Playoff seedings become more clear
· Yahoo Sports
With one week left in the regular season, softball and baseball teams are starting to get their seedings locked in for the upcoming state playoffs. Astoria softball, Warrenton softball and Knappa softball look poised to qualify for the postseason, while the Seaside girls hope to finish the season strong. On the diamond, Warrenton and Banks are set for Wednesday’s league showdown, while Astoria boys continue to grind toward the baseball playoffs.
First inning thunder strike enough for Scappoose
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The Scappoose softball team completed the sweep over Astoria on Thursday afternoon after striking for three runs in the first inning. The Indians followed an old time and tested script of getting to a good pitcher early. Scappoose forced Astoria starter Taryen Wray into a 30 pitch first, that saw them score three runs.
Astoria would claw back to get things to 3-2 after a Lyla Carlson sixth-inning home run, but the Indians’ relief pitcher Saige Casey shut things down in the seventh. Casey pitched the last three innings in relief of her younger sister Elly, to secure the Indians win.
With the loss, the Astoria girls are out of contention for a Cowapa League title. The Fishermen have three league losses, while Scappoose and St. Helens have two. Astoria has two games against St. Helens upcoming that will determine their final positioning. If the Fishermen win the next two against St. Helens, they will be second, but if the teams split the Fishermen will be third.
Currently, Astoria is ranked No. 5 in the 4A softball rankings. If things stay like this, the Fishermen are potentially staring at a second-round matchup against The Dalles, then a semi-final game against Scappoose.
St. Helens takes care of Seaside
The Seaside girls took on St. Helens this week and fell by scores of 7-2 on Tuesday and 11-2 on Thursday.
The two losses pushed their record to 1-8 in league and 8-13 overall. Despite the losing record, Seaside is still ranked No. 14 in 4A. If the Seagulls were in any other division, they would have a good shot to qualify for the postseason as a second- or third-place team.
This team has continued to make strides and with three games remaining in the season, they have a chance to reach the double-digit win mark.
On Tuesday, the Seagulls were led offensively by Grace Walker. The junior had two hits in three at bats and also stole a base. Allie Corder and Chloe Baker had the two RBIs for Seaside on the day. Corder pitched the full seven innings and allowed three earned runs on eight hits and only one walk.
Thursday, the Seagulls were led by Jahzara Marshall and Walker in the hit department. Both had two hits, and combined for four of Seaside’s five on the day. Walker also knocked in the only two runs with a fifth inning single.
Warrenton softball one step away
The Warrenton softball team swept aside Rainier at CMH Field on Thursday.
Due to inclement weather, the game was moved from Warrenton High School’s grass field to Astoria’s turf complex. With the double header starting at 3 p.m., fans in attendance got the whole coastal weather experience.
Game one, the conditions were almost perfect for a softball game. A mixture of an overcast sky and sun made the game pretty straightforward for both teams. This led to a 10-0 Warrenton win in five innings.
Pitcher Scarlet Anderson was one hit batter away from a perfect game. Though she hit a batter, the sophomore still ended up facing the minimum due to a double play later that inning. She had nine strikeouts in the outing.
Offensively, the Warriors took advantage of six Rainier errors en route to scoring 10 runs. Natalie Pike had a perfect day at the plate going for two with two walks and two RBIs. Hannah Leavitt and Kiki Olson also had two hits to lead the offensive effort.
Game two was a whole different ball game.
After playing sloppy in game one, the Columbians actually outplayed Warrenton in the field. Despite the weather conditions turning sour, Rainier didn’t make any errors, while Warrenton made two. The two errors allowed Rainer to score two unearned runs off of Anderson in the top of the fourth inning.
Warrenton would respond quickly with two in the bottom half. This was around the time CMH Field started to get dumped on by rain. Though the fans had the comfort of tarps, the pitchers did not. Over the course of an hour or so downpour, the Warriors took advantage of wild pitching from Rainier to get two more runs across to win 4-2.
The two wins moved Warrenton to 9-5 in league and 15-8 overall. Warrenton is ranked No. 8 in 3A and the team is set for a berth in the postseason. One more game against Corbett next week will wrap up the regular season.
Knappa girls win game one
The Knappa girls softball team took another step towards clinching a playoff spot with an 11-1 victory over Gaston.
After dropping a nonleague game to Country Christian/ North Clackamas Christian 15-5 on Monday, the Loggers took care of their league opponent. The 11-1 victory keeps them third in the Northwest League with a record of 6-4. Knappa is currently ranked No. 15 in 2A and is the second ranked third-place team, so they will be in the playoffs outright as of now. Two more games against Gaston will help determine their official placing.
Astoria boys baseball now in must win
After letting two games slip away, the Astoria boys are in a must-win situation.
Due to currently being ranked No. 16 in 4A and third in the Cowapa League, the Fishermen need to beat St. Helens twice to wrap up the regular season and hope that rival Seaside can help them out.
Despite beating Tillamook two out of three, the Cheesemakers upsetting Scappoose kept them in the league race. After Astoria fell to Scappoose twice this week by scores of 5-4 and 7-3, the team is 4-6, while the Cheesemakers are 4-5.
Friday at Tapiola Park and Monday at St. Helens are where Astoria’s season will be won or lost.
Seaside boys split with St. Helens
Seaside boys split their final two baseball games with St. Helens on Monday and Wednesday.
The Lions took Monday’s contest by a score of 5-4 and then Seaside battled back to win 4-2 on Wednesday.
This split has the two teams tied at 3-6 in league play.
Monday’s game was a tale of Seaside falling behind early and not being able to make up ground. The Seagulls gave up four runs in the first inning and were left playing catchup. Though they cut things to 5-4, Seaside was not able to come all the way back.
Game two, the Seagulls had a strong pitching performance from Hayden Halsen. After shutting down Astoria last Friday, the junior pitched a complete game allowing seven hits, two runs, striking out seven and throwing 105 pitches. Kane Israel had the big hit in the bottom of the first inning that scored Seaside’s first two runs.
Knappa falls to Gaston
The Knappa boys fell 20-10 to Gaston in the first baseball game of their three-game series.
The Loggers entered this week in fourth place and facing long odds to make the postseason. A loss to the Greyhounds doesn’t help their cause as the Greyhounds scored 20 runs for the third time this season during their victory.
The two teams finished up their series on Friday afternoon in Ridgefield, Washington. Knappa entered Friday with a 6-7 record in league and No. 22 in 2A.