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Twinbill with Roseburg looms large By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Six days removed from an emotionally draining doubleheader sweep of Crater, the Ashland High baseball team hosts Roseburg at noon Saturday at North Mountain Park in a crucial Southern Oregon Conference twinbill. Ashland enters the game 2-2 in the SOC while Roseburg, rated No. 2 in a preseason SOC coaches poll, is a disappointing 0-3 following Tuesday's 5-4 home loss to South Medford. A sweep by Ashland would give the Grizzlies a major leg up in what promises to be a tight league playoff race and, as a consolation prize, would further sink Roseburg's postseason dreams. Roseburg, meanwhile, is aiming to get back in an SOC race they've been out of since league-opening blowout losses to North Medford. "I think it's real big," Ashland head coach Jason Robustelli said this morning. "It's going to go a long way to deciding where we're going to end up this season. Playing at home, we need to sweep them." In traditional Robustelli fashion, the Grizzlies will start senior James Page in the opener, saving staff ace junior Chad Hegdahl for Game 2. That strategy, a staple for Ashland over the past two seasons, during which the Grizzlies captured consecutive SOC titles, worked just fine last Saturday during the Grizzlies' 17-15 and 5-4 sweep of the Comets. Ashland escaped Game 1 thanks to a game-winning homer by Chase Cook, then rode Hegdahl's three-hit performance in the sweep-clincher. The stakes will be high again this weekend, says Robustelli, because the Indians are a team on the ropes. "This could be a make or break game for their season, for sure," Robustelli said. The first-year head coach added that mistake-free defense will again be critical to his team's chances. The Grizzlies, who's starting lineup consists primarily of first-year varsity players, kicked the ball around during a pair of SOC-opening losses to Klamath Union April 5. That trend continued in the opener versus Crater, allowing the Comets to bounce back from an 11-1 deficit, but Ashland recovered on the strength of clutch hitting. Robustelli thinks the Grizzlies learned their lesson. "I think they learned a lot about momentum and trying to keep momentum," he said, "because a lot of teams out there, all they need is a spark." Boys Tennis At Klamath Falls, Ashland swept five singles matches en route to an 8-1 win over Klamath Union Thursday to improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Oregon Conference. Leading the singles play romp was Grizz No. 1 Evan Schleining, who hammered John Bogotay, 6-0, 6-0. Miles Rooklyn, Ashland's No. 3 singles player, won the closest singles match of the day, coming back to defeat Salvador Garcia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. At No. 1 doubles, Nick Spurlock and Brenden Curry of Ashland rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over John Bogotay and Matt Ryder. Ashland next hosts SOC foe Grants Pass, noon Saturday at Hunter Park. AHS Football The search for Ashland High's next football coach is almost complete. The school will narrow the list of candidates to two in a meeting this morning, AHS Athletic Director and former head coach Jim Nagel said Wednesday. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -