REDMOND – Fresh off a District 1 title, the Astoria girls golf team is going after much bigger game this week.

After one round of play at the state meet in Redmond, the Fishermen are in first place in the team standings as they hold a three-stroke lead on Sisters and a 13-stroke advantage on third-place Tillamook following Monday’s first-round action.

The Astoria girls came in with a 348 team score, followed by Sisters at 351. The meet concludes today at the Eagle Crest Resort.

Individually, Wilsonville’s Agatha Brezezinski is the leader after firing a three-over par 75 Monday.

With two birdies on the day, Seaside’s Mallory Osburn is tied for sixth overall at 82, while Arielle Stevens was Astoria’s top golfer, carding a personal best 86 (14th overall) over 18 holes.

Close behind are teammates Marlie Cokley and Chelsea Reed-Harmel (tied for 15th at 87), and Katie Cokley (18th, 88). Jessica Thornburg also had a strong round with a personal best 109 (64th).

“For all four of our top golfers to break 90 at the state tournament says a lot about them, not just as players, but as people,” said Astoria coach Amanda Theobald. “They stepped up and handled the pressure and the stress that comes with competing at state.

“The key now is confidence and course management,” she said. “We need to come out (today) and play smart golf. We lost a few shots on the putting greens.

“I told the girls we’re starting from scratch on Day 2,” said Theobald, Astoria’s first-year coach. “It’s a clean slate.”

Seaside boys eighthREDMOND – Led by Hunter Solt’s two-over par 74, the Seaside boys golf team is tied for eighth place in the team standings after one round of play in the 3A state meet, which began Monday on the Eagle Crest Ridge Course in Redmond.

Sisters holds a nine-stroke lead in the team standings with a 291, while the Gulls carded a 320, tied for eighth with Marist. Astoria is 15th after Day 1 with a 339.

The individual leaders after one round are Christian Green of Sisters and Nathan Johnson of Elmira, who each shot a four-under par 68.

In addition to Solt, the Gulls had solid rounds from Joel Bletscher (79, tied for 32nd) and Sean Hamer (80, tied for 37th). Chris Huong added an 87 (tied for 63rd), and Daniel Huong was at 102.

Digger Cokley led the Fishermen with a 76, 10 strokes ahead of teammates Ryan Gallagher and Johnny Wilson, who each finished Day 1 at 86.

Rounding out the scoring for Astoria were Ben Wintermute (91) and Greg Barnes (94).

“We came in with a 161 after the first nine, which was awesome – we had a really good start,” said Astoria coach Dan Foss. “Then we came up with a 178 on the back nine. I’m not sure what happened there.

“We’re at 339, which is a little above our team average,” he said. “But we’ll try to lower our score (Tuesday) and see what happens.”

Cokley fired a 36 over the first nine holes (Astoria players played the back nine first), while Wilson had a 40 at the turn.

“Digger was very solid,” Foss said. “He said his green-side shots and his chipping were hurting him a little, but generally he was hitting the ball pretty well.

“Ryan (Gallagher) could have gone lower, but the 86 is his best in three years at state.

“Johnny Wilson’s 40 was awesome – he had a great start,” Foss said. “And Ben had a good start on the first nine, then hit a couple shots out of bounds on the back nine.”

SoftballClatskanie wins leagueVERNONIA – Clatskanie secured the Northwest League’s No. 1 spot to the state softball playoffs Monday, winning a one-game tie-breaker with Warrenton, 5-4, at Vernonia.

The Tigers’ win broke a tie with the Warriors atop the league standings. Both teams entered the contest with 13-1 league records.

And in addition to earning the league’s No. 1 seed, the Tigers also secured a week off and a first-round bye in the state playoffs.

Warrenton, meanwhile, will host the league playoffs Saturday. Corbett and Vernonia face off in Game 1 (noon), with the winner playing Warrenton immediately afterward for the league’s second spot to state.

The Warriors held a brief 2-0 lead in Monday’s game with Clatskanie before the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth, then added one in the fifth for a 4-2 lead.

As they always do, the Warriors rallied late, scoring two runs on a double by Dani Cederberg in the top of the seventh to tie the game.

But the Tigers had the last say as Tracy Somes led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, followed by a walk and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs.

Somes scored the game-winner on an error, as Warrenton misplayed a grounder by Savannah White.

Warrenton had four errors in the game to Clatskanie’s three, with each team collecting six hits.

Clatskanie’s Courtney Sherman got the win on the mound, striking out seven with three walks.

Diana Kerr went 2-for-4 for the Warriors, who enter the post-season with a 20-4 overall record.

BaseballWarrenton 17, Gaston 2GASTON – Gaston probably got more out of Monday’s baseball game with Warrenton than the Warriors did. Warrenton hammered the Greyhounds 17-2 in a nonleague contest at Gaston.

The Warriors (23-1 overall) had 21 hits to Gaston’s three, and scored 14 runs over their final four at-bats.

Warrenton’s next game will be Saturday at home, against Knappa, Portland Lutheran or Clatskanie.

Third-place Knappa and fourth-place Portland Lutheran face off Thursday at Knappa, with the winner advancing to play Clatskanie Saturday (1 p.m., at Warrenton) for a spot in the state playoffs. The winner of that game will play the Warriors immediately afterward for state playoff seeding.

Zach Gantenbein and Zach LaRue both had home runs in Monday’s game, with LaRue going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and six RBIs. Eric and Zach Gantenbein had three hits apiece.

Nate McBride pitched a solid five innings, allowing three hits with eight strikeouts and a walk. He enters the post-season with an 11-0 record on the mound.

TrackJays qualify for stateThe Jewell track team will send five athletes to this week’s state meet at Western Oregon University as the Bluejays scored well in the District 1/1A meet last weekend.

The Jewell girls scored 62 points to place fourth out of 10 schools in the team standings. Damascus Christian won the girls’ title with 144 points, followed by St. Paul (130), Life Christian (78) and Jewell.

Winners for the Bluejays included Sarah Seeley in the 3,000 meters, as she crossed the tape in 12 minutes, 07.25 seconds – a full minute ahead of second-place finisher Megan Weatherspoon of North Clackamas Christian (13:08.41).

Adding big points for Jewell was Kristin Nelson, who won the discus with a throw of 91 feet, 9 inches, beating out St. Paul’s Ashley Parrish (88-4 1/2).

Other field event victories came from Mollie Lee in the javelin (114-5) and Rene Steinweg, who cleared 4-10 in the high jump.

The Jewell boys scored 26 points to finish seventh in the team standings, while North Clackamas Christian cruised to the boys’ title with 176 points.

Heading to the state meet for the Jays will be Tim Meier, who took second in the 300