Wednesday, May 30, 2007

LA GRANDE CATCHES STREAKING FISHERMEN

Just one hit, just one defensive play, just one pitch. Pick any one, pick any player and that could be the difference between the Astoria Fishermen going for a second straight championship and La Grande playing for its first state baseball title.

The Tigers defeated the Fishermen 4-3 in a semifinal nailbiter at Optimist Memorial Field Tuesday afternoon and now will head to Salem to take on the top-ranked Newport Cubs for the 4A State Championship on Saturday.

The Tigers took a 4-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the first inning and two more in the third, holding off repeated Astoria challenges throughout the game.

"We got on Brause early," said third-year La Grande head coach Mark Lanman, a lifelong La Grande resident. "He just wasn't settled in. Once he got settled in, we didn't do anything."

The Fishermen scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but left potential big innings hanging throughout the game, stranding seven runners in scoring position as their 25-game winning streak came to a disappointing end.

"You've just got to give credit for them being able to smack us in the nose early and be really aggressive early and to make pitches and make the plays necessary to keep us from coming back," said Astoria's Hall of Fame head coach Dave Gasser, who took over the Fishermen program last year after retiring from Lakeridge in 2002 and has guided Astoria to 50 wins in two seasons. "I just see that as a really good performace by La Grande. They pitched well, they played well."

Mathias Brause's two year winning streak also ended, as the senior righthander suffered a complete game loss to finish the season 11-1 and end his varsity career with a school-record 34 wins with just four defeats, three coming in his sophomore season. Brause, who had won 27 consecutive spring decisions, allowed just five singles over six innings, but two walks and a hit batter in the early innings came around to score.

"I'm as proud of him in a loss just competing," said Gasser. "That's his second start after 6-and-a-half hour bus rides and staying in a room with four kids. If he doesn't have his A game, I'll take his B game any day of the week."

Landon Weaver picked up the win for La Grande, allowing a single unearned run over 4 1/3 innings pitched. Freshman Zach Nice threw 2 2/3 innings of impressive relief, showcasing his near-90 mile per hour fastball with six strikeouts to earn the save. Nice came on with the tying runs in scoring position in the fifth inning and struck out Brendan Landwehr and Jordan Poyer back-to-back to end the threat. Landwehr and Poyer had a combined 14 home runs and 70 runs batted in this year for Astoria.

"Upper-80's fastballs a little up in the zone," said Gasser. "Not too high not to be strikes. Those are really good pitches. How many times have we seen 86-to-88? Once. If you've got guys who can make those pitches, then you can win a game against a team as good as us. "

The Fishermen left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, when Poyer knocked in their first run of the game with a base hit to left field to score Tom Jaworski. After Adam Koehnke walked to load the bases with one out, Joey Dursse hit a foul pop behind the plate. All-state catcher Jordan Lanman made a leaping catch against the backstop for the second out of the inning, before Weaver retired Mason Brause on a fly ball to right field.

Jaworski knocked in Astoria's second run with an RBI single in the fifth inning, scoring Hans Lund, who had reached on a throwing error by La Grande junior shortstop Anthony Nice. Matt Brause followed with a hard single to center field and Jaworski bolted for third when Jacob Johnston bobbled the ball. That would end Weaver's start as the Tigers turned to the freshman Nice, who picked up their quarterfinal win with a strong 5-inning stint at Marist. Featuring primarily high heat, Nice blew away Landwehr and Poyer, then repeated the feat in the seventh inning to close out the game, but not before Astoria had one more golden opportunity to tie the game.

"Zach is just unbelieveable," said Lanman. "For just 15-years-old or whatever he is, he is going to be a good one. He's kind of like the Poyer kid. Just extremely talented and doesn't mind big situations."

With one out in the sixth, Nice hit Joey Dursse with a pitch, then walked Mason Brause, with Dursse sprinting to third base on a wild pitch. With the tying runs on first and third with one out, Nice fanned Lund on a 3-2 fastball, but Brent Culver followed with a 2-out, bloop double just inside the right field line to score Dursse, sending Brause to third base representing the tying run. Jaworski, who had reached base eight consecutive times, flew out to right field to end the inning and the Fishermen went down quietly in the seventh as the La Grande dugout spilled out onto the field in celebration of the team's first championship game appearance.

Freshman pitchers with the kind of velocity that Nice showcased on Tuesday are rare indeed.

"I had a ninth grader that did that," said Gasser, referring to former Madison standout Kent Bottenfield. "He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and had a shutout inning in the All-Star game. That's how rare that is."

Nice also contributed a run batted in for the Tigers, plating Lanman with a fielder's choice in the first inning, following Johnston's RBI single. The Tigers' centerfielder, who has 7 RBI in the playoffs, also made a huge defensive play in the second inning. After Adam Koehnke smoked a 1-out triple to the 386-foot wall in right center field, Dursse hit a fly ball to Johnston in center, who fired a perfect strike to Lanman at the plate for an inning-ending double play as the speedy Koehnke tried to score.

Lanman ripped Brause's first pitch of the third inning up the middle for a single. Brause's next pitch hit Weaver in the ribs. After Lanman hustled to third on a Johnston fly ball to right, the two players pulled off a double steal with Lanman sprinting home with the third run of the game while Weavers slid in safely at second, beating Landwehr's low throw. Cody McKague added a clutch 2-out RBI single just off the glove of a diving Brent Culver in center to score what turned out to be the game-winning run.

"We were looking for a fastball early in the count," said Lanman, "because last year if I remember right he threw a lot of first-pitch fastballs to us and we weren't looking for that."

"We just told them to look for that good fastball, because we couldn't hit that junk he was throwing."

La Grande did not hit the ball out of the infield after the third inning, as Brause retired the final eight batters in a row on four strikeouts, three ground outs and a soft liner. The senior ace struck out seven and walked four, allowing four earned runs, the most he has allowed in a game all season.

The Fishermen outhit La Grande 6-to-5, had two extra base hits to none for the Tigers and committed no errors in the game, while the Tigers booted two balls. Walks and hit batters were dead even for both teams. Astoria had 13 at bats with runners in scoring position and came away with just three hits, while La Grande was 3-for-9 in similar situations. The Fishermen also failed twice to execute a sacrifice bunt and another attempted bunt base hit went right back to the mound for an easy out.

The loss ended the careers of Astoria seniors Brause, Culver, Landwehr, Dursse, Koehnke, Nick Bredleau and Gabe Davis. Brause and Landwehr have committed to play at Clackamas College next year, while Dursse and Bredleau plan to walk on to the Oregon City school in the hopes of making the team. Davis has signed on to play soccer down the road from La Grande at Treasure Valley Community College. Most, if not all of Astoria's seniors will play on the Astoria Ford Legion A team this summer and some will also play for the Renegades.

"I just told our seniors that, as corny as it sounds, I love every one of them," said Gasser. "And I mean it. They completely put us on the map."

"We had won ten straight state playoff games in the summer and the spring. They were 10-1 in state playoff games. Our loss is at La Grande 4-3. If that isn't setting an amazing bar and completely changing the whole landscape of Astoria baseball then nothing is. This is as successful a group of athletes as I've ever been around."

The Fishermen matched last season's record of 25 wins and four losses, while La Grande improved to 24-5 with their third straight close playoff win.

ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-1-1-0 3-6-0
LA GRANDE 2-0-2-0-0-0-x 4-5-2
W-Weaver (4.1ip, 5h, r, 0er, k, 3bb)
L-Brause (6ip, 5h, 4er, 7k, 4bb, hp)
S-Z. Nice (2.2 ip, h, r, er, 6k, bb, hp)
E-A. Nice, Johnston. LOB-Astoria 8, La Grande 6. 2B-Culver. 3B-Koehnke. SB-Lanman, Weaver 2. DP-La Grande 1.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

FISHERMEN POUND MUSTANGS TO ADVANCE TO SEMIS

It's like asking a child to choose betweeen cake and cookies.

A stiff breeze blowing out to left field at Astoria's cozy Aiken Field, or the warmer climate and higher elevation of Grant Pass' Nuggets Field, where the ball carries very well indeed. Where would you rather hit a baseball?

The Astoria Fishermen don't seem to be too particular, as they've now won at home and on the road in the playoffs and will hit the highway again in search of their 26th consecutive victory and a trip to the state championship.

Astoria crushed the ball on Friday, with 18 hits, nine for extra bases, in a 17-4 mauling of Hidden Valley in Grants Pass. The Fishermen will have to win three straight games on the road in order to clinch their second consecutive state championship, as they head to Optimist Field in La Grande to take on the Greater Oregon League champion Tigers on Tuesday.

Sixth-ranked La Grande defeated Marist 4-1 in Friday's quarterfinals. Also advancing were top-ranked Newport and third-ranked Henley, both winning in similarly easy fashion with routs over Yamhill-Carlton (26-4) and Brookings-Harbor (18-2) respectively.

It was apparent from the first fair ball hit on Friday that it would be a hitter's day in Grants Pass. Brent Culver hit a fairly deep fly ball that just kept going...and going. Culver reached second on the first of six doubles by Astoria hitters, scoring on a ground out by Tom Jaworski. Matt Brause followed with another double, advanced on an errors and crossed the plate on a Jordan Poyer sacrifice fly to center field. Adam Koehnke polished off a 4-run Astoria first inning with the third double of the day, later scoring on a straight steal of home.

"We showed up in the morning and made the astute assumption that nothing was going to travel," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser, who improved to 50-7 with the Fishermen and recorded win number 586 of his career, five short of all-time leader Art Thunell of Grant Union. "because it wasn't traveling anywhere. We show up later and its drier, the wind is blowing out and everything is carrying like a son-of-a-gun. It was a good day to be a hitter."

With a 4-run lead and many more to come, Fishermen fans have become accustomed to resting easy with ace pitcher Brause on the mound. Brause (11-0), the reigning 3A State Player of the Year, improved his 2-year record to 27-0 with Friday's win. Although the unbeaten righthander pitched well on Friday, Hidden Valley's lineup proved to be plenty formidable.

"The ball carried really well there," said Brause. "We probably peppered about six of them off the fence. They put two over. I would like to say those wouldn't have gone out if they didn't carry, but they were shots!"

Hidden Valley's Matt Stuart homered to left field with two outs in the second inning and sophomore Ryan Hayden hit a two-run home run just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Brent Culver over the 390-foot center field fence to account for the three runs Brause allowed in five innings pitched.

"They hit it hard!" said Brause. "That was impressive."

Unfortunately for Hidden Valley, Astoria hit a ball off or over the wall in just about every inning of the game.

Mason Brause, Matt's sophomore younger brother, drove a shot to the opposite field to lead off the second inning. Hidden Valley rightfielder Mike Kirkwood gave chase but met the wall nearly head on as the ball arrived. The wall won. With Kirkwood flat on his stomach and in no hurry to get up, Brause scampered all the way around the bases for an unchallenged inside-the-park home run.

"That guy ran right into the fence," said the sophomore DH. "I thought he was dead for a second. It was pretty funny-looking."

Kirkwood would eventually regain his senses and continue in the game. After the Mustangs' starting pitcher Robert Wardle walked the next Fishermen batter, his day would end. Sophomore Ryan Hayden came out in relief after pitching every Mustang inning in two prior playoff wins. The righthander got out of the second inning jam courtesy of a 5-2-3 double play and worked a scoreless third before getting pounded in the fourth inning.

Ten men came to the plate as the Fishermen hit for the cycle in the frame as Matt Brause plated two runs with a single, Brendan Landwehr hit a towering 3-run home run to left field and Joey Dursse smacked an RBI double. Mason Brause led off the inning with a double and Adam Koehnke tripled and scored as Astoria pulled in front 11-3.

Matt Brause continued a playoff tear with four hits, a pair of doubles and four runs batted in. Brent Culver went 4-for-6 on the day with three runs scored. Tom Jaworski reached base five times, scoring three runs while going 1-for-2 at the plate with three walks and six Fishermen had two hits or more in the game.

Hidden Valley's Linn-Benton bound centerfielder Stuart went 3-for-3 on the day and had a fine running catch at the warning track to prevent Culver from recording his fifth hit and second extra base hit of the day. The Mustangs had ten hits off three different Astoria pitchers.

"I thought they were a very good hitting ballclub," said Gasser. "The score indicates we dominated them, but I'll tell you what. For a long time, if we didn't have the state's best pitcher out there, how many runs are they capable of getting? Easily a dozen. A couple of high fly balls went out of the park against Matt, but otherwise I thought he was way good enough to hold them to three."

"They way we swung the bat, nobody was going to beat us today."

Astoria extended its school-record and state-leading winning streak to 25 games and with a win at La Grande on Tuesday would set new school marks for season wins and winning percentage. Brause has now won 36 consecutive decisions on the mound, including last summer's Oregon Junior Baseball schedule and has 39 wins in his last 40 decisions going back to the previous summer. Brause's last loss in the spring came at Scappoose in the final regular season game of the 2005 season.

ASTORIA 4-1-0-6-2-4-0 17-18-0
HIDDEN VALLEY 0-1-0-2-0-0-1 4-10-4
W-Brause (5ip, 6h, 3r, 3er, 6k, 2bb)
L-Wardle (1+ip, 4h, 5r, 3er, bb, wp)
E-Lord 3, Aamatti. LOB-Astoria 11, HV 6. 2B-Culver, Matt Brause 2, Koehnke, Dursse, Mason Brause. 3B-Koehnke. HR-Mason Brause (2), Landwehr (6). SB-Koehnke. CS-Poyer, Shahan. SF-Poyer. PB-Sager.

WARRIORS FALL SHORT IN LATE COMEBACK

The Warrenton Warriors valiant comeback ended with a Tommy Ghost Dog strikeout with runners at second and third in the seventh inning as the number-one ranked Burns Hilanders escaped with a 9-8 quarterfinal baseball victory over the Warriors.

Down 9-5 entering their final at bat, the Warriors plated three runs and had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Ghost Dog fanned the final two batters of the game, sending the Hilanders into a semifinal matchup with defending state 2A champion Glide.

The Hilanders two lefthanded aces, winning pitcher Marc Novak and Ghost Dog, combined to strike out 13 batters in the game.

"It was one of the only times this year that we just didn't put the ball in play enough," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe, who returned to the playoffs after sitting out the postseason last year, the only time in his long tenure at the school in which a baseball team has not participated in the state playoffs. "On Tuesday, our outs were meaningful. We advanced runners or brought somebody home. We had ten hits in the game, but not enough meaningful stuff happened when it wasn't a hit."

Novak, holding a commanding 9-1 lead entering the fifth inning, ran into trouble with back-to-back bases on balls to Billy Sturgell and Beau Torres. Ghost Dog came on in relief and was greeted by Warrenton leadoff man Dan Wolfe, who singled to load the bases. After back-to-back strikeouts of Warrenton's top two RBI threats, Eric Gantenbein and Nathan Massey, Buddy Davis came through with a clutch 2-run single, advancing to second base on the throw home. Brandon Slaughter followed with a 2-RBI single to make it 9-5, putting Warrenton right back in the ballgame.

Unfortunately, the Warriors were forced to play comeback all game long thanks to a big first inning by the Hilanders. Defensive woes, which cost the Warriors in two games against Lewis & Clark League champion Clatskanie, hurt the Warriors in another big game on Friday.

A leadoff error had Burns threatening in the first inning. A potential double-play grounder resulted in just one out because of an errant throw. Another error opened the floodgates. Burns followed with back-to-back base hits against Warrenton starting pitcher Eric Gantenbein and nine men came to the plate in a 4-run first inning that should have been over after three batters.

Gantenbein held the Hilanders scoreless until the fourth inning, when a pair of hit batters set the stage for a 5-run onslaught. Gantenbein recorded two outs after hitting the leadoff batter, but after another hit batter put runners on first and second and after a passed ball, Logan Garner plated both with an RBI single. Tyler Swartzlender followed with an RBI triple ending Gantenbein's day on the mound. The Hilanders continued with back-to-back base hits off reliever Dan Wolfe, scoring five in the inning to boost their lead to 9-1. It could have been worse. Centerfielder Beau Torres made a spectacular running, diving catch to end the inning, saving at least two more runs.

Warrenton's lone run until the fifth inning came on a leadoff home run by Massey, his sixth of the season.

In the seventh, Gantenbein led off with a double, followed by a walk to Massey and a Davis single to load the bases. Ghost Dog induced a ground ball to third base and Gantenbein was forced out at the plate for the first out. Kevin Moore followed with a double to left-center field to score Massey and Davis. Michael Moore looped a Texas League single just out of the reach of the Burns shortstop and third baseman to score Slaughter and advanced to second base on the throw home. With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Ghost Dog fanned Sturgell and Torres to stymie the rally and send Burns to the final four.


"It's frustrating to take a 1400 mile round trip to come that close," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe. "It's thought-provoking. You do a lot of second guessing and think of things you could have done differently."

"I'm really pleased that we ended up as competitive as we were given all of the things we had to overcome. Not having the roster we expected to have, not having a roster with a ton of experience. The kids did a really nice job.

Gantenbein, Davis and Kevin Moore all had two hits and Moore, Davis and Slaughter each had two runs batted in.

"The three seniors played the way you want all-staters to play," said Wolfe, "and the younger guys started to step in an assert themselves this year. Mike Davis has raised his average 60 points at the end of the season, playing playoff teams. Kevin Moore has started to demonstrate that he has some offensive capability. Brandon Slaughter, Michael Moore...those four guys especially startrd to improve. That's not to say the ones I didn't mention didn't also. All of the guys made some marked strides."


Ghost Dog gave up seven hits and two walks and struck out six in a three inning relief stint.

The Warriors, who lose seniors Gantenbein, Wolfe and Massey, begin their summer Oregon Junior Baseball schedule a week from Tuesday. Wolfe and Gantenbein ended 4-year varsity starting careers, with each likely to earn an All-State nod. Both will play for the North Coast Renegades this summer and both are bound for the Northwest Conference to compete in baseball next spring, with Gantenbein attending George Fox and Wolfe Pacific.

WARRENTON 1-0-0-0-4-0-3 8-10-4
BURNS 4-0-0-5-0-0-x 9-11-3
W-Novak (4+ip, 2h, 3r, 3er, 7k, 4bb)
L-Gantenbein (3.2ip, 8h, 8r, 4er, 2k, 0bb, 2hp)
2B-Gantenbein, K. Moore. Wensenk. 3B-Swartzlender. HR-Massey (6).

Thursday, May 24, 2007

WHEALDON ONE STROKE FROM TITLE

Ilwaco's boys golf team notched a fourth place finish at state for the second year in a row and sophomore Jack Whealdon nearly gave the Fishermen their first champion.

Whealdon shot a 5-over 77 in the final round of the tournament at North Bellingham Golf Course to finish in second place, one stroke behind the champion Dane deQuilettes of Chelan. Whealdon was tied for the lead after the first 18 holes after shooting even-par 72 on Tuesday with deQuilettes a stroke back.

Whealdon's second place finish is the highest ever for a Fishermen golfer at a state meet. Teammate and classmate Todd Oakes finished in a 4-way tie for 19th with a two-day total of 160, 12 strokes off the leader. Oakes and Whealdon finished 13th and 15th respectively as freshmen at last year's tourney.

Two other Ilwaco golfers, Tyler Johnson (88) and Tanner Bonawitz (106) did not survive the cut on day one. Kylie Lewis shot a 106 on day one to miss the girls cut by one stroke.

With their top golfers back next season and three talented freshmen-- including Whealdon's younger brother Patrick--added to the program, the Fishermen should improve on their team score of 65.5. Charles Wright Academy of Tacoma won the boys team title with 82.5 points.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

BRAUSE/BREDLEAU A PITCH FROM PERFECT

It took a couple of innings for Astoria to feel out South Umpqua's starting pitcher. The rest of the state has had over 170 innings the last two years to take their best shot at Mathias Brause.


Brause and Nick Bredleau combined for seven innings of no-hit ball, while the Fishermen offense rapped out 11 hits and two more home runs to record their 24th straight win with a 9-0 victory over the visiting Lancers in the second round of the OSAA 4A Baseball Championships at Aiken Field Tuesday.


Thanks to Hidden Valley's 6-1 upset at Gladstone, the Fishermen will be traveling to Grants Pass to take on the Mustangs in a Friday quarterfinal game.


Brause (10-0 this season, 25-0 as a junior and senior and 34-0 including last summer) had electric stuff from the get-go, recording eight of the first nine outs with strikeouts. Meanwhile, Astoria's vaunted offense took a little while to get going against South Umpqua senior pitcher Roby Smith, who held the Fishermen to one infield hit and a throwing error on his first run through the lineup.


"There's no way to practice the amount of adrenalin and kind of just the nervousness that you have in the first round of the playoffs," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser, who recorded his 585th career victory, leaving him six shy of Art Thunell's all-time Oregon record. "That's why there'e a lot of strange scores in the first round."


"It's awfully nice to have Matt throwing as well as he can, kind of impervious to it all. You know, as we're trying to settle down offensively, they're just struggling."


The only glitch for Brause came in the third inning, when he hit Ryan Smedley on the elbow leading off. With one out, Smedley took off for second on a delayed steal, catching the Fishermen infield off-guard as Brendan Landwehr's throw to second was there, but nobody was home. Smedley continued to third base, just beating Brent Culver's throw from center field.


Brause recovered to fan Sam Lockman for the second out of the inning, bringing up leadoff man Blake Cupp. With an 0-1 count, the freshman shortstop dropped a beautiful bunt down the third base line that just went foul after rolling parallel to the chalk for about sixty feet. The go-ahead run went back to third base and Brause fanned Cupp swinging to end the threat, before retiring the final 11 batters he faced.


"They ran the delayed steal beautifully," said Gasser. "We didn't cover it. We didn't see it all year. We talked about it a lot, but, you know talking is cheap if you don't have to execute it."


"He did a real favor to us, because we've got a young middle infield that probably won't make that mistake again. Tip of the cap. And then the guy turns around and lays down a drag bunt that's an inch foul and they could have created a run out of absolute vapor! They are a well-coached team. No question about it."


Both coaches have been through the wars for sure, as South Umpqua's coach John O'Malley finished his 26-year tenure with a 401-258 record and two trips to the state championship game. Gasser is in pursuit of his fifth championship ring and his offense kicked in in the fourth inning to help push the Fishermen along in the bracket.


After breaking the ice with an unearned run in the third inning, Astoria put five on the board in the fourth, with Jordan Poyer starting the scoring parade with a leadoff home run to left, his team-leading eighth of the season. With one out, consecutive singles by Joey Dursse, Mason Brause and Hans Lund loaded the base before leadoff batter Brent Culver forced in a run with a four-pitch base on balls to make it 3-0 Astoria. Smith fanned Tom Jaworski, but Matt Brause followed with a solid single up the middle to score two. Brendan Landwehr followed with a fly ball to deep left field that was dropped for an error, allowing Culver to score his second run of the game. Pinch-runner Brad Sarpola was gunned down a the plate to end the inning, but with a 6-0 lead and the state player of the year on the bump, the damage was done.


Brause tossed a 1-2-3 fifth inning, helped by an outstanding backhand play at third base by Dursse on a hot ground ball off the bat of Eric Whiteley. Dursse had one of his better games of the season, going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI and handling three perfect chances at third base.


"We've been hitting the ball really good and that's been overlooking our defense," said Dursse, who moved from left field to third base this season. "You've got to have a defense out there to let Brause and Bredleau throw that no-no like they did. They did a great job, but you've also got to have a great defense and that gets overlooked because of the way we hit."


Bredleau took over for Brause with two outs in the sixth inning and threw one pitch, getting pinch-hitting Riley George to ground back to the mound. Brause had thrown 62 pitches, which duplicated a typical Tuesday bullpen session in preparation for a Friday start.


"It's the same thing we did last year," said Brause, "but I think I threw less pitches in better weather. So, I think it should work out well. We've got Jordan and Nick both to throw, so we might split up that game."


Tough to leave the mound with a no-hitter in progress?


"I knew I had a no-hitter going. Coach came out and told me what was up. That's fine. It's playoff time, so that really doesn't matter. If we get a no-no today and get beat the next game, it really doesn't make much sense. It honestly didn't really bother me that much."


The way Nick Bredleau has pitched in relief lately, the no-hitter was in safe hands, as the two-time all-Cowapa League pitcher retired the side in order in the seventh inning to close out the game.


Astoria added insurance runs in the fifth on a Joey Dursse RBI single and a two more in the sixth on Brendan Landwehr's line drive 2-run homer to left field off sophomore relief pitcher Bo Younker.


Brause went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored to go with his 10-strikeout performance on the mound. Every Fishermen starter contributed a hit or a run to the cause. A huge crowd was on hand to witness Astoria's third home playoff win in two years, with many gathered in place an hour before game time. The line of cars across West Marine Drive stretched from the NNB studios well past Dairy Queen, with many fans taking in the game out in the sunshine on the hill ringing the field, in the bleachers behind the backstop or on the extra bleachers set up on the road up the hill.


"Our support gives us goosebumps," said Gasser. "I can't say enough about our community."


S. UMPQUA 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0-0-4
ASTORIA 0-0-1-5-1-2-x 9-11-1
W-Brause (5.2ip, 10k, hp)
L-Smith (5ip, 9h, 7r, 4er, 6k, 2bb, wp)
E-Smedley, Smith Clack, Whiteley, Landwehr. LOB-S. Umpqua 1, Astoria 7. HR-Poyer (8), Landwehr (5). SB-Smedley, Culver, Koehnke, Dursse.

WARRIORS WILL FACE #1 BURNS

Clatsop County was literally a Hall of Fame high school baseball coaching convention on Tuesday.


While Astoria's Dave Gasser got one win closer to Art Thunell's all-time wins mark with a win over the retiring John O'Malley's (401 career wins) South Umpqua Lancers at Aiken Field, across the bay two of the state's top 3A coaches squared off at Warrenton.


Matt Nosack's Santiam Christian Eagles had to go through Lennie Wolfe's Warrenton Warriors in the semifinals on their way to a 1999 championship. Warrenton bounced a number-one ranked Eagles team in the 2001 quarterfinals. Wolfe and Nosack have combined for over 700 high school wins and each coach wears a championship ring.


Only one coach has a chance to size up another finger this year as the Warriors knocked off the 7th-ranked Eagles 6-2 at Huddleston Field, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against the top-ranked Burns Hilanders at Burns on Friday.


Warrenton scored all of its runs in the first three innings, while Santiam Christian did not get a baserunner until the fourth inning.


Dan Wolfe picked up the 12th win of his season with four strong innings, and recorded career win number 30 to pass Danny McFadden as the school's all-time winningest pitcher. The senior, 4-year starter added two hits and a pair of runs batted in as the Warriors outhit the Eagles 12-3 for the game.


Wolfe led off the contest with a double off the left-center field fence, coming in to score on a 2-out single up the middle by Buddy Davis. Back-to-back walks to Billyy Sturgell and Beau Torres with one out in the second inning led to the second Warriors run, as Wolfe plated Sturgell with a fielder's choice after a wild pitch advanced the runners.


Eric Gantenbein led off the third inning with a home run over the scoreboard in left-center field, his ninth of the season. The Warriors added three more runs in the inning on an RBI single by Brandon Slaughter, an RBI groundout by Michael Moore and a 2-out RBI double by Billy Sturgell.


Meanwhile, Wolfe cruised through the Santiam Christian batting order the first time through with three strikeouts and nothing hit to the outfield. The Eagles took advantage of a pair of errors and scored two runs on a Joel Mason base hit in the fourth inning. Wolfe was able to stop the bleeding by getting Paul Lancaster to ground into a 4-6-3 double play before ending the inning on a pop up.


Eric Gantenbein took over on the hill to start the fifth and tossed three innings of 1-hit ball with two strikouts and a hit batter to notch his second save of the season. Gantenbein also went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Davis, Slaughter and Kevin Moore each had two hits for the Warriors.


The Eagles put one more threat together in the fifth inning when Cory Alexander led off with a single and Wade Knowles was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with nobody down. Gantenbein buckled down to get the next two outs on pop-ups before fanning Grant Knowles to end the inning.


Only one out was recorded by Warrenton's outfield and only two base hits got past the Warrenton infield in a strong pitching performance.


"We were defensive really sound," said head coach Lennie Wolfe, who is in the state playoffs for the 19th time in 20 years as head coach at Warrenton. "Our third baseman made the plays. Buddy was solid at second. Not many plays to shortstop, but we got the big double play when we need it. The pitchers really did the job."


Warrenton improved to 21-5 on the season and for the third consecutive sports season a Warrenton team will face Burns in the playoffs. The volleyball team lost at Burns in the first round of the state tournament and the girls basketball team fell to the Hilanders in the state quarterfinals in March.


SANTIAM CHR. 0-0-0-2-0-0-0 2-3-0
WARRENTON 1-1-4-0-0-0-x 6-12-2
W-Wolfe (4ip, 2h, 2r, er, 4k)
L-Wonsley
S-Gantenbein (3ip, h, 2k, hp)
2B-Wolfe, Slaughter, Sturgell. HR-Gantenbein (9).

TUESDAY SCOREBOARD

BASEBALL-OSAA State Championships
4A State Tournament-2nd Rd.
ASTORIA 9, south Umpqua 0
Henley 12, Seaside 4
Newport 7, McLoughlin 5
Hidden Valley 6, Gladstone 1
Brookings-Harbor 7, Cottage Grove 6
La Grande 5, North Bend 4
Marist 3, North Bend 0
Yamhill-Carlton 11, North Marion 8
3A State Tournament-1st Rd.
WARRENTON 6, Santiam Christian 2
CLATSKANIE 6, Nyssa 1
Valley Catholic 7, Rainier 4
Westside Christian 16, Gold Beach 8
Grant Union 18, Reedsport 2
Burns 13, Colton 0
Glide 9, Creswell 1
Regis 11, Willamina 2

BOYS GOLF-1A State Championships at North Bellingham G.C.
ILWACO: Jack Whealdon E-72-tied for 1st place with
Todd Oakes +6-78
Tyler Johnson +16-88
Tanner Bonawitz +37-109
GIRLS GOLF-1A State Championships at North Bellingham G.C.
ILWACO: Kylie Lewis +34-106

Sunday, May 20, 2007

STATE TRACK AND FIELD WRAP-UP

4A State Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene

The Astoria girls team secured its best finish in twenty years with a third place trophy, led by three individual champions and two runner-up finishes. Remarkably, all of Astoria's points were scored on the field and all of it's scoring athletes were underclassmen.

Laura Bobek and Jamie Coggins pulled off the rare feat of taking first and second in both the shot put and the discus. Both athletes were ranked first and second in those events coming into the meet and were up to the challenge in front of the large crowd at Oregon's track mecca. Bobek's winning discus toss Friday (131-11) was well ahead of the competition, but well off the 147-foot-plus throw she uncorked at Scappoose the weekend before to set a new school and District 1 record.

Charlene Harber, in only her sixth competition, won the triple jump Friday, extending her school record with a leap of 36-feet, 9-and 3/4 inches. Harber added a third place finish in the long jump on Thursday. K.J. Carr finished Astoria's scoring with a fifth place finish in the javelin, throwing 116-feet, 1-inch.

The Fishermen boys notched more points on Saturday to end up in 23rd place. Chris Meyer high-jumped 6-2 to take sixth and the 4-by-100 meter relay team finished in sixth place (44.75).

Seaside finished third in the 400 relay then took second place by a second behind Marist in the 1600 with a strong closing leg by Dennis Olstedt. In his final high school meet, Olstedt nailed down his first state championship, running alongside Nate Dillow of Marist against to win the intermediate hurdles by a quarter-second with a time of 38.68. Dillow prevented Olstedt from earning the sweep, winning the high hurdles with Olstedt second. Dom Walker qualified for the intermediate finals and took seventh. With points scored by Bjorn McCord in the shot put and discus and Kai Watts in the discus, the Gull boys came away with a fifth place finish.

Marla Olstedt finished fourth in the high jump (5-1) with freshman April Cockroft fifth, while sophomore Ashley Mayfield placed third in the 1500 (4:15.77) on Saturday, to go with her fourth place finish in the 800.

3A State Championships at MacArthur Field in Monmouth
Grant Union's boys dominated the meet with 84 points, while Catlin Gabel and Bandon tied with 49 points. Led by a pair of runner-up finishes from Dallas Moses, the Warrenton boys earned a fourth place finish with 39 points.

Moses finished the 800 meters in 1:57.69, trailing champion Joshua Frasier of Coquille by 1-and-3/4 seconds. Michael O'Casey finished fourth for Warrenton. Moses added a second place in the 300 hurdles (41.33), an event won by Jeremy Kreutzbender of Amity (40.80). The Warriors also placed both relay teams while Sean Ball placed in the high jump and triple jump.

The Warriors girls were a one-woman attack, scoring 22 points behind the efforts of freshman Jordyn Holt, who took fifth in the 100 meters (13.32), fourth in the long jump and triple jump, and second in the high jump (4-11) behind Beth Stam of Toledo, who swept the jump titles. Holt's family will be moving to Long Island, New York before next school year.

Catlin Gabel's girls also finished second, with Burns taking the team title with 68 points. Warrenton (Holt) placed 11th.

2A State Championships at MacArthur Field in Monmouth
Knappa's Steven Bokor took sixth in the 110 hurdles (16.77) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (43.61). Bonanza won the team title with just four athletes competing (5 individual titles, 83 points from Kyle Gomez, Andy Davis, John Laidet and Steven Dickinson).

Gretchen George took seventh in the 800 (2:30.53) and fifth in the 3000 (11:33.54). Freshman Kate Shear, starting catcher on the Loggers softball team, notched a fifth place finish in the javelin (116-05), while Rachele Schuyler placed seventh in the shot put (33-7 1/2). Elgin edged Lakeview (60-57) for the team title.

1A State Championships at McArthur Field in Monmouth
Will Crook of Jewell took second place in the javelin with a throw of 163-3, trailing only Ryan Standiford of Condon/Wheeler (166-1). Will Steinweg high jumped six feet even to tie Tyhler Smith of Gilchrist for fifth place. No Jewell girls scored points at the meet. Damascus Christian won the boys title with 81 points.

WARRIORS EARN HOME DATE AT STATE

Dan Wolfe and Eric Gantenbein combined on the mound to limit Rainier to four hits, while combining at the plate for three hits, five runs and three RBI's as the Warriors defeated the Columbians 10-5 in a seeding playoff game at Huddleston Field Saturday.

With the win, the Warriors earn a home game to open the state playoffs, welcoming the PacWest Conference runner-up Santiam Christian Eagles to town on Tuesday. Rainier will travel to Beaverton to face West Valley League champion Valley Catholic in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament.

One thing Wolfe and Gantenbein could not do is stop Rainier's power-hitting senior first baseman Billy Zimmerman, one of those players you can only, "hope to contain".

Zimmerman hit a deep home run to centerfield in his first at bat against Wolfe when a fastball tailed back over the plate about belt high. The future Eastern Oregon football player hit a much better pitch in the fourth inning, but the result was the same, as Zimmerman got the end of his bat on a Wolfe curve and managed to muscle it over the fence in left center for his 14th home run of the season, which likely leads the state.

Fortunately for Warrenton's senior hurlers, while Zimmerman did the majority of the damage for the Columbians, Warrenton's offense came alive and put runs on the board in every inning.

After taking advantage of a three walks and a Rainier error to score two unearned runs in the first, Gantenbein gave Warrenton a 5-2 lead with a 3-run home run in the second inning, his eighth of the season.

Leading 6-2 after Billy Sturgell's 2-out RBI single in the third, Zimmerman's second poke of the game cut the Warriors lead to 6-3. The Warriors responded swiftly as Wolfe led off the fourth inning with a single, Gantenbein walked and Nathan Massey plated both with a 2-run single after a Dalton Earlywine wild pitch advanced both runners.

Sturgell delivered his second run batted in of the game with an RBI double in the fifth, scoring Michael Moore. Moore added an RBI groundout in the sixth inning to plate Buddy Davis after a leadoff single.

"I was pleased with our offense today," said head coach Lennie Wolfe. "We moved people over the way we needed to and it seemed like every time we got a runner to third we put the ball in play to the middle so we could score them."

Zimmerman's third at bat of the game might have been the most impressive. With Gantenbein relieving Wolfe to begin the fifth inning, the Columbians loaded the bases with one out. Gantenbein threw three pitches off the plate trying to get the patient first sacker to chase, before coach Wolfe gave the call to put him on intentionally, forcing in a run. That's a tribute last seen when Buck Showalter was coaching the Arizona Diamondbacks and chose not to pitch to Barry Bonds.

"I don't think there were too many people here who felt like that was the wrong move," said Wolfe.

In retrospect, it was probably a brilliant decision. Gantenbein struck out Nate Marsh swinging on a 2-2 pitch and retired Garrett Karnoski on a harmless ground out to second, leaving the bases loaded and preserving an 8-4 Warrenton lead.

The Columbians added an unearned run in the sixth before Zimmerman came to the plate one final time to face Gantenbein, flying out to deep center field. After the out, Gantenbein and Wolfe, now playing shortstop, shared a few words.

"I was just excited that I finally got him out," said Gantenbein. "I told him I was going to keep the ball since we finally got him out and that was going to be my ball from now on. It's always nice when you can get him out, especially the way he's hitting. He's locked in and he's hit us well. That was his sixth home run off us this year. He's got our number."

Wolfe allowed only one hit over four innings other than Zimmerman's two round trippers, striking out two and walking one to record his 29th career win, tying Danny McFadden's school record. Gantenbein went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBI's, allowing one his over the final three innings.

Warrenton and Santiam Christian will meet for the first time since the Warriors upset the top-ranked Crusaders at Warrenton in the 2001 state quarterfinals. Game time is to be announced. The winner will travel to Burns to take on the top-ranked Hilanders on Friday.

RAINIER 0-2-0-1-1-1-0 5-4-1
WARRENTON 2-3-1-2-1-1 10-8-3
W-Wolfe (4ip, 3h, 3r, 2er, 2k, bb)
L-Earlywine (4ip, 5h, 8r, 6er, k, 5bb, 2hp, 2wp)
E-Zytniowski, K. Moore, Wolfe, Gantenbein. LOB-Rainier 6, Warrenton 7. 2B-Sturgell, Torres. HR-Zimmerman 2, Gantenbein. S-Tripp, Earlywine, Slaughter 2, Davis. SF-Jackson. SB-Karnoski, Tripp, Zytniowski, Wolfe, Davis, Sturgell. PB-Massey.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

SATURDAY SCOREBOARD

BASEBALL-Lewis & Clark League Playoffs at Warrenton
WARRENTON 10, Rainier 5

TRACK & FIELD-4A State Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene
BOYS: North Bend 59, Seaside 38 (5th), Astoria 8 (23rd)
Cowapa Champions: Dennis Olstedt (SEA) 300 hurdles
GIRLS: Henley 76, Astoria 56 (3rd), Tillamook 24 (9th), Seaside 20.5 (11th)
Cowapa Champions: Laura Bobek (AST) shot and discus, Charlene Harber (AST) triple jump

IT'S HANG-ON TIME FOR FISHERMEN GIRLS

Tom Petty said, "the waiting is the hardest part". If the Fishermen girls were nervous at Hayward Field during Thursday and Friday's competition, it didn't much show. Now they will bite their nails on the sidelines and hope that their 52 points is enough for a trophy.

K.J. Carr is Astoria's last hope to score as the junior javelin thrower competes in her event finals today. Carr qualified as a number two district finisher, but equalled Cowapa League champion Lindsey Remington's best throw of 118-02 at the district meet. The Tillamook junior and Carr are on the bubble as far as scoring points, seeded seventh and eighth in the event with the top eight finishers scoring points.

The Lady Fishermen scored two more first place finishes on Friday and another runner-up to put themselves in first place in the team scoring heading into Saturday's final events. Henley is second with 31 points, but has a lot more competitors on the field today.

The terrific tandem of sophomore Laura Bobek and junior Jamie Coggins repeated Thursday's feat and finished first and second in the discus. Bobek's winning toss of 131-feet, 11-inches was nowhere near her school and district meet record throw of the weekend before, but good enought to clear her teammate Coggins (117-06) and the rest of the 4A field by a considerable margin.

Sophomore Charlene Harber failed to advance in the 100 meters, finishing 4/100ths of a second behind Tillamook junior Melissa Waud in the preliminary race with a ninth place time of 13.13. After a somewhat disappointing third place finish in the high jump the day before, Harber channelled her energy into her final event and won the triple jump with a leap of 36-feet, 9 and 3/4 inches to defeat Baker's Jill Richards by 6 and 3/4 inches. Harber's mark extended her own school record set at the district meet, continuing a phenomenal run that started about a month ago when she competed in the event for the first time ever!

Astoria won the girls track and field title back in 1981, led by Hall of Fame thrower Cam Johnson, whose school record discus mark was shattered by Bobek last weekend at Scappoose. That year, the Lady Fishermen needed just 46 points to win the team title. Last season, 4A Wilson High School won the girls track title with 52 points. The lowest score to win a team title this decade was Regis High School's 46 points girls championship in 2004. The average winning score this decade is just under 68 points.

The Fishermen boys have a few event finals today with junior Chris Meyer competing in the high jump, Nathan Stinnett in the javelin and the boys 4-by-100 relay.

Seaside earned a fourth and fifth place finish in the boys discus Friday with Bjorn McCord throwing 145-11, followed by Kai Watts at 144 feet even. Jordan Aldredge of Gladstone, who is attempting to become the first athlete to win state championships in throws and sprints in the same meet, earned his second title with a 166-08 throw.

Aldredge, who won the shot put title Thursday, will compete in the javelin and the 100 meters today. Seaside's Justin Krieger failed to advance in the 100, finishing 12th in qualifying. The Gulls' Dennis Olstedt will try for two titles in the hurdles today after qualifying first in the 300 (39.48) and second in the 110 (14.79). Nate Dillow, a Marist senior, is Olstedt's top competition in both events.

It could be a big day for the Olstedt family as Marla Olstedt, a junior, is the top rated high jumper in the girls meet.

In Washington track and field district finals Friday, Ilwaco's boys (38 points) and girls (40) each placed fifth at the 1A District IV meet at Rainier. Matt Kaino took first place in the 400 meters for the Fishermen boys (50.69) and Stephen Berglund won the 3200 (10:39).

Ilwaco's girls were led by Bonnie Perez and Kelly Freese. Perez who finished second in the javelin (110-8) to Melissa Parsons of Onalaska (120-4), placed third in the 400 meters and
combined with Freese, Cameo Ulbricht and Melany Bliss on a 2nd place 4-by-400 relay team (4:23.82, Columbia-White Salmon first 4:23.39). Freese took second in the 3200 meters (12:16.5) behind only Forks freshman Chanda Romney (12:07.32) and placed third in the 1600.

Montesano won the boys team title with 106 points with Rainier second (74.5). Stevenson led the girls field with 98 points with La Center second with 91.

Naselle's boys placed fifth and girls 12th in the 17-team field at the District IV 2B Championships, hosted by the Comets at Pentilla Field. Beau Keightley had Naselle's only district championship, winning the javelin with a throw of 153-9. Kyle Burkhalter (2nd high jump, 2nd triple jump, 4th 400 meters) qualified for three individual events and Erin Saari, who recently signed a basketball letter of intent to Grays Harbor College, qualified in the pole vault, high hurdles and 4-by-400 meter relay.

The top five finishers in each event advanced to the state 2B meet in Cheney. N.W. Christian (104) was the girls team champion and Tacoma Baptist (73) was the top boys team.

SEAGULLS ADVANCE TO SECOND ROUND

Another late charge from Seaside boosted the Gulls into the second round of the OSAA 4A State Baseball Tournament.

Seaside blew open a close game with five runs in the fifth inning and five more in the sixth to defeat the Sweet Home Huskies 12-6 at Broadway Field Friday night. Seaside earned a ticket south to face the highly regarded Henley Hornets on Tuesday at Kiger Field in Klamath Falls.

Seaside (14-13) needed a late rally in its final regular season game against Scappoose just to make the playoffs. Now they will go for the upset to try to reach the quarterfinals.

Will Beatty and Mark Thysell led the way at the plate, with each going 3-for-4 with an extra base hit. Sophomore third baseman Jeremy Carow hit the first home run of his varsity career.

Henley (24-2) was the Skyline conference champion and was ranked third in Oregon behind Newport and Astoria in the final 4A coaches' poll.

In other first round 4A baseball playoffs games: Hidden Valley defeated Philomath 14-4 in a game that was called after five innings. The Mustangs head to Gladstone Tuesday with the winner meeting the Astoria-South Umpqua winner in Friday's quarterfinal round. North Bend defeated Molalla 12-5 and McLoughlin topped Elmira 6-2.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

GAME TIME SET AS ASTORIA ENTERS PLAYOFFS

The Astoria Fishermen were not a big favorite heading into last year's state 3A baseball tournament. That will not be the case this season.

The 2nd-ranked Fishermen, who carry the longest winning streak in the state into the playoffs, will host the South Umpqua Lancers on Tuesday, May 11 at Ernie Aiken Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

The Lancers, coached by 26-year veteran Tom O'Malley, will be making their third consecutive appearance at the state tournament. South Umpqua (14-11 overall) finished second to Brookings-Harbor in the Far West League after winning the league in 2006 and feature a young lineup with three sophomores and a freshman in the starting nine. South Umpqua was 4-4-1 against playoff teams this season and the two teams did not face a common opponent.

South Umpqua High School is located in the community of Myrtle Creek south of Roseburg and several of the Lancers players play legion ball in Roseburg in the summer. O'Malley, one of the longest tenured baseball coaches in the state, has announced his retirement at the end of the school year.

Tuesday's game will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN, with pregame coverage starting at 4:20 p.m.

BREAKING NEWS: BOBEK WINS SHOT TITLE!

Laura Bobek highlighted a fantastic start for the both the Astoria boys and girls track and field teams at Hayward Field in Eugene today, winning a state title in the shot put.

The Astoria sophomore, ranked number one in the shot and discus entering the meet, threw 41-feet, 6-inches to earn Astoria first girls shot put in 25 years. Jamie Coggins, a junior, finished in second place with a 39-foot, 4-inch put, two inches ahead of the third place competitor.

The Astoria girls, who hope to make a push for a team title, earned 18 points for the 1-2 finish and hope to add another 18 on Friday when Bobek and Coggins throw the discus.

Charlene Harber, the number two seed in the long jump, scratched on her first two attempts before jumping 16-feet, 11-inches to finish third. Amy Skofstad of Gladstone, the state's top jumper in all classifications, won the event.

On the boys side, Justin Tikkala finished seventh in the long jump after coming in as an eight seed and the 4-by-100 relay team of Andres Lopez, John Heick, Steve Wentworth and Kyle McMullen eclipsed the school record they set at the district meet to advance to the finals, finishing in 44.18 seconds. Alex Whitaker did not reach the finals in the shot put.

The 4A State Championships continue with more preliminaries and event finals on Friday before wrapping up on Saturday.

PLAYOFF-READY FISHERMEN TOP MARIST

Some key defensive plays, a critical late insurance run and some clutch relief pitching all added up to 23 on Wednesday. Twenty-three victories in a row, that is.

The Astoria Fishermen baseball team will take their school record winning streak into the postseason following a 4-3 victory over the Sky-Em League champion Marist Spartans in a game played at Linfield College's Helser Field.

The Fishermen broke a 1-all tie with a two-out, two run rally in the fifth inning, then added another run with two outs in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Spartans first baseman Grant Mascolo battled Astoria starting pitcher Jordan Poyer for an eight pitch walk. The following batter saw the pitch he wanted right away as senior centerfielder Brooks McKee belted Poyer's first pitch over the wall in left field for a 2-run homer. Freshman designated hitter Zach Brandon followed with a double to the wall in right field and Poyer's night was over.

Enter senior Nick Bredleau in a rare, late-in-game relief appearance.

"I knew that if I kept it low, they're going to hit it," said Bredleau. "They are a good hitting team, but they are not going to hit it that hard and our defense just made plays."

Bredleau threw one pitch to rightfielder Nate Smyly, who hit a soft line drive to Hans Lund at second to end the threat. The senior all-Cowapa League pitcher needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the seventh inning for his first save of the season and second of his career.

"We've talked about it before, going 15-0 in league,"said Bredleau. "We finally made it possible and just kept on winning games."

The Fishermen are now 23-3, a record bested this season by two teams expected to meet in the semifinals: the Newport Cubs (25-1) and the Henley Hornets (22-3). If all goes well for both Astoria and Marist, the Fishermen and Spartans will meet in a rematch in the semis the day after Memorial Day.

Jordan Poyer got the win, improving to 5-0 on the season. The sophomore righthander faced only one significant hurdle before getting knocked out in the sixth. That's when Astoria's defense stepped up to the challenge.

With no score in the bottom of the third inning, Smyly led off with a base hit and Josh Norman followed with a sacrifice bunt to the right of the mound. Poyer fielded the ball quickly, but threw high to first base for an error. Smyly tried to advance to third base, but was gunned down by Lund, who was backing up on the play. The Spartans followed with three consecutive singles to score the first run of the game, but leadoff batter Mike Dickman was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second. A hit batter loaded the bases with two outs before Poyer retired Grant Mascolo on a foul pop to first base. The Spartans put six consecutive runners on base, but only got one run to show for it.

"Just a big time relay play," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser of the play at the plate, "and then also Hans backing up an overthrow, just anticipating that something might go wrong and making an absolutely perfect throw from real deep, actually. That's probably about 135 feet right on a line. Amazing heads-up play by a guy that's played great second base all year."

"That play right there and then the relay (Adam Koehnke to Joey Dursse to Brendan Landwehr) erases at least two or three runs or we don't win."

Astoria tied the score with a run in the fourth inning when Jordan Poyer doubled and scored on a first and third bunt and run play with Dursse laying down his second perfect sacrifice in as many at bats. Like Marist the inning before, the Fishermen had an opportunity to score more with runners on second and third and nobody out, but courtesy runner Trevor Puckett, a sophomore making his varsity debut, was gunned down at the plate on Adam Koehnke's ground ball to third base.

Earlier in the second inning, Marist starting pitcher Brady Kirkpatrick escaped a second and third, one out jam by throwing out Poyer at home trying to score on a swinging bunt by Mason Brause.

The Fishermen put five consecutive runners on base with two outs in the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Tom Jawarski started the rally with a base on balls before Matt Brause ripped a line single up the middle. Brendan Landwehr drew a full count walking bringing Poyer to the plate. The sophomore slugger battled from a 1-2 count to force in the go-ahead run with a walk before Koehnke has hit in the back with the first pitch from Marist starter Brady Kirkpatrick to force in another run. Kirkpatrick fanned Dursse looking at a 2-2 curveball to end the inning.

The Marist freshman hurler was impressive, showcasing above-average velocity, excellent command and a sharp breaking ball, but did not get the benefit of the doubt on a lot of close pitches in the game and appeared to lose his poise slightly in the fifth, taking a long time between pitches after working quickly in the early innings.

Poyer retired eight of the next nine batters after his third inning pickle, while the Spartans went to their Division I closer in the sixth inning. Nick Stiltner, a 2-year all-league catcher, came on firing his trademark 90 mile per hour heat, but the Fishermen weren't ready to leave the kitchen.

Another two out walk got the party started in the sixth, as Brent Culver reached base and stole second. Jaworski followed with a ground ball to the right side just out of the reach of second baseman Ryan Bell as Culver raced home with what turned out to be a huge extra run.

"It ends up being the difference," said Gasser, "off a guy who is pretty much lights out."

Stiltner, who has signed a letter of intent at Oregon State, struck out the side in the seventh inning, but Bredleau was equal to the task, retiring the Marist 9, 1 and 2 hitters in order to close out the game, sending Astoria into the playoffs on a long, sustained winning note.

Kirkpatrick suffered his first loss of the season. Colton Thomas went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Marist.

Poyer went 2-for-3 for Astoria and is now 12 for his last 13 at the plate dating back to last Monday's 21-2 win at Tillamook.

The Fishermen open the playoffs at home Tuesday against Far West League #2 South Umpqua. Marist has a tough opening draw, facing a 20-win Phoenix team. If Astoria advances to the quarterfinals, the Fishermen will either travel to Gladstone or Hidden Valley (north of Grants Pass) or host Philomath.

ASTORIA 0-0-0-1-2-1-0 4-6-1
MARIST 0-0-1-0-0-2-0 3-7-0
W-Poyer (5.2ip, 7h, 3er, 2k, 2bb, hp)
L-Kirkpatrick (5ip, 5h, 3er, 3k, 4bb, hp)
S-Bredleau (1.1ip, 0h, 0r)
E-Poyer. LOB-Astoria 8, Marist 5. 2B-Poyer, Brandon. HR-McKee. SB-Culver. S-Dursse 2, Norman.

WARRIORS TOP GULLS IN NON-LEAGUE TILT

With space to fill on their schedules and time to kill before the playoffs, the Warrenton Warriors and Seaside Seagulls scheduled a non-league rematch at Broadway Field Wednesday. Three Warrenton pitchers combined to hold the Gulls to three hits in a 4-1 Warrenton victory.

Seaside hosts a state playoff game against the Sweet Home Huskies this Friday at Broadway Field. Warrenton will host a Lewis & Clark League seeding playoff on Saturday against the winner of Thursday's Vernonia at Rainier matchup.

Both teams used three pitchers on the day, with Sal Oros taking the loss for Seaside, while Dan Wolfe tossed two innings of relief to get the win for Warrenton. Michael Moore started on the mound and pitched three innings of no-hit ball with four strikeouts and two bases on balls.

"He really stepped up for us," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe. "We needed him to eat some innings and the fact that he did it in shutout fashion was just gigantic. Really a big boost for us."

Kevin Moore's RBI single in the third inning scored Bubba Massey with the first Warrenton run. In the fourth, Billy Sturgell and Dan Wolfe drew back-to-back one out walks, before Eric Gantenbein hit a ground ball that resulted in a Seaside throwing error, scoring Sturgell. With runners at first and third and two outs, the Warriors pulled off the delayed double steal with Wolfe scoring and Gantenbein reaching second base safely. Gantenbein would later score on an errant pickoff throw to end a sloppy defensive frame for the Gulls.

Seaside scored its only run in the fifth when Mitch DeGandi doubled with two outs and scored on a misplayed fly ball in the outfield.

Massey finished 2-for-2 with a run scored and Michael Moore went 2-for-3 at the plate. Wolfe improved to 10-3 on the season with the win and Eric Gantenbein closed the game with two scoreless innings for his first save.

Warrenton heads into the postseason with a 19-5 record. There still is no official start time announced for Saturday's playoff game, although it is tentatively scheduled for 2:00 p.m at Huddleston Field.
WARRENTON 0-0-1-3-0-0-0 4-6-2
SEASIDE 0-0-0-0-1-0-0 1-3-2
W-Wolfe (2ip, 2h, r, 0er, 2k)
L-Oros
S-Gantenbein (2ip, h, 0r, 2k)
2B-De Gandi

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

CORBETT ENDS SEASON FOR LOGGER TEAMS

Both Knappa's baseball and softball teams had their seasons come to an end at the hands of the Corbett Cardinals Wednesday.

The Logger boys saw an early 10-2 lead disintegrate as the Cardinals collected 17 hits in a 16-12 victory in the loser out round of the Northwest League baseball playoffs. The Corbett softball team scored eight unanswered runs to pull away from Knappa for a 6-inning, 13-3 victory at Knappa.

Both Cardinals teams clinched state tournament berths with their victories, before falling to Nestucca and Gaston respectively in seeding games later in the day.

The Logger boys rapped out 15 hits against Corbett and lit up ace pitcher Kevin Greenslade early on. Greenslade left the mound in the third inning and Knappa greeted reliever Andrew Haines with four straight hits to go up 10-2.

With an opportunity to end the game early, Knappa put runners at second and third with one out in the fifth inning, but was unable to score. Then things turned around 180 degrees.

"It turned into a hitfest," said Knappa head coach Jeff Miller. "Their bats woke up and everything that touched a bat ended up a bloop hit or a shot."

Loggers starting pitcher Gary Aho, who threw 60 pitches on Monday in a win over Corbett, began to tire. Six Knappa errors did not help their vulnerable pitching staff.

"You only have so many bullets in the gun," said Miller. "Those errors you give up outs and you are using up bullets. He finally hit a wall."

Aho gave way to Karac Anderson in the fifth, but the junior righthander was unable to stop the bleeding. The Cardinals took the lead with a 6-run fifth inning, going up 11-10, adding a run in the sixth and four more off sophomore Cody Strickland in the seventh inning.

Knappa had one last rally, with a 2-run home run by Strickland in the seventh inning, but fell short, as their season ended with a 14-10 overall record.

"We really had no business getting this far," said Miller, who loses just one senior, rightfielder Elias Hunsinger. "The kids produced a lot more than we anticipated."

Anderson went 3-for-5 on the day and Cody Strickland was also 3-for-5 at the plate. Joe Strickland was 2-for-5 with a double and four runs batted in and Nate West drove in four runs with a pair of hits.

Aho took the loss, and his final day at bat finished with two hits and two walks in five plate appearances. The Logger junior finished the season with some of the most impressive offensive marks in the history of Clatsop County high school baseball, with a batting average of .646 with 10 home runs, 45 runs scored and 46 runs batted in. Aho also led the team in stolen bases, had six outfield assists in which runners were thrown out at the plate and ended up with a total of 51 hits in 24 games, with at least one base hit in all but one game and two or more in all but a couple.

"He literally carried this team on his shoulders," said Miller. "And he is without question the hardest working player on this team, the unquestioned leader."

The Loggers will return a strong offensive nucleus and will look to develop pitching depth this summer. One bright spot is the emergence of freshman Cody Strickland, who batted .500 with three home runs all coming toward the end of the season. The Loggers will enter the summer junior state season with a strong offensive core at the top of the order, with Aho, Joe and Cody Strickland, Anderson and Maury Dugan all batting over .300 for the spring.

"We'll be competitive for sure," said Miller. "I'll be disappointed if we're not more than competitive."

Knappa's softball team also played above expectations, but fell one game short of qualifying for the state tournament, losing big to Corbett twice this week to end the season.

Knappa scored first, with a two-out rally capped by Kate Shear's RBI single to score Danielle Donayri. Corbett answered in the bottom half of the first with back-to-back doubles followed by back-to-back errors to plate three runs.

The Lady Loggers loaded the bases with nobody down in the second inning, but scored only one run on a Kelsy Patterson single, scoring Cassie West, who led off with a double. Chelsea Cameron hit a line drive just foul that would have scored two or more before popping out for the first out. The Cardinals made an out at home before a sharp grounder up the middle by Taryn Hirahara was handled by the pitcher for the final out.

Corbett scored three in the fourth inning, then blew the game open in the fifth and sixth with three big hits and some aggressive baserunning compounded by four Knappa errors.

"Corbett was an experienced senior team that really came on at the end of the season," said Knappa head coach Jerry Deford. "They just played good, hard, agressive sfotball both Monday and tonight. We had our chances to really get into the game and open it up, but we couldn't get the big hit."

Knappa closes out the season with a winning record of 14-10, a nine game improvement over last year with a squad comprised entirely of underclassmen.

"I wish we could have pulled this one out," said Deford. "The girls worked hard all year and it would have been nice for them to make the state playoffs. They will all be back next year so I hope we can build on this year and learn from it."

WEDNESDAY SCOREBOARD

BASEBALL
N.W. League Playoffs at Nestucca H.S.
Corbett 16, Knappa 12 (winner to state, loser out)
Nestucca 3, Corbett 2 (6 innings-darkness)
Astoria 4, Marist 3 (at Linfield)
Warrenton 4, Seaside 1
SOFTBALL
N.W. League Playoffs at Gaston
Corbett 12, Knappa 2 (6 innings)(winner to state, loser out)
Gaston 13, Corbett 3 (6 innings)
2B District IV Tournament at Fort Borst Park in Centralia
Adna def. Naselle
North Beach 8, Adna 7 (loser out)

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
L.A. Angels 5, Seattle Mariners 0

STATE 4A GOLF WRAP-UP

BOYS-at Stone Creek GC in Oregon City
Phoenix came from four strokes back to win by 10 strokes over second place Marist with a 27-over par 2-day total of 603. Robbie Pitts shot 4-under 68 on Tuesday to finish -1 for the tournament and win the individual title by one stroke over Phoenix sophomore Daniel Engle. Allen Kelley of Marist, leading after one round, slipped to a fifth place tie after shooting 10-over on Tuesday. The top five positions on the leaderboard were occupied by Phoenix and Marist golfers as the teams swapped places from last year's 3A final won by Marist.

The Cowapa League co-medalists, Alex Ferber of Astoria and Devan Flukinger of Seaside improved on their first round scores. Ferber shot 81 to finish at +23.

"His first nine he shot a 39, which included two birdies," said Astoria head coach Dan Foss. "The back nine is a little tougher. It's tree-lined and has a lot of hills. At one point he was 5-over going into 15 and he put one in the hazard, but he made a tremendous long putt to save bogey. His tee shot on the par-3 eighth was incredible, he stuck it within eight feet and almost had a hole-in-one. He's looking to shoot about 5-over and bring in a 77. He three-putted and it kind of took the wind out of his sails."

"I'm so proud of him because he worked so hard. Despite not having his A-game, he gave his best and fought for everything."

Flukinger had a similar 3-putt nightmare on Monday, shooting a subpar round of 93, but rebounded by shaving off 11 strokes on Tuesday to finish at +31, tied for 51st.

Flukinger teed off on the back nine, starting his round with bogey, but hit a birdie on the par-5 11th hole. Flukinger ran into trouble with three consecutive double-bogies from 15 to 17 and settled for bogey on 18 before closing out his second nine with an even-par 36, including three birdies and three pars.

"Devan came a long way today towards becoming a complete player," said Seaside head golf coach Jim Poetsch. "I think he learned to keep his emotions out of the game.

"On the second nine, he kept calm and was able to score well even though he did not hit the ball any better than he did on the back side."

Both Ferber (a junior) and Flukinger (sophomore) will return to lead their respective clubs next season. Cowapa League champion Scappoose finished tied for fourth with North Bend at 667, 16 strokes behind third place Brookings-Harbor. Scappoose senior Weston Powers had the top Cowapa League score at the tournament, finishing at +13 with a one-over 73 in the final round.

GIRLS-at Eagle Crest Ridge Course in Redmond
Sisters maintained its first round lead, defeating second place St. Mary's of Medford, the only 2A school in the field, by 17 strokes with a two-day total of 707. Sutherlin's Kylie Ray shot 3-over par 75 on Tuesday to hold off North Bend standout Kellie Holmstedt, winning by two strokes with a +11 for the tournament. Seaside finished 16th out of 16 teams in the field with a team score of 919, 212 strokes behind the champion Outlaws. Monica Osburn led the Gulls with a 59th place finish, shooting +64 208. Tillamook had a team score of 858, good enough for 13th place. Banks senior Laura Murdoch led the Cowapa League field with a 19th place finish (+40).

Monday, May 14, 2007

MONDAY ROUNDUP

BOYS GOLF-4A State Tournament at Stone Creek GC in Oregon City
It was a bit of a struggle for the Cowapa League co-medalists on day one of the tournament as both Astoria's Alex Ferber and Seaside's Devan Flukinger finished with below average scores. The tournament is playing out as predicted at the top with Marist and Phoenix battling for the team title and two golfers from each school occupying the top four spots on the leaderboard. Marist, which won last year's 3A title currently stands in first place at 11-over 299, four strokes ahead of second place Phoenix, while the Spartans' Allen Kelley has a one stroke lead over J.T. Compher and Daniel Engle of Phoenix and his sophomore teammate Jack Pennington with an even-par 72. Ferber sits 13 strokes behind the leader after shooting a 40-45-85 on day one. Flukinger had a tough finish to his day and is tied for 72nd with a 93. Marcus Kienlen of Scappoose leads all Cowapa League representatives with a 78, good enough for a tenth place tie.

GIRLS GOLF-4A State Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond
Sisters is the team leader with a first day 349, six strokes ahead of St. Mary's of Medford. Newport sits in third place with a 363, while the Cubs' Kate Bigelow, a sophomore, is one stroke behind individual leader Kylie Ray of Sutherlin, who shot an 8-over 80. Seaside is in last place out of 16 teams with 471 strokes, while the Seagulls Monica Osburn is tied for 77th on the leaderboard following her first day 111. Banks' Laura Murdoch leads all Cowapa League golfers at 93, tied for 24th place.

BASEBALL
Astoria 17, Yamhill-Carlton 0 (5 innings)...In one of their most dominating performances of the season, Astoria clobbered three Tigers pitchers for 13 hits, six for extra bases, while Matt Brause tossed five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The Fishermen have won the last four of their 22 straight victories by a combined margin of 43-0. The top three batters in the Astoria order--Brent Culver, Tom Jawarski and Brause--went a combined 6-for-6 with three home runs, a double, six RBI's and nine runs scored. Adam Koehnke went 3-for-3 with a home run, triple, three runs and four RBI's. The Fishermen close out the regular season in a playoff-type atmosphere as they take on the Sky-Em League champion Marist Spartans at Linfield College's Helser Field Wednesday night at 5:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN starting at 4:55 p.m.
Seaside 15, Scappoose 4...The Seagulls clinched third place and a state tournament berth with Monday's win over the Indians. The Seagulls will host North Marion on Friday, May 19th. No game details were reported.
Knappa 9, Corbett 4...Both teams qualified for the 2A Special District 1 playoffs by virtue of Gaston's 8-0 loss to league champion Portland Christian. The Loggers used a 6-run sixth inning featuring three home runs to break a 2-all tie and sweep the regular season series. The Loggers and Cardinals will meet for the fourth time in a playoff rematch at Nestucca High School in Cloverdale Wednesday with a state tournament berth on the line. Joe Strickland and Cody Strickland each homered over the deep centerfield fence at Corbett, with the brothers each going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBI's. Doug Montgomery added his first career home run in the Knappa sixth. Gary Aho started on the mound, but was pulled along with Corbett ace Kevin Greenslade when the teams were informed of the Portland Christian-Gaston result. Karac Anderson tossed three innings of relief for the win. Knappa outhit Corbett 14-6 to improve to 14-9 on the season. The winner of Wednesday's matchup will play Nestucca for seeding in the second game of a doubleheader. Game time is still pending.

MONDAY SCOREBOARD

BASEBALL
ASTORIA 17, Yamhill-Carlton 0 (5 innings)
Knappa at Corbett, 4:30 p.m.
Seaside 15, Scappoose 4 (6 innings)
Tillamook at Banks, 5:00 p.m.
VERNONIA vs. Horizon Christian, 3:30 p.m. (2)
PORTLAND CHRIST. 8, Gaston 0

BOYS GOLF-4A State Tournament at Stone Creek Golf Course in Oregon City
TEAM: Marist 299 (+11), Phoenix 303, Brookings-Harbor 320
Individual: Allen Kelley (MAR) 72 (E), J.T. Compher (PHOENIX) 73, Daniel Engle (PHO) 73, Jack Pennington (MAR) 73
Top Cowapa: Marcus Kienlen (SCAPPOOSE) 78 (tie 10th), Weston Powers (SCA) 84, Alex Ferber (ASTORIA) 85, Kyle Wilson (SCA) 85

GIRLS GOLF-4A/3A/2A/1A State Tournament at Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond
TEAMS: Sisters 349 (+61), St. Mary's 355, Newport 363, Tillamook 444 (14th), Seaside 471 (16th)
Individual: Kylie Ray (SUTHERLIN) 80 (+8), Kate Bigelow (NEWPORT) 81, Kellie Holmstedt (N. BEND) 81
Top Cowapa: Laura Murdoch (BANKS) 93, Megan Hamblen 107 (TILLAMOOK)

PCL BASEBALL
Portland Beavers 9, Round Rock Express 8
Albuquerque Isotopes 13, Tacoma Rainiers 12

Sunday, May 13, 2007

FISH BOYS WIN THRILLER, GIRLS NEARLY EARN REPEAT TITLE

In one of the most competitive district track meets imaginable, the Astoria Fishermen boys repeated as Cowapa League champions by beating their rivals from Seaside by a half-point, 134.5 to 134, with Yamhill-Carlton, Scappoose and Tillamook all within 27 points of the title.

The girls race was nearly as close with four teams between 114 and 150.5 with Scappoose edging the Astoria girls by just three points to earn the district title.

While the Astoria ladies missed out on the team trophy, the meet was notable for several unprecedented performances by the ladies in purple and gold.

Just a day after Charlene Harber and Laura Bobek raised the standard with school records in the long jump and shot put, the two sophomore athletes added another pair of school records to a memorable 2-day district run.

Bobek eclipsed one of the longest-held track records at Astoria High School, Kam Johnson's discus record, by launching a 147-foot, 8-inch throw to better the Astoria Hall Of Famer's 1981 mark by three feet! Bobek is now the heavy favorite to win state titles in both the shot and discus and has the top female high school discus throw in the state this season. Jamie Coggins will follow her teammate to state in both events, adding a second place discus throw (122-1, a six foot personal record!) to add to her runner-up finish in the shot. Scappoose's Kayla Burrus was also expected to reach the state meet with her third place discus mark (118-10) as the Cowapa League will present a formidable threesome at Eugene.

Harber eclipsed her own school record in the triple jump, going 36-feet, 3 1/4 inches to defeat one of the Cowapa League's top athletes, Stephanie Beeler of Tillamook (35-9 1/4). The gifted sophomore is still just scratching the surface of her potential in this event, having only competed in a few meets this year with no previous experience or training. Later on, Harber on the 100 meters in 12.73 and will head to Hayward Field as a 3-event qualifier and a state title contender in two.

Maddy Adee and Marilyn Brooks also qualified for state. Adee placed second in the 400 meters (1:03.12) and the freshman Brooks was the runner-up in the 100 hurdles (16.62).

Scappoose's depth was too much to overcome at this meet, as the Indians notched 150.5 points to Astoria's 147.5. However, Astoria will likely make a run at a state title this weekend, while the Indians produced just two district champions and three runner-up finishes to Astoria's five firsts and five seconds.

"Going into the meet, we were down 37 points," said Astoria head coach Lynn Jackson. "We shortened it to three and came up just a hair short to repeat the title from last year. I can't be more proud of the kids and the effort that they put forth. Many of them did things just to help the team out."

The Fishermen boys, not to be outdone, also produced a school record mark, although it was only good enough for a second place finish.

Steven Wentworth's dive at the finish line could not vault the Fishermen 4-by-100 relay team to a district title, as Seaside's speedy foursome of Damian Olivar, Dennis Olstedt, Justin Krieger and Joe DeNotta edged the Fishermen quartet of Wentworth, Andres Lopez, John Heick and Kyle McMullen 44.27 to 44.31 to win the title. The Astoria mark did pass the 1999 team's previous record.

Wentworth's effort resulted in some nasty cuts on his legs after tumbling at the finish line and spiking himself. The Astoria senior got bandaged up and nailed down a state berth in the 400 meters, with a second place finish, just 3/100ths of a second behind Chance Rice of Scappoose.

Two other Astorians secured state berths with Nathan Stinnett winning the javelin (162-0) and Alex Whitaker taking second place in the shot put (46-3 1/4).

For the team title, it was another case of depth winning out as Seaside collected six event titles and four runner-up finishes to Astoria's two firsts and four seconds. The win was a pleasant surprise for a team that operated at less than full strength at most of its dual meets this season.

"I knew it was going to be close," said Astoria head track coach Lynn Jackson. "Just pencilling it in, I had us getting ready to score 136 points going into this district meet."

"Very, very tight competition. You just saw it give and take all day throughout this competition. You give up two points in the hurdles and then pick up a couple somewhere else in the shot."

Astoria's Jake Banta (45-3 1/2) and Nathan Stinnett (44-5 1/2) took third and fourth in the shot behind Whitaker's runner-up finish. And the 4-by-1 relay performace, a second place finish when only 4/10th of a second separated the champion Seagulls from the fourt place Scappoose Indians, could have made the difference on Friday. Some unselfishness on the part of the team didn't hurt either.

"I know Justin Tikkala ran the 400," said Jackson, "which he hadn't run all year. He gets to finals and gets seventh place today and scores two points. That's putting himself above the team because he had to run that 400 right before he did the long jump. It all worked out for him. He got second place in the long jump, making it to state yesterday."

"I'm just very pleased with the selflessness on many of our athletes parts."

The Seagulls' Dennis Olstedt was most valuble athlete of the meet, winning both hurdles races and helping both Seagulls relay teams to first place finishes. The Seagulls also got first place finishes from Bjorn McCord (shot, 52-6 1/2), Marla Olstedt (high jump, 5-3), Ashley Mayfield (800 and 1500 meters) and the girls 4-by-100 meter relay team.

TRACK AND FIELD ROUNDUP

3A District 1 Championships at Catlin Gabel...Senior Dallas Moses and freshman Jordyn Holt qualified for state in four events each as both Warriors boys and girls teams finished third in team scoring behind Catlin Gabel and Rainier. Moses won the 800 meters in 2:00.52, nearly a minute ahead of teammate Michael O'Casey, while taking second in the 300 hurldles and triple jump. Sean Ball won the triple jump with a jump of 40-2 and finished second to Rainier's Hazze Walker in hte long jump. Both Warrenton relay teams qualified for state with the 4-by-400 team beating Catlin Gabel by six tenths of a second for the district title (3:36.28). Holt won the 100 meters (13.32), high jump (5-0) and long jump (16-3), taking second in the triple jump to Catlin Gabel's Madelaine Miller (36-5 to 33-8). Despite Warrenton's third place score of 83 points, Holt will be the Warriors lone representative at the state meet.
2A District 1 Championships at Portland Christian...Steve Bokor swept the hurdle events and the Loggers took first and second in the girls javelin and first place in the shot put. Bokor ran the 100 hurdles in 16 seconds and added a district championship in the 300 hurdles (42.04). Kate Shear, a freshman who is also the starting catcher on the Knappa softball team, took first place in the girls' javelin (116-5) with junior teammate Christina Kaul second (113-9). Senior Rachele Schuyler won the shot put (31-9) and junior Gretchen George took first place in the 800 meters (2:31) and second in the 3000 (11:36.70). Portland Christian's boys dominated the meet, while Nestucca won the girls meet in a close finish with De La Salle second and Heritage/Faith Bible third. Knappa's boys placed third and girls fourth.
1A Trico Division Sub-district Meet at Stevenson...Ilwaco's Bonnie Perez won the javelin (119-5 1/4), 400 meters (1:04.2) and Kelly Freese took home first place in the 3200 (12:34.78). Ilwaco's girls 1600 relay team also won the division title (4:29.43) as the Lady Fishermen finished fifth in team points with 55. Matt Kaino (53.25 400 meters) and Stephen Berglund (10:48.66 3200 meters) notched a pair of first places for the fifth place Ilwaco boys (61 points). Stevenson (147) and Kalama (130) won the girls and boys team titles respectively.
Pacific 2B League Sub-district Meet at Raymond...Naselle's boys placed fourth (60 points) and girls fifth (70) in Friday's meet. Erin Saari's 4-10 high jump was good enough for first place. Several other Naselle athletes qualified for Friday's district meet, which will be hosted by the Comets starting at 5:00 p.m. on May 18.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD

BASEBALL
Astoria 8, Banks 0
Warrenton 2-9, Rainier 5-2
Yamhill-Carlton 5, Seaside 4
Scappoose 10, Tillamook 0
Clatskanie 9-15, Vernonia 8-10
Neah-Kah-Nie at Catlin Gabel
Portland Christian 9-16, Country Christian 1-0
Gaston 10-11, Nestucca 7-9

SOFTBALL
Banks 6-6, Astoria 5-3
Rainier 12-18, Warrenton 1-3
Yamhill-Carlton 12-12, Seaside 2-1
Tillamook 3-4, Scappoose 0-3
Clatskanie at Vernonia
Gaston 5-2, Nestucca 3-10
North Beach at Aberdeen J.V.

TRACK AND FIELD-Boys
4A District 1 Championships at Scappoose: Astoria 134.5, Seaside 134, Yamhill-Carlton 125.5, Scappoose 107.5, Tillamook 107, Banks 48.5
3A District 1 Championships at Catlin Gabel H.S.: Catlin Gabel 171.5, Rainier 166, Warrenton 137.5, Clatskanie 49.5, Neah-Kah-Nie 42, Vernonia 37.5, Riverdale 26, O.E.S. 25
2A District 1 Championships at Portland Christian H.S.: Portland Christian 214, Nestucca 129, Knappa 66, Corbett 63, De La Salle 58, Heritage/Faith Bible 54, Portland Lutheran 53
1A Trico Division Sub-district Meet at Stevenson: Kalama 130, Stevenson 98, La Center 64, Castle Rock 62, Ilwaco 61, White Salmon 61, Rochester 40
Pacific 2B League Sub-district Meet at Raymond: South Bend 131, N.W. Christian 109, Tacoma Baptist 98, Naselle 60, North Beach 58, WIllapa Valley 56, Ocosta 35.5, Raymond 25

TRACK AND FIELD-Girls
4A District 1 Championships at Scappoose: Scappoose 150.5, Astoria 147.5, Tillamook 120, Seaside 114, Yamhill-Carlton 72, Banks 52
3A District 1 Championships at Catlin Gabel H.S.: Catlin Gabel 199, Rainier 140, WArrenton 83, Neah-Kah-Nie 83, O.E.S. 59, Vernonia 21, Riverdale 18.5, Clatskanie 11
2A District 1 Championships at Portland Christian H.S.: Nestucca 149, De La Salle 134, Heritage/Faith Bible 128, Portland Christian 87, Knappa 71, Portland Lutheran 60, Corbett 9
1A Trico Division Sub-district Meet at Stevenson: Stevenson 147, La Center 130, Kalama 69, Castle Rock 60, Ilwaco 55, White Salmon 45, Rochester 40
Pacific 2B League Sub-district Meet at Raymond: N.W. Christian 148, Tacoma Baptist 82, Willapa Valley 81, North Beach 72, Naselle 70, Ocosta 65, South Bend 49, Raymond 29

Friday, May 11, 2007

WARRENTON SPLITS, CLINCHES STATE BERTH

Needing one win over Rainier to secure a first round bye and home playoff date and two wins to keep a thread of hope alive for a league championship, the Warrenton Warriors took care of teh business they could handle themselves, earning a doubleheader split with the Columbians wiht a 5-2 victory in game two after dropping game one 9-2

Starting pitcher Dan Wolfe couldn't get loose in game one as the Columbians teed off for five runs in the second and third innings, keyed by 2-run home runs by Nate Marsh in the second and Billy Zimmerman in the third inning.

The Warriors countered with two runs in the bottom of the third on an error and a Kevin Moore sacrifice fly, but Rainier responded in the top of the fourth with another run to knock Wolfe out of the game. Eric Gantenbein pitched and inning and two thirds in relief before the Columbians scored three more runs in the final two innings off Michael Moore, two coming off Marsh's second home run of the game. Marsh also picked up the win on the mound for the Columbians.

"Marsh did the job," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe. "We knocked him out of the game last time. He threw a lot better this time."

Marsh held Warrenton's three key senior bats--Wolfe, Gantenbein and Bubba Massey--to a combined 0-for-10 in the win. Michael Moore had two hits for the Warriors.

Wolfe's record fell to 9-3 on season and Gantenbein's relief stint served as a pregame warmup for his start in game two.

Game 1
RAINIER 0-3-2-1-0-1-2 9-11-1
WARRENTON 0-0-2-0-0-0-0 2-4-5
W-Marsh (7ip, 4h, 2r, er, 5k, 2bb, hp)
L-Wolfe (3.1ip, 7h, 6r, 5er, 2k, 2bb)
2B-Jackson, Slaughter, M. Moore. HR-Marsh 2, Zimmerman.
M. Moore 2-3. Three seniors 0-10. Wolfe R.

While nobody could get Rainier senior slugger Billy Zimmerman out on Friday, Eric Gantenbein did well enough against the rest of the Columbians order to send Warrenton to a second-place clinching 5-2 victory.
7-1
Zimmerman finished a big day 5-for-6 at the plate with three home runs.

"He looked like a 24-year old man among 16-year old boys," said Wolfe. "He's an even better football player. Hits like a truck."

Zimmerman gave the Columbians the early lead with solo home runs in the second and fourth innings.

"He would have hit them out of Yellowstone Park," said Wolfe. "In the fourth inning he crushed a pretty good curve ball. We weren't going to give in to him. He just mashed it."

"He hit three very long home runs and ripped two singles."

Zimmerman's home run barrage gives him 12 on the season.

The Warriors picked up their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Buddy Davis doubled off the wall in right center field, barely missing a home run and an out on the same play when he just beat the throw to second base. After advancing to third on a Brandon Slaughter bunt, Davis scored when Billy Sturgell's fly ball to left field was misplayed for an error.

Gantenbein tied the game with a leadoff homer in the fifth, his seventh of the season. After Massey walked and Kevin Moore beat out a bunt base hit, Davis sacrificed the runners to second and third and Massey barrelled home on a squeeze bunt by Slaughter to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead.

Warrenton added two insurance runs inthe sixth, with pinch-hitter Chris Marks ripping a single to load the bases before back-to-back walks to Gantenbein and Massey.

Gantenbein finished 2-for-3-at the plate with a pair of runs batted in and Wolfe went 2-for-3 with a runs scored.

"The first game, frankly, was not good," said Wolfe. "We didn't pitch particularly well, we didn't hit particularly well. We made some baserunning mistakes."

"We didn't play well. I don't think emotionally we were focused the way we needed to be. They got an early lead and we just didn't seem to have much energy or emotion."

"The second game seemed to be completely different."

Warrenton finished the inaugural Lewis & Clark League regular season with a 12-3 record, two games behind league champion Clatskanie, which swept Vernonia 9-8 and 15-10. The 18-5 Warriors clinched a state tournament berth and have one more game before hosting a seeding playoff on Saturday. Regis cancelled Saturday's scheduled doubleheader, so the Warriors added a game against Seaside at Broadway Field Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The time for Saturday's playoff, against the winner of a Thursday matchup between Vernonia and Rainier, is to be announced.

Game 2
RAINIER 0-1-0-1-0-0-0 2-4-2
WARRENTON 0-0-0-1-2-2-x 5-9-1
W-Gantenbein (7ip, 4h, 2er, 6k, 0bb)
L-Schwegler
2B-Massey, Davis. HR-Zimmerman 2, Gantenbein.

Labels:

FISHERMEN TOP BRAVES, EXTEND STREAKS

Twenty-one consecutive victories, twenty-seven straight league wins, three consecutive shutout victories in a span of three days by three different pitchers, and ten hits in ten straight at bats for the state's top sophomore athlete.

Astoria is streaking toward the state playoffs.

The Fishermen defeated the Banks Braves 8-0 at Aiken Field Friday behind the 3-hit shutout pitching of senior Nick Bredleau. "Loaf" walked two and struck out five for his sixth Cowapa League win and eighth victory in nine decisions this season.

"He was getting ahead," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser. "His curve ball was real effective. His fastball was down. For the third game in a row, if you let our defense work for you, you will probably get the job done."

The Fishermen had a pair of errors, but flashed plenty of leather, with two double plays, two diving catches by Gabe Davis in right field and center field and an outstanding play late in the game by Hans Lund, ranging into shallow center from his second base position to take away a potential base hit. Lund had just entered the game in the sixth inning to replace fellow junior Jared Rummell, who started and played magnificently, handling a number of chances and helping turn the two twin-kilings. Rummell also contributed an RBI single in the second inning.

"He played second all last summer along with Hans," said Gasser. "In the early season they were both doing and exceptional job. [Rummell] ended up going to first because we needed someone to play a good defensive first base when Matt [Brause] was pitching. So that change kind of happened early in the year and it also happened because 'Hansel' was hitting the ball so well early that I really had to keep his bat in the lineup. It had nothing with Jared not being an exceptional defensive player. That's why we moved him to first. He's outstanding!"

Jordan Poyer went 2-for-2 at the plate with a double and two RBI's to finish the week 10-for-10 with three home runs, two doubles and 14 runs batted in. The Astoria sophomore now leads the team in batting average, home runs and RBI's. No mean feat on a team that is batting over .400 and has 26 home runs on the season.

Matt Brause hit his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot. Younger brother Mason doubled and walked, scoring two runs.

Astoria hosts Yamhill-Carlton on senior night Monday, then faces Sky-Em League champion Marist on Wednesday at Linfield University before opening state tournament play at home on May 22.

"Three seven-inning shutouts in a homestand," said Gasser. "There's nothing you can complain about. Getting ready for the state playoffs, good pitching and good defense is going to turn 'A' game offense into 'C'. Then, it's can you pitch and play defense and win a smaller number game. It was certainly encouraging that we did that this week."

BANKS 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 0-3-4
ASTORIA 2-2-0-4-0-0-x 8-8-2
W-Bredleau (7ip, 3h, 5k, 2bb)
L-Edwards (6ip, 8h, 8r, 6er, k, bb, 3hp)
E-Kronenburg, Gooding, Grant, Shulund, Jawarski, Mason Brause. LOB-Banks 4, Astoria 4. 2B-Mason Brause, Poyer. HR-Matt Brause (5). SB-Culver, Poyer 3. CS-Koehnke, Poyer.

STRONG MARKS HAVE FISHERMEN ON TRACK

Astoria ended day one of the 4A District 1 Track and Field Championships with a new school and meet record and another mark that should bring home gold from Eugene.

Sophomores Charlene Harber and Laura Bobek will be the top challengers in at least two events next week when the top athletes in the state of Oregon converge at Hayward Field for the state championships. Barring calamity today, they will qualify and contend in others.

Harber bettered her own school record and district meet record long jump mark, soaring 18-feet, 3 1/2 inches, leaving Tillamook's Courtney Heckeroth more than a foot behind in second. Harber's mark is the fourth best for any classification and top 4A mark in the state this season.

Bobek, who has held the top 4A shot and discus marks most of the season, set a new personal best in the shot put at 42-feet, 11 1/2 inches, the third best all-classification mark in the state. Bobek was followed, as usual, by junior teammate Jamie Coggins, whose 39-4 1/4 shot put ordinarily would be an easy district winner. Both are expected to dominate the discus finals today in their march to Eugene.

The clutch performance of the day came in the javelin, where junior K.J. Carr threw 118-2 on her final attempt to tie favorite Lindsey Remington of Tillamook. Remington still took the district title on a tiebreaker, but both will advance to state. Carr also P.R.'d in the shot, scoring points with a seventh place finish (32-1 2/2).

Two Fishermen boys punched their tickets to state on Thursday. Chris Meyer won the high jump (6-1) and Justin Tikkala took second in the long jump (20-5 1/2) behind Jake Weber of Yamhill-Carlton (21-10 1/2).

Seaside's favored tandem of seniors Kai Watts (142-11) and Bjorn McCord (136-03) took the top two spots in the discus, but Alex Whitaker (127-10) and Ben Mattingly (124-0) scored with fourth and fifth place finishes respectively. The Gulls' Patricia Doyle took second in an exciting 3000 meters final, beaten at the tape by a half-second by Scappoose sophomore Jenny Elder (11:11.45).

The rest of event finals are today at Scappoose High School starting at 2:00 p.m.