic, 7:15 p.m.; Tillamook at Seaside, 7:15 p.m. Boys Soccer — Valley Catholic at Astoria, 7:15 p.m.; Seaside at Cross-Country — Bigfoot Classic, Rockaway Beach, 3 p.m. Another Astoria graduate, Chloee Hunt (Class of 2016), is in the midst of a huge sea- son for the Evergreen State College volley- ball team. A senior middle blocker for the Geoducks, Hunt currently leads the Cascade Collegiate Conference with a .364 hitting percentage. She has started 16 of 18 matches and leads Evergreen in points (178.0). She is first on the team in solo blocks (12), block assists (50)and fourth in kills (141). In their latest match, Evergreen lost to Northwest University in four sets, but Hunt had 20 kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Hunt will play basketball this winter for Evergreen, while her brother Ian will be in his freshman season with the Evergreen men’s basketball team. Mitchell named Athlete of the Week Kaylee Mitchell, a sophomore on the Seat- tle Pacific cross-country team, was recently named the Great Northwest Athletic Confer- ence female Athlete of the Week — for the second straight week. Mitchell, who attended Astoria High School before transferring to Sprague, ran to an individual title in the elite Women’s Invita- tional division at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento last Saturday. The win followed a first-place finish at the Pacific Lutheran Invitational a week earlier. Saturday’s race in Sacramento was a national-caliber meet, featuring eight teams ranked among the top 25 in NCAA Division II, along with a handful of Division 1 schools, Jeramy Poyer with his mom, Julie Poyer Lizzy Barnes, Guilford including California of the Pac-12. The 6-kilometer race (3.72 miles) had 322 runners, and Mitchell beat all of the others to the finish line, posting a 6K personal-best of 20 minutes, 30.2 seconds. She took the lead at about the two-mile mark and was in control the rest of the way, beating runner-up Jenny Sandoval of San Jose State by three seconds. “Once she got up the lead pack, she knew what to do,” said Seattle Pacific distance coach Chris Reed. “And once she took the lead, she did it with confidence and convic- tion. It was a remarkable race. (Mitchell) ran with confidence and she ran with passion. It was incredible to watch.” Her team finished eighth out of 40 teams. Other local athletes competing in fall sports at the collegiate or professional levels: Astoria Josiah Hirsch, Fr., Occidental football Madi Landwehr, So., Clackamas CC volleyball Keldon Littell, RS-So., Oregon State football Jeramy Poyer, Sr., Dickinson State football Jordan Poyer, Buffalo Bills Henry Samuelson, Fr., George Fox football Seaside Lizzy Barnes, Jr., Guilford soccer Travis Fenton, WOU Keldon Littell, OSU Nestucca Tea Chatelain, So., NW Christian cross country Rainier SCOREBOARD Tillamook, 7:15 p.m. Hunt leads the Geoducks Megan Bunn, Sr., Eastern Oregon volleyball Kimberly Jordan, So., Clackamas CC soccer Twister McComas, Jr., Western Oregon football Ellie Nieland, So., Centralia soccer Josiah Ochoa, Fr., Pacific football Maria Alberto, Fr., Mt. Hood cross country Breana Edwards, So., Indiana U. volleyball Johnathan Guisinger, Jr., George Fox cross country Scappoose (former Cowapa League athletes) Alyssa Bakkensen, So., Linfield soccer Lucy Davidson, Sr., U. Portland soccer Tevin Jeannis, R-Fr., Oregon football James Jones, R-Fr., Eastern Oregon football John Kavulich, So., U. Portland cross country David Krupsky, Jr., Western Oregon football Gavin Larson, Fr., Western Oregon football Terrance Lewis, Fr., Linfield football David Mayo, New York Giants Connor McNabb, Fr., Linfield football Natalie Muth, Sr., U. Portland soccer Austin Norgaard, Fr., Pacific cross country Mason Smiens, Fr., Western Oregon football Jerad Toman, Fr., Portland State football Tillamook Phoebe Brown, So., Portland State cross country Dylan Dickson, Fr., Clackamas CC cross country Alejandro Herrera, Fr., SW Oregon soccer Carter Kunert, Fr., Lane CC cross country Zachary Macias, Sr., Pacific football Kaler Moore, R-Jr., Eastern Oregon football Kara Putman, So., Pacific cross country Itzel Vazquez, Fr., Pacific cross country Jordan Zweifel, Jr., Pacific volleyball Valley Catholic Chloe Brock, Fr., George Fox soccer Regan Dean, Jr., Linfield volleyball Taylor Isaac, Fr., Pacific cross country Taylor Menkens, So., Seattle Pacific soccer Jakob Pruitt, Jr., Western Oregon football Ben Robbins, R-Fr., Southern Oregon football Tori Tomlin, Linn-Benton Alexander Teubner, Boise St. Ethan Personius, Evergreen