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--> --> Ashland Little League finishes third at state event Ashland Daily Tidings RAINIER - The dreams of a state title for the Ashland 9- and 10-year-old Little League All-Star team came up a game short. Ashland dropped a heartbreaker 1-0 to Pendleton Wednesday night and finished third in the state. The Ashland squad could only muster one hit against Pendleton. "It was a tough game," head coach Dave Sebrell said. "We average nine or 10 runs a game. But they had a pitcher that had a good fastball and threw a lot of curveballs. We haven't seen a pitcher that threw that many curveballs." Ashland had their two chances to get on the board. In the second inning, Charlie Sebrell worked his way to third. He tried to score on a ground ball up the middle, but the Pendleton shortstop cut off the ball and threw Sebrell out on a close play at the plate. In the third, Tim Harper was on third but was left stranded when the batter was called out on strikes to end the threat. That was the only two times Ashland had runners on third. Pendleton got their only run in the third inning. A bases loaded line drive to center score one, but Ashland averted further damage on the play by throwing out the runner coming from second. Casey Skolnik was the tough-luck loser for Ashland. Skolnik pitched all six innings, giving up six hits and striking out seven. "He pitched a great game," Sebrell said. "It was hard to see him lose." The loss ends the greatest run of an Ashland Little League team at the state level. After breezing through the district tourney, Ashland went up to the state tournament and dropped their opener 4-1 to St. Helens. The gritty bunch clawed their way through the losers' bracket with victories over the Medford Nationals, Reynolds and Keiser. Pendleton will face Lake Oswego tonight in the title game. "This group of kids were true champions," Sebrell said. Members of the Ashland team were Harper, Skolnik, Casey Sebrell, Garrett Tygerson, Jay Barton, Jordan Decker, Lewis Sebrell, Alex Nagel, Hayden Miller, Derrick Ruby, Ian Reynolds-Kendall and Max Marvin. Ashland's Jayson Schroeder fires a pitch during his one-hitter. Ashland Daily Tidings/Denise Baratta Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing