local Sports July 25: Pilots keep piling up victories
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--> --> July 25: Pilots keep piling up victories By Bobby Heiken Ashland Daily Tidings Each day seems to bring another victory for the Ashland American Legion team. After a 10-0, 13-2 doubleheader sweep of South Medford Tuesday afternoon at North Mountain Park to improve to 23-2, head coach Josh Hamik is trying to make sure the Pilots don't lose their focus. "We are trying to keep playing at the high level that we know we can play," Hamik said. "Sometimes it's hard when the games get out of control but we try to stay on them." In Tuesday's opener against the Colts, starting pitcher Jayson Schroeder put it on cruise control and only gave up one hit in the five-inning victory. Still Hamik was at work. "We told Jay to go out and pitch like it was a tied game," Hamik said. "We wanted to see how he would react." Offensively it took time for the Pilots to respond to the slower speeds the South Medford pitching staff was throwing at them. Ashland led 3-0 after two innings before finally exploding in the third. A single by Titus Weston and a lined double to the wall by Bill Rowe set the stage for a two-run double by Mike Allen. Ryan Decker added a sacrifice fly to drive in a run and Nick Danis added two more runs on a single for an 8-0 lead. Ashland had two more runs in the fourth on another sacrifice fly by Decker and a wild pitch. Schroeder improved to 4-0 with the victory. In the nightcap, Ashland trailed 2-0 until it exploded in the fourth for four runs. In the fifth inning, a three-run homer by Rowe - his seventh of the year - helped push the Pilots to the 10-run rule victory. Nick Ehlers pitched all five innings to improve to 3-0 on the year. Rowe added two doubles in the second game to go along with his home run. Ashland wraps up the regular season Saturday with a 1 p.m. home doubleheader with Phoenix. After that, the Pilots will take part in the zone playoffs starting Aug. 1. 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