HELENA 2-0, CENTRAL BASIN BOUNCES BACK

Helena, Montana came from behind for the second straight day, scoring 15 unanswered runs to defeat Douglas, Wyoming 16-6 in a battle of day one winners at the Pacific Northwest 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth Regional Tournament in Astoria.


The Montana champions got three consecutive 2-out hits in the third inning, including a triple to the base of the wall 368 feet from home plate by centerfielder Kyle Conway, to pull within 6-5.


In the fourth, 15 men came to the plate against three Douglas pitchers as Helena piled on 11 runs, including a 2-run double by Conway, who finished the game 3-for-3 with three runs batted in and three runs scored.


Starting pitcher Kyle McLean went 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI's. Reliever Nick Fisher got the win, pitching two scoreless innings in the 5-inning, mercy rule-shortened game.


Tim Fosmo hit a two run home run and scored two runs for Douglas and catcher Jake Marcus was 2-for-3 with two runs batted in.
DOUGLAS 0-3-3-0-0 6-6-3
HELENA 0-1-4-11-x 16-11-2
W-Fisher (2ip, h, 0r, 3k, bb)
L-Klava (3+ip, 6h, 8r, 7er, 3k, 5bb)
E-Marcus, Spilinek, Boner, McLean, Harris. LOB-Douglas 3, Helena 5. 2B-Spilinek, McGurn, Conway. 3B-Conway. HR-Fosmo. SB-Espeland, Klava, Melton, Marcus, Conway, McGurn, McLean, Grewitt. CS-Andrews, McGurn. SF-Lopez. PB-Marcus, Harris 2.



In the second game of the day, Central Basin built an 8-0 lead on the way to an 8-4 victory over Josephine County.


Starting pitcher Case Hinkins took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before running out of gas as Josephine County scored four runs to cut the lead in half. Mason Lotz pitched two innings of 1-hit ball to close out the victory.


Centerfielder Brett Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run and four runs batted in for Central Basin. Trevor Hyer went 1-for-2 with a double and two runs scored.

Taylor Bars struck out struck out seven batters in a 3 2/3 inning relief stint for Josephine County and went 1-for-3 at the plate with a run and an RBI.

CENTRAL BASIN 1-0-3-4-0-0-0 8-6-3
JOSPEHINE CTY 0-0-0-0-4-0-0 4-2-1
W-Hinkins (4.2ip, h, 4r, 3er, 2k, 5bb, 3hp)
L-Boucher (3.1ip, 3h, 7r, 7er, 2k, 3bb)
E-Barrett, Hubbard 3. LOB-JC 6, CB 4. 2B-Hyer. HR-Robinson. SB-Bracht, Barrett. CS-Lotz. S-Bars. DP-JC 1.

DAY ONE DRAMA-Babe Ruth Regional Roundup

Opening day of the Pacific Northwest Regional 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth Tournament featured highly competitive, dramatic baseball all day. The anticipated evening matchup between Northern Washington champion Central Basin and Southern Washington champion Kelso turned out to be the only dud of the day, as Kelso completely overmatched the Grant County all-star squad in a 6-inning 12-2 victory.

The feel-good story of the day came in the third game when Douglas, Wyoming, a community of 5000 residents with a 2-team league, defeated Calgary, Alberta 14-9. Douglas, making its first regional appearance in over 30 years, knocked off a team from a city of more than a million people.

Josephine County surprised 3-time regional qualifier and former 13-year-old regional champion Lewiston, Idaho with a marathon, 3-hour-plus 8-7 victory. Helena, Montana scored four runs in the sixth inning to come from behind and beat West Kootenay, BC 5-2. The Montana champs will face Douglas, Wyoming at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday in a battle of first-day winners.

Josephine County 8, Lewiston 7 (8 innings)...Both teams punched and counterpunched in a wild final two innings as the South Oregon champs scored three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to upset the Idaho champions. A dropped fly ball in left field opened the door for a 3-run seventh inning as Josephine County took a 6-4 lead. Lewiston countered wtih two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, with Casey Knigge tying the game at six on a 2-out, bases loaded walk. Josephine County came back in the eighth with back-to-back leadoff walks from Ryan Voges and starting pitcher Dillon Gardner. Both scored on Ryan Schrader's 2-run single later in the inning. After Gardner threw seven innings for Josephine County, Dylan Boucher took over on the mound and loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter. A bases loaded walk to Casey Harwick brought Lewiston to within one run before Taylor Bars took over on the hill and retired Zach Holley on a game-ending comebacker to the mound. Gardner got the win, striking out eight and walking six in a 131-pitch outing, while Bars got credit for the save. Leadoff batter Chris Schrette went 3-for-5 at the plate for Lewiston, while Kyle Knigge and Harwick drove in two runs apiece.
JOSEPHINE COUNTY 0-0-0-3-0-0-3-2 8-7-4
LEWISTON, ID 0-0-2-2-0-0-2-1 7-9-4
W-Gardner (7ip, 9h, 6r, 3er, 8k, 6bb, hp, bk)
L-Heitzman (1.1ip, 2h, 2r, 2er, 0k, 2bb)
E-Voges, Bars 2, Lee, Kasey Knigge, Stamper, Schrette, Kyle Knigge. LOB-Josephine County 14, Lewiston 12. 2B-Barrett, Voges, Kyle Knigge. SB-Lee, Barrett, Holley. CS-Boucher, Taylor. S-Bars. DP-Lewiston 1. PB-Schrader, Harwick.

Douglas 14, Calgary 9...In another back-and-forth affair, the Wyoming champs blew past Calgary with a 5-run fifth inning, keyed by shortstop Dylan Klava's 3-run home run to left field. Klava also drew three walks, stole four bases including a steal of home in the first inning, and scored three runs while playing flawless defense at shortstop for Douglas. Starting pitcher Tim Fosmo went the distance, allowing 11 hits, but just one walk, while three Calgary pitchers combined to walk 12 Douglas batters. Douglas also took advantage of seven Calgary errors and stole 11 bases in 11 attempts. Fosmo and battery-mate Jake Marcus scored three runs each for Douglas. Calgary left fielder Alan Screaton went 3-for-3 with a double and four runs batted in. Ken Forrester went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Nolan Kaiser was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI's. Douglas won despite being outhit 11-to-5 in the game.
CALGARY 4-0-1-2-0-2-0 9-11-7
DOUGLAS 4-1-1-0-5-3-x 14-5-3
W-Fosmo (7ip, 11h, 9r, 7er, 7k, bb, hp)
L-Everts (3ip, 3h, 6r, 0er, 5k, 3bb)
E-Marjerrison, Kaiser 2, Everts, Forrester, Peach, Edwards 2, Espeland. LOB-Calgary 7, Douglas 9. 2B-Screaton, Hades, Kaiser. HR-Klava. SB-Forrester, Marcus 2, Klava 4, Melton, Edwards 3, Fosmo 2. SF-Screaton. PB-Marcus

Kelso 12, Central Basin 2 (6 innings)...Kelso ace lefthander Nick LaRoy completely dominated the Central Basin lineup, striking out 11 of the 13 batters he faced. Leadoff batter Lane Sari went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and shortstop Dylan Slunaker drove in four runs and scored another. Central Basin's only hit came in the fifth inning off the bat of first baseman Case Hinkins, who drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the sixth inning. Central Basin put the ball in play just four times in six innings as Kelso improved its summer record to 33-2.
KELSO, WA 3-2-1-0-1-5 12-8-1
CENTRAL BASIN 0-0-0-0-0-2 2-1-7
W-La Roy (4ip, 0h, 0r, 11k, bb)
L-Lotz (2.1ip, 4h, 6r, 3er, 3k, 4bb, hp)
E-Hubbard 2, Melburn 2, Ybarra, Omlin, Hodges, O'Neill. LOB-Kelso 9, Central Basin 5. SB-Slunaker, LaRoy, Neal, Dearing 2, Rodgers. PB-Melburn.

CHAMPIONS AGAIN!

Mason Brause's 2-out, 2-run single broke a 2-all tie in the fifth inning and Astoria held on to defeat West Albany 4-3 to win the Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I championship for the second consecutive summer.

Brause went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in, contributing another 2-out RBI hit to put Astoria on the board in the first inning. Jordan Poyer contributed an RBI hit in the third as all of Astoria's runs came with two outs.

West Albany tied the game with two runs in the fourth inning, but left the potential go-ahead runs at second and third as Astoria came right back in its next at bat.

With one out, Tom Jaworski and Hans Lund hit back-to-back singles, moved up on Jordan Poyer's groundout to the right side then scored when Brause whistled a line drive up the middle through West Albany's drawn-in infield.

After plunking to batters on successive pitches in the fourth, both of whom came around to score, starting pitcher Hans Lund surrendered an RBI double to Jeremy Burright in the bottom of the fifth to pull West Albany to within one. With two outs, Jaworski handled a tough hop off the cut of the grass at short and threw out the batter, with Brause digging out a low throw to keep the tying run off the board.

Lund pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning before Poyer came on to retired the side in order with two strikeouts to notch the save. Lund also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of runs scored.

Poyer also recorded two victories on the mound at the tournament, pitching Astoria to a pair of 5-inning, 10-0 shutout wins over Sprague in the opener and North Salem in the semifinals. The Fishermen also shut out North Marion 7-0 in the quarterfinals, behind Daniel Mathre's 2-hit complete game performance.

In the semifinal win, Marcus Brown and Dane Lund each went 2-for-3 with two RBI's, while Max Johnson went 3-for-3 with a double and one run batted in. Johnson and Lund, key members of Astoria's 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team, also came up big in the quarterfinal round win over North Marion with three runs batted in each. Johnson had a double and a triple in successive at bats, while Lund went 2-for-3. Neither player participated in the championship game to be at the opening ceremonies of the Pacific Northwest Regional Babe Ruth Tournament at Astoria.

The Fishermen did not allow a run or commit an error at the tournament until the fourth inning of the championship game.

ASTORIA 1-0-1-0-2-0-0 4-7-2
W.ALBANY 0-0-0-2-1-0-0 3-3-1
W-Lund (6ip, 3r, 3er, 3h, 3k, 2bb, 2hp)
L-Boone
S-Poyer (1ip, 0h, 2k)
2B-Burright

HELENA TOPS B.C. IN REGIONAL OPENER

The Helena Montana Babe Ruth All-Stars overcame a 2-1 deficit with a 4-run rally in the sixth inning to defeat West Kootenay, British Columbia 5-2 in the opening game of the Pacific Northwest 13-15-year-old Regional Tournament in Astoria.


Louie Lopez gave Helena an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run to right field in the first inning. That would be the only hit for either team until the fourth.


Lopez pitched four innings of 1-hit ball, but left the mound with the game tied at one after surrendering an unearned run in the fourth inning. West Kootenay's Brady Glover, who had the only hard-hit ball against Lopez through the first three innings, singled to center field with one out, stole second and advanced to third base on Matt McAuley's groundout to the right side.


First baseman Cam Strachin followed with a two out sinking liner to left field. Helena outfielder Josh Dirks charged hard, but could not come up with the catch as Glover scored. Strachin was promptly picked off first base to end the inning.


Helena lefty reliever Chuck Churchill had trouble locating to start the fifth inning, walking leadoff batter Jaryd Roblin on four pitches. After Jesse Rypien moved Roblin up with a bunt, number nine hitter Jevon Staff hit a slow roller to the second base hole. New second baseman James Mayer reached the ball in shallow right field as Roblin steamed around third and was able to score on the infield hit, giving West Kootenay a 2-1 lead.


With starting pitcher Roblin still on the mound after allowing just two Helena hits through five innings, Lopez led off the sixth with a base on balls, stole second and scored the tying run on Dirks' single to center field. RBI singles by Nick Fisher and Mayer followed and a balk plated the fourth run of the inning as Helena jumped in front 5-2.


In the sixth, Erik Bouma led off with a single for West Kootenay, but Churchill retired the final six batters in a row to close out the win.


Roblin allowed just five hits in the complete game loss with four strikeouts and one base on balls. Mayer came off the bench to go 2-for-2 with an RBI for Montana.


Both teams take on Douglas, Wyoming next with Helena hitting the field at 10:00 a.m. and West Kootenay, based in Trail, BC, off until 1:00 p.m. Wednesday.


Today's second game pits South Oregon champion Josephine County against Idaho champion Lewiston.


HELENA, MT 1-0-0-0-0-4-0 5-5-1
W. KOOTENAY 0-0-0-1-1-0-0 2-3-5
W-Churchill (3ip, 2h, r, er, 3k, bb)
L-Roblin (7ip, 5h, 5r, 3er, 4k, bb, hp, wp)
E-Dirks, Bouma, Roblin, Glover, Rypien, McAuley. LOB-Helena 6, W. Kootenay 5. HR-Lopez. SB-Lopez 2, Glover. S-Churchill, Rypien.

ASTORIA FORD MOTORS TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

The Astoria Ford Fishermen have yet to allow a run as they pursue a second consecutive Oregon Junior Baseball Association Division I state championship.

Friday, Astoria blanked North Marion 7-0 behind the 2-hit pitching of sophomore Daniel Mathre. Fellow sophomore Jordan Poyer returned to the hill Saturday night and was dominant once again, as Astoria stormed past North Salem 10-0.

Astoria has outscored its opponents 27-0 on the way to the championship game Sunday night.

Check back to the Last Dam Blog later for more details and championship game results.

WHEALDON TOPS THE FIELD ON DAY TWO

Ilwaco's Jack Whealdon overcame a wayward opening drive and first hole double bogey on day one of the Washington Junior Golf Association State 16-17-year-old Championships with a scintillating second round, leading the pack with a 67 on day two to close within two strokes of the leader with 18 holes of golf remaining in today's final round at Fircrest Golf Club.

On Wednesday at Fort Lewis, Whealdon's opening drive of the tournament caromed off a tree branch and out of bounds, resulting in a two stroke penalty. After the double bogey, the Ilwaco High School sophomore recovered to shoot a respectable 77, but shaved four strokes off the lead with his round Thursday at Fircrest.

Jacob Webb of Issaquah fired a 68 to go with his first-round 74 to assume the top spot on the leaderboard, one stroke ahead of Kevin Penner of Sammamish (72-71) and two strokes up on Whealdon and Ricky McDonald of Shoreline (72-72).

Day one leader Nick Varelia of Kend shot a 75 and is tied with four other golfers for sixth place at 146. Casey Adams of Olympia is in fifth place, one stroke behind Whealdon and McDonald after a 75-70-145.

Whealdon was the only one of four competing Peninsula golfers to make the cut. In the boys 14-15 Division, Ryan Kukula shot 84-80-164 to finish in a tie for 25th with Whealdon's eighth grade brother Patrick seven strokes farther back at 171.

Ross Kukula, brother of Ryan and son of Surfside Golf Course pro Jon, fired an 85-88-173 to tie for 23rd in the 12-13-year-old Division, 24 strokes behind Charlie Kern of Mercer Island (74-75-149).

ASTORIA FORD ROLLS TO JUNIOR QUARTERS

The Astoria Ford Fishermen had no trouble with their opening round opponent, routing Sprague High School 10-0 in five innings in the opening round of the Oregon Junior Baseball Association State Tournament at Pleasant Hill High School Thursday.

Jordan Poyer took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before yielding a leadoff base hit, the only hit of the day for the number four team from the Salem District. Poyer also helped his own cause with a 3-run home run in a 5-run Astoria second inning.

The defending OJBA Division I state champion Fishermen scored all of their runs in the first three innings. Hans Lund added a pair of hits and two RBI's for Astoria, which will face either Pleasant Hill or North Marion at Pleasant Hill High School Friday night at 6:30 in the quarterfinals.

SPRAGUE 0-0-0-0-0 0-1-5
ASTORIA 3-5-2-0-X 10-8-0
WP-Poyer (5ip, h, 0r, 9k, 2bb)
LP-Callaway
HR-Poyer

REGIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE SET

The Dalles defeated Tualatin Hills 17-7 in a 5-inning championship game on Tuesday night to claim the North Oregon 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth State Championship and nail down the final remaining berth in the Pacific Northwest Regional Championship, which opens play Monday in Astoria.

Ten teams from five states and two Canadian provinces will bring an estimated 2000 visitors to Astoria next week for the tournament, which will determine one of eight Babe Ruth World Series berths.

Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday night at Ernie Aiken Field with the opening ceremonies and presentation of the teams followed by a group dinner and a skills competition.

The actual tournament begins at 10:00 a.m. Monday morning with four games each weeknight at 10, 1, 4, and 7:00 p.m. during pool play. The top two teams from each 5-team pool will advance to the championship round on Saturday, with the eventual winner proceeding to the 13-15-year-old World Series in Andalusia Alabama in mid-August.

The American pool includes host Astoria, British Columbia champion West Kootenay of Trail, Alberta representative Calgary, Montana champ Helena and Douglas, Wyoming, which is making its first regional tournament appearance in more than thirty years.

The highly competitive National pool includes North Oregon champion The Dalles, South Oregon champ Josephine County, South Washington champion Kelso, North Washington champ Central Basin and Idaho champion Lewiston, whose team, along with Astoria and Calgary, will be making its third consecutive Babe Ruth Regional Tournament appearance.

All of Astoria's games will be broadcast live locally on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN.

Here is the full tournament schedule. All games will be played at Ernie Aiken Field at Tapiola Park, adjacent to Astoria High School on Marine Drive.

MONDAY, JULY 30
10:00 a.m.: West Kootenay (Trail, BC) vs. Helena, MT
1:00 p.m.: Josephine County (Grants Pass, OR) vs. Lewiston, ID
4:00 p.m.: Calgary, AB vs. Douglas, WY
7:00 p.m.: Central Basin (Ephrata, WA) vs. Kelso, WA

TUESDAY, JULY 31
10:00 a.m.: Helena vs. Douglas
1:00 p.m.: Central Basin vs. Josephine County
4:00 p.m.: Kelso vs. The Dalles, OR
7:00 p.m.: Astoria, OR vs. Calgary

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1
10:00 a.m.: Lewiston vs. Central Basin
1:00 p.m.: West Kootenay vs. Douglas
4:00 p.m.: Josephine County vs. The Dalles
7:00 p.m.: Astoria vs. Helena

THURSDAY, AUGUST 2
10:00 a.m.: West Kootenay vs. Calgary
1:00 p.m.: Lewiston vs. Kelso
4:00 p.m.: Central Basin vs. The Dalles
7:00 p.m.: Astoria vs. Douglas

FRIDAY, AUGUST 3
10:00 a.m.: Kelso vs. Josephine County
1:00 p.m.: Calgary vs. Helena
4:00 p.m.: Lewiston vs. The Dalles
7:00 p.m.: Astoria vs. West Kootenay

SATURDAY, AUGUST 4-Semifinals at 10 a.m./1:00 p.m., Championship at 4 p.m.

WHEALDON SIX BACK AT WJGA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ilwaco High School golfer Jack Whealdon shot an opening round 77 at Fircrest Golf Club and enters second round play tied for 18th place at the Washington Junior Golf Association Championships.

Nick Varelia of Kent holds a one stroke lead, six strokes ahead of Whealdon in the Boys 16-17 age group.

The event, being held at several golf courses in the Tacoma area, continues through Friday.

Whealdon's younger brother Patrick, one of two Peninsula golfers competing in the Boys 14-15 age group, shot an 86, two strokes behind teammate Ryan Kukula of Ocean Park. Both golfers are well behind the leader Chris Williams of Moscow, Idaho, who carded an opening round 66 to carry a 4-stroke lead into the second round.

In the Boys 12-13 age group, Ross Kukula sits in a 17th place tie after a first-round 85, nine strokes behind the leader Charlie Kern of Mercer Island.

KNAPPA SUMMER BASKETBALL ROUNDUP

Danger Den 90, The Logger 87...Tex Cokley hit ten 3-pointers in the first half on the way to 39 points and Nate McBride added 34 as Danger Den (4-0) held off a late rally to defeat The Logger. Brian Jackson finished with 35 points for The Logger (2-2).

Ed's Septic 99, Teevin Bros. 85...Andrew Nieman led all scorers with 42 points, while Jeff Harrell pulled down 20 rebounds to go with 16 points for Ed's Septic (3-1). Kyle Jackson paced Teevin Bros. with 35 points.

Nygaard/Hunt 93, Link's Outdoor 91 (OT)...Paul Jarrett's off-balanced 3-pointer at the buzzer forced overtime and kept Link's upset hopes alive. Warrenton senior Jordan Little knocked down two free throws with five seconds left in overtime to lift Nygaard/Hunt to victory as Jarrett's leaner in the lane and putback tip at the overtime buzzer would not fall. Jarrett led all scorers with 41 and Mike Cokley scored 38 for Nygaard (3-1).

ASTORIA 14'S FALL IN EXTRA INNINGS

The Dalles scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat Astoria 9-2, ending the season for the local 14-year-old All-Stars at the North Oregon Babe Ruth State Tournament in Hermiston.


Astoria had tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning and starting pitcher Skylar Olson, pitching a gem of a game, struck out the side in the seventh inning, but by rule was forced to leave the mound after completing seven innings.


Dylan Glover moved from behind the plate to the top of the hill and retired the side in order in the eighth, before The Dalles went to work in the ninth and what turned out to be final inning.


The loss was tough to swallow for Astoria, which lost two potential runs to a very questionable protest ruling in the third inning.


With runners on first and second base and one out, Jacob Davis blasted what appeared to be a 2-run triple to the fence, scoring Brandon Connor and Alex Eterno and tying the game at 2-2. But following a protest at third base, the chief umpire ruled that Eterno had missed the bag.


Head coach Rob Eterno had a pretty good view of the play from the third base coaches' box as he waved his son around the base.


"As sure as I’m standing on my foot, he stepped on that bag," lamented an aggravated Eterno. "He’s my kid and I was telling him to slow down and pointing to the bag to make sure he hit it because there was no play at home. The ball was still at the fence. He aggressively rounded third and hit the inside corner of the bag just the way you're supposed to."


Eterno had an exchange with the ump, who was the head umpires for the tournament, after the game.


"I told him it was a great tournament, but he missed that call. He told me that it didn't affect the outcome of the game."


The ruling likely cost Astoria two runs, as an inning-ending groundout likely would have scored Davis.


Olson kept Astoria in the game with a strong performance on the mound, then scored the tying run on a Jesse Boord base hit in the sixth inning. After fanning three batters in the seventh, Olson couldn't wait to return to the hill in the eighth inning, where the umpires had to remind him that his day was done.

Astoria finished the tournament with a 1-3 overall record. Today, Pendleton and SRV Nationals meet in one semifinal, while The Dalles and Tualatin Hills play off in the other semifinal matchup.

REGIONAL OPENING DAY SCHEDULE SET

Perhaps the biggest sporting event ever staged in Astoria is less than one week away.

Ernie Aiken Field will be the host site of the 2007 Babe Ruth 13-15-year-old Pacific Northwest Regional Tournament, which begins with opening ceremonies on Sunday, July 29 and commences play at 10:00 a.m. the next day.

The Pacific Northwest Region includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, plus the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Each state and province began a "tournament trail" this summer, starting with invitational tourneys in June, continuing with district and state tournaments to qualify ten teams in total that will vie for a spot in the 13-15-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, held this year in Andalusia, Alabama.

Last year's 15-year-old PNW Regional champion came from just an hour up the river in Kelso. Kelso will attempt to repeat with a new group of kids, who defeated Kennewick 10-0 Sunday night in Centralia to claim the South Washington championship. Last year as 14-year-olds, Kennewick edged Kelso in the state championship game to earn the regional nod one year after Kelso defeated Kennewick for the 13-year-old title.

The South Washington representative is usually one of the favored teams and this year is no exception, as Kelso brings a tournament-hardened, athletic group with over 30 games played this summer and only two losses, both coming to rival Longview in their district tournament.

This year Astoria should contend for the title as their group of kids will be making their fourth consecutive regional tournament appearance and have kept their nucleus intact, while many other programs have lost top players to American Legion and other high school teams. Astoria did not compete at the North Oregon State Tournament due to their automatic entry as a host team. The North Oregon region is the lone remaining region still competing at the state tournament level and will crown its champion on Tuesday.

Last year's 14-year-old regional champion Roseburg will not return to the 15-year-old tournament to "defend" its title, as Josephine County of Grants Pass defeated South Coast (based around Coos Bay) to claim the South Oregon championship today.

Other than Kelso and Astoria, Idaho champion Lewiston and Alberta representative Calgary (the only Babe Ruth League in the province) will be familiar names to those who have followed this particular age group over the last few regional tourneys. Lewiston won the region as 13-year-olds, but has lost some key players along the way.

Teams from Helena, Montana, Douglas, Wyoming, Trail, BC and Ephrata, Washington will be among those competing for a spot in the national championship, to be played August 17-24 in Andalusia, Alabama down near the Florida panhandle.

Teams will be separated into two 5-team pools and play each team in their pool once, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the championship round on Saturday, August 4. Astoria will be pooled with West Kootenay (Trail, BC), Calgary, Helena and Douglas, WY and will not play its first game until Tuesday, July 31 at 7:00 p.m. against Calgary. Here is the schedule for the opening day of the tournament:

PACIFIC N.W. REGIONAL 13-15-YR-OLD BABE RUTH TOURNAMENT
all games at Ernie Aiken Field in Astoria
Monday, July 30
10:00 a.m.: West Kootenay (Trail, BC) vs. Helena, MT
1:00 p.m.: Josephine County (Grants Pass, OR) vs. Lewiston, ID
4:00 p.m.: Calgary vs. Douglas, WY
7:00 p.m.: Central Basin (Ephrata, WA) vs. Kelso

ASTORIA 13'S TAKE THIRD AT STATE

The Astoria 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars won their final game at the North Oregon State Tournament on Sunday, defeating Tri-County in the consolation finals to take home the third place trophy.

The 13-year-old group, which did not have its own prep developmental league this season resulting in several players languishing on the bench behind 14 and 15-year-olds during the regular season, went 4-2 overall at the tournament in Portland, which began on Thursday after a Wednesday rainout. Astoria's only losses were to the teams that met in the championship game Sunday night.

"Everybody really matured during this tournament," said Astoria head coach Pat Harber. "They played very well."

After winning their opening pool play game, Astoria split a pair of games on Friday, falling to eventual champion Pendleton 18-0 before coming back to defeat Tri-County 8-1.

One bad inning cost Astoria against Pendleton as a 2-0 deficit turned into a rout in the fourth inning when Pendleton lit up the scoreboard for 16 runs. Pendleton dominated the tournament, shutting out every team until the finals where they defeated Snake River Valley Nationals 10-2.

Taking the number two seed to the single elimination round on Saturday, Astoria defeated Harney/Grant 7-3 in an early morning matchup. Conor Harber got the start on the mound and after allowing two runs to the Burns-based team in the first inning, evened the score with a 2-run double in the bottom of the inning

In the third inning, Harber walked ahead of Dalton Kelly, who belted a 2-run home run to left field to put Astoria ahead to stay. Astoria tacked on three more runs in top of seventh to secure the win.

Harber pitched four innings, holding Harney/Grant scoreless after the first inning to earn the win. Lucas Foster allowed one run over the final three innings to earn the save.

Needing to rest their top pitchers, Astoria went with Kelly on the mound in Sunday's morning semifinal matchup against Elks-Snake River Valley Nationals.

"He didn’t go that far, unfortunately," said Harber.

The Ontario-based team scored two runs in the first inning, added five in the second and three more in the third inning to take a 10-0 lead. But Astoria did not fold.

"We put some pressure on them," said Harber. "We started hitting the ball."

Down 10-0 going into top of fourth inning, Astoria's offense got rolling. Harber doubled and scored on a Kelly single. Kelly's shot to the wall looked like an extra base hit, but SRV apparently saw the power hitting Knappa natives home run against Harney/Grant and had him played deep. Kelly was thrown out at second base trying to leg out a double. Astoria would add a 2-out tally after back-to-back walks to Dylan Garcia and Dylan Krizan when Evan Cain hit an RBI sinlge to cut the lead to 10-2

In the top of fifth inning, Ryan Tapio singled with one out and scored on a Harber base hit. After the speedy Astoria native swiped second, Harber scored on Kelly's single. Kelly later crossed the plate when Krizan's grounder back to the mound was mishandled for an error.

With a ballgame on their hands all of a sudden, SRV responded with a run in its half of the fifth and added another in the sixth. Harber walked and scored his third run on a Dylan Garcia groundout to account for the final score.

"SRV is a pretty good team," said Coach Harber. "They play good sound fundamental ball, they jumped on us early and its pretty tough to come back. The pitcher we started just didn’t have his stuff. His arm’s been hurting."

Ryan Johnson went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and Dalton Kelly drove in a pair of runs with two hits as the Astoria 13-year-old All-Stars defeated Tri-County 8-3 in the consolation final.


Conor Harber allowed three runs over five innings pitched to pick up the victory against Tri-County Sunday afternoon. Astoria never trailed, building a 5-0 lead after two innings.

"The guys really seemed to gel after districts," said Coach Harber. "This tournament, with the exception of Pendleton, who seemed to be blowing everyone out, we were competitive with every team."

"We had excellent defense, excellent pitching and our bats came alive."

ASTORIA 14'S MOVE TO ELIMINATION ROUND

The Astoria 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars fell quickly into a hole against Pendleton and never recovered, falling 14-4 in five innings in their final pool play matchup at the North Oregon State Tournament in Hermiston.

Combined with a 6-2 loss to Tualatin Hills on Saturday, Astoria finished third in its group and will face second-seeded The Dalles today at 1:00 p.m. in the single elimination round of the tournament. Four teams will move on to Tuesday's semifinals and finals.

Pendleton put its first five batters on base with three scoring on a bases-clearing triple off Astoria starting pitcher John Fick, who was unable to record an out in the first. Jacob Davis came on to finish the first inning as Pendleton took a 5-0 lead. Davis would run into trouble in the second inning when Pendleton tacked on six more runs to take a commanding lead.

Astoria managed just one borderline hit when leadoff batter Tyler Norfleet cued a slow-moving ball to shortstop that never left the infield. Unsteady control by the Pendleton pitchers allowed the Astoria squad to plate four runs, with Alex Eterno reaching base twice on hit-by-pitches with two runs scored. Chase Banta walked twice and scored a run and Matt Noklevui reached on a base on balls and later scored.

"We got beat up physically and on the field, said Astoria head coach Rob Eterno, whose team may be without key player Trygve Olsen today after a bad hop grounder led to a badly swollen left eye, knocking him out in the first inning against Pendleton. Dylan Glover and Chance Banta are also nursing injuries suffered at the tournament.

"We had some bruises and bumps and stuff which, I guess, comes with the territory, but it doesn’t help."

Against Tualatin Hills Saturday, Astoria had a 2-0 lead in the third inning until a dropped ball in center field allowed Tualatin Valley to tie the score. The Beaverton-based team scored three runs in the fifth and another in the sixth on the way to a 6-2 victory.

Dylan Glover pitched all but one out for Astoria, as Tualatin Hills collected seven hits and took advantage of eight bases on balls.

Trygve Olsen two doubles and a run scored, Glover notched a hit and a run scored and Brandon Connor had Astoria's only other hit.

"It was a pretty close game and that dropped fly ball was a third out," said Eterno. "It kind of ouched us."

Snake River Valley Nationals and Tualatin Hills each finished first in their respective pools. SRV Nationals take on Tri-County at 4:00 p.m. today and Tualatin Hills takes on Union County at 7:00 p.m. The day starts with 2-seed Pendleton against 3-seed Hermiston at 10:00 a.m.

SEASIDE SLOGS TO STATE

In a very truncated district tournament, the Seaside Seagulls knocked off Warrenton and Knappa on Saturday to earn a berth in the Oregon Junior Baseball Association State Tournament in Eugene.

What was scheduled to be a 6-7 game double elimination tournament featuring four teams over three days was limited to essentially ten innings of ugly baseball from three teams on a soppy Aiken Field on Saturday.

After Friday's opening games were washed out, coaches met Saturday morning to bash out an improvised stepladder single-elimination tournament. Even that didn't make it to fruition thanks to mother nature.

Warrenton, seeded third, suffered through an embarrasing 19-9, 5-inning loss to the Gulls Saturday afternoon. The game came down to a disastrous third inning for Warrenton, in which the pitching-strapped Warriors gave up 11 walks, two hit batters, three errors and six Seagulls hits as 23 batters came to the plate and 18 crossed it, annihilating what was a 2-1 Warrenton lead.

Lefthander Michael Moore took the loss, lifted after facing nine batters in the third. Buddy Davis came on in relief and could not locate the strike zone, walking four batters, hitting one and giving up a 2-run double to Dylan Peters. Austin Schneider greeted sophomore righthander Cameron Hackwith with another 2-run double as the Gulls put the game well out of reach.

Peters finished 3-for-4 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Peter Shepherd went 0-for-2 at the plate, but walked three times, scoring four runs. Ian Dueber had one of three 2-run doubles for the Gulls in the fateful third.

Shepherd's squeeze bunt in the top of the fifth inning brought home the tying run for the Seagulls in a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Knappa.

The Loggers carried a 5-3 lead into the fifth and final inning as the field conditions became increasingly Katrina-like. Gary Aho began the inning by walking four consecutive batters to pull the Gulls within one before Shepherd's bunt. A potential inning-ending double play ground ball turned into an error as the Gulls pushed what turned out to be a key insurance run across.

Knappa would tally in their final at bat, as Joe Strickland singled and scored, but with the tying run at third base Karac Anderson grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the game and the season for the Loggers in crushingly disappointing fashion.

The most disappointed group may have been Astoria, which never got to take the field this weekend. The Fishermen, the defending OJBA Division II State champs, will carry the number one seed to next week's tournament, which commences Thursday at Pleasant Hill High School and Marist High School in Eugene.

ASTORIA TEAMS 2-0 AT BABE RUTH STATE

The Astoria 13-year-olds breezed past their first opponent, while the Astoria 14's escaped with a narrow victory at their respective state tournaments this week.

The Astoria 13-year-olds got a combined shutout from Conor Harber (3 innings) and Ryan Tapio (2 innings) and offensive contributions from everyone in the dugout in a 20-0, 5-inning mercy rule victory over Clackamas at the North Oregon State Tournament at Glenwood Park in Portland.

Harber went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and Dalton Kelly drove in five runs for Astoria, which plays two games today, weather permitting. Astoria is due to face Pendleton at 3:00 p.m. and then will play the postponed game against Tri-County that was scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Three parks are now being utilized by the tournament committee to try to get the schedule back on track after the first day was completely rained out.

The Astoria 14-year-olds pushed across a run in the fourth inning against Tri-County and somehow made it stand up in a 1-0 victory today at Hermiston.

Chance Banta walked to leadoff the fourth, moved to second base on a Matt Noklevui sacrifice bunt, advanced to third base on a fielder’s choice andcame home on a passed ball for only run of the game.

Trygve Olsen allowed eight walks and five hits in a complete game performance, but consistently got outs from his defense when he needed them, as Astoria committed just one error in the field. In addition to scoring the winning run, Banta's play at third base was critical in maintaining the shutout

"He made some really good plays going to his left and throwing runners out at first in key spots," said Astoria head coach Rob Eterno. "He was also the first player to turn double plays off of line drives. I think he had at least two of those."

Astoria collected seven hits from seven different players, but received only three walks and one error from Tri-County

"We had opportunities, said Eterno. "We just couldn't push runners across the plate."

Tri-County threatened in the sixth, loading the bases on two walks and an error, but a ground ball to Alex Eterno at shortstop ended the threat.

A pair of 2-out walks in the seventh inning put the tying and winning runs on base before a ground out to second base ended the game.

The two teams combined to strand more than 20 baserunners.

Astoria returns to the field tomorrow morning to face Tualatin Hills, the team that beat them 9-2 in last week's District 1 championship game.

COKLEYS COMBINE FOR 97 PTS, DANGER DEN 3-0

Mike Cokley won the battle of the Cokleys, Danger Den won the battle of the unbeatens.

The former Oregon State guard scored 50 points for Nygaard/Hunt, but younger brother Tex and Danger Den came away with a 93-83 victory to improve to 3-0 in the Knappa Summer Basketball League.

Tex Cokley nailed 10 of the first 11 three pointers he attempted, finishing with 47 points for the defending Knappa Summer League champions. Nate McBride and Tim Lambert helped finished off Nygaard/Hunt by combining for five straight three-pointers down the stretch to seal the win. McBride finished with 21 points and Lambert chipped in 13 for Danger Den, which took over sole possession of first place in the league standings.

Mike Cokley's former Knappa and OSU teammate Brian Jackson's tip-in at the buzzer to lifted The Logger to a thrilling 81-80 victory over Teevin Bros. Down by one point with five seconds remaining, Salmi stole an inbounds pass and drove to the basket. His miss was tipped in by Jackson at the horn, the last two of his game-high 49 points. Salmi added 17 for The Logger, which improved to 2-1 with the victory. Brian's cousin Kyle led Teevin with 36 points and Nick Alfonse added 22.

In the final game of the night, Ed's Septic steadily pulled away from Link's Outdoor for a 91-67 victory. Andrew Nieman led the way with 36 points including a highlight-reel dunk in traffic. Paul Jarrett paced Link's with 20 points and Josh Ray and Ryan Wells added 10 each. Matt Richert actually showed up Thursday, contributing four points, four rebounds and one block off the bench and did not allow Nieman to dunk in his face. Thanks, Andy! The over-the-hill Richert exhibited guts and guile while playing through a painful calf injury suffered during a rare stretching routine.

PAIRINGS SET FOR OJBA DISTRICT 9 TOURNEY

The Knappa Loggers swept a league doubleheader from Seaside Tuesday night to nail down the second seed in this weekend's Junior State district tournament at Astoria. Seaside will be the fourth seed in the 4-team tournament, which starts at 5:00 p.m. Friday and continues through Sunday.

Doug Montgomery's bunt scored Gary Aho with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Knappa took game one 6-5.

Aho picked up the win with two innings in relief of starting pitcher Cody Strickland.

Strickland's 2-run home run highlighted a 6-run first inning for Knappa in game two as the Loggers held off a late comeback for a 9-7 victory.

Maury Dugan started and got the win with five innings of work on the mound. Aho came in to pitch two more innings of relief to earn the save.

Knappa finished the regular season 10-2 in District 9 games and will face number three seed Warrenton at 5:00 p.m. Friday at Aiken Field. Seaside will face top-seeded and unbeaten Astoria Ford at 7:30 Friday. The losers will play an elimination game at 5:00 p.m. Saturday with the winners squaring off at 7:30. Saturday's first semifinal game will be at 2:00 p.m. with championship games at 4:30 and if necessary, 7:00 p.m. The top two teams advance to the OJBA State Tournament in Eugene the following week.

DANGER DEN OFF TO 2-0 START

Tex Cokley scored 35 points and Ryan Isom got his stroke on with all 21 of his points coming from behind the 3-point line as Danger Den defeated Teevin Brothers 86-69 Tuesday night in Knappa Summer Basketball League action.

Nate McBride had a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Danger Den, which is the highest scoring team through two games.

The Logger held off a late comeback by Link's Outdoor for a 70-66 victory. The Logger never trailed, but couldn't put away Link's, which got two three-pointers from Paul Jarrett and one from Bo Ward down the stretch to make the game interesting.

Brian Jackson paced The Logger (1-1) with 32 points and held Jarrett to 18 after the former Ilwaco star scored 33 points on opening night. Josh Ray had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the 0-2 Link's and a woefully out-of-shape Matt Richert contributed no points and one paltry rebound, but managed to not turn the ball over or puke on his shoes.

Nygaard/Hunt defeated Ed's Septic 71-64 led by Mike Cokley's 28 points. Former Tillamook standout Andrew Nieman, currently playing for Lower Columbia, led Ed's (1-1) with 28. Matt Johnson added 25 points for Nygaard/Hunt, which improved to 2-0 heading into a Thursday showdown with Danger Den.

KNAPPA SUMMER LEAGUE TIPS OFF 2ND SEASON

After a successful inaugural season in 2006, the Knappa Summer Basketball League initiated its second season Monday night with a trio of games at Hilda Lahti Elementary School.

The brainchild of Knappa High School head coach Craig Cokley, the league features a number of local legends and recent standout high school players in something between a full-fledged recreational league and a playground pickup game.

There is no entry fee, but the number of players has been restricted to only the most serious competitors. The shirts and skins games are self-officiated until the final four minutes if the trailing team is within ten points. Complete statistics and records are kept. The season encompasses four weeks with three games a week for each of six teams, with the playoffs and championship during the second week of August.

Arkansas Rimrockers forward Brian Jackson is the marquee player in the league, which also includes Ilwaco's Paul Jarrett, a former Division I and semipro player, Warrenton all-time leading scorer Nate McBride and former Cowapa League Player of the Year and Lower Columbia Red Devil Kyle Jackson. Several current Knappa High School players and two Warrenton High players are also involved.

Brian Jackson was the first night's leading scorer with a 44 point effort, but Jackson's The Logger fell to Ed's Septic 85-70 with former Tillamook guard Andrew Nieman leading the way with 34 points.

Jackson's former Knappa and OSU teammate Mike Cokley rolled up 41 points on nine made 3-pointers as Nygaard/Hunt defeated Teevin Brothers 98-88. Teevin Brothers features recent Astoria graduates Andy Murray (22 points) and Nick Alfonse (12) and was led by Kyle Jackson's 32 points.

Cokley's younger brother Tex, who played collegiately at Cascade College and Lower Columbia, scorched the nets with seven threes on the way to a 35 point effort and McBride chipped in 21 to lead Danger Den to an 89-74 victory over Link's Outdoor. Jarrett scored 33 points and Astoria's Josh Ray had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds for the losers.

Games on Monday nights will be at Hilda Lahti, while Tuesday and Thurdsay night games will be played at Knappa High School. The games are at 6, 7:10 and 8:20 p.m. and are open to public viewing.

ASTORIA FORD ENTERS POSTSEASON UNBEATEN

The Astoria Ford Fishermen closed out an unbeaten Junior State regular season with a doubleheader sweep of Warrenton Monday night at Aiken Field, winning game one 10-0 in five innings and holding off a late Warriors' rally for a 7-6 win in game two.

Jordan Poyer fanned 13 Warrenton batters in a 5-inning no-hitter as Astoria took game one of Monday's Oregon Junior Baseball doubleheader 10-0.


The hard-throwing junior walked two batters, recording all but two outs via the strikeout in a dominating performance.

"He has a great chance to be an all-state caliber pitcher next year," said Astoria head coach Dave Gasser. "We need him to be if we're going to be as good as we think we are."


Mason Brause went 2-for-2 with a 2-run home run in the first inning to put Astoria on the scoreboard. Marcus Brown went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and Brad Sarpola went 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.


In game two of the league doubleheader, Daniel Mathre drove in three runs and picked up a victory on the mound as Astoria edged Warrenton 7-6.

"Guaranteed we were gonna have one ballgame that was very close," said Gasser. "They compete and Lennie always brings them to play. We knew there was going to be a good ballgame out there for us today and it certainly was. It couldn't have been any closer."

The Warriors grabbed a 3-1 lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Michael Moore and a 2-out, 2-run single by Billy Sturgell.

The lefthanded Sturgell held Astoria hitless until the fourth inning, when Mathre delivered a clutch, 2-out bloop single to right field to put the Fishermen up 4-3.

"It was quite a doink," laughed Gasser. "That's why baseball is so interesting. You can hit a crushed line drive right at somebody and you can hit one just soft enough to drop in.

"He had a whale of a game. He knocked in the game-winning RBI and pitched a win. He's had a good summer."


Moore doubled and scored on a Kevin Moore groundout in the fifth inning to tie the game at four until RBI singles by Brause and Oscar Carriere in the bottom of the inning put Astoria back in front 6-4.


Marc Gallegos, an incoming freshman starting at shortstop for Astoria in game two, made two spectacular defensive plays, one which possibly saved the game for Mathre and Astoria.


Gallegos ended the fifth inning by backhanding a Kevin Moore ground ball deep in the hole and making a strong throw to Brause at first. Then in the sixth, with runners on first and second with one out and Astoria leading 6-4, Gallegos made a full-extention backhanded diving stop of Cody Patterson's hard ground ball, bouncing up in time to make a perfect throw to Hans Lund at second base for a force out.

"I thought that was getting through and Marc dives on that," said Mathre. "I'm thankful. I had to give him a high-five right after that one."

With Sturgell on third base, Warrenton attempted a double steal, but Lund cut off catcher Sam Johnson's throw to second and gunned down Sturgell at the plate to end the inning.

"That was a great exchange by Sam and Hans," said Gasser. "Between that play and Gallegos saving us a couple, that was the difference between win and lose. We had to play good defense. They put pressure on us."


The Fishermen added what turned out to be a key insurance run in the sixth, when Brown led off with a single, stole second and third and scored on Mathre's sacrifice fly to left field.


The lanky redhead, who entered the game on the mound in the fourth inning, got the first out in the seventh, but walked Michael Moore. Brandon Slaughter followed with a deep drive to the wall in right field for an RBI double, bringing the tying run to the plate.


Sophomore Max Johnson came on in relief to face Buddy Davis, who ripped an 0-1 pitch past centerfielder Jordan Poyer to the wall for another double, scoring Slaughter and putting the tying run in scoring position. Kevin Moore bounced into a 3-1 putout for the second out, moving Davis 90 feet away before Sturgell flew out to Carriere in left field to end the game.


Sturgell went the distance on the mound in a losing cause for Warrenton, allowing just five hits. Davis finished 3-for-4 with two RBI's and a run scored, while Sturgell reached base three times on a single and a pair of walks.

"It was a lot better," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe. "The first game was a little too much Jordan Poyer on the hill for us. The second game was one where we were able to be just a little bit more competitive. I like some of the things we did."

Carriere got aboard all three times up for Astoria, going 1-for-1 with two bases on balls.


The Fishermen open District Tournament play in the second game of a doubleheader Friday night at Aiken Field. The first game, pitting the second and third place teams in the league standings (yet to bet determined) will begin at 5:00 p.m. Astoria, Warrenton, Knappa and Seaside will vie for two berths to the Oregon Junior Baseball Association State Tournament in Eugene the following weekend.

Game One
WARRENTON 0-0-0-0-0 0-0-1
ASTORIA 2-1-5-0-2 10-9-0
W-Poyer (5ip, 0h, 0r, 13k, 2bb)
L-Davis (2.1ip, 4h, 8r, 7er, 2k, 6bb, hp, wp)
E-M. Moore. LOB-Warrenton 2, Astoria 4. 2B-Brown, D. Lund. HR-Brause. SB-Slaughter, K. Moore, Poyer, B. Sarpola, Gallegos.

Game Two
WARRENTON 0-0-3-0-1-0-2 6-8-2
ASTORIA 0-1-0-3-2-1-x 7-5-2
W-Mathre (3.1ip, 2h, 3r, 3er, 3k, 2bb)
L-Sturgell (6ip, 5h, 7r, 6er, 2k, 6bb, 3wp)
S-M. Johnson (0.2ip, h, 0r)
E-Sturgell, K. Moore, H. Lund, Mathre. LOB-Warrenton 4, Astoria 4. 2B-M. Moore, Slaughter, Davis. S-Slaughter, Kerr. SF-M. Moore, Mathre. PB-K. Moore

AHS STARS WIN SEASIDE BEACH RUN

Former Astoria cross country standouts Katie Choate and Aaron Eckhart were among the winners at the 41st annual Seaside Beach Run Sunday.

Choate, a 2006 AHS grad currently running for Portland Lutheran University, won the women's 5K race in 21:58. Aaron Eckert, a former cross country district champion and 1500 meter state runner-up from Astoria, won the men's 10K in 38:40.

Another runner with an Astoria connection won the women's 10K as former Molalla athlete Leighann Fischer completed the course in 46:52 to win for the second year in a row. The daughter of Molalla High School cross country coach Gary Fischer was part of the Indians girls basketball team that eliminated Mark Fick's Lady Fishermen 48-30 in the 2002 OSAA 3A State Tournament in Corvallis. Also a cross country runner, Fischer recently completed her college running career at George Fox University with a 31st place finish at the Northwest Conference Championships in October. Choate placed 27th in the same event.

Sherwood resident Chuck Coats won the men's 5K with a time of 17:16

12B'S FINISH 4TH, 12A'S WINLESS AT STATE

While the Lower Columbia 12A Cal Ripken All-Stars struggled this weekend, the 12B team made a surprising run to the semifinals of the North Oregon State Tournament at Dallas this weekend.

The 12A team went 0-3 in pool play, falling to Sandy 13-0 and West Linn A 13-3 on Friday before dropping a 7-3 decision to Dallas on Saturday.

Only managing one hit against Sandy, the Clatsop-Pacific County All-Stars took a 3-2 lead into the third inning against West Linn before a grand slam home run ignited a come-from-behind rally for the eventual tournament champions.

In the first round of bracket play, Lower Columbia's normally reliable defense broke down behind starting pitcher Andrew Bergeson. The Astoria lefthander couldn't make it out of the first inning as Central scored four unearned runs, going on to defeat L.C. 8-6 after losing twice to Lower Columbia in exhibition games played at Columbia Field the previous weekend.

"We couldn't play defense and we couldn't put a bat on the ball," said Lower Columbia head coach Melton LuCore, whose son Kyle, a second baseman and leadoff batter, was injured by a foul ball on Saturday, necessitating a trip to the emergency room. "It was very disappointing."

Meanwhile, the Lower Columbia 12B team won its first two pool games, defeating West Linn B 5-3 on Saturday to avenge a loss at the previous weekend's 12B state tournament in Naselle. After a 17-5 victory over Seaside on Friday, the 12B team lost its final pool contest, falling to Central 5-0 on Saturday, only to rebound with a thrilling 7-5 win over Dallas in the first round of bracket play.

Tied at 5-5 entering the eighth inning, Lower Columbia staged a two out rally when Carson Whisler drew a walk, Bob Chandler followed with a single and Keelin Cuifici brought home both baserunners with a 2-run base hit.

Chad Andring pitched his third inning of scoreless relief to notch the victory. The celebration was short-lived, as West Linn A clobbered L.C. 17-2 in four innings on the way to an 8-7 extra inning championship victory over Sandy.

Lower Columbia 12B faced Central again in the consolation game for 3rd and 4th place and, despite loading the bases in the sixth inning, still couldn't push a run across against the Monmouth-Independce All-Stars, losing 2-0. Will Samp, Carson Whisler and Andring provided strong pitching in the final game to give the locals a chance.

ASTORIA 14'S FALL IN DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP

On a day when the sun scorched the Portland area, Astoria's bats never did catch fire.



Tualatin Hills limited Astoria to three hits in a 9-2 victory in the District 1 14-year-old Babe Ruth Championship at Walker Stadium. Both teams will advance to the North Oregon State Tournament in Hermiston next Friday.



It wasn't the heat so much as the glare which caused problems early for both teams when the sun was shining directly into the eyes of batters.



Tualatin Hills, the Beaverton-based Babe Ruth All-Stars, built a 4-0 lead before Astoria responded with two runs in the fourth inning. Trygve Olsen doubled and scored on a base hit by Dylan Glover. Glover came around to score on a Skylar Olson sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.



Tualatin Hills came right back with three runs to take a 7-2 lead, limiting Astoria to a single hit the rest of the way.



"We did not play terribly bad," said head coach Rob Eterno, "but we were not crisp like they were. "I think working on simple things in practice, like picking the ball up in the outfield and hitting the cutoff man, will help."



Glover pitched the first five innings and took the loss. John Fick finished the game on the mound for Astoria, which won three straight elimination games in the tournament to clinch a state berth after falling 16-6 to S.E. Portland in the opening game.

THREE MOVE ON

For the third time in the last four years, Astoria Babe Ruth All-Star teams will represent all three age groups in the postseason.


Although the 15-year-old All-Stars will not compete in a state tournament, they earned the right to by winning the District 1 title with a 14-1, 5-inning blowout victory over S.E. Portland Monday night at Walker Stadium.


Astoria's 14-year-old squad will go for the District title tonight against Tualatin Hills after knocking off S.E. Portland 12-1 in six innings Monday afternoon. Both Astoria and Tualatin Hills will go on to the state tournament at Hermiston.


Astoria's 13-year-old squad clinched a state berth with their only win of the tournament, so the sting of Monday's 18-1 loss won't last long as they prepare to return to Portland next week to vie for a trip to regionals.


Astoria's 15-year-old squad will try to enter one more tournament and many of the players will be in the uniforms of their respective high schools as they try to stay sharp in preparation for the Pacific N.W. Regional Tournament, which will be held at Astoria's Aiken Field. This will be the fourth consecutive year that the 15-year-old group will participate in a regional level tournament, but the first year that they didn't have to earn it with a state championship appearance. The host team for regional tournaments automatically qualifies, although Astoria will look to contend for a World Series berth as they have the last three years with top four finishes.


Here is a closer look at Monday's District 1 Tournament games:


15-year-old Championship: ASTORIA 14, S.E. PORTLAND 1 (5 innings)...After a close call in the semifinals against Tualatin Hills, Astoria put S.E. Portland away early, scoring eight runs in the second inning to open up an 11-0 lead. Ian Dueber pitched all five innings, allowing five hits and one unearned run with five strikeouts and one base on balls. Dane Lund was 2-for-4 with a double and three runs batted in, Ian Erickson went 1-for-2 with a run and two RBI's and Marc Gallegos was 2-for-2 with a double, one run and one RBI. All 15 players on the roster had seen action by the end of the third inning. Astoria finished the tournament with a 3-0 record.


14-year-old Semifinals (winner to state, loser out): ASTORIA 12, S.E. PORTLAND 1 (6 innings)...Astoria got its third consecutive strong pitching performance as Trygve Olsen allowed just three hits an no earned runs, striking out six and walking two in a 6-inning complete game performance. Olsen helped his own cause at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a triple, two runs and two runs batted in. The top four batters in Astoria's order combined for 10 runs scored and six RBI's, but Skylar Olson was mighty productive in the 6-hole, going 3-for-4 with a double and 4 RBI's. Leading 1-0 in the third inning, Astoria took advantage of an error to put three runs on the board, with Olson driving in two with a double. The Astoria shortstop added an RBI sinlge in a 4-run Astoria fourth inning, which also featured RBI singles by leadoff batter Alex Eterno and shortstop Dylan Glover as Astoria opened up an 8-0 lead. Astoria committed just one error on defense until the sixth inning, when S.E. Portland scratched out an unearned run courtesy of three errors in the inning. One run was wiped off the board due to an illegal batter. S.E. Portland was eliminated from the tournament, while Astoria and Tualatin Hills will meet at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday in the District 1 Championship Game. If Astoria wins, the two teams will play a final game on Wednesday to determine first and second place.


13-year-old Championship: S.E. PORTLAND 18, ASTORIA 1...Facing S.E. Portland for the third time in the tournament, little went right for Astoria as a complete defensive breakdown in the second inning led to five errors and seven unearned runs. Astoria committed a total of seven errors in the five inning game, while three Astoria pitchers combined to walk ten batters. S.E. Portland outhit Astoria 10-4. Conor Harber tripled and had two of Astoria's four hits, but struggled on the mound, walking four and hitting one batter in a two inning starting stint. Dillon Smith took over in the third inning, but could not record an out, walking four batters and giving up two hits and five runs. Ryan Tapio got the ball over the plate during the final two innings, but was shelled for six hits and five more runs. Only eight of S.E. Portland's 18 runs were earned. Jake Peterson and Adam Lashbaugh each went 2-for-4 with three runs for S.E. Portland. Joe Prettyman was 1-for-2 with three runs and three runs batted in. Austin Peeples struck out four and walked four in a 5-inning complete game win. Both teams will play in next week's state tournament, which will be held at Glenwood Park on S.E. 89th and Cooper.

ASTORIA FLOORS KNAPPA IN POYER V. AHO KNOCKOUT

Astoria's Jordan Poyer and Knappa's Gary Aho are without question two of the most talented baseball players this area has produced.



Sunday's matchup between their respective squads built steam as a head-to-head matchup of two ace hurlers. If it were a boxing match, score three knockdowns for Poyer, one low blow for Aho and a unanimous victory for Astoria.



The Fishermen swept the double header, winning two games by the 10-run rule as Astoria teams improved to 21-1 for the summer.



Astoria took the league-counting first game 11-1 in six innings with Tom Jaworski scoring the game-ending run on an Aho wild pitch after plating two runs with a triple.



Poyer went the distance on the mound, allowing a single unearned run on just two hits with 12 strikeouts.



The Astoria righthanded ace, the area's top athlete, matched up with the Knappa lefty, one of the state's top hitters, a total of four times--once as a batter and three times as a pitcher. Poyer blew away Aho with a steady diet of high heat, striking out him out swinging three times.



Aho did not start the game on the mound and was Knappa's second relief option, coming in for Cody Strickland with one out in the fourth inning. Poyer saw exactly two pitches from Aho, swinging at and missing the first and taking the second one square in the back. Aho proceeded to strike out the side and fanned Brad Sarpola to start the sixth inning before a Trevor Puckett base hit and a walk to Troy Sarpola set the table for Jaworski to finish.



Jaws reached base five times in the game, going 2-for-2 with two bases on balls and two runs scored. Dane Lund went 2-for-3 with two RBI's and led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to left field off his 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star battery-mate Strickland.



The Loggers turned three Poyer walks and an errant throw by catcher Sam Johnson into the first run of the game in the first inning. Knappa starting pitcher Karac Anderson struggled mightily, walking the first three batters he faced. A botched force play at third base cost the Loggers two unearned runs, with Astoria scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Dane Lund followed by a hit-by-pitch to Brad Sarpola.



Troy Sarpola reached on an error at third to open the second inning and after a walk to Jaworski, Anderson was lifted in favor of Strickland, who inherited a 2-0 count against Hans Lund. Lund sent the Knappa sophomore's first pitch to the wall for an RBI double, scoring Sarpola. Strickland got Poyer to ground into a 5-2 fielder's choice to retire Jaworksi at the plate, but a dropped ball in right field and a passed ball plated two runs before Sam Johnson lashed a single up the middle to score Mason Brause.



Knappa catcher Joe Strickland went 1-for-1 with a pair of walks and a run scored. Doug Montgomery had the only other hit off Poyer, a leadoff single in the second inning.



The Loggers take on Ilwaco on Tuesday while Astoria travels to Tillamook.



KNAPPA 1-0-0-0-0-0 1-2-5

ASTORIA 2-4-1-1-0-3 11-8-1

W-Poyer (6ip, 2h, 1r, 0er, 13k, 4bb, 2wp)

L-Anderson (1+ip, 0h, 5r, 1er, 2k, 5bb, hp)

E-Leach 4, B. Aho, S. Johnson. LOB-Knappa 4, Astoria 10. 2B-H. Lund. 3B-Jaworksi. HR-D. Lund. PB-J. Strickland.

BABE RUTH 13'S CLINCH STATE BERTH

It will be an Astoria tripleheader Monday at Walker Stadium.



The Astoria 13- and 15-year-old All-Star teams will play for their respective District 1 championships today, while the 14-year-old squad must win a rematch against S.E. Portland to get to the championship game and clinch a berth to state.



The top two teams from each age group will head to state tournaments, although the Astoria 15's, who will host the Pacific N.W. Regionals at the end of the month, will not be allowed to participate at state.



The Astoria 13-year-olds defeated S.E. Portland 9-4 on Friday behind a complete game performance on the mound from Conor Harber. Harber also went 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and two runs scored, while Drew Cooper was 2-for-2 with two runs batted in.



S.E. Portland knocked off Seaside 14-8 on Saturday, setting up a rematch with Astoria in the championship round on Sunday. Needing to beat Astoria twice to win the championship, S.E. Portland picked up a game-winning bloop single over a drawn-in Astoria infield in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn a 6-5 victory. The two teams will meet again Monday at 12:30 p.m. in the first game of the tripleheader.



Down 5-4 in the top of sixth, Harber got hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third base on a throwing error by the S.E. Portland shortstop. Dalton Kelly followed with a grounder to short and Harber was able to sprint home in front of the throw to tie the score.



Kelly went the first five innings on the mound allowing five runs, four earned. Luke Foster pitched the final two frames and was charged with the loss.



Ryan Tapio led off the game with a double as Astoria loaded the bases with nobody out. Tapio scored on a strikeout passed ball and Dylan Krizan followed with a line drive that was snared by the shortstop, saving two runs as Astoria stranded runners at second an third.



S.E. Portland scored three runs in the in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead, but Astoria responded with a 3-run rally in the second, keyed by a 2-run triple by Harber, who went 2-for-3 at the plate.



Tapio went 2-for-2 in the game with a pair of runs scored.



"It was a good game played by both teams," said Astoria 13-year-old coach Patrick Harber. "We hit the ball hard, but a lot of times it was right at people."



The Astoria 15-year-olds won a close 2-1 contest against Tualatin Hills Saturday to clinch a spot in Monday night's championship game. Cody Strickland had two doubles and a run batted in and Doug Montgomery had an RBI double for Astoria's other run. Max Johnson also had a double and pitched the first four innings with Taylor Landwehr closing out the game with three innings of scoreless relief. Astoria had many opportunities to score in the game, but stranded a horde of baserunners.



The 14-year-olds are one step away from a state tournament berth. Astoria won its second straight game after an opening loss to S.E. Portland, knocking off Chehalem Valley 12-5 on Sunday.



Skylar Olson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, before a one-out error opened the door for a 5-run rally by the Newberg-area team. Olson struck out 10 batters and walked three over 6 2/3 innings, surrendering two hits. Jacob Davis faced two batters, giving up an RBI single before getting the final out on a ground ball back to the mound.



Olson had three hits including a double and one run scored, Dylan Glover had a triple and two singles and Trygve Olsen and Tyler Norfleet had two hits each.



"It was our best hitting night," said head coach Rob Eterno. "We had over ten hits in the game."



Astoria also played error-free ball until the seventh inning. Good defense has been a key to their success and a lack thereof the glaring flaw in all of their losses. Astoria will face S.E. Portland again, after booting the ball around the yard in a 16-6 tournament-opening loss on Thursday.



"It should be a good matchup," said Eterno. "They didn't beat us. We beat ourselves."

LOWER COLUMBIA 12B'S RECEIVE 12A STATE BERTH

The West Linn 11-year-old Cal Ripken All-Star team went 4-0 in round robin play at the North Oregon State Tournament this weekend to clinch a berth at the Pacific N.W. Regional Tournament in Eugene later this month.

Lower Columbia 12B, which lost to both West Linn teams, but defeated Dallas and Lower Columbia 11, finished third at the tournament, but will advance to the 12A State Tournament in Dallas after West Linn 11 declined an invitation to participate.

West Linn 11 defeated Lower Columbia 12B 9-4 on Friday, but Lower Columbia bounced back with two wins on Saturday, knocking off Dallas 11-2 and defeating the local 11-year-olds 11-4.

Dallas jumped out to 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Lower Columbia responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning, keyed by back-to-back doubles by Tony Rudolfi and Chandler Chapman. Will Samp started and pitched three innings before giving way to Carson Whisler, who tossed three scoreless innings of relief. Lower Columbia scored five times in the second inning to open up a 9-2 lead and never looked back.

Against their younger brethen, Lower Columbia trailed 4-2 after four innings. Bernardo Martinez doubled in the fifth inning, beginning a 5-run rally. Cody Bruton follwed with an RBI single. A couple of fielding errors and a passed ball later, the 12B's had a 7-4 lead. Four more runs in the sixth, David Kelly doubled and Bruton hit an inside-the-park grand slam in a 4-run sixth inning as the 12B's secured the win.

Lower Columbia, which came from behind in both of their wins on Saturday, will get a rematch against the West Linn 12B's on Friday in their first pool game at the La Creole Complex at 1:00 p.m.

The Lower Columbia 12A's will open state tournament play against Sandy at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The 12A's tuned up for the tournament with their own mini-tournament at Columbia Field Saturday and Sunday, playing a pair of doubleheaders against Seaside and Central.

Lower Columbia got off to a slow start against Seaside pitcher Zach Hofmann on Saturday, but opened up the game with a 12-run fourth inning, sending 16 batters to the plate on the way to an 18-0 win. Only two of the runs were earned, due to four Seaside errors.

Ross Kukula went 2-for-3 with a triple and three runs batted in. Kyle Kelly cleared the bases wit a triple in the fourth inning and leadoff batter Kyle Lucore went 1-for-2 with a double and three runs scored. Cody Fox and Austin Wirkkala combined on a one-hit shutout, with each striking out six batters over a three inning stint. Andy McClean had Seaside's only hit, a solid shot up the middle off Fox in the first inning.

Seaside played with eight players, using a Lower Columbia player on loan in right field.

Later in the day Saturday, Lower Columbia defeated Central 5-1. Jeremy Poyer went the distance on the mound, striking out 11 with two walks and did not allow a hit after Central picked up two hits and a run in the first inning. Poyer also scored on a double steal in the fourth inning to give Lower Columbia a 3-1 lead. Nick Fraitus was 2-for-2 in the game with two runs scored.

On Sunday, the two teams, who will be in opposite pools at state this weekend, played another competitive contest, with L.C. coming out on top 4-1. Josh Biel recorded the complete game victory, allowing just one walk and three hits with seven strikeouts. The Central team, based in Monmouth-Independence and coached by former Central High School head coach Dale Cutsforth, tallied the first run of the game when David Powell roped a ground rule double to right field and scored on Brandon Cutsforth's base hit.

Hard-throwing righthanded pitcher James Canniff led off the second inning with a base hit for Central, but was retired on a force at second. Central never got another hit or runner to second base against Biel.

Nathan Spurbeck gave L.C. the lead with a 2-run single in the second inning and the Clatsop-Pacific County All-Stars tacked on two more unearned runs in the fourth inning.

Lower Columbia managed just five hits against Canniff, who fanned eight and walked one, allowing only one earned run in a complete game loss.

Lucore went 2-for-2 at the plate and Fraitus had a run and an RBI for Lower Columbia, which called off a scheduled game against Seaside on Sunday.

The Lower Columbia 11-year-olds picked up their second win of the summer on Friday and finished 1-3 over the weekend for a fourth place finish, ending their season. Dallas placed fifth. Seaside did not participate in the 12B/11 tournament at Naselle.

LOWER COLUMBIA 10'S 0-4 AT STATE

The Lower Columbia 10-year-old All-Stars got an up close and personal look at the West Linn baseball machine this weekend at the North Oregon Cal Ripken State Tournament.

Playing on West Linn's home field, the Clatsop-Pacific kids, a group formed from teams in Astoria, Lewis & Clark, Warrenton, Knappa, Long Beach and Naselle less than four weeks ago, faced not one, but two West Linn teams that have been sharpening their skills together for a period of four months!

West Linn's 10B squad whacked Lower Columbia 16-0 in a four inning pool play game Friday night. After a heartbreaking loss to Dallas in their final pool game, Lower Columbia met up against the A squad in the single elimination round and suffered another blowout, four inning loss to end its tournament run.

The final loss in bracket play was certainly inevitable, but the final pool play loss was a bitter pill to swallow. The Dallas team trailed Lower Columbia 5-3 with two outs in the sixth and final inning, but had the bases loaded with Lower Columbia one strike away from victory. The batter at the plate, 0-fer on the day, sent a 2-2 pitch over the wall for a walk-off grand slam, giving Dallas a 7-5 win.

"The kids never quit," said Lower Columbia head coach Nate Person. "They played hard. They were just outmatched a majority of the time."

According to Person, Josh Seguirant led Lower Columbia at the plate over the weekend, and played solid behind the plate as well. Courage Beatty gave the locals a strong effort on the mound and Fritz Fremstad pitched a scoreless inning in his first mound appearance of the summer. Cole Bergeson had a 2-RBI single against the West Linn A team and Ryker Helmerson provided good outfield defense.

ASTORIA 14'S ELIMINATE SEASIDE AT DISTRICTS

John Fick and Jacob Davis combined on a 2-hitter and the Astoria 14-year-olds got improved defensive play to defeat Seaside 7-1 at Walker Stadium in Portland today.

Seaside is eliminated from the District 1 Babe Ruth Tournament as Astoria advances to play Chehalem Valley Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

Leadoff batter Alex Eterno went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored for Astoria, which never trailed.

Trygve Olsen singled and scored on an error in the second inning. Eterno led off the third with a triple, later scoring on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch to Olsen. Skylar Olson plated Dylan Glover with a sacrifice fly to center field to give Astoria a 3-0 lead.

Seaside's two hits came off the bat of leadoff batter Joel Slovak, who singled in the third inning and the seventh. Seaside loaded the bases with two outs in the final inning before Jacob Davis came out of the bullpen to end the game on a ground out.

Fick and Jesse Boord each had runs batted in for Astoria, which must win four straight games to get to state.

LOWER COLUMBIA 11'S WIN, 12B'S FALL TO W. LINN

The Lower Columbia 11-year-old Cal Ripken All-Star team picked up its second win of the summer, defeating Dallas 6-3 in the opening pool game of the North Oregon State Tournament at Naselle H.S. today.

Sam Scrabeck, pitching in his hometown, struck out eight batters in three innings to pick up the victory on the mound.

L.C. pushed four runs across in the second inning and never trailed.

Nick Strange finished the final three innings on the mound. Down 5-1 going into the fifth inning,
Dallas scored two runs and had the tying run at the plate when Strange struck out Marcus Cortez to end the inning and finished off the game with a hitless sixth.

Lower Columbia plays West Linn's 12B team tonight at 6:00 p.m. at the high school. West Linn defeated the Lower Columbia 12B team 10-6 in a game at Lions Park this afternoon.

Lower Columbia scored four runs in the first two innings without a base hit and held a 4-0 lead until the fifth inning, when West Linn loaded the bases with nobody out on two walks and a hit batter and went on to score seven runs in the frame.

Matt Miller had an RBI single in the fifth and added a 2-run home run in the sixth inning as West Linn extended its lead to 10-4.

Lower Columbia rallied in their final at bat when Chandler "Bob" Chapman drew a leadoff walk and scored on an error and Bernardo Martinez added an RBI double to score Tony Rudolfi.

Three West Linn pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts as Mitch Mondor fanned Carson Whisler for the final out of the game. Whisler started on the mound for L.C. and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and three walks with a pair of strikeouts. Chad Andring ran into control problems in the fifth inning and was charged with the loss.

Lower Columbia continues pool play with a game against West Linn 11 this afternoon.

Seaside dropped out of the tournament. The schedule has been adjusted and two teams will be picked for a 6:00 p.m. championship game based on round robin results. Both teams will qualify for the 12A State Tournament at Dallas next weekend.

LOWER COLUMBIA 10'S FALL IN STATE OPENER

In their first pool play game at the North Oregon State 10-and-under Cal Ripken Tournament, Lower Columbia lost to Sandy 6-1 at Oppenlander Fields in West Linn.

It was a close game into the sixth and final inning, when Sandy put three runs on the board to account for the final margin.

Courage Beatty pitched five strong innings for Lower Columbia and Josh Seguirant had two triples and a run batted in. Nick Owens doubled and second baseman Ryker Helmerson and shortstop Fritz Fremstad played strong defense up the middle.

Lower Columbia's next game will be at 6:00 p.m. against the West Linn host team.

STALE FISH ELUDE SEAGULLS TO STAY UNBEATEN

Perhaps a little burned out after five games in three days, Astoria Ford's OJBA team ground out a 7-4 win at Seaside Thursday, keeping their summer record unblemished.



Hans Lund was the workhorse as Astoria was low on pitching with the heavy schedule and the loss of several players to the Babe Ruth District 1 Tournament this weekend. The senior righthander, limited to short relief stints in the spring, battled through control problems early and went the distance on the mound, throwing 117 pitches to pick up the complete game victory.



It was not a pretty contest, marred by lots of walks and hit batters by both teams. Lund walked four and hit two, pitching out of trouble in just about every inning. Seaside put the leadoff man on each of the first four innings, scoring single runs in the second, third and fourth.



Astoria got on the board first with walks to Tom Jaworski and Lund in the first inning and RBI singles by Mason Brause and Sam Johnson. Two more walks in the second put Astoria up 4-0 when Jaworski drove in Brad Sarpola and Oscar Carriere with a base hit.



Carriere continued a productive week by reaching base four times, twice on walks, once on a hit by pitch and finally a double in the seventh inning. The senior outfielder scored two runs.



Seaside scored on a Ian Dueber RBI single in the second, a bases loaded walk in the third and RBI singles by Dylan Peters and Ryan Sparks in the fourth. Astoria led 5-4 at the end of four after a sacrifice fly by Brause in the top of the inning scored Jared Rummell. Astoria had loaded the bases with one out on a leadoff walk and two hit batters, but scored just the one run as relief pitcher Erik Knutsen was able to work out of the jam.



Hans Lund held Seaside hitless over the final innings, while the Fishermen tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.



Astoria takes on Knappa in a rare Sunday doubleheader, starting at 4:00 p.m. at Aiken Field.

WARRIORS OVERCOME STRANG, CHEESEMAKERS

Billy Sturgell doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on a Josh Wheatley squeeze bunt as the Warrenton Warriors defeated the Tillamook Cheesemakers 8-6 in the league half of Thursday's Oregon Junior Baseball doubleheader.


Tillamook's J.T. Strang had tied the game at six with a two-run home run before Warrenton rallied for two runs in the seventh.


Michael Moore went the distance on the mound to record his fifth win of the summer against no losses. Brandon Slaughter went 3-for-5 with three runs scored.

"Michael was alternately good and bad," said Warrenton head coach Lennie Wolfe. "For some reason, he couldn't keep the ball outside against Strang. He did a great job of locating against the rest of the lineup."


Strang continued to feast on Warrenton pitching in game two of the doubleheader. After two doubles and a home run in three at bats in game one, Strang homered twice and added his third double in the second game. However, Warrenton rolled up an 8-1 lead early in the game and was able to hold off a 5-run Tillamook rally in the seventh, centered around a grand slam by Strang.

"[Strang] and [Billy] Zimmerman [Rainier 1B] more than any two kids I can remember will be sorry to see us go," said Wolfe. "No one has owned us like this ever. Not even close! [Strang]made us pay every time. We were not trying to throw him strikes."

Strang now has 12 hits, nine for extra bases, in four games against Warrenton this summer.


Freshman Reese Johnson recorded the complete game victory, holding the Mooks to single runs in the first and sixth innings before Tillamook's 5-run outburst in the final frame.


Billy Sturgell went 3-for-4 and Billy Kerr and Kevin Moore each had two hits in game two for the Warriors, who are off for a week before taking on Knappa at home July 12.


Game One
WARRENTON 1-0-1-0-4-0-2 8-11-2
TILLAMOOK 1-0-0-3-0-2-0 6-9-1
W-M. Moore
L-Fossbind
2B-Strang 2, Sturgell, K. Moore, Davis. HR-Strang, Slaughter.

Game Two
WARRENTON 0-3-5-0-1-1-2 12-10-2
TILLAMOOK 1-0-0-0-0-1-5 7-10-2
W-Johnson
L-Munoz
2B-Strang, Davis. HR-Strang 2.

SEASIDE 13'S FALL, ASTORIA 15'S WIN LAUGHER

Southeast Portland, comprised of players from the Marshall, Franklin and Cleveland school districts, needed just five hits to rack up 14 runs in a 14-9 win over Seaside in Thursday's 13-year-old Babe Ruth District 1 opener.

Ten walks were costly for Seaside, which outhit S.E. Portland 7-to-5 in the loss.

S.E. Portland built a 5-0 lead early before Seaside rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second inning. The score held until S.E. Portland scored four runs in the fifth inning to go up 9-4, outscoring Seaside 5-4 over the final two innings.

Eddie Soller went 2-for-4 with a triple for Seaside, which plays the loser of Friday's S.E. Portland vs. Astoria matchup on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.

After playing against Keizer Sand & Gravel, a team comprised of several players from McNary High School's 6A playoff baseball team, the core group of Astoria's 15-year-old All-Star team was obviously not fazed by Tualatin Hills' 15-year-olds. Astoria led 15-0 after two innings and went on to rout the Beaverton-based group 27-1 in five innings.

Astoria gets the day off today, while Tualatin Hills' #2 team takes on S.E. Portland with the winner facing the Astoria 15's on Saturday.

ASTORIA, SEASIDE DROP DISTRICT OPENERS

Astoria's 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars continue to struggle defensively as S.E. Portland defeated Astoria 16-6 in a five-inning District 1 Tournament opening game at Walker Stadium in Portland this afternoon.

Astoria will meet Seaside tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in a loser out game, with the winner advancing to play Sunday at 9:00 a.m. against the winner of Friday's Chehalem Valley-Tualatin Hills matchup.

Chehalem Valley, based in Newberg, knocked off Seaside 8-5 in the first game of the tournament this morning.

Underway late this afternoon, the Seaside 13-year-old All-Stars face S.E. Portland and Astoria's 15-year-olds play Tualatin Hills in the final game of the night at 7:30 p.m.

"On defense, just about every position somebody dropped the ball or threw it wild," said Astoria head coach Rob Eterno. "You name it, we saw it."

Astoria grabbed the first lead of the game when Dylan Glover reached on a base on balls, stole his way around the bases and scored on a passed ball. Astoria held the lead into the third inning, backed by strong work on the mound from starter Trygve Olsen. Then, an error led to a 3-run inning for S.E. Portland and Astoria never really recovered.

"We were making mistakes on the bases as well," said Eterno. "Three or four guys were picked off, running into outs."

Seaside and Chehalem Valley were knotted at 5-5 until the sixth inning when a fly ball lost in the sun dropped in for a 2-run single for the Newberg 14-year-olds.

"We had our chances today," said Butch Johnson, head coach of the Seaside 14's. "I wasn't too disappointed."

James Benfield pitched six innings and had a 2-run double for Seaside. Travis Stark also had a 2-run double.

Seaside put their first two baserunners on to begin the game, but Benfield was called out at third on a close fielder's choice force that would have loaded the bases. Seaside stranded 14 runners on base in the game, loading the bases three times, but coming away with just two runs in those situations.

There will be four games at Walker Stadium each day of the tournament through Sunday with the first game starting at 9:00 a.m. each day. The stadium is located at Lents Park in the Foster-Powell district of Portland at 92nd and S.E. Holgate. The 14- and 15-year-old tournament continues through Tuesday, with final games extending to Wednesday if necessary.

FISHERMEN LEGIONNAIRES CAP PERFECT TOURNEY RUN

Mathias Brause made his first appearance on the mound in nearly a month, but his former teammates and young understudies showed that they are more than capable of carrying the future load for the Astoria baseball program.


The Astoria Ford Legion Post 12 team defeated Keizer Sand & Gravel 12-7 on a gorgeous Independence Day afternoon at Aiken Field, ending a perfect 5-0 performance for Astoria's baseball teams over the past three days of the Firecracker Tournament


Brause gave up five hits and three runs in a three inning starting stint, but was surprisingly sharp after a long period of inactivity. Between Babe Ruth tournaments and OJB contests, Astoria's incoming sophomores have seend plenty of action on the diamond of late. And Max Johnson and Marcus Brown continue to prove that they will be worthy of strong consideration for starting spots come spring.


Johnson entered the contest in the fourth inning in relief of Brause, after Astoria took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third inning on a 2-run double by Joey Dursse. Brause led off the inning with a base on balls, clearly displeased at being given the take sign by coach Ryker Thornton on a 3-0 count. After a force out at second base, Brad Sarpola fouled off three pitches before grounding a single perfectly through the hole on the right side of the infield to put runners at first and second. Dursse followed with a shot to the left-center field gap, scoring both Sarpola and Jared Rummell.


Johnson, a sophomore, paired up with older brother Sam for the Astoria battery in the fourth, tossing a hitless, scoreless inning to get credit for the win. Max, one of the standouts on Astoria's 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team, also drew a bases loaded walk in his only at bat after falling behind 0-2. That gave Astoria a 6-3 lead.


Brown gave up a hit and a walk in the fifth inning, but escaped unscathed when Keizer left fielder Tyler Gardner flew out to left to end the inning.


Astoria continued to play add-on, as Tom Jaworski reached on an infield hit to lead off the fifth, stole second, advanced to third on a Jordan Poyer single to left, then executed a perfect steal of home, getting a huge jump down the line on Keizer's lefthanded relief pitcher Sheldon Austria, sliding home just behind the pitch. Poyer stole second and third and scored on Dane Lund's sacrifice fly to center.


Poyer was subject to some controversy after sliding hard into Keizer catcher Spencer Tejada on a force play at home in the fourth inning. Tejada got knocked off his feet when Poyer made contact with his shin guard, upending him to break up a potential double play. Tejada remained down on his knees for a couple of minutes while the Keizer coach argued that Poyer slid inside the baseline, while several McNary High School supporters behind the backstop voiced their displeasure. The game proceeded without incident, although Poyer had to dance out of the way of a couple of pitches thrown at his ankles in his next two at bats.


Poyer went 3-for-4 on the day and Jaworksi was 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Jared Rummell continued an outstanding tournament showing by going 2-for-4 at the plate and pitching the final inning and two thirds, allowing three hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts, including a punch out of Austria, Keizer's leadoff batter, to end the contest.


The Astoria OJBA team will return to North Coast District action on today with a single game at Seaside at 6:00 p.m., while the Legion group, which includes recent graduates Brause, Dursse, Brendan Landwehr and Nick Bredleau, may have donned the red uniforms for the final time this summer.

KEIZER SAND & GRAVEL 1-0-2-0-0-2-2 7-9-3
ASTORIA FORD POST 12 1-1-2-2-2-4 12-11-2
W-Johnson (1ip, 0h, 0r, k, hp)
L-Gardner (1ip, 2h, 2r, 2er, 2bb, 0k)
E-Hernandez, Beyer, Gardner, Rummell, H. Lund. LOB-Keizer 9, Astoria 12. 2B-Riccardi, Beyer, Dursse. HR-Nicholas. SF-Tejadas, Gardner, D. Lund. PB-Tejadas.

BABE RUTH DISTRICT SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

All three Astoria Babe Ruth All-Star teams will head to Walker Stadium at Lents Park in Portland for District 1 competition this weekend.

Due to the late announcement of the district tournament schedule, Astoria's 15-year-old team was forced to withdraw from a tournament at Kelso this weekend. The 15-year-old squad will host and participate in the 15-year-old Pacific N.W. Regional Babe Ruth Tournament at the end of the month, regardless of how they fare at districts.

The 14- and 13-year-old teams must win district and state tournaments to advance that far. The 15-year-olds will not participate at the state tournament.

DISTRICT 1 BABE RUTH TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE-all games at Walker Stadium

THURSDAY, July 5
Seaside (14) vs. Newberg (14), 9:00 a.m.
Astoria (14) vs. S.E. Portland (14), 12:30 p.m.
Seaside (13) vs. S.E. Portland (13), 4:00 p.m.
Astoria (15) vs. Tualatin Hills (15), 7:30 p.m.

FRIDAY, July 6
Seaside/Newberg winner vs. Tualatin Hills (14), 9:00 a.m.
Astoria/S.E. Portland loser vs. Seaside/Newberg loser, 12:30 p.m.
Seaside/S.E. Portland winner vs. Astoria (13), 4:00 p.m.
S.E. Portland (15) vs. Tualatin Hills 2 (15), 7:30 p.m.

FISH JUNIORS CRUISE PAST MILWAUKIE

Marcus Brown was a triple away from the cycle and Troy Sarpola pitched four scoreless innings after a shaky start to lead the Astoria Ford OJB team past Milwaukie 14-1 this afternoon at Aiken Field.

The two teams will meet one more time at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow (tentative, start times and games have changed without notice).

Sarpola faced seven batters in the first inning and allowed a run, but stranded three runners on base and held Milwaukie at bay the rest of the way for a complete game victory.

Milwaukie pitchers struggled to throw strikes in the first inning as two bases loaded walks and a hit batter forced in three Astoria runs in the frame.

Astoria opened up a 9-1 lead with a 6-run second inning, keyed by a 3-run home run by Brown and back-to-back doubles by Max Johnson and Dane Lund. Johnson led off the inning with a double over the head of right fielder A.J. Dickson, then came back around with an RBI single to plate Willie Einerson, who reached on a base hit.

Astoria added five more runs in the third on back-to-back RBI singles by Sarpola and Daniel Mathre and a dropped fly ball that cleared the bases.

Brown went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, home run, two runs scored and four RBI's to lead the Astoria offensive attack. Mason Brause walked twice and was hit by a pitch, scoring all three times.

The Astoria Ford Legion Post 12 team will face Milwaukie's legion group at 4:00 p.m. (we think) and then will play McNary at 7:00 p.m.

McNary defeated Milwaukie 9-0 in Monday's nightcap.

ASTORIA FIRECRACKER TOURNAMENT-Tuesday Schedule

Here is Tuesday's adjusted Firecracker Tournament schedule for today. Franklin (Malarkey Roofing) will not be participating in the tournament after a last minute cancellation, citing transportation problems.

Rolling Thunder BBQ will provide food at today's games, with full meal plates going for $10 dollars. Proceeds go to the Astoria baseball program.

1:00 p.m.: Astoria Ford vs. Milwaukie
4:00 p.m.: Astoria Ford Legion Post 12 vs. Milwaukie
7:00 p.m.: Astoria Ford Legion Post 12 vs. McNary

INDEPENDENCE DAY
1:00 p.m.: Astoria Ford vs. Milwaukie
4:00 p.m.: Astoria Ford Legion Post 12 vs. McNary

Thursday, Astoria Ford returns to OJBA action with a league game at Seaside.

WARRIORS ROMP AT ILWACO

Buddy Davis went 5-for-5 with a double and five runs scored and Michael Moore improved to 4-0 for the summer with a 5-inning complete game as the Warrenton Warriors defeated Ilwaco 17-2 in a North Coast District make-up game at Rutherford Field.

Brandon Slaughter went 2-for-5 with a double and Kevin Moore went 2-for-3 as the Warriors outhit the Fishermen 12-4 in the game, which was shortened to five innings by the 10-run mercy rule.

"We hit them hard and often," said Warriors head coach Lennie Wolfe.

Moore struck out five and walked only one, allowing four hits to win his fourth decision.

The Fishermen bounced back to win the non-league second game 5-4, despite being outhit 11-to-4 by Warrenton.

"Frankly, we ran ourselves out of that game," said Wolfe. "We made a number of baserunning mistakes that cost us dearly."

Justin Short picked up the win on the mound. Dylan Glover, an Astoria native, caught game two after pitching three innings of relief in game one, hitting his second double of the day. Trevor Couch also doubled for the Fishermen.

Warrenton returns to the field today, hosting Seaside for a 4:00 p.m. doubleheader before travelling to Tillamook for two on Thursday.

Game One
WARRENTON 3-6-3-4-1 17-12-1
ILWACO 0-0-0-0-2 2-4-6
W-M. Moore (5ip, 4h, 2er, 5k, bb)
L-DeSimone
2B-Slaughter, Davis, Glover

Game Two
WARRENTON 1-0-1-0-2-0-0 4-11-1
ILWACO 1-0-0-2-2-0-x 5-5-1
W-Short
L-Sturgell
2B-M. Moore, Davis, Glover, Couch. 3B-Olsen