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Tuesday will go down as a day of “what if’s” for the Astoria softball and Warrenton baseball teams. Both were looking to punch a ticket to Eugene for their respective state title games, but a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position became their downfall as Clatsop County got shut out of the state title games this season.
Astoria softball: Gut punched
Everything started off perfect for the Astoria girls. After losing the first three games to Scappoose, the Lady Fish were hoping to reverse their fate on Tuesday in the most important game of the season.
A scoreless first inning was followed by an Astoria explosion. After Lyla Carlson reached on an error, freshman right fielder Kilee Svensen got the scoring started with a home run over the center field fence. This was the first of many the center field wall would receive throughout the game.
The home run put Astoria up 2-0 and the game turned over to Fishermen pitcher Taryen Wray. The junior started off hot as she was mowing down a powerful Indians lineup throughout the first three innings. However, despite the Fishermen getting two early runs, the same problems that had plagued them in the first two postseason games persisted.
Head coach Kent Israel had been preaching about his team’s lack of hitting with girls in scoring position. Up until this point, it hadn’t hurt them. But it sure did on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s state semi-final was the one game out of four in which Astoria was successul against Indians starter Saige Casey. After a quiet first inning, Astoria either scored or got multiple runners on base each of the next three innings. Despite having seven hits against Casey the Fishermen were only able to score two runs. The third inning saw Astoria get runners on second and third with one out and not score, then the fourth inning resulted in another runner being stranded in scoring position.
After having just one hit in the first four innings, Scappoose’s bats finally started to wake up. Taking advantage of a Fishermen fielding error, the Indians were able to get a single run back to make things 2-1. The Astoria girls responded in the fifth with their only hit with runners in scoring position as Wray made things 3-1. With just nine outs remaining, it looked like Astoria could be returning to the state title game. But it wasn’t meant to be.
A home run to center field by eighth place hitter Emily Greiner in the fifth and strong pitching by Elly Casey kept Astoria at bay — and the Indians gained momentum. Scappoose and everyone in the stands thought Saige Casey tied things up in the sixth inning as she hit a shot to center field — it ultimately was caught by Astoria’s centerfielder Carlson, in incredible fashion.
In the seventh inning, the Astoria girls got a taste of their medicine as once again the eighth place hitter Greiner knocked in a run with a two out-two strike single. After a one out double, the senior singled to left on a 3-2 count to tie the game. After Astoria went quietly in the eighth, Kayla Brainerd hit a bomb to centerfield to send Astoria home and Scappoose to Eugene. The Indians proceeded to storm the junior outfielder, enjoying their 5-3 walk-off victory.
The game was everything it could be, a heavyweight fight consisting of two state championship worthy teams. In the end, the Fishermen were not able to find the key hits like they did last season and fell to a better team. Despite being equal with Scappoose talent-wise, the Indians got big hits when they needed to — and Astoria did not.
Even in defeat, the Fishermen proved to be worthy state champions, as it took everything Scappoose had to dethrone them. With both teams returning much of their strong junior classes and St. Helens moving up to 5A, expect these two teams to be battling in June next year, once again.
Tuesday was a strong game for the Svensen sisters as they each had two hits. Older sister Hailey went 2-4 and younger sister Kilee had a home run and double. In total, the Fishermen outhit Scappoose 10-5, but were only able to manage three runs from those 10 hits.
With St. Helens also winning, the 4A girls state softball championship trophy will remain in the Cowapa League, but under new ownership after the fall of Astoria.
Warrenton baseball team: Disappointed
The boys of Warrenton’s baseball team may be feeling more disappointed than even the girls of Astori’s softball team, given their circumstances.
Taking on Oregon commit Zack Hankins and No. 1 seed Taft, the Warriors did everything right — except hit with runners in scoring position. The strategy against Taft was to make Hankins throw a lot of pitches and then get into their bullpen. Warrenton did just that. The Warriors took advantage of Hankins laboring to get his pitch count up. In turn, the senior left-hander only lasted three innings until he gave way to sophomore Lonnie West. The three innings for Hankins included 72 pitches, 3 walks, 2 hit batters and two hits allowed. This was as much damage as any team had done against him all season long. Unfortunately for Warrenton, Hankins did what every great pitcher does — he got out of jams without any damage.
Hankins stranded eight Warrenton base runners in his three innings of work to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard. In addition to his work on the mound, Hankins went 2-3 at the plate and knocked in both the runs for Taft. As the leadoff hitter, Hankins took the first pitch he saw from Aaron Neahring and hit it over the right field bleachers. Even in a game where he doesn’t pitch great, Hankins still made his presence felt, as he once again carried Taft across the finish line in the 2-1 win.
Like the Astoria girls, the Warrenton boys struggled with runs in scoring position. In total, the Warriors stranded 11 base runners and had two runners thrown at home trying to score. One happened in the top of the first and the other happened in the fifth after Warrenton looked to have a huge inning going. The Warriors only run came on a botched pickoff attempt by Taft’s catcher.
For the second year in a row, Warrenton may have gone home feeling like they let one slip away. Last year, one bad inning was the difference against Cascade Christian and this season, the Warriors had way more chances but were not able to cash in — Warrenton outhit Taft 5-3 and had 11 base runners to their eight.
Neahring was the hardluck loser as he went six innings, gave up three, three walks and only one earned run. Ryan Palmer was the standout hitter as he went 2-3 with one walk. Senior Zephan Pierce finished up his Warrenton career with a 1-2 day, which included two walks.
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Astoria softball: Gut punched
Everything started off perfect for the Astoria girls. After losing the first three games to Scappoose, the Lady Fish were hoping to reverse their fate on Tuesday in the most important game of the season.
A scoreless first inning was followed by an Astoria explosion. After Lyla Carlson reached on an error, freshman right fielder Kilee Svensen got the scoring started with a home run over the center field fence. This was the first of many the center field wall would receive throughout the game.
The home run put Astoria up 2-0 and the game turned over to Fishermen pitcher Taryen Wray. The junior started off hot as she was mowing down a powerful Indians lineup throughout the first three innings. However, despite the Fishermen getting two early runs, the same problems that had plagued them in the first two postseason games persisted.
Head coach Kent Israel had been preaching about his team’s lack of hitting with girls in scoring position. Up until this point, it hadn’t hurt them. But it sure did on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s state semi-final was the one game out of four in which Astoria was successul against Indians starter Saige Casey. After a quiet first inning, Astoria either scored or got multiple runners on base each of the next three innings. Despite having seven hits against Casey the Fishermen were only able to score two runs. The third inning saw Astoria get runners on second and third with one out and not score, then the fourth inning resulted in another runner being stranded in scoring position.
After having just one hit in the first four innings, Scappoose’s bats finally started to wake up. Taking advantage of a Fishermen fielding error, the Indians were able to get a single run back to make things 2-1. The Astoria girls responded in the fifth with their only hit with runners in scoring position as Wray made things 3-1. With just nine outs remaining, it looked like Astoria could be returning to the state title game. But it wasn’t meant to be.
A home run to center field by eighth place hitter Emily Greiner in the fifth and strong pitching by Elly Casey kept Astoria at bay — and the Indians gained momentum. Scappoose and everyone in the stands thought Saige Casey tied things up in the sixth inning as she hit a shot to center field — it ultimately was caught by Astoria’s centerfielder Carlson, in incredible fashion.
In the seventh inning, the Astoria girls got a taste of their medicine as once again the eighth place hitter Greiner knocked in a run with a two out-two strike single. After a one out double, the senior singled to left on a 3-2 count to tie the game. After Astoria went quietly in the eighth, Kayla Brainerd hit a bomb to centerfield to send Astoria home and Scappoose to Eugene. The Indians proceeded to storm the junior outfielder, enjoying their 5-3 walk-off victory.
The game was everything it could be, a heavyweight fight consisting of two state championship worthy teams. In the end, the Fishermen were not able to find the key hits like they did last season and fell to a better team. Despite being equal with Scappoose talent-wise, the Indians got big hits when they needed to — and Astoria did not.
Even in defeat, the Fishermen proved to be worthy state champions, as it took everything Scappoose had to dethrone them. With both teams returning much of their strong junior classes and St. Helens moving up to 5A, expect these two teams to be battling in June next year, once again.
Tuesday was a strong game for the Svensen sisters as they each had two hits. Older sister Hailey went 2-4 and younger sister Kilee had a home run and double. In total, the Fishermen outhit Scappoose 10-5, but were only able to manage three runs from those 10 hits.
With St. Helens also winning, the 4A girls state softball championship trophy will remain in the Cowapa League, but under new ownership after the fall of Astoria.
Warrenton baseball team: Disappointed
The boys of Warrenton’s baseball team may be feeling more disappointed than even the girls of Astori’s softball team, given their circumstances.
Taking on Oregon commit Zack Hankins and No. 1 seed Taft, the Warriors did everything right — except hit with runners in scoring position. The strategy against Taft was to make Hankins throw a lot of pitches and then get into their bullpen. Warrenton did just that. The Warriors took advantage of Hankins laboring to get his pitch count up. In turn, the senior left-hander only lasted three innings until he gave way to sophomore Lonnie West. The three innings for Hankins included 72 pitches, 3 walks, 2 hit batters and two hits allowed. This was as much damage as any team had done against him all season long. Unfortunately for Warrenton, Hankins did what every great pitcher does — he got out of jams without any damage.
Hankins stranded eight Warrenton base runners in his three innings of work to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard. In addition to his work on the mound, Hankins went 2-3 at the plate and knocked in both the runs for Taft. As the leadoff hitter, Hankins took the first pitch he saw from Aaron Neahring and hit it over the right field bleachers. Even in a game where he doesn’t pitch great, Hankins still made his presence felt, as he once again carried Taft across the finish line in the 2-1 win.
Like the Astoria girls, the Warrenton boys struggled with runs in scoring position. In total, the Warriors stranded 11 base runners and had two runners thrown at home trying to score. One happened in the top of the first and the other happened in the fifth after Warrenton looked to have a huge inning going. The Warriors only run came on a botched pickoff attempt by Taft’s catcher.
For the second year in a row, Warrenton may have gone home feeling like they let one slip away. Last year, one bad inning was the difference against Cascade Christian and this season, the Warriors had way more chances but were not able to cash in — Warrenton outhit Taft 5-3 and had 11 base runners to their eight.
Neahring was the hardluck loser as he went six innings, gave up three, three walks and only one earned run. Ryan Palmer was the standout hitter as he went 2-3 with one walk. Senior Zephan Pierce finished up his Warrenton career with a 1-2 day, which included two walks.
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