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--> --> May 7: Raiders, Grizzlies heading down home stretch By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings And down the stretch they come. The Southern Oregon Conference district track and tennis meets, the NAIA Region I softball tournament and a crucial baseball doubleheader highlight what promises to be a wild two-week stretch for Ashland athletics. It all begins at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, when the SOU softball squad, in just its second year of intercollegiate play, kicks off what it hopes will be a long run in the Region I tourney. The final step to nationals will be held Thursday and Friday at Delta Park in northeast Portland. The Raiders' first-round opponent has yet to be determined, but it will be either 16th-ranked Oregon Tech (37-9) or second-ranked Simon Fraser (24-3). Locals will have a chance to get a first-hand view of playoff action on the same day, when the Ashland High boys tennis team hosts the SOC district meet at Hunter Park. On the line will be the SOC district team championship, along with berths to the May 16-18 state meet. The district meet will go all day Thursday, then resume Saturday. The format will be the same for the SOC girls meet, to be held at North Medford High. On Saturday, the Grizz baseball squad continues its march toward a second consecutive Southern Oregon Conference championship against Eagle Point. The Grizzlies (9-3 SOC), who have already locked up one of the SOC's four state playoff berths, can clinch at least a tie for first place by sweeping the Eagles (1-11 SOC), and will win outright with a sweep and a North Medford (9-3 SOC) loss to Crater (8-4 SOC) on the same day. Either way, the Grizzlies will open the Class 4A state tournament May 20, probably at home. The SOC track and field championships will be held May 18 at North Medford High and South Medford High. Only a few Grizzlies are expected to challenge for a state berth, but among those will be javelin favorite Cameron Voget. Voget won the Grants Pass Rotary Invitational Saturday with a throw of 189-5. If he takes the district crown as expected, it's off to the Class 4A state meet May 24-25 at Hayward Field in Eugene. The SOU track team has filed away its annual double-win at the Cascade Conference meet and will send at least nine athletes - five women and four men - to the NAIA National Championships, May 23-25 at Olathe, Kan. Led by Richard Bailey and Tiwana Merritt, the Raiders won both the men's and the women's CCC team titles Saturday. 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