BASEBALL
Gulls look to ‘earn their wings’
By Gary Henley
Seaside Baseball
Seaside Signal
Having endured the last
two years with very young
lineups on the field, the Sea-
side Gulls are ready to “earn
their wings,” so to speak, in
2017.
Even so, the Gulls will
still be one of the young-
est teams in the Cowapa
League, as they played the
2016 season with six fresh-
men and three sophomores
on their varsity roster.
Many of those players
started or were more than
part-time contributors for
a team that struggled to a
6-20 finish, 2-13 in league
play.
But the Gulls have al-
ready shown that they’ve
made strides, early in the
COACH: Joel Dierickx,
20th year
2016 : 6-20 (2-13 league)
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Scott Plampin attempts tagging out an Estacada runner at
second base as Seaside faced off against Estacada at Broad-
way Field in Seaside.
2017 season. They ad-
vanced to the championship
game of their own tourna-
ment, losing to Hockinson
(Wash.) in the final.
“I see us improving this
year,” said coach Joel Dier-
ickx, entering his 20th year
at Seaside. “We’re improv-
ing and getting better every
day, and we’ll see how that
plays out.”
16
20
GO GULLS!
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Boosters!
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4 • Seaside Signal/Cannon Beach Gazette • Spring 2017 • Seagull Pride
KEY LOSSES: Jacob Bas-
sett, Michael Lewis
KEY RETURNERS: Dawson
Blachard, Jr.; Otto Hoek-
stre, Sr.; Gage McFadden,
So.; Scotty Plampin, Sr.;
Dylan Wallis, Sr.; Brent
Walsh, Sr.; Payton Wester-
holm, So.
The Cowapa
Success in basketball just
hasn’t carried over into base-
ball for the Gulls, who are
a combined 5-40 in league
games over the last three
years.
Of course, it’s not easy
when there’s three Cowapa
teams in the final eight of the
state playoffs, as there was
last season.
As it is in most sports, the
Cowapa will be the toughest
league in the state at the 4A
level, with Astoria, Banks,
Scappoose and Valley Cath-
olic all legitimate state title
contenders.
“It’s as tough as ever,” Di-
erickx said. “Astoria, Banks,
Valley Catholic, Scappoose
… are all right up there.”
The Gulls
The good news: the Gulls
had just two seniors last year,
and return most of their start-
ing lineup intact.
A more experienced Sea-
side team will have four se-
niors on the field, with three
juniors among the regulars.
Returning seniors include
catcher/outfielder Otto Hoek-
stre, pitcher/infielder Scotty
Plampin, outfielder/pitcher
Dylan Wallis, and infielder/
pitcher Brent Walsh, who is
“solid on the mound and be-
hind the plate and as a middle
infielder,” Dierickx said.
Dawson Blanchard, a
6-foot junior outfielder/util-
ity player, will be one of the
Gulls’ big hitters at the plate
this season. Just recently,
he had three hits in the first
of two Sunday games in the
Seaside tournament, with a
two-run home run in the sec-
ond game.
Ashton Boyd enters his
junior year, and “we’re trying
to find a spot for him,” Dier-
ickx said. “He’s grown a lot,
he’s putting the ball in play
and doing a great job.”
GO
GULLS!
GOOD LUCK
TO ALL WINTER
ATHLETES,
TEAMS &
COACHES!!
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