A6 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021 Spring sports: Players were a bit rusty Continued from Page A1 Rosters have a diff erent look R osters and teams around the state looked a lot diff er- ent than last seen. In Oregon, the 2019- 20 high school sports year ended in March 2020, abruptly bringing state bas- ketball tournaments to a close just as they were set to begin. Baseball and softball players, along with golf and track athletes, got the short end of the stick, so to speak. Individuals and teams competing in spring sports never made it to the fi eld, as their seasons were com- pletely canceled. Couple that with a short pre season, and it’s been a while since spring sport ath- letes have seen the fi eld, which made for a few errors in season openers. Typical of most games Tuesday, the Clatsop Clash baseball game got off to a slow start, with a combined eight runs on one hit, seven walks and a couple of big errors in a 40-minute fi rst inning. In softball, “we only (had) six days of practice before our fi rst game, and we came in realizing that we’re barely into the season, and we’ll put forth what we have,” Flaigg said. “A cou- ple of us were a little late on our timing, but we haven’t seen live pitching for two years.” On the other hand, “Gra- cie (Rhodes, the Seaside pitcher) was on fi re tonight. She had some amazing pitches. Erin (Owsley) made an amazing stop on a big line drive. We were defi - nitely a little rusty at the start, but came out of it.” The Warrenton base- ball team will eventually make its return, as the War- riors scheduled a game with Ilwaco for Wednesday. “I was pleased with the way the guys responded” at Tuesday’s postponement, Wolfe said. “We’re going to look at it in a positive way. Even if we have to play a lot of games in a short amount of time, we’re going to be playing. If we have to play six games in six days or less, so what? I don’t think we’ll ever take it for granted again. “It’s what we say every year: the biggest thing to play for is fun. Maybe we’ll The Astorian TOP: Astoria’s Halle Helmersen and Mercedes Walter yell at pitcher Emma Biederman to throw the ball to fi rst base. LEFT: Seaside pitcher Gracie Rhodes winds up. BELOW LEFT: Helmersen connects with a pitch. Photos by Hailey Hoff man/ The Astorian appreciate it more. More than ever before, people are just happy to get back out there again.” The games In baseball action, Asto- ria and Seaside opened 2021 with a Clatsop Clash at Broadway Field, where the Gulls scored their third win in the last four meetings, also giving new coach Brett Wolfe a victory in his Sea- side debut. It was career win No. 495 for Wolfe, after 494 at North Medford. Seaside had an inside- the-park home run from Jarred White in the fi rst inning, a three-run double by Andrew Teubner in the second, and a solo inside- the-park HR from Riley Kuhl in the fi fth. Shortstop Lawson Tala- mantez turned in a few web gems, as did Kuhl behind the plate in the seventh inning. In a Northwest League game at Gaston, Knappa ral- lied from a 6-3 defi cit after fi ve innings to top the Grey- hounds, 10-9. In softball, Seaside topped Astoria 16-12, snap- ping a string of 13 straight Astoria wins going back to 2015. The Lady Gulls led 11-5 after four innings, then held off a rally by the Lady Fishermen. Seaside’s Erin Owsley was 3-for-3 with four runs scored, four RBIs and a home run. Emma Taylor and Ila Bowles were each 2-for-4. Elsewhere, Willamina won 13-4 at Warrenton, and Gaston defeated Knappa 16-13 in NWL action at Knappa. Hannah Dietrichs led the Loggers with three doubles and four RBIs, and allowed seven hits with 11 strikeouts. On the track, the Asto- ria Fishermen held their fi rst meet of the season Monday — against themselves — and junior Colton McMas- ter set the fi rst of what will likely be several school records this spring, with a throw of 183 feet, 7 inches in the discus. The mark shat- tered the previous record of 165-3, held by Jason Thiel for over 30 years. Bus route: ‘We want to get the message out that we’re safe’ Continued from Page A1 “The idea is the individ- ual agencies after that fi rst round would have to oper- ate it on their own,” he said. “Well, because of the pan- demic … we were never able to build the ridership to what its potential could have been in that two years, and develop the funding for it.” The state provided $60,000 for Sunset Empire to hire a consultant to work on a marketing plan. “As we come out of the pandemic, we want to get the message out that we’re safe,” Hazen said. “We’ve done everything that we can to protect our drivers and riders.” The marketing plan could include a rebranding, Hazen said, such as when the agency went by the moniker The Bus. County reports eight new virus cases Edward Stratton/The Astorian The state will provide $784,000 to help keep the Lower Columbia Connector going between Astoria and Portland for at least two more years. “Sunset Empire Trans- portation District is really a long name,” he said. “So what can we do to brand it? Tillamook County Trans- portation District, they’re The Wave. They go by The Wave. Their logo has a wave incorporated in it.” The Tillamook transit agency received $598,000 on behalf of NW Connec- tor, a partnership between bus providers on the North Coast to provide better tran- sit regionally, to build three new stops in Clatsop, Tilla- mook and Lincoln counties. They include a new stop at Ensign Lane and U.S. Highway 101 with a ded- icated pullout for buses, a large shelter, bike racks and a repair station with pres- surized air and basic tools. Hazen estimated the stop could cost around $250,000. Hazen said Sunset Empire could be in line for more grant money, includ- ing up to $500,000 in federal stimulus becoming avail- able in July that he hopes to use to transport people receiving coronavirus vac- cines. The state has still not decided on how to distribute the money received from the most recent $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan , he said, but the transit district will be seeing even more funding from that stimulus. “There’s going to be a lot of money coming, a signifi - cant amount of money,” he said. Clatsop County has reported eight new corona- virus cases over the past few days. On Wednesday, the county reported four cases. The cases include a male under 10 and a woman in her 60s living in the northern part of the county. The others live in the southern part of the county and involve a woman in her 30s and a woman in her 60s. All four were recovering at home. On Tuesday, the county reported four cases. The cases include a man in his 20s and a woman in her 80s living in the northern part of the county. The others live in the southern part of the county and involve a male between 10 and 19 and a man in his 60s. One person was hospitalized and the others were recovering at home. The county has recorded 874 cases since the start of the pandemic. According to the county, 21 were hospitalized and eight have died. facebook.com/dailyastorian Consult a PROFESSIONAL What is the easiest way to update apps on my computer? 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