NED HICKSON , SPORTS EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3523 ❘
SPORTS @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
❘ JULY 3, 2015 ❘
FRIDAY EDITION
SECTION B
Siuslaw News
Sports & Recreation
A Sporting View
W INNING
By Mark Vasto
SMILES
Rose by any
other game
After two consecutive
years of rather nice
“farewell
tours”
for
Mariano Rivera and Derek
Jeter, baseball fans have
been treated this year to
See
VIEW 4B
S PORTS
July 7
• TRC BASEBALL
AT
S ANDBLASTERS
VS P OST 20
W ILLAMETTE U.
2 P . M . (9)
July 8
• TRC BASEBALL
S ANDBLASTERS
HOST P OST 20
AT SHS
1 AND 4 P . M . (7) (9)
• FLORENCE
SOFTBALL
AT M ILLER P ARK
5:30 AND 7 P . M .
T IDE T ABLE
Entrance Siuslaw River
High Tide
Low Tide
July 3
12:56am / 7.9 7:55am / -1.8
2:27pm / 6.4 7:55pm / 2.0
July 4
1:42am / 7.7
3:09pm / 6.6
8:37am / -1.7
8:46pm / 1.8
July 5
2:31am / 7.4
3:54pm / 6.8
9:20am / -1.4
9:41pm / 1.6
July 6
3:24am / 6.9
4:40am / 6.9
10:05am /-1.0
10:41pm / 1.5
July 7
4:24am / 6.2
5:29pm / 7.1
July 8
5:31am / 5.7
6:21pm / 7.2
July 9
6:48am / 5.2
7:15pm / 7.3
10:52am /-0.3
11:48pm / 1.2
11:44am / 0.4
COURTESY PHOTO
Siuslaw fastpitch softball team members (from left): Katherine Dodson, Cheyenne Datan, Kaitlin Meskimen, Mekenzie Brock, Claire Waggoner, coach
Sean O'Mara, Jenicah Ecker, Megan Miller, Chehalis Stinger, Auriel Hager-Tolle, Nikki Launius and Heidi Jones.
Siuslaw wins Newberg tourney title
The Siuslaw 16U summer fastpitch
softball team, coached by Sean and
Jodi O’Mara, won the championship in
the
National
UFO
Weekend
Tournament in Newberg on June 27
and 28.
The tournament was the culmination
of a 20-game summer softball season
for Siuslaw.
The team took second in pool play
during the opening round of the tour-
nament, then battled its way through
bracket play the following day to reach
the championship game against
Corvallis.
Siuslaw had little trouble with The
Shock, taking an early lead and defeat-
ing Corvallis 12-3 in just four innings
due to the mercy rule.
“Our coastal kids showed great
resiliency in the 100 degree heat over
the weekend,” said Sean O’Mara, who
said the team reached its peak per-
formance on the final weekend of the
summer softball season.
“It was an incredibly positive end to
the summer tournament season,”
O’Mara said. “These athletes took a
“It was an incredibly
positive end to the
summer season.”
— Coach Sean O’Mara
giant step forward in their overall
development and in doing what it takes
Visitors reminded to be ‘fire safe’ in forests
CORVALLIS — With persistently
warm and dry weather on the Oregon
Coast this spring, Siuslaw National
Forest officials have raised the
Forest’s fire danger level to “moder-
ate” and are reminding visitors to be
mindful of fire safety this summer.
“Although we’re not as prone to
wildfires as National Forests in arid
regions, the Siuslaw National Forest
does have a history of wildfires,”
said Dan Eddy, fire management
officer. “Steep slopes and thick lay-
ers of organic material on the ground
can provide opportunities for wild-
fires to grow and spread quickly.”
The majority of fires on the
Siuslaw National Forest are human-
caused, Eddy said.
“Of the 15 recorded incidents we
had last year, 14 of them were deter-
mined to be human-caused,” he said,
citing escaped campfires as the lead-
ing cause.
No fire restrictions for the public
are in place, but visitors are asked to
exercise caution when visiting natu-
ral areas:
1. Keep campfires small and in an
area cleared down to mineral soil
2. Only burn materials that fit
within the campfire ring
3. Be mindful of overhanging veg-
etation or limbs
4. Extinguish all campfires before
leaving — even if gone for a short
period of time.
See
SAFE 4B
12:58am / 1.0
12:41pm / 1.2
S IUSLAW
IUSLAW
N EWS
Local players invited to Jubilee Basketball Tourney
As a part of the 2015 North Bend
Jubilee, North Bend High School is
hosting a coastal basketball tourna-
ment.
Anyone who has attend, or is still
attending, any Coos County high
school, as well as anyone from
schools in Florence or Reedsport, is
invited to participate.
When registering, participants
148 Maple St.
Florence
541-997-3441
&
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will be matched up with other play-
ers who attended the same high
school to compete against teams
from other schools for Coos County
bragging rights.
Players both young and old will
give the fans something to cheer
about.
The tournamnt will be held at
North Bend High School on Friday,
July 17, and Saturday, July 18.
The tournament will take place
during the North Bend July Jubilee.
For more information, email
Travis Parker at travis2215@yahoo.
com.
If a player’s high school doesn’t
have enough players to field a team,
organizers will find a team.
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• Heat Pumps
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• Ductless Heat Pumps
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both on and off the field to demon-
strate a winning mentality.”
The 11-member team included
Mekenzie Brock and Cheyenne Datan
of North Bend, along with Florence
residents Katherine Dodson, Jenicah
Ecker, Auriel Hager-Tolle, Heidi
Jones, Nikki Launius, Kaitlin
Meskimen, Megan Miller, Chehalis
Stinger and Claire Waggoner.
Absent from the weekend tourna-
ment were teammates Nikki Gordon
and Anna Stonelake, both of Florence.
S ANDBLASTERS
SWEPT BY
R OCKETS
B Y N ED H ICKSON
Siuslaw News
After hosting the Mid Valley
Rockets Monday for a 5-2 win, the
AAA American Legion Sandblasters
traveled to Albany Wednesday for a
doubleheader on the Rockets’ pad.
This time, Mid Valley was able to
hold off the ’Blasters in both match-
ups, outscoring Florence by four runs
in each game.
In the opener, the Sandblasters kept
things close until the Rockets’ offensie
left the launch pad and soared to a nar-
row 15-11 win.
Jonathan Bennison went 2-for-5 at
the plate, scoring on a single and
knocking a two-RBI home run.
In the nightcap, Bennison’s offen-
sive momentum continued, going 2-
for-2 with a double in a losing effort.
The Sandblasters’ next home game
will be July 8, when Florence hosts
Post 20 for a doubleheader at 1 p.m.
PY
HAP F
O
4TH !
JULY
Bill Easton, Teahna Wilkins,
Steve Wolford & Krystal Wolford
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
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