FISHERMEN STATE CHAMPS AGAIN!

The Astoria Ford Fishermen defeated the Pleasant Hill Billies 6-1 at Pleasant Hill Sunday, taking home the championship trophy from the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I State Tournament.

The summer championship is a first for the school. Unlike the scholastic spring season, where the Fishermen had never advanced past the quarterfinals before this year's championship, Astoria had played for the summer title once previously, losing to Marist in the 2000 Junior State finals at Aiken Field.

Nick Bredleau picked up his second win of the tournament, working the first 5-and-two-thirds innings on the mound. Matt Brause closed the door with the final four outs. Bredleau also went 2-for-3 at the plate to help his cause.

Brendan Landwehr has been Astoria's most productive hitter over the last two weeks of playoffs and he continued his hot streak with a pair of hits, including a monster home run. Brause drove in two runs with a base hit. Thomas Jaworski had a pair of hits and two runs scord as Astoria outhit the Billies 11-to-4 in the game.

In the semifinals, Adam Koehnke had three hits and Jordan Poyer and Hans Lund combined on the mound in an 8-4 victory over Rex Putnam. Brause struck out 13 batters in a 4-hit complete game 7-1 victory over McNary in the tournament quarterfinals on Friday.

Astoria finished the summer with a 27-5 overall record and a 52-9 record spring and summer combined.

WARRIORS ELIMINATED BY SOUTHRIDGE

Errors proved costly to Warrenton's cause once again, as the 3A Warriors fell to 6A Southridge 4-2 in a a season-ending loss at the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I State Tournament in Eugene.

Southridge capitalized on three Warrior errors to score two runs in the second inning, taking a 3-1 lead. Lefthander Alex Brown took care of the rest, completing a 5-hitter for the win, outdueling Warrenton's Eric Gantenbein, who also surrendered only five hits.

Gantenbein singled and scored on a 2-out base hit by Bubba Massey to give Warrenton an early 1-0 lead in the first. Massey doubled in the fifth, setting up Warrenton's second run, a sacrifice fly by Buddy Davis to score Tyler Collier, who had walked.

The Warriors completed the summer with a surprising 17-8 overall record with a relatively inexperienced team.

WILDCATS SWEEP FINAL SERIES

Ensuring a winning record for the summer, the Seaside Wildcats swept a paif of games this weekend over the Southern Oregon Riverdogs, winning 18-8 in seven innings on Saturday and 10-4 in nine innings on Sunday.

The Wildcats finish the summer with a 26-21 overall record, 13-15 in Pacific International League competition.

The teams combined for 33 hits in Saturday night's slugfest. Seaside fell behind 4-0 and 8-4 early in the game, but an 8-run third inning, featuring home runs by Mike Rector, Robert Hitchens and a 3-run shot by Aaron Svarthumle, gave the Wildcats the lead for good. Seaside ended up with six home runs in the game, which was shortened to seven innings by the 10-run mercy rule. Matt Webb hit two home runs, finishing with three RBI's and three runs scored. Adam White homered as part of a 4-for-4 day, scoring three runs.

Hitchens and White also homered in Sunday's win. Aaron Nelson's three run home run in the second inning gave Seasie a 6-2 lead and the Wildcats led for the remainder of the game.

In both games this weekend, several pitchers got opportunities to bat and play in the field. At the end of Sunday's game, every pitcher was in a position on the field and Matt Hendryx was on the mound, recording the final out of the season on a comebacker.

WARRIORS BOUNCE BACK WITH UPSET WIN

The Warrenton Warriors turned around their fortunes this morning with a surprise 7-3 win over Newport to advance in the consolation bracket of the Oregon Junior Baseball State Tournament in Eugene.

Dan Wolfe went the distance on the hill and led off scoring rallies in the first and fourth innings. Newport opted to start a young pitcher instead of seasoned junior Eddie Crowe. Good thing Crowe was available because he would be called into action in the first inning as the first four Warriors reached base.

"I think they took a little shot at something in this game, not throwing their better pitcher (Crowe)," said Warriors head coach Lennie Wolfe. "We're the little guys you know...it didn't work out very well for them."

Possibly overlooking the 3A Warriors, the Cubs went with a JV pitcher and Warrenton took immediate advantage. Wolfe walked to lead off the game, Eric Gantenbein followed with a base hit, then Tyler Collier drove Wolfe home with another hit. After Nathan Massey walked to load the bases with nobody out, the lefty Crowe was summoned to the hill. Buddy Davis greeted Crowe with an RBI single. Beau Torres forced in the third Warrior run with a bases loaded hit by pitch.

After Newport tallied a run in the third inning, Warrenton responded with four more runs in the top of the fifth inning, the key blow a 2-run Eric Gantenbein home run that signalled the end of Crowe's stint on the mound. Gantenbein went 3-for-5 at the plate.

"The top of the order did a really good job for us offensively," said Wolfe. "Eric had a great day at the plate. He hit the ball sharply every time. Tyler was consistent as he has been all year."

Collier finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Wolfe was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs scored. The Warriors had eight hits and one error one day after collecting twice as many errors (4) as hits in a 10-0 loss to North Marion. After that poor opening day performance, the Warriors looked like a different team on Friday.

"Yesterday we played so badly on defense," said Wolfe. "Actually in most aspects of the game we weren't very good. Today was much different. Kevin Moore had two dropped balls on routine throws yesterday. Today he made two great plays on low throws. I think some of the younger guys were nervous in their first playoff appearance. Today they were more loose. I think they just realized a ballgame's a ballgame."

Dan Wolfe allowed just five hits, two coming in the final inning when Newport tallied its final run. The senior righthander struck out seven and walked four, throwing 112 pitches.

"His curveball was very sharp today," said the elder Wolfe, "and his velocity was up. It's been a long time since he had that loose arm. He figured out some things in the bullpen and got it going."

Warrenton returns to Pleasant Hill High School for a consolation semifinal game at noon Saturday against the winner of Sunset against Southridge, two teams likely comprised of primarily junior varsity players. Should the Warriors win again, they will play Sunday for fifth and eighth place at Marist High School on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

JUNIOR STATE TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD

Thursday's Scores
Scappoose 5, Newport 2
North Marion 10, Warrenton 0 (5 innings)
Sprague 6, Sunset 2
Pleasant Hill 3, Southridge 1
KEL Sand & Gravel (McNary) 6, Beaverton 2
Astoria Ford 9, Lake Oswego 1
Rex Putnam def. McMinnville
North Salem 4, Thurston 3

Friday's Schedule-Consolation
Warrenton vs. Newport, 9:30 a.m. at Marist
McMinnville vs. Thurston, noon at Marist
Lake Oswego vs. Beaverton, 10:30 a.m. at Pleasant Hill
Sunset vs. Southridge, 1:00 p.m. at Pleasant Hill
Quarterfinals
Astoria vs. KEL Sand & Gravel, 3:30 p.m. at Pleasant Hill
Pleasant Hill vs. Sprague, 6:00 p.m. at Pleasant Hill
Scappoose vs. North Marion, 2:30 p.m. at Marist
North Salem vs. Putnam, 5:00 p.m. at Marist

LANDWEHR STILL SMOKIN'; FISHERMEN ADVANCE

Brendan Landwehr continued his July tear at the plate with three hits, including two of Astoria's six doubles in a 9-1 victory over the Lake Oswego Lakers in the opening round of the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I Tournament at Marist High School in Eugene.

Adam Koehnke also had three hits as the Fishermen outhit the 6A Lakers 11-to-5 in the game.

While Astoria saw primarily a high school J.V. unit in Lake Oswego on Thursday, they will see a more experienced McNary squad in the quarterfinals Friday following the Salem school's 7-2 victory over Beaverton.

"Most of the Portland schools, you'll see them use Junior State for their J.V. kids," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser, a former coach at three Portland area high schools. "The Valley League teams will be more varsity players. McNary's coach is the high school coach so he'll have most of his kids. They'll be tough."

Nick Bredleau was on the mound and on the ropes in the first inning, hitting a batter and walking two more, but was able to get out of the jam with only one run scoring. Astoria responded with four runs in the bottom of the first inning, with Landwehr picking up the first of his two doubles to drive in two.

Brent Culver added an RBI single in the second inning, Bredleau settled down and the Fishermen gradually pulled away for the win.

The senior righthander went the distance on the hill for the complete game victory. Astoria played error free ball behind him and collected 11 hits for their nine runs with contributions up and down the lineup.

The Fishermen take on McNary at Pleasant Hill High School at 3:30 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

LAKE OSWEGO 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1-5-2
ASTORIA 4-1-0-0-4-0-X 9-11-0
WP-Bredleau (7ip, 5h, er, 5bb, 4k, hp)
LP-Jackson
E-Smith 2. LOB-Lake Oswego 7, Astoria 6. 2B-Landwehr 2, Dursse, Koehnke. SB-Mason, Jaworski 2, Culver, Poyer, Brause. DP-Astoria 1.

WARRIORS ROUGHED UP IN STATE OPENER

Nothing went right for Warrenton on the opening day of the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I State Tournament as the North Marion Huskies stuffed the Warriors 10-0 in a five inning game at Pleasant Hill High School.

North Marion advances to play Scappoose, a 5-2 winner over Newport, in the quarterfinals. The Warriors drop to the consolation bracket and will play Newport on Friday at Marist High School.

The Warriors have a relatively young team and they betrayed that youth on Thursday with some poor defense in the early innings on routine plays: a dropped fly ball in the outfield, routine throws to first base which were not handled, an overthrow that allowed a runner to advance.

"We didn't play defense very well," said coach Lennie Wolfe. "We struggled. It looked like a our younger guys, even from warmups on, it was the first time in a playoff situation and it got to their nerves. It looked like a lot of guys weren't sure of themselves and that's a shame."

The Warriors had four errors in five innings, but the Huskies also capitalized on the early wildness of Warriors starting pitcher Tyler Collier (6-3). The senior lefty walked four batters and had a wild pitch in the first three innings as North Marion piled up all of its runs. Collier finished with eight strikeouts in five innings of work, but allowed six hits. Eight of the ten runs were earned.

Meanwhile, Warrenton generated little offense against Husky starting pitcher Andy Korner. Beau Torres had a bunt single in the second inning and a base hit in the fifth and that would be it.

The Warriors (16-7) must win two straight games to reach the quarterfinal game but it will be far from easy. The Newport Cubs reached the state semifinals in the spring and will likely send all-state pitcher Eddie Crowe to the hill Friday.

"We'll have to play better tomorrow and that goes without saying," said Wolfe. "We'll have a chance to regroup. The fortunate thing is that this is not a single elimination tournament."

The game will be at Marist High School in Eugene at 9:30 a.m.

WILDCATS SWEEP JAVELINAS

Matt Webb went 3-for-4 and knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning with a double as the Seaside Wildcats defeated the Pacific Javelinas 6-3 at Broadway Field yesterday. The win followed a 13-2, 7-inning victory the night before.

Reliever Craig Neu got the start and pitched into the sixth inning, leaving with the bases loaded and two outs. With Seaside leading 4-3 and the tying run on third base, reliever A.J. Ornelas came on to retire Myles Rook on a groundout to third base. Aaron Nelson scooped the low throw at first base to potentially save two runs.

Ornelas allowed just one hit the rest of the way as the Wildcats evened their Pacific International League record at 13-13 and improved to 24-19 overall.

Seaside grabbed the early lead with four consecutive hits in teh second inning off Javelinas lefthander Addam Tate. After a bloop single by Webb, Mike Rector drove a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right center field for an RBI double. Robert Hitchens followed with another blooper and Adam White plated Rector with a base hit to make it 2-0 Seaside.

The Javelinas evened the score in the fourth inning on a 2-run home run by cleanup hitter Joel Johnson, his second in as many days.

Back-to-back doubles by Robert Lloyd and Webb in the fifth inning gave the lead back to Seaside. Webb later scored on a Hitchens groundout to make it 4-2 Wildcats.

Neu threw just 63 pitches through five innings but ran into trouble with two outs in the sixth. A sinlge by Ryan Davis, followed by a walk and back-to-back base hits by Marcos Quintero and Mike McNally spelled the end of Neu's outing. But Ornelas put out the fire and the Wildcats scored two insurance runs in the eighth to secure the win.

Seaside native Matt Hendryx had his best offensive day of the season. Getting the start at catcher, Hendryx reached base four times, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored.

The Wildcats had six doubles in the game.

Seaside travels to Mount Vernon Thursday to face the Skagit Eagles in a doubleheader before closing out the regular season with games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon against the Southern Oregon Riverdogs.

ASTORIA TAKES TITLE IN 5-INNING ROUT

Astoria hit its first home run of the tournament on the way to its second win over Pendleton to earn its third straight North Oregon State Championship.

Max Johnson drove in six runs and Ian Dueber pitched five innings of 2-hit shutout ball as Astoria whacked Pendleton 11-0 in a dominating 14-year-old Tournament finale at Aiken Field.

The group of incoming freshman and one eighth grader will head to regionals for the third year in a row, beginning competition in Roseburg on August 4th. Last night Astoria showed why this year's team may be able to top the top four finishes of the last two years and move on to the World Series.

Ian Dueber and Erik Knutsen, two Seaside Babe Ruth players, joined forces with this year's Astoria All-stars. Their impact, along with the return of Zach Dursse, makes this year's team much stronger, deeper and more flexible than the teams that reached the regional semifinals last year and finals the previous summer.

Dueber pitched brilliantly Monday night, facing one over the minimum number of batters while fanning four and walking none. He also had a large cushion to rest on after the Astoria offense blew the game open early on.

Astoria put four runs on the board in the first inning, then tacked on five more in the second, capped by Johnson's 3-run home run down the line in left field. Johnson also doubled to deep center field in the first inning and knocked in the final Astoria run with another double in the third.

The Astoria centerfielder and pitcher was tabbed to start yesterday's championship in the mound, but opted out with a sore arm after throwing seven innings on Saturday. Frustrated at the plate throughout the tournament, Johnson got a hold of an Isaac Henslee pitch and drove it over the head of Pendleton centerfielder Torin Garza to the "Green Zone", the deepest part of Aiken Field. That scored Ian Erickson and Marcus Brown to give Astoria a 4-0 lead with none out in the first inning.

Pendleton did not look sharp yesterday, with Henslee lacking command on the hill and errors plaguing the left side of the infield. The Pendleton righthander hit Marc Gallegos with the first pitch of the game, then walked Trevor Couch and Ian Erickson on 3-2 pitches before Marcus Brown hit a ground ball to short that turned into an error scoring two runs.

A walk and an error put the first two batters aboard in the Astoria second inning. After a Couch bunt moved the runners up, Erickson beat out an infield hit to deep short to load the bases. Brown hit another grounder to short that got under the glove of Jake Talbot for another error, sending Dursse and Gallegos across the plate. Johnson jumped on a 2-0 Henslee fastball and sent it over the wall for a 3-run home run. That gave Astoria a 9-0 lead and the celebration was already starting.

Astoria banked the mercy-rule win by adding two more unearned runs in the third. An error started the inning and consecutive hits by Erickson, Brown and Johnson plated two more runs. Johnson's double dropped in front of the centerfielder Garza, who was playing so deep his back was almost touching the wall.

Pendleton's first hit was a soft liner to center by catcher Dannon Baker to lead off the third inning. Baker was caught stealing by Dueber, who threw behind the runner and first baseman Cody Strickland easily gunned him out at second base. Josh Ernst led off the fifth inning with a double, but Dueber retired the next three batters, handling the final out himself on a Baker dribbler to the left of the mound.

Johnson finished the game 3-for-3, Erickson went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and Strickland was 2-for-3 with a double.

Last year, Astoria's season ended in an extra inning loss against Roseburg in the regional semifinals. This year's Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament will be in the Roseburg area, hosted by Umpqua Valley. Another former nemesis will be there as Kennewick claimed the Southern Washington state championship with a win over Kelso on Sunday. Kennewick's 12-year-old Cal Ripken team defeated Astoria in the regional finals two years ago.

PENDLETON 0-0-0-0-0 0-2-4
ASTORIA 4-5-2-0-X 11-9-0
WP-Dueber (5ip, 2h, 0r, 0bb, 4k)
LP-Henslee (1.1ip, 3h, 8r, 2er, 3bb, k, hp)
E-Talbot 2, Ernst, Martinez. LOB-Pendleton 1, Astoria 5. 2B-Johnson 2, Strickland. HR-Johnson. SB-Gallegos, Couch 2, Brown. CS-Baker. S-Couch. DP-Pendleton 1. PB-Baker.

PENDLETON ab r h rbi
L. Fox lf 2 0 0 0
T. Jones lf 0 0 0 0
J. Talbot ss 2 0 0 0
R. Hamilton 1b 2 0 0 0
J. Ernst 3b 2 0 1 0
T. Garza cf 2 0 0 0
B. Tarter rf 1 0 0 0
K. Mecham rf 1 0 0 0
D. Baker c 2 0 1 0
I. Henslee p 0 0 0 0
K. Nooy p 1 0 0 0
K. Martinez 2b 1 0 0 0
ASTORIA ab r h rbi
M. Gallegos 2b 3 2 0 0
T. Couch lf 1 2 0 0
I. Erickson ss 2 3 2 0
M. Brown 3b 3 2 1 1
M. Johnson cf 3 0 3 6
D. Lund c 3 0 1 0
C. Strickland 1b 3 0 2 0
I. Dueber p 3 0 0 0
Z. Dursse rf 2 1 0 0

ASTORIA GOING FOR REPEAT AND THREEPEAT

The Astoria 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-stars defeated Tri-County 5-1 in today's North Oregon State Tournament semifinals and will get a rematch with Pendleton for the state championship tonight at Aiken Field.

Cody Strickland was the complete game winner, allowing just four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Astoria never trailed but could never get comfortable either.

Marcus Brown went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and started Astoria's first scoring rally in the second inning, reaching on an error. An infield hit by Cody Strickland and a walk to Taylor Landwehr loaded the bases for Rick Sarin, who drew a free pass to force in Brown with the first run of the game. Drew Johnson relieved starting pitcher Bryan Holland and got Erik Knutsen to ground into a 4-6 fielder's choice, allowing Strickland to score giving Astoria a 2-0 lead.

Run-scoring doubles by Brown and Strickland sandwiched an RBI infield single by Max Johnson as Astoria pulled in front 5-0 in the third inning.

Astoria loaded the bases in the fourth with a chance to blow the game open, but Johnson grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Tri-County put runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but Strickland continued to dance out of trouble, much as he did two nights ago against Pendleton.

Jordan Hatfield had Tri-County's first hit, a harmless two-out single up the middle in the fourth inning. The Heppner-area All-stars scored their only run in the fifth when Harold Stevens reached on an infield single, later scoring on a Wacy Coil fielder's choice.

Trailing 5-1, Tri-County's Justin Phillips led off the seventh inning with a hit, but one out later, second baseman Marc Gallegos caught a soft liner off the bat of leadoff batter Chris Lien and threw to first, doubling off Phillips to end the game.

Tri-County will play SRV Nationals for third and fourth place at 4:00 p.m. Astoria's All-stars will go for their third straight baseball state championship at 7:00 p.m. against Pendleton, a team they defeated 4-1 in pool play.

The winner of tonight's championship game will advance to regionals in the Roseburg area, a tournament featuring the top Babe Ruth teams from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, British Columbia and Alberta.

TRI-COUNTY 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1-4-3
ASTORIA 0-2-3-0-0-0 5-7-2
WP-Strickland (CG, 7ip, 4h, er, 3bb, 4k, 2wp)
LP-Holland (1.1ip, h, 2r, 0er, 2bb, 0k, hp)
E-Eckman, Stevens 2, Sarin, Strickland. LOB-Tri-County 6, Astoria 9. 2B-Brown, Strickland. SB-Holland. CS-Knutsen, Dursse. S-Lien. DP-Tri-County 1, Astoria 1.

DISASTROUS D LEADS PENDLETON TO FINALS

Snake River Valley Nationals' cinderella run to the state final four came crashing down Monday morning in a 14-2, 5-inning loss to Pendleton.

Pendleton advanced to the championship game Monday night against the winner of Tri-County and Astoria.

All fourteen Pendleton runs were unearned, courtesy of eight SRV errors.

Most of the damage came in two bad innings. Pendleton loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning after a leadoff walk to Levin Fox and consecutive errors by third baseman Marcus Marines. Fox charged home on a sacrifice fly to left field by Josh Ernst and Torin Garza followed with a base hit to right field to score Jake Talbot. After Garza advanced to second on a wild throw home, Bryant Tarter followed with a fly ball down the left field line that glanced off the glove of Alex Todd for the fourth error of the inning. Garza scored on the play and Tarter followed on a base hit by Dannon Baker.

SRV scored its only run of the game in the first inning, when catcher Matt Anthony led off with a base hit, stole second, advanced to third on a Nico Martinez bunt and scored on a wild pitch by Pendleton pitcher Kyle Mecham. Mecham did not allow another hit over his three inning stint.

Another muffed ball in right field in the third inning led to Pendleton's fifth run of the game, with Garza scoring on an infield hit by Mecham after going all the way to third base on what should have been a single.

Pendleton put the game away with eight runs in the fourth inning, capped by the tournament's first home run, a grand slam by number nine hitter Travis Jones down the line in left. Jones was named Pendleton's most valuable player, going 1-for-2 with two runs scored. Torin Garza finished the game 3-for-3 with two RBI's and three runs scored.

Snake River Valley will play the loser of the Astoria-Tri-County game at 4:00 p.m. for third and fourth place.

PENDLETON 4-0-1-8-1 14-9-1
SRV NATIONALS 1-0-0-0-1 2-3-8
WP-Mecham (3ip, h, er, 3bb, k, wp)
LP-Raetz (3.2ip, 6h, 10r, 0er, 2bb, k, 2hp)
E-Ernst, Marines 4, N. Martinez 2, Todd, Fields. LOB-Pendleton 6, SRV Nationals 6. HR-Jones. SB-Talbot, Anthony 2. S-Fox, N. Martinez. SF-Ernst. DP-SRV Nationals 1.

FISHERMEN DISTRICT CHAMPS

The Astoria Ford Fishermen defeated Warrenton 7-5 Sunday for the OJBA District 9 Championship.

Both teams qualified for the state tournament with wins on Saturday. Astoria will take the top seed from the district and face a lower seeded team at Marist High School in Eugene on Thursday. Warrenton will face a district champion at Pleasant Hill High School in the opening round of the double elimination tournament.

Brendan Landwehr was Astoria's top hitter this weekend, jacking his third home run of the tournament in the second inning. Landwehr later added an RBI and a sacrifice fly. Matt Brause had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Fishermen.

Warrenton's Bubba Massey tied the game with a 2-run home run off starting pitcher Jordan Poyer in the fifth inning. The Fishermen regained the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Hans Lund pitched the sixth and Matt Brause came on to close the door in the seventh inning to record a save.

Mike Davis pitched a complete game in the loss for the Warriors. Massey finished with four runs batted in.

ASTORIA TO SEMIS IN 10-INNING THRILLER

For the second straight day, the Astoria 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-stars won in dramatic fashion, scoring two runs in the bottom of the tenth inning to ward off a huge upset in a 4-3 quarterfinal victory at the North Oregon State Tournament.

Ian Erickson's double to right over a drawn-in outfield scored Marcus Brown and Max Johnson with the game winning runs.

Astoria, in pursuit of its third consecutive state championship, will meet Tri-County at 1:00 p.m. at Aiken Field in today's semifinals.

Astoria starting pitcher Max Johnson carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning with a 2-0 lead, but S.E. Portland would load the bases with nobody out. Johnson's mound counterpart, Rudy Johnson, sent a sharp grounder up the middle that deflected off Johnson to second baseman Marc Gallegos, whose throw home was late and wild, allowing Eli Kimball to score. Alex Kehdi came around third and appeared to be out at the plate after catcher Dane Lund retrieved the ball and dived back to apply the tag. But the ball was jarred loose in the collision and S.E. Portland had tied the score at two.

With runners at first and third and one out, S.E. Portland tried a double steal, but shortstop Marcus Brown returned Lund's throw in time to get Abe Cabatic trying to score from third. McKenzie Jones grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

Meanwhile Rudy Corbett, pitching on two days rest after a workhorse complete game effort on Thursday, continued to baffle the Astoria bats. After back-to-back RBI doubles in the first inning by Brown and Johnson gave Astoria an early lead, Corbett held the Clatsop-Pacific County All-stars at bay. Astoria's only real offensive threat came in the fourth inning, when Cody Strickland drove a 1-0 pitch to the wall in right field for a 1-out triple. But Corbett fanned Ian Dueber and retired Jake Hatcher on a groundout to first base to end the threat.

Both teams went down in order in the seventh inning, putting the game into extra innings and forcing pitching changes for both teams according to Babe Ruth rules.

With Ian Dueber taking over on the mound for Johnson, S.E. Portland's speedy leadoff man Michael Holly beat out an infield hit off to start the eighth, but was gunned down trying to take an extra base on Eli Kimball's sacrifce bunt. Dueber threw out Kimball and Hatcher, playing first base, double-clutched before throwing across the diamond to Strickland, who applied the tag just in time to get Holly.

Astoria put the game-winning run on second base with nobody out in the bottom of the inning when Holly, in relief of Corbett, issued back-to-back walks to Lund and Brown to start the frame. In came lefthander McKenzie Jones, who got Max Johnson to fly out sharply to center field, got Erickson to ground into a force out at third base and induced a pop up from Cody Strickland to put out the fire.

A fire was raging in the S.E. Portland ninth inning as they loaded the bases with nobody out on an Abe Cabatic single, an error and a bunt base hit by Jones. But Jack Lavey's line drive found the glove of Hatcher at first base, Brandon Berkey struck out looking and Travis Popper lived up to his name, popping out to Hatcher in foul territory.

After a scoreless Astoria ninth, Southeast would again jam the sacks with nobody out on two hit batters and a walk. This time, they would push a run across when Cabatic's grounder to short skipped off Brown's glove for an error. Astoria would get a huge double play, though, when Corbett's grounder took Strickland to the bag at third for a 5-3 twin killing. Jones struck out to end the inning with Southeast leading 3-2 on the verge of a huge upset.

But Astoria's bats finally came alive in the tenth. With one out, Brown singled and stole second. Max Johnson followed with a base hit to center and took second on the throw home as Brown wisely put the brakes on at third. That set up Erickson to be the hero. With rightfielder Propper drawn in close for a potential play at the plate, Erickson drove the ball hard to rightfield well over the head of Propper for the walk-off hit.

S.E. PORTLAND 0-0-0-0-0-2-0-0-0-1 3-5-0
ASTORIA 2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2 4-11-4
WP-Dueber (3ip, 3h, r, 0er, bb, k, 2hp)
LP-Jones (2ip, 4h, 2er, 0bb, k, wp)
E-Brown 2, Johnson, Gallegos, Strickland. LOB-S.E. Portland 9, Astoria 9. 2B-Brown, Johnson, Erickson. 3B-Strickland. SB-Corbett, Holly, Brown 2, Gallegos. CS-Cabatic. DP-Astoria 1. PB-Lund.

BABE RUTH ROUNDUP-14-yr-old State Quarterfinals

PENDLETON 13, BEAVERTON 1...The Pendleton 14-year-old All-stars scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back. Bryant Tarter went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI's and Jake Talbot was 2-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI. Isaac Henslee got the win with two innings of scoreless relief for starter Torin Garza, who surrendered the lone Beaverton run in his three innings of work on a Spencer Ross RBI single in the first inning. Pendleton will play SRV Nationals in the first semifinal game at Astoria's Aiken Field on Monday

PENDLETON 5-2-3-0-0-0-3 13-14-2
BEAVERTON 1-0-0-0-0-0-0 1-4-7
WP-Henslee (2ip, h, 0r, bb, 2k)
LP-Moshofsky (2ip, 7h, 7r, 3er, 0bb, 3k)
E-Cronk, Pryor, Ross 2, Moshofsky, Kimball, Norling, Garza, Ernst. LOB-Pendleton 10, Beaverton 9. 2B-Hamilton, Tarter 2. SB-Ernst, Garza 2, Mecham, Talbot 2, Martinez, Vietzke, Palladino. S-Moshofsky. PB-Ross.

TRI-COUNTY 9, THE DALLES 1...Jared Huddleston tossed a complete game and leadoff batter Chris Lien went 4-for-5 with two RBI's as Tri-County advanced to the semifinals. The Dalles led 1-0 until the fifth inning, when Tri-County sent 13 men to the plate, scoring eight of their nine runs. Lien led off the inning with a base hit, later scoring on a 2-run single by Huddleston, who nabbed MVP honors. Bryan Holland followed with a 2-run single and Lien came back around with a 2-run single later in the inning. James Stroud's second inning base hit scored Nate Timmons with The Dalles' only run of the game. Timmons went 3-for-3 at the plate.

THE DALLES 0-1-0-0-0-0-0 1-7-7
TRI-COUNTY-0-0-0-0-8-1-X 9-8-1
WP-Huddleston (7ip, 7h, er, 0bb, 4k, hp)
LP-Fowlkes (4.1ip, 6h, 4r, 3er, 1bb, 4k, wp)
E-Fowlkes 2, Stroud, Herriges, Cochran, Timmons, Davis, Coil. LOB-The Dalles 8, Tri-County 12. 2B-Wilcox. SB-Eckman.

SRV NATIONALS 5, HARNEY/GRANT 1...Snake River Valley's K.J. Morris tossed a complete game 2-hitter as the Ontario-based All-stars stormed into the state semifinals. Morris overcame early wildness, loading the bases in the first inning on a pair of walks and a hit batter before retiring Christian Lassan on a groudout to short. SRV scored a run in the first when Matt Anthony led off with a single, later scoring on a wild pitch. The Snake River catcher finished 2-for-3 with two RBI's and a pair of runs scored. Anthony drove in two runs in a 3-run fourth inning when the Nationals took a 4-0 lead, capitalizing on three walks and two hit batters in the inning. Caleb Feist walked and scored on a fielder's choice in the fifth inning for Harney/Grant's only run. Snake River Valley will face Pendleton at 10:00 a.m. in the first semifinal at Aiken Field.

SRV NATIONALS 1-0-0-3-0-1-0 5-5-0
HARNEY/GRANT 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1-2-2
WP-Morris (7ip, 2h, 1er, 5bb, 7k, 2hp)
LP-Williams (5ip, 5h, 4r, 3er, 4bb, 6k, 2hp, wp)
E-Moore 2. LOB-SRV Nationals 9, Harney/Grant 11. 2B-Moore. SB-Williams. S-Martinez, Reynolds. DP-Harney/Grant 1. PB-Anthony.

WARRIORS HEAD TO STATE AFTER SEAGULL SWEEP

The Warrenton Warriors have been to the Oregon Junior Baseball Association State Tournament more times than any current member.

Two years ago, the Warriors had a string of 12 straight appearances snapped. Sunday, they began a new streak, qualifying for state for the second consecutive season with a 9-2 victory over Seaside.

The Seagulls, who presented all sorts of matchup problems during the regular season, fell to Warrenton for the second time in the tournament and saw their season come to an end.

The Warriors never trailed, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning to support winning pitcher Tyler Collier, who allowed just two hits over six innings.

Leading 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Warrenton piled on five more runs for insurance, taking advantage of some Seaside miscues to help send the Gulls packing.

Collier's RBI double in the first inning got the Warriors rolling against Gulls starter Alec Carlson. Buddy Davis knocked in two more runs with a double later in the inning and the Warriors had all the runs Collier would need, as the senior lefty fanned six, walked five and allowed two runs, none earned in a 99-pitch outing.

Billy Sturgell's RBI single in the third inning made it 4-0 Warrenton before the Gulls notched single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Collier ran into a bout of wildness in the fourth, walking Matt Mizell with the bases loaded and one out to force in a run, but he snapped out of it by fanning Jeremy Carow on three pitches and getting Sal Oros to fly out to end the inning.

Mitch DeGandi made it 4-2 with an RBI single in the fifth, but the Gulls inning ended when Jon Giztavich flew out to Billy Sturgell in right field, who gunned down Ben Christianson trying to score for an inning-ending double play.

Warrenton put the game out of reach in an ugly sixth inning, that featured a hit batter and three Seaside errors. It was beautiful for the Warriors, who had three productive bunts, including a suicide squeeze by Beau Torres.

Warrenton and Astoria meet for the District 9 Championship at Knappa's Teevin Field today at 2:00 p.m. If Warrenton wins, the teams will play again at 5:00 p.m. Both teams have already clinched state tournament berths. The OJBA State Tournament begins Thursday at Pleasant Hill High School and Marist High School in Eugene.

WARRENTON 3-0-1-0-0-5-0 9-7-5
SEASIDE 0-0-0-1-1-0-0 2-3-3
WP-Collier
LP-Carlson
E-Slaughter 2, Patterson, Moore 2, Mizell, Carlson, Giztavich. LOB-Warrenton 5, Seaside 8. 2B-Davis. CS-Carow. S-Patterson, Torres. DP-Warrenton 1, Seaside 1.

BABE RUTH SCOREBOARD/SCHEDULE

15-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Optimist Field in La Grande
Saturday's Scores
Pendleton 17, S.E. Portland 5 (6 innings)
Blue Mountain 13, Astoria 7
SRV Nationals 15, The Dalles 5 (6)
Unioni County 20, Clackamas 2
Sunday's Schedule
SRV Nationals vs. S.E. Portland, 10:00 a.m.
Astoria vs. Pendleton, 1:00 p.m.
Union County vs. The Dalles, 4:00 p.m.
Blue Mountain vs. Clackamas, 7:00 p.m.
14-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Aiken Field in Astoria
Saturday's Scores
The Dalles 2, Harney/Grant 1
S.E. Portland 8, SRV Nationals 6
Tri-County 11, Beaverton 1
Astoria 4, Pendleton 1
Sunday's Schedule
Pendleton vs. Beaverton, 10:00 a.m.
Tri-County vs. The Dalles, 1:00 p.m.
SRV Nationals vs. Harney/Grant, 4:00 p.m.
Astoria (1-1) vs. S.E. Portland, 7:00 p.m.
13-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Elks Memorial Field in Ontario
Saturday's Scores
Beaverton 13, The Dalles 0 (5 innings)
Union County 9, Astoria 4
Tri-County 7, Baker City 5
Hermiston 16, SRV Nationals 8
Sunday's Schedule
Union County vs. Hermiston, 10:00 a.m.
Astoria vs. Beaverton, 1:00 p.m.
Tri-County (0-2) vs. SRV Nationals, 4:00 p.m.
Baker City vs. The Dalles, 7:00 p.m.

ASTORIA HANDS PENDLETON FIRST LOSS

The sound of music was sweet for Astoria and the refrain went, "Anything you can do, I can do better".

Zach Dursse's suicide squeeze bunt in the sixth inning scored Dane Lund with the go-ahead run and Jake Hatcher's 2-run, 7th-inning double provided insurance as Astoria handed Pendleton its first loss of the North Oregon Babe Ruth 14-year-old State Tournament, winning 4-1 in the final pool play game for both teams Saturday night.

After Astoria grabbed the early lead with a run in the first inning, Pendleton evened the score in the fifth. Speedy leadoff man Levin Fox beat out an infield hit, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Talbot. Ryan Hamilton put down a second straight bunt, this time on a suicide squeeze, to score Fox with the game tying run.

In the top of the sixth, Lund, Astoria's stalwart catcher, reached on a 1-out base hit. Marcus Brown followed with a grounder to Pendleton third baseman Josh Ernst, whose throw was wild, allowing Lund to steam into third base. Dursse followed in the cleanup spot, after replacing slumping Max Johnson in the outfield the previous inning. On the first pitch, Dursse put the bunt down back to the pitcher, allowing Lund to score, giving Astoria a 2-1 lead.

Astoria got major contributions from its entire bench in this game. Ian Dueber relieved starting pitcher Cody Strickland in the fifth inning and led off the seventh with a base hit. Marc Gallegos, who also started this game on the pine, followed with a hit. And after backup rightfielder Ricky Sarin moved the runners up with a grounder to short, Jake Hatcher blasted a ball to the wall in left field to score Dueber and Gallegos, giving Astoria a 4-1 lead.

After walking the first two batters in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate with nobody out, Dueber recovered to get three straight outs to seal the win.

Pendleton threatened to score in three of the first four innings, but stranded six baserunners, five in scoring position. With the bases loaded an one out in the first inning, Cody Strickland fanned Torin Garza and Kyle Martinez to end the threat. In the second inning, Pendleton put runners on second and third with one out, but Strickland got Fox on a foul popup and Talbot popped out to first base to end the inning. Dannon Baker reached third base with one out in the fourth inning on an error and a wild pitch, but again Strickland clutched up, striking out Kyle Mecham looking before ending the inning on a ground out to short.

Strickland went four innings, allowing two hits and no runs with three strikeouts and three walks in the no decision. Trevor Couch doubled and scored Astoria's first run on a Marcus Brown base hit in the first inning. Brown finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate.

Astoria clinched first place in the American pool with the win and will face National pool number four seed S.E. Portland at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night in the quarterfinals. Pendleton will play Beaverton at 10:00 a.m.

ASTORIA 1-0-0-0-0-1-2 4-7-2
PENDLETON 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1-4-1
WP-Dueber (3ip, 2h, er, 3bb, 2k, wp)
LP-Nooy (3ip, 4h, 3r, 2er, 0bb, 5k, bk)
E-Knutsen, Brown, Ernst. LOB-Astoria 4, Pendleton 9. 2B-Couch, Hatcher. SB-Couch, Brown 2, Baker, Fox, Talbot. CS-Ernst. S-Lund, Dursse, Jones, Talbot, Hamilton. DP-Astoria 1, Pendleton 1.

JOHNSON, TRI-COUNTY BAFFLE BEAVERTON

Starting pitcher Drew Johnson tossed a complete game 4-hitter as Tri-County defeated Beaverton 11-1 on the final day of pool play at the North Oregon Babe Ruth 14-year-old State Tournament in Astoria.

Tri-County grabbed a second place seed into Saturday's quarterfinals and will face The Dalles. Beaverton dropped to third in the National pool and will play American #2 seed Pendleton at 10:00 a.m.

Johnson did not overpower, but the Tri-County defense was stout, allowing only one harmless miscue.

It was a scoreless game until Tri-County blew it wide open with an 8-run fourth inning, sending 13 batters to the plate. All of the runs came after two outs. Brent Eckman led off the inning with a single. Wacy Coil tried to move the runner up with a bunt, but was called out for stepping out of the batter's box. Johnson followed with a base hit, putting runners at first and second, before Eckman was gunned down trying to steal by Beaverton catcher Spencer Ross.

The onslaught began with back-to-back bases on balls to Jared Huddleston and Bryan Holland, followed by a 2-run single by Jordan Hatfield. After Russell Thompson walked, starting pitcher Wilson Sherman-Burton gave way to reliever Ryan Kimball, who could not stop the bleeding. Back-to-back RBI singles by Harold Stevens and Chris Lien, followed by two straight hit batters and a 2-run single by Johnson, his second hit of the inning, gave Tri-County an 8-0 lead and the Heppner-area All-stars cruised from there.

Beaverton's only run came in the sixth inning, an RBI double by Spencer Ross plating Joey Pryor, who led off the inning with a hit.

TRI-COUNTY 0-0-0-8-0-0-3 11-7-1
BEAVERTON 0-0-0-0-0-1-0 1-4-3
WP-Johnson (7ip, 4h, er, 0bb, 3k, hp)
LP-Sherman-Burton (3.2ip, 5h, 5er, 4bb, 0k, bk, wp)
E-Huddleston, Sherman-Burton, Kimball, Cronk. LOB-Tri-County 5, Beaverton 4. 2B-Phillips, Ross. SB-Hatfield. CS-Mason. S-McDevitt.

S.E. PORTLAND TOPS SRV

Winless S.E. Portland overcame and early 4-0 deficit by scoring seven runs in the third inning on the way to an 8-6 victory over previously unbeaten Snake River Valley in the final pool game for both teams.

Portland still finishes fourth in the National pool and will take on American top seed Astoria at 7:00 p.m. tonight in the quarterfinals, while SRV faces Pendleton at 10:00 a.m. this morning.

Snake River struck for four first inning runs off S.E. Portland pitcher Jack Lavey on a pair of 2-run singles by Alex Todd and Marcus Marines. But Southeast responded with a bigger inning that featured a little bit of everything: three hits packaged with four bases on balls, three errors, a hit batter and a balk. The key blows were a 2-run double by Alex Kehdi and RBI singles by Rudy Corbett and Eli Kimball.

In the end, SRV could look back at some missed opportunities. The Ontario-based All-stars left the bases loaded in the first inning and had two runners thrown out at the plate and another at third base in the third inning, only able to score one run in that frame.

SRV closed to within one run when Matt Anthony doubled and scored on a Casey Pfeifer single in the fifth inning, but Lavey held the Nationals scoreless the rest of the way, becoming the third Southeast Portland pitcher to throw a complete game at the tournament, following Rudy Corbett and Alex Kehdi.

SOUTHEAST PORTLAND 0-0-7-0-0-1-0 8-6-1
SRV NATIONALS 4-0-1-1-0-0-0 6-7-3
WP-Lavey (7ip, 7h, 6r, 4er, 5bb, k, 4hp)
LP-Raetz (3.1ip, 4h, 7r, 5er, 6bb, 2k, hp, wp, bk)
E-Corbett, Martinez, Todd, Rodriguez. LOB-S.E. Portland 6, SRV Nationals 10. 2B-Kehdi, Anthony. SB-Holly, Kimball, Rodriguez 3, Fields, Todd 2, Pfeifer, Marines, Anthony 2, Huddleston. CS-Kehdi, Corbett. S-Berkey.

THE DALLES WINS SQUEAKER

Clutch pitching from Duncan Wilcox and Zach Fowlkes and the overdue emergence of some offense lifted The Dalles Nationals to their first win of the North Oregon 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament, a 2-1 thriller at Aiken Field in Astoria Saturday morning.

Wilcox pitched deep into the game, dancing out of major trouble in the fifth and sixth innings as Harney/Grant stranded five baserunners, four in scoring position, without scoring a run. With The Dalles leading 2-0, Harney/Grant loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, then forced in the tying run when Cody Williams took a Wilcox fastball in the back, scoring Cody Feist.

That would be it for Wilcox, who gave way to Zach Fowlkes in the ultimate clutch closer situation: bases loaded, one run lead. Facing Harney/Grant pitcher Zach Dobson, Fowlkes worked the count in his favor with two called strikes before fanning Dobson swinging on a 1-2 pitch to end the game.

The Dalles didn't have a hit until the seventh inning in Friday's loss to Astoria and had just three hits in the first two games of the tournament, both shutout losses. Nate Timmons got the first hit for the Nationals in the second inning, but was picked off first base to end the frame. He would have a chance to atone in his next at bat.

With runners at second and third and nobody out in the fourth inning, Timmons drove in Seth Davis with a base hit. A potential big inning was sabotaged when Rick Maier popped out to short on a hit and run and Timmons was doubled off at first base, but David Little scored what turned out to be a critical run, racing home on a wild pitch with a headfirst slide to give The Dalles a 2-0 lead.

Harney/Grant loaded the bases in the fifth inning but could not score, then put runners at second and third base with one out in the sixth after back-to-back base hits by Dalton Moore and Cody Williams and a sacrifice bunt by Dobson. But Wilcox was able to put out the fire by striking out Darren King and Adam Gilliam back-to-back to end the threat. The Dalles' righthander also ended the second inning with back to back K's with a runner on third.

Williams went 3-for-3 at the plate for Harney/Grant (1-2) and started on the mound, pitching three innings of 1-hit ball with one strikeout and two bases on balls.

HARNEY/GRANT 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 1-7-3
THE DALLES NATIONALS 0-0-0-2-0-0-X 2-5-2
WP-Wilcox (6.2ip, 7h, r, 0er, 3bb, 7k, hp)
LP-Dobson (3ip, 4h, 2r, er, bb, k, hp)
SV-Fowlkes (0.1ip, 0h, 0r, k)
E-Williams, Feist 2, Davis, Stroud. LOB-Harney/Grant 10, The Dalles 8. SB-Williams, Davis, Little. S-Dobson, Herriges. DP-Harney/Grant, The Dalles 1.

WARRIORS SHAKE SEASIDE, PLAY FOR STATE

Billy Sturgell's two out single to left center field scored Tyler Collier with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning as the Warrenton Warriors won a wild Oregon Junior Baseball District 9 Tournament opener, defeating Seaside 8-7.

The Warriors advance to play Astoria today at 2:00 p.m. at Knappa's Teevin Field. The winner will clinch a state tournament berth and advance to the district championship game Sunday. The loser of today's game will play Seaside at 5:00 p.m. tonight in a winner-to-state, loser out elimination game.

Warrenton had a 7-4 lead in the sixth inning when Seaside rallied for three runs to tie the game. Mitch DeGandi's 2-run double scored Will Beatty and Alec Carlson with the game-tying runs. The senior shortstop and pitcher had a huge day at the plate, with a pair of doubles and a 2-run home run in a 3-run Seaside first inning. With DeGandi representing the go-ahead run at second base with one out, Tyler Collier came on in relief of starting pitcher Eric Gantenbein and recorded back-to-back strikeouts of Ross Knutsen and Matt Mizell to end the threat.

Collier retired the side in order in the seventh, then led off the eighth inning with his second double of the game, later scoring what turned out to be the game-winning run on Sturgell's base hit off DeGandi, who took the loss in relief.

Dan Wolfe pitched a perfect eighth inning to record the save.

WARRENTON 0-1-2-2-1-1-0-1 8-11-2
SEASIDE 3-1-0-0-0-3-0-0 7-10-3
WP-Collier (1.2ip, 0h, 0r, 3k)
LP-DeGandi (3ip, 3h, er, 0bb, 3k, wp)
SV-Wolfe (ip, 0h, 0r, 0bb, 0k)
E-Davis, Massey, Carow 2, Beatty. LOB-Warrenton 9, Seaside 7. 2B-Collier 2, Massey 2, Carlson 2, DeGandi 2. HR-DeGandi. SB-Wolfe. S-Slaughter.

BABE RUTH SCOREBOARD/SCHEDULE

15-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Optimist Field in La Grande
Friday's Scores
Blue Mountain 13, The Dalles 3 (5 innings)
Pendleton 10, Clackamas 3
Union County 7, S.E. Portland 6
SRV Nationals 17, Astoria 15
Saturday's Schedule
Pendleton (1-1) vs. S.E. Portland (1-1), 10:00 a.m.
Astoria (1-1) vs. Blue Mountain (2-0), 1:00 p.m.
The Dalles (0-2) vs. SRV Nationals (1-1), 4:00 p.m.
Clackamas (0-2) vs. Union County (2-0), 7:00 p.m.

14-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Aiken Field in Astoria
Friday's Scores
SRV Nationals 6, Tri-County 2
Pendleton 13, Harney/Grant 3 (5 innings)
Astoria 11, The Dalles 0
Beaverton 7, S.E. Portland 5
Saturday's Schedule
The Dalles (0-2) vs. Harney/Grant (1-1), 10:00 a.m.
S.E. Portland (0-2) vs. SRV Nationals (2-0), 1:00 p.m.
Beaverton (1-1) vs. Tri-County (1-1), 4:00 p.m.
Astoria (1-1) vs. Pendleton (2-0), 7:00 p.m.

13-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Elks Memorial Field in Ontario
Friday's Scores
Union County 7, Tri-County 4
Hermiston 10, The Dalles 4
Baker City 13, Astoria 2
SRV Nationals 13, Beaverton 0 (5 innings)
Saturday's Schedule
Beaverton (1-1) vs. The Dalles (0-2), 10:00 a.m.
Astoria (1-1) vs. Union County (1-1), 1:00 p.m.
Tri-County (0-2) vs. Baker City (2-0), 4:00 p.m.
Hermiston (1-1)vs. SRV Nationals (2-0), 7:00 p.m.

BEAVERTON HOLDS OFF DISTRICT RIVALS

Keyed by a 5-run second inning, Beaverton defeated S.E. Portland to even its pool record a 1-1, while Southeast dropped to 0-2 in pool play at the North Oregon Babe Ruth 14-year-old State Tournament in Astoria.

Defensive miscues continue to cost S.E. Portland, as six errors led to four unearned runs for Beaverton.

Greg Cronk went 2-for-3 with an RBI single in the second inning that got the Beaverton rally started. Cronk would later score on an RBI fielder's choice by Wilson Sherman-Burton who reached first base safely on an errant throw that also allowed Joey Pryor to cross the plate. Spencer Ross followed with a base on balls and a wild pitch and stolen base put runners at second and third for cleanup batter Jake Vietzke, who drove home Sherman-Burton with a base hit. Anthony Palladino capped the inning with a successful squeeze bunt to drive home Ross.

Beaverton added another unearned run in the third inning on an RBI single by leadoff man Matt Moshofsky, scoring Kyle Adkisson who had reached on an error to lead off the inning. Cronk followed Adkisson with a single and tried to score from second base on Moshofsky's single, but S.E. Portland centerfielder Michael Holly gunned Cronk down with a strong throw to the plate. Cronk became the fifth Beaverton baserunner to be thrown out at home in nine innings of baseball at the tournament.

With Beaverton leading 6-2, Southeast countered with an unearned run in the third inning and another run in the fourth on a bases loaded single by Jack Lavey, scoring Eli Kimball. The threat ended when McKenzie Jones lined out to shortstop.

Southeast again loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, but could only manage a single run when Kimball raced home on a wild pitch after singling to open the inning. A diving catch in right field by Jordan Mason saved at least one, maybe two runs. After Beaverton relief pitcher Anthony Palladino walked McKenzie Jones to reload the bases, lefthander Ryan Kimball took over on the mound, getting a key strikeout of Berkey and retiring Rudy Corbett on a fly out to left field to end the threat.

Vietzke was named MVP of the contest, going 3-for-4 at the plate for Beaverton. Kyle Adkisson went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. Kimball earned the save for Beaverton, retiring all five batters he faced with two strikeouts. Palladino earned the win with three and a third innings of relief.

For the second day in a row, S.E. Portland's pitcher went the distance, with Alex Kehdi taking the complete game loss. Eli Kimball led the way at the plate for Southeast, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Holly also scored twice, going 1-for-4 with a walk.

BEAVERTON 0-5-1-0-0-1-0 7-9-1
S.E. PORTLAND 1-1-1-1-0-1-0 5-5-6
WP-Palladino (3.1ip, 5h, 2er, 6bb, k, 2hp, 2wp)
LP-Kehdi (7ip, 9h, 7r, 3er, 4bb, 3k, hp, wp)
E-Burton-Sherman, E. Kimball 2, Lavey 2, Fisher, Kehdi. LOB-Beaverton 8, S.E. Portland 6. 2B-Kehdi. SB-Adkisson, Ross, Holly, E. Kimball 2. S-Palladino, Pryor, Cronk. DP-Beaverton 1, S.E. Portland 2. PB-Sherman-Burton 2, Corbett.

ASTORIA NOT HITTING, NEARLY NO-HITTING

While Astoria still did not hit to its potential, the talented pitching trio of Ian Dueber, Max Johnson and Marcus Brown combined to shut down The Dalles in an 11-0 victory at Aiken Field Friday on the second day of the North Oregon State Tournament.

With the win, the 14-year-old Astoria All-stars improve to 1-1 in pool play while The Dalles drops to 0-2.

For the second day in a row, shortstop Ian Erickson delivered a clutch hit in the first inning, a 2-out, 2-run single to score Dane Lund and Marcus Brown. Astoria would plate four runs after two outs in the inning, as Dueber and rightfielder Rick Sarin followed with walks and Zach Dursse drew another free pass to force in Erickson. Jake Hatcher capped the inning with an RBI single to score Dueber. All four runs were unearned after two The Dalles errors in the inning.

Astoria added three more runs in the second inning. Dane Lund drew a leadoff walk, stole second, went to third on a fielders' choice and scored on Max Johnson's sacrifice fly. Erickson followed with a base hit to score Marcus Brown and after a double by Dueber, Rick Sarin flied out to center field deep enough to score Erickson with the second sacrifice fly of the inning.

With a comfortable 7-0 lead banked, Astoria's pitchers took care of the rest, holding The Dalles hitless until Aaron Cochran's leadoff single in the seventh inning off Brown, who recovered to retire the side with two strikeouts to close out the game.

Starting pitcher Ian Dueber went three innings, striking out three and walking one. Johnson pitched three perfect innings of relief with three strikeouts to get credit for the win. Brown fanned two and walked one in two innings to close the game

Erickson earned MVP honors with his 2-for-2, three RBI performance at the plate. Brown scored three runs.

The Dalles has just three hits through two games of the tournament.

ASTORIA 4-3-0-0-0-1-3 11-9-1
THE DALLES 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0-1-6
WP-Johnson (3ip, 0h, 0r, 0bb, 3k)
LP-Timmons (1+ip, 3h, 5r, er, 4bb, 0k)
E-Brown, Stroud 3, Davis, Wallace, Maier. LOB-Astoria 9, The Dalles 3. 2B-Dueber, Israel. SB-Lund, Brown, Couch 2, Davis. CS-Wilcox. SF-Johnson, Sarin. DP-Astoria. PB-Wilcox.

NO LOVE FOR THE GLOVE

Pendleton improved to 2-0 at the North Oregon Babe Ruth 14-year-old State Tournament with a 13-3, 5-inning victory over Harney/Grant.

Pendleton scored at least two runs in every inning and pitcher Jake Talbot got the win and the MVP nod with a 5-inning complete game, while going 2-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored.

Harney/Grant struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning when a pair of errors by Talbot allowed Jake Reynolds and Dalton Moore to score.

Pendleton countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, the key hit coming on a bases loaded, two out, two RBI double by Bryant Tarter. Both teams went down in order in the second inning, but as the Pendleton players took the field for the top half of the first inning, the Pendleton coach lodged a protest, claiming that Harney/Grant centerfielder Christian Lassan was using an illegal piece of equipment.

Lassan, who played first base in Thursday's opening game, made a spectacular catch for the final out of the first inning and also recorded the final out of the second inning. Unfortunately, he was using the same glove as Thursday. It is illegal in Babe Ruth baseball to use a first baseman's glove in the outfield, so after a meeting of the protest committee, the final out of the second inning was wiped away and Pendleton leadoff batter Levin Fox returned to the plate. Fox drew a two out walk which turned out to be the beginning of a 3-run rally. Two more walks, an error and a 2-run Torin Garza single later, Pendleton had a 6-2 lead and was on its way to an easy victory.

Leading 11-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Dannon Baker walked, Travis Jones stroked an RBI double and Kyle Martinez ended the game with an RBI single, scoring Jones. Jones ended up 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Tarter and Garza each went 2-for-3 and Fox was 1-for-1 with a double and three runs scored.

Jake Reynolds had two of Harney/Grant's five hits.

HARNEY/GRANT 2-0-1-0-0 3-5-1
PENDLETON 3-3-3-2-2 13-11-3
WP-Talbot (5ip, 5h, 3r, 1er, 2bb, 2k)
LP-Moore (2ip, 5h, 6er, 5bb, 0k)
E-Dobson, Talbot 2, Baker. LOB-Harney/Grant 6, Pendleton 11. 2B-Tarter, Fox, Jones. SB-Feist, Fox, Martinez.

SURPRISING SRV OFF TO 2-0 START

Their celebration after Thursday's win over Beaverton may have pegged them as an underdog, but their play on Friday put them into the favorites' class.

Snake River Valley Nationals defeated Tri-County 6-2 to improve to 2-0 at the North Oregon Babe Ruth 14-year-old State Tournament at Astoria's Aiken Field.

Both teams won their pool openers on Thursday, with SRV overcoming an early 6-0 deficit to defeat big, bad Beaverton. Friday, the Ontario-based All-stars never trailed against the team based in Heppner and coached by Heppner High School coach Rick Paullus.

Matt Anthony, SRV's MVP catcher and leadoff batter, started the game by beating out an infield hit. After stealing his way to third base, Anthony scored on a 2-run double by shortstop K.J. Morris, which also plated Chase Fields, who had walked.

Tri-County took advantage of three errors and a passed ball to tally a run in the first, then tied the game in the second inning when CF/P Bryan Holland led off with a double and scored on Harold Stevens' sacrifice fly.

Anthony gave SRV the lead for good in the third inning after drawing a leadoff walk and stealing his way home. After nicking second base, the speedy backstop raced to third after a ground out by Brad Huddleston. With Chase Fields at the plate, SRV put the suicide squeeze on. The pitch was unhittable in the dirt and caromed off Tri-County catcher Wacy Coil high in the air as Anthony slid across the plate, giving SRV a 3-2 lead.

Anthony helped SRV protect the lead by gunning down baserunners attempting to steal in the fourth and fifth innings. Meanwhile, SRV padded its lead with two runs in the fourth inning on a Marcus Marines RBI double and a run scoring single by Diego Gonzalez. Anthony showed off his wheels and athletic ability in the seventh when he advanced to bases on a ground out to third base. The throw across the diamond beat Anthony to third, but he made a spectacular leap around the tag and over the bag. After Tri-County third baseman Brent Eckman dropped the ball and Anthony tumbled past the base into foul territory, Anthony beat Eckman back to the bag in a mad scramble, later scoring on a base hit by Fields.

Huddleston picked up the win on the mound for SRV, allowing four hits and just one earned run over five innings. Tri-County was held to just six hits by Huddleston and Fields, one day after picking up 14 hits in a win over S.E. Portland.

SRV NATIONALS 2-0-1-2-0-0-1 6-8-4
TRI-COUNTY 1-1-0-0-0-0-0 2-6-1
WP-Huddleston (5ip, 4h, 2r, 1er, bb, 2k)
LP-Thompson (3+ip, 3h, 4er, 3bb, 4k)
E-Anthony, Morris 2, Marines, MacInnes. LOB-SRV 5, Tri-County 7. 2B-Morris, Marines, Holland. SB-Anthony 4, Fields 2, Morris 2, Coil. CS-Rodriguez, Stevens, Eckman. S-Thompson, Coil, Holland. SF-Stevens. PB-Anthony.

ASTORIA 15'S ROMP TO DAY ONE WIN

Astoria batted around in the fifth inning, scoring six runs to end their opening pool game against The Dalles with a 13-0 victory.

Joe Strickland went 4-for-4 at the plate with two doubles, three runs batted in and three scored to lead Astoria's 12-hit attack at the plate.

Daniel Mathre tossed four innings of shutout ball, allowing five hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Troy Sarpola pitched a scoreless fifth inning, allowing one base on balls.

Astoria faces Snake River Valley Nationals tonight at 7:00 p.m. on day two of pool play at the North Oregon State Tournament in La Grande.

BABE RUTH: 14-year-old Roundup

HARNEY/GRANT 8, ASTORIA 3...Ten men came to the plate in the first inning scoring five runs as the visitors from Burns led from wire-to-wire in an opening day upset over the 2-time defending state champion hosts. Harney/Grant parlayed three hits, three walks and an error into a commanding lead while Astoria squandered a few scoring opportunities in an attempt to get back in the game. Astoria got two runs back in their half of the first when Trevor Couch led off the game with a walk, scoring on Max Johnson's sacrifice fly. Marcus Brown reached on a 2-out error and later scored on Ian Erickson's base hit. The first three Astoria batters in the second inning reach base, but only one scored as Dylan Israel crossed the plate on a Couch fielder's choice. Down 6-3 in the fourth inning, Astoria loaded the bases with one out, but did not score. Harney/Grant's Zach Dobson pitched four innings of scoreless relief for the win and also went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI's at the plate. Starting pitcher Cody Williams went the first three innings and was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI, earning MVP honors. Dalton Moore went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Erickson and Erik Knutsen each had two hits for Astoria. Cody Strickland took the loss.
HARNEY/GRANT 5-0-0-1-0-0-2 8-9-3
ASTORIA 2-1-0-0-0-0-0 3-6-2
WP-Dobson (4ip, 4h, 0r, 2bb, 0k, 2wp)
LP-Strickland (4ip, 5h, 6r, 3er, 5bb, 3k)
E-Van Dyke, Gilliam, Feist, Erickson, Dursse. LOB-Harney/Grant 7, Astoria 10. 2B-Reynolds, King. SB-Williams 2, Moore, Couch 2. CS-Gallegos. SF-Johnson. DP-Astoria. PB-Lund.

SRV NATIONALS 9, BEAVERTON 8...The Ontario-based Snake River Valley Nationals pulled off the most unlikely victory of the day, overcoming a 6-run deficit to defeat favored Beaverton. Beaverton sent 11 men to the plate in the second inning, scoring six runs. But costly baserunning decisions cost Beaverton througout the game with four different runners being thrown out at the plate. The second, fifth and sixth innings all ended on double plays with Beaverton runners being cut down trying to score. SRV never panicked, chipping away at the lead with one runs in the first, two more in the second, a run in the third and two runs in the fourth inning. K.J. Morris scored on an errant throw from the Beaverton shortstop in the fourth inning to make it a 7-6 game. Beaverton's Greg Cronk doubled in Ryan Kimball in the fifth inning to make it 8-6, but after Jordan Mason singled, putting runners at first and third, Cronk was thrown out trying to score on a shallow fly out to center field by Matt Moshofsky for an inning-ending double play. SRV scored another unearned run in the sixth inning when Morris reached on an error, stole second and scored on Casey Pfeifer's base hit. Leading 8-7 in the sixth, Beaverton's Wilson Sherman-Burton was on third base with one out when Jake Vietzke grounded to third base. Snake River third baseman Greg Raetz looked Sherman-Burton back to the bag then threw out the runner. Sherman-Burton broke for home and was thrown out was thrown out by Pfeifer to end the inning. Pfeifer and catcher Matt Anthony connected on a similar play in the second inning to cut down a Beaverton runner who got greedy. After a scoreless Beaverton seventh inning, Brad Huddleston led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk, going to second on a wild pitch. Ray Rodriguez followed with a base on balls and another wild pitch put runners at second and third with nobody out. Matt Anthony followed with a base hit to right field, scoring Huddleston. Rodriguez came around third representing the winning run. Beaverton right fielder Jordan Mason threw to the second baseman Nick McDevitt, who fired to the plate. Rodriguez slid in and was signalled safe initially by home plate umpire Ken Pearson, who immediately changed his call to out. In the confusion, Anthony had advanced halfway to third base and was nearly thrown out trying to scramble back to the bag at second. After a long argument, the game resumed, with pinch hitter Randal Cote making his first appearance of the game. Anthony broke for second base and slid in safely, just before the tag. Cote followed with a ground ball to the drawn-in second baseman McDevitt, who bobbled the ball. McDevitt recovered and fired home but too late to get Anthony and the SRV dugout spilled out into the field in celebration.
BEAVERTON 6-0-1-0-1-0-0 8-9-4
SRV NATIONALS 1-2-1-2-0-1-2 9-11-4
WP-Fields (2ip, 0h, 0r, bb, k)
LP-Kimball (2.1ip, 3h, 3r, 1er, 3bb, 0k, 2wp)
E-Anderson, Moshofsky 2, McDevitt, Marines, Huddleston, Pfeifer, Gonzalez. LOB-Beaverton 6, SRV 9. 2B-Anderson, Ross, Cronk. SB-Kimball, Anthony 2, Morris 3, Pfeifer, Huddleston, Fields. S-Ross. DP-SRV 3. PB-Adkisson, Anthony 3.

PENDLETON 7, THE DALLES 0...Four Pendleton pitchers combined to shut down The Dalles in the pool play opener for both teams. Lefthander Kevin Nooy got credit for the win, tossing two innings of hitless relief with four strikeouts. Kyle Mecham started and pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts and a walk. Mecham also had an RBI sinlge in the second inning in his only at bat, earning game MVP honors. Torin Garza doubled and scored in the second inning and singled and scored in the fifth, adding two innings of 1-hit relief on the mound. Kyle Martinez scored a pair of runs and leadoff batter Levin Fox went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a pair of stolen bases. Duncan Wilcox's third inning single was the only hit for The Dalles until Nick Maier led off the seventh inning with a base hit.
PENDLETON 0-1-1-1-4-0-0 7-7-2
THE DALLES 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0-2-3
WP-Nooy (2ip, 0h, 0r, bb, 4k, wp)
LP-Wilcox (4ip, 5h, 3er, 3bb, 2k, wp)
E-Martinez, Ernst, Stroud, Wallace, Davis. LOB-Pendleton 8, The Dalles 6. 2B-Garza. SB-Fox 2, Martinez. CS-Martinez. S-Baker. SF-Ernst. DP-Pendleton.

TRI-COUNTY 10, S.E. PORTLAND 5...The first game of the North Oregon 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament featured the most offense, but it was the defensive lapses of S.E. Portland that led to their eventual demise. Tri-County raked out a tournament-high 14 hits, but also took advantage of seven S.E. Portland errors. Tri-County had runners all over the bases in the first three innings, but just one run to show for it, when pitcher Russell Thompson walked with one out and scored on an error with the bases loaded and two outs. The Heppner-based All-stars had left the bases loaded without scoring in the first inning and left them loaded again in the second, when Drew Johnson flew out to right field. Tri-Countyput runners on second and third with one out in the third without scoring. Meanwhile, S.E. Portland held the lead after plating two runs in the first inning. A leadoff single by Michael Holly, a walk to Eli Kimball and a pair of passed balls put Holly in the dugout with S.E. Portland's first run and put Kimball in scoring position for Abe Cabatic's RBI double. Tri-County finally broke loose in the fourth inning, sending 11 men to the plate in a 7-hit, 6-run scoring outburst. Chris Lien started the inning with a single, scored later on an error, then came back up to drive in Jordan Hatfield with a base hit. Lien finished the game 3-for-3. Wacy Coil, named MVP for the game, went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and Bryan Holland also went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI's and two runs scored, while picking up the win on the mound with three innings of relief. For S.E. Portland, Holly finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and second baseman Jack Lavey went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

S.E. PORTLAND 2-0-0-0-2-1-0 5-10-7
TRI-COUNTY 0-1-0-6-2-1-X 10-14-2
WP-Holland (3ip, 4h, 2r, 0er, bb, 0k, wp)
LP-Corbett (6ip, 14h, 10r, 3er, 6bb, 4k, 2wp)
E-Lavey, Berkey 4, Holly, Cabatic, J. Huddleston, Jack. LOB-S.E. Portland 9, Tri-County 15. 2B-Cabatic, Lavey. SB-Holly 2, Kehdi, Hatfield. CS-Lavey. PB-Coil 2.

BABE RUTH SCOREBOARD

15-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Optimist Field in La Grande
Astoria 13, The Dalles 0 (5 innings)
S.E. Portland 22, Clackamas 0 (5 innings)
Blue Mountain 6, SRV Nationals 4
Union County 10, Pendleton 5
Friday's Schedule
The Dalles vs. Blue Mountain, 10:00 a.m.
Pendleton vs. Clackamas, 1:00 p.m.
S.E. Portland vs. Union County, 4:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. Snake River Valley, 7:00 p.m.

14-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Aiken Field in Astoria
Tri-County 10, S.E. Portland 5
Pendleton 7, The Dalles 0
SRV Nationals 9, Beaverton 8
Harney/Grant 8, Astoria 3
Friday's Schedule
Tri-County vs. SRV Nationals, 10:00 a.m.
Pendleton vs. Harney/Grant, 1:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. The Dalles, 4:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. S.E. Portland, 7:00 p.m.

13-YR-OLD N. OREGON STATE TOURNAMENT at Elks Memorial Field in Ontario
Astoria 7, Tri-County 6
Beaverton 10, Hermiston 6
Baker City 10, Union County 0
SRV Nationals 13, The Dalles 1
Friday's Schedule
Union County vs. Tri-County, 10:00 a..
Hermiston vs. The Dalles, 1:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. Baker City, 4:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. SRV Nationals, 7:00 p.m.

EAST DOMINATES ON DAY ONE

It was a clean sweep for Eastern Oregon teams with a pair of big upsets on the first day of the North Oregon 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament.

Snake River Valley Nationals overcame an early 6-0 deficit, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to knock off heavily favored Beaverton 9-8.

Harney/Grant grabbed an early lead with five 1st-inning runs on the way to an 8-3 upset victory over 2-time regional qualifier Astoria.

Four Pendleton pitchers combined on a 2-hit, 7-0 shutout of The Dalles and Tri-County racked up 14 hits on the way to a 10-5 victory over S.E. Portland.

Tune in to SportsRadio 1230 Friday morning for all of the details on the Babe Ruth State Tournaments on The Last Dam Down Show at 7:00 a.m.

ASTORIA 13'S, 15'S WIN OPENERS

Jesse Boord's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Tyler Norfleet with the game-winning run as the Astoria 13-year-old All-stars came from behind to defeat Tri-Couty 7-6 in the opening game of the North Oregon State Tournament at Elks Memorial Field in Ontario.

The Astoria 15-year-olds cruised past The Dalles 13-0 in their five-inning opener in La Grande.

The 13-year-olds trailed most of the way against Tri-County, a team comprised of several communities centered in Heppner. A 4-run fourth inning gave Tri-County a 4-1 lead and they led 6-5 going into the final inning.

Trygve Olson took over on the mound in the seventh inning and retired the side in order, then led off the bottom of the seventh with a double. After Tyler Norfleet's base hit put runners on first and third, Taylor Fox brought home Olson with a game-tying RBI fielder's choice. Boord followed with the game-winning hit.

WILLIS O.K., WILDCATS TOP TITANS

Jason Willis, who left the field prematurely Saturday in his last start after experiencing arm discomfort, was back on the hill for the Seaside Wildcats Wednesday at Sckavone Field.

Willis tossed five innings to pick up the win as the 'Cats beat the Titans 8-3 in a PIL game.

Robert Lloyd hit a pair of home runs, a 2-run shot in the second inning and a solo shot in the sixth. Aaron Nelson also continued his recent power surge with another solo home run.

Willis gave way to Adam Neu in the sixth inning and Seaside native Matt Hendryx got a rare appearance on the mound, finishing off the final two innings.

The Wildcats head to Tacoma for a must-sweep series against the Seattle Studs, starting Friday at University of Puget Sound. The team returns to Broadway Field Monday, July 24th for Fan Appreciation Night against the Pacific Javelinas.

A rescheduled doubleheader against the Everett Merchants has been cancelled.

RENEGADES SHUT DOWN ASTORIA

The Astoria Ford Fishermen were looking for a challenge before districts. They found what they were looking for in Seaside Wednesday night.

Facing the AAU North Coast Renegades, a team comprised primarily of 18-19 year-old local players, some with college experience, the Fishermen mustered just two hits in a 5-0 shutout loss.

On the positive side, Astoria pitchers Jordan Poyer, Mathias Brause and Hans Lund allowed just two hits in the 7-inning game, which took just over 90 minutes to complete.

Future OIT Owl Derek Jacobson pitched a magnificent five innings for the Renegades for the win. Coming off a complete game no-hitter on Sunday against Ryder Showtime Blue, Jacobson allowed just two hits over five shutout innings while striking out 11 and walking none. Dakota Wesleyan righthander and Warrenton grad Nick Miller pitched two perfect innings of relief.

The Renegades scored in the first inning after Clackmas College's Daniel Terranova doubled to the left center field gap, advanced to third base on a wild pitch and scored on former Seaside Seagull teammate Patrick Latham's grounder to second base.

Terranova's double was the only hit allowed by Astoria sophomore Jordan Poyer, who pitched the first three innings of the game. A pair of walks and a couple of errant pitches got Poyer into trouble in the third innning. Ryan Spivey and Andrew MacLean drew back to back walks with two outs with Spivey scoring on a wild pitch and MacLean coming around on an errant throw by catcher Brendan Landwehr, who had a tough time keeping balls from reaching the backstop. With MacLean on second base, John Knutsen struck out on a pitch in the dirt, but reached safely with MacLean scoring when Landwehr's throw to first base was low and skipped past Brause into right field.

Brause took over on the mound for Poyer in the fourth inning and tossed two perfect frames with four strike outs, including a whiff of older brother Henry Brause, which drew howls from both dugouts and electrified the crowd.

Jacobson finished off an impressive performance by showing off his bat, belting a towering home run to right field off Hans Lund in the sixth inning for the final Renegades run. Earlier in the game, Jacobson recorded a rare strikeout of Matt Brause, who had fanned only once during the entire spring championship run for Astoria. On Brause's return to the plate, the reigning state 3A Player of the Year stroked a double to right field, the only hard hit ball by Astoria all day. The other Fishermen hit came on a leadoff bunt single by Thomas Jaworski in the fourth inning. Jaworski was later caught stealing on a Jacobson pickoff.

The Renegades are off until a tournament at Clackamas Community College next week. Astoria takes on either Seaside or Warrenton on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Knappa in the OJBA District 9 playoffs. The Fishermen need just one win at this weekend's tournament to qualify for the state tournament next week.

BABE RUTH STATE TOURNEYS START THURSDAY

For the second time in three years, Astoria will host a Babe Ruth state tournament with eight teams playing for one berth to regionals in the North Oregon 14-year-old State Tournament starting Thursday.

Astoria will play the final game of an opening day quadrupleheader at Aiken Field, taking on Harney-Grant, a team based in Burns. Friday, Astoria faces The Dalles at 4:00 p.m. and Saturday's final pool game will be against Pendleton at 7:00 p.m.

The tournament opens at 10:00 a.m. Thursday with S.E. Portland taking on Tri-County (Heppner). The Dalles and Pendleton square off at 1:00 p.m. followed by Beaverton against SRV Nationals (Ontario). Pool play continues with four games Friday and four more on Saturday before the crossover quarterfinal elimination games on Sunday. Monday's semifinals will be at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. with the consolation game at 4 and championship at 7:00 p.m.

The tournament champion will advance to regionals, hosted by Umpqua Valley, which is based east of Roseburg in the Glide area. Astoria's 14-year-old All-stars advanced to regionals the last two years as 13 and 12-year-old tournament teams, getting to the final four each year.

For the second time in three years, Astoria will send all three of its Babe Ruth All-star teams to the state tournament (Snake River Valley is the only other organization with all three teams at state). All three tournaments begin tomorrow. Here are the schedules for the three North Oregon Babe Ruth State Tournaments:

15-YEAR-OLD TOURNAMENT at Optimist Field in LaGrande
Thursday
Astoria vs. The Dalles, 10:00 a.m.
S.E. Portland vs. Clackamas, 1:00 p.m.
Blue Mountain vs. SRV Nationals, 4:00 p.m.
Pendleton vs. Union County, 7:00 p.m.
Friday
The Dalles vs. Blue Mountain, 10:00 a.m.
Pendleton vs. Clackamas, 1:00 p.m.
S.E. Portland vs. Union County, 4:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. SRV Nationals, 7:00 p.m.
em>Saturday
Pendleton vs. S.E. Portland, 10:00 a.m.
Astoria vs. Blue Mountain, 1:00 p.m.
The Dalles vs. SRV Nationals, 4:00 p.m.
Clackamas vs. Union County, 7:00 p.m.

14-YEAR-OLD TOURNAMENT at Aiken Field in Astoria
Thursday
S.E. Portland vs. Tri-County, 10:00 a.m.
The Dalles vs. Pendleton, 1:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. SRV Nationals, 4:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. Harney-Grant, 7:00 p.m.
Friday
Tri-County vs. SRV Nationals, 10:00 a.m.
Pendleton vs. Harney-Grant, 1:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. The Dalles, 4:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. S.E. Portland, 7:00 p.m.
em>Saturday
The Dalles vs. Harney-Grant, 10:00 a.m.
S.E. Portland vs. SRV Nationals, 1:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. Tri-County, 4:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. Pendleton, 7:00 p.m.

13-YEAR-OLD TOURNAMENT at Elks Memorial Field in Ontario
Thursday
Astoria vs. Tri-County, 10:00 a.m.
Hermiston vs. Beaverton, 1:00 p.m.
Union County vs. Baker City, 4:00 p.m.
The Dalles vs. SRV Nationals, 7:00 p.m.
Friday
Tri-County vs. Union County, 10:00 a.m.
Hermiston vs. The Dalles, 1:00 p.m.
Astoria vs. Baker City, 4:00 p.m.
Beaverton vs. SRV Nationals, 7:00 p.m.
em>Saturday
The Dalles vs. Beaverton, 10:00 a.m.
Astoria vs. Union County, 1:00 p.m.
Baker City vs. Tri-County, 4:00 p.m.
Hermiston vs. SRV Nationals, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday
Quarterfinal games at 10/1/4/7-teams seeded from two pools of four
Monday
Semifinals at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Consolation game at 4 and Championship at 7

BEAVERS GO OFF IN SUMMER LEAGUE

A pair of Knappa natives and former OSU Beavers led the way for their respective teams on the second day of the Knappa Summer League basketball season.

Brian Jackson scored 39 points, Astoria's Josh Ray added 16 and Brent Brockey had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds as Teevin Brothers defeated Danger Den 83-76. Danger Den, paced by Tex Cokley's 30 points, dropped to 0-2 while Teevin improved to 2-0.

Jackson's former Knappa and OSU teammate Mike Cokley had 37 points and 10 rebounds to lead The Logger to a 73-54 victory over Western Underground. Western Underground, playing without 6-8 post Paul Jarrett, was led by Josh Miller's 13 points.

In the first game of the night, Ed's Septic dominated from start to finish in a 90-58 victory over Nygaard/Hunt. Kyle Jackson had 28 points and 12 rebounds and Kevin Maki added 27 points as Ed's Septic improved to 2-0. Former Astoria standout Matt Johnson had 23 points for Nygaard/Hunt, which dropped to 0-2.

Nygaard/Hunt hopes to get a boost Thursdaay from the return of Mike Oien, who is currently in Alaska, when they go for their first win against Danger Den. In other games Thursday, Teevin Bros. takes on the The Logger in a battle of ex-Beavers and Western Underground faces Ed's Septic.

Knappa Summer League will be off the following week for gym renovations, then returns Monday, July 31st. Games are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights at Knappa High School starting at 6:00 p.m.

TIME FOR A CHANGE?

This is a forum for you, the listener and viewer to participate in.

The Junior State (OJBA) District 9 Baseball tournament begins Friday at Knappa High School's Teevin Field. Only three teams will be competing from what began as a 6-team league.

Tillamook's struggling baseball program folded its season several weeks ago. Rainier, which often features primarily junior varsity players on its junior state team, was not invited after just two players showed up for a game at Warrenton Thursday. Vernonia has been a part of the league previously but not this year. Ilwaco was not invited to be in the league and struggled to compete when facing the other area teams. Knappa struggled with numbers this summer and will not have enough players to participate in the district tournament. That leaves Astoria, Seaside and Warrenton.

Is it time for Legion baseball to return to the area? The cost is much higher and the travel is much greater, but a Legion team featuring the best players from all of the area schools should be able to compete on the state level, giving our best players more quality competition with a chance to showcase their skills against the best players in the state, while the remaining players from Astoria, Seaside, Warrenton, Knappa and Ilwaco could still maintain a OJBA program giving everybody a chance to play.

Participation statewide in OJBA is growing, however many schools use this as a junior varsity summer program and in our region, cancellations and lack of participation are rife, creating much frustration for the players who want to continue to compete at a high level and for fans who want to see some quality baseball.

Can this area support a Legion A or Senior Legion baseball team? Should Astoria break off from the current OJBA District and opt for a new affiliation or would they be better served by contributing to a "Lower Columbia" area all-star squad while maintaining a junior state team with the remaining players? How will this affect the Babe Ruth programs? Are there businesses willing to sponsor such a venture and who would/should coach an area all-star squad?

Your thoughts are encouraged here. Just click on the comments link and fire away!

JACKSONS SCORCH KNAPPA SUMMER LEAGUE

The inaugural Knappa Summer League basketball season got underway last night at Knappa High School with three games. The biggest surprise of the night: Brian Jackson wasn't the highest scoring player in his own family!

Former Rainier guard and current Lower Columbia Red Devil Kyle Jackson scored 40 points to lead Ed's Septic to a thrilling 95-94 victory over The Logger. Former Oregon State standout Brian Jackson, Kyle's more famous cousin, netted 37 to lead Teevin Brothers to an easy 74-55 victory over Nygaard/Hunt.

The six-team league features current varsity standouts from the area combined with recent graduates and past hoops stars such as the Jacksons, Ilwaco's Paul Jarrett, Knappa's Mike Cokley, Nate McBride and Zach Gantenbein from Warrenton and Astoria's Matt Johnson and Luke Roman. Games will be played Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights with three games a night starting at 6:00 p.m.

In the first game of the night, Danger Den had four scorers in double figures led by Tex Cokley's 19 points to defeat Western Underground 88-63.

The league rules are loose with a slightly more organized playground atmosphere. Games are shirts versus skins and self-officiated, except for the final four minutes if its close, when an offical takes over and free throws are shot on fouls.

Over ninety players made themselves available for the inaugural draft. The regular season concludes Monday, August 14th with four teams advancing to playoffs the following day. The championship game is scheduled for Thursday, August 17th. There will be no games next week while Knappa's gym floor is refinished.

Rosters are set and no new players may join this season, but league organizer Craig Cokley hopes to continue the league in the future and potentially expand the number of teams.

Nineteen current high school players are in the league, including:

Nick Alfonse, Astoria H.S. (The Logger)
Tony Robinson, AHS (Nygaard/Hunt)
Nick Faulkner, AHS (Ed's Septic)
Chris Dalton, AHS (Ed's Septic)
Andy Murray, AHS (Danger Den)
Josimar Macareno, AHS (Teevin Bros.)
Anthony Wirkkala, Ilwaco H.S. (The Logger)
Paul Blaylock, IHS (The Logger)
Matt Kaino, IHS (Nygaard/Hunt)
Gary Aho, Knappa H.S. (Ed's Septic)
Paul Isom, KHS (Danger Den)
Ryan Isom, KHS (Danger Den)
Nate West, KHS (Danger Den)
Jesse Moreland, KHS (Danger Den)
Stephen Bokor, KHS (Teevin Bros.)
Brian Riffe, KHS (Western Underground)
Nate Boardman, KHS (Western Underground)
Brian Anderson, KHS (Western Underground)
Phil Willsey, KHS (Western Underground)

There are no current players from Seaside, Warrenton or Naselle competing in the league, however several former Warrenton players and a handful of ex-Seaside players are on rosters.

GULLS SWEEP LOGGERS AT KNAPPA

The Seaside Seagulls wrapped up their OJBA North Coast District schedule with a pair of wins at Knappa, defeating the Loggers 10-1 and 6-2.

Seaside will host Scappoose today for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader at Broadway Field before beginning the district tournament back at Knappa with a Friday night game against Warrenton.

Alec Carlson tossed a 3-hit complete game for the win in game one. The only Knappa run came on a Joe Strickland solo home run. Ben Christianson also homered for the Gulls as Cody Strickland took the loss on the mound with Joe Strickland finishing.

The Loggers will not participate in the district tournament because they will not be able to field enough players. A team reliant on a lot of younger players, Knappa will be shorthanded with several players, including both Strickland boys, playing for their respective Babe Ruth All-Star teams at this weekend's state tournaments.

Seaside picked up the doubleheader sweep, taking a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning before rallying for three runs. Brian Anderson ran into trouble on the mound early for Knappa and took the loss. A positive note for the Loggers was the strong pitching of Gary Aho in relief. The junior lefty, who will be the ace of Knappa's staff in the spring, had struggled most of the summer.

Friday's Seaside-Warrenton game will be at 5:00 p.m. at Knappa's Teevin Field, the site of all of the District 9 Tournament games. The winner will play Astoria Saturday at 2:00 p.m. with the losers meeting at 5:00 p.m. Saturday. Championship games will be 2:00 p.m. Sunday and 5:00 p.m. if necessary. The top two teams advance to the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I State Tournament in Eugene the following Thursday.

WILDCATS LOSE TEMPERS, GAMES AT EVERETT

The Seaside Wildcats were running so short on pitching this weekend that 40-year-old assistant coach Joel Dierickx actually warmed up in the bullpen Sunday at Everett.

"I played in a 30-and-over league in Wenatchee before I moved here," said Dierickx, who moved here to the coast about eight years ago to teach and coach football and baseball at Seaside High School. Despite the layoff, he couldn't have done much worse than the guys the Wildcats put on the mound.

The Merchants swept Sunday's doubleheader by playing home run derby, winning game one 8-2 and taking game two 19-7.

The 'Cats actually trailed game two 18-1 before putting up some late runs in a game that saw owner/general manager Mike Clark ejected from the stands for the second time of the day. Game one also featured the ejections of manager Gerald Bolden and rightfielder Matt Webb--all coming via the thumb of the same umpire, who like the Merchants offense, appeared to be on a power trip.

A.J. Ornelas surrendered a pair of 3-run home runs in game one, while the Merchants teed off against starter Matt Young in game two, rolling up 11 runs in the first four innings. Jason Scheumann fared no better in relief, giving up seven runs in the fifth inning. Craig Neu finally settled things down in the late innings, but by then the game was well out of hand.

Already without injured righthander Kyle Corwin, the Wildcats' Jason Willis had to leave Saturday's game with numbness in his left (pitching) arm. Another pitcher, Seaside graduate Daniel Terranova, left the team after seeing little action on the field. Another potential contributor from Seaside, 2001 graduate Jeff Budnick, has returned from a European trip but apparently broke his foot playing soccer. The injuries, combined with five games in a 3-day span simply tapped out the Seaside staff.

With two days rest, Seaside returns to action Wednesday at Sckavone Field in Portland with a game against the Portland Titans at 7:00 p.m., followed by a make-up doubleheader against Everett at Broadway Field Thursday at 2:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the Wildcats travel to Seattle to take on the Pacific International League-leading Studs.

RENEGADES SWEEP WEEKEND SERIES

The North Coast Renegades are truly living up to their name this summer. With no league affiliation, they are just showing up to play baseball wherever they can against whomever will challenge them.

After two aborted attempts to play a local game this summer, the Renegades finally got to show off for the home fans by sweeping four games against visiting Ryder Showtime Blue, winning a pair of games Saturday at Warrenton and taking two more Sunday in Seaside.

Saturday's doubleheader sweep was highlighted by a pair of solid complete game pitching performances and a productive day in the middle of the order for Astoria native Henry Brause. Brause drove in five runs in the second game, an 8-3 victory, going 2-for-4 with a 2-run single in the fourth inning, a two-run home run in the fifth and an RBI fielder's choice later in the game.

The Renegades scored seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings after falling behind 3-0 early. Nick Miller went the distance on the mound, allowing five hits, two earned runs wihth seven strikeouts and three walks. Daniel Terranova was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and two runs scored.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Brause doubled and scored, Derek Jacobson went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and John Knutsen walked three times, scoring twice while Bret Birman also scored a pair of runs. The game was tied at three until the sixth inning, when the Renegades batted around, scoring four runs. The key hit was a 2-run double with the bases loaded by Mooch Smith, who went 2-for-4. Patrick Latham picked up the complete game victory, allowing five hits with four strikeouts and a walk.

On Sunday, Derek Jacobson had the highlight of the weekend--a 7-inning no-hitter with 14 strikeouts and seven bases on balls as the Renegades won game one of the doubleheader at Broadway Field 9-1. This time the Renegades grabbed the lead early and held it, scoring three 1st-inning runs on a double by Eric Gantenbein followed by singles by Latham and Jordan Shear. Birman and Terranova had back-to-back doubles in the third inning and Brause added an RBI triple in the fourth, scoring on an error.

In game two, Terranova became the fourth pitcher of the weekend to go the distance on the mound as the Renegades won 11-4. John Knutsen reached base four times on three walks and a 2-run single in the fifth inning. Sean Ferguson followed with a 2-run double in the 5-run fifth when the Renegades opened up an 8-2 lead. Andrew Maclean went 2-for-5 with a double, and RBI and two runs scored and Nick Miller went 3-for-3 with two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored.

The Renegades are looking to pick up another game or two before heading back to Clackamas Community College in two weeks for another tournament.

FISHERMEN POUND PANTHERS

So much for finding quality competition before the district tournament!

Hoping to get a good challenge, the Astoria Ford Fishermen traveled to Polk County to play the Central Panthers Junior State team in a doubleheader on Saturday. Astoria ended up winning a pair of laughers, 13-3 and 21-1, both games limited to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

Jordan Poyer picked up the win in game one and Nick Bredleau was victorious in mound duty in game two, adding a home run to the onslaught.

Head coach Dave Gasser did not accompany the team on the trip and Ralph Steinback did not make it to the end of the doubleheader after being ejected for questioning a call on the field.

Tonight, Astoria was initially scheduled to play Banks in a non-league game at 7:00 p.m. That was changed to a make-up game with Rainier some while back, but that may not happen either in light of Rainier's no-show at Warrenton Thursday and subsequent expulsion from district tournament qualification.

Maybe Astoria can play the Renegades tonight as some were suggesting at the ballpark yesterday?

Astoria has a first round bye at districts and will play the winner of a first round matchup between Seaside and Warrenton on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. One win will qualify the Fishermen for the state tournament in Eugene the following week.