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--> --> May 4: Grizzlies sweep Pelicans, lead conference By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings First, Bill Rowe got the revenge he wanted with his bat. Then, when that wasn't good enough, he used his arm to do it again. Turns out the second time was a charm, as the Rowe-led Ashland High baseball team staged a pair of Game 2 comebacks Friday at North Mountain Park to sweep Klamath Union 3-1 and 6-5. Rowe, Ashland's big lefty, was plunked in the first inning of the nightcap, but went yard two at-bats later to give the Grizzlies a short-lived 4-3 lead in the fifth. After both teams scored two in the sixth the Grizzlies called on Rowe again, this time to pitch. He did, striking out KU leadoff hitter Eric Lukkari with the bases loaded to secure the victory. "We got Eagle Point (next week) and that's all we're thinking about," Rowe said. "It's so great to go to prom tomorrow after two wins." The sweep allowed the Grizzlies to move two big steps closer toward claiming their second consecutive Southern Oregon Conference championship. They improved to 15-6 overall, 9-3 in the SOC heading into their final regular season doubleheader - a May 11 twin bill at home against Eagle Point. If the Grizzlies sweep that as expected, they can do no worse than finish in a tie for first place. If they do finish tied, they would be named co-champions and a tie-breaking system would determine Ashland's seed for the upcoming Class 4A state tournament. Regardless, the Grizzlies open the state playoffs May 20, probably at home. The sweep also clinched Ashland's second state playoff berth in as many years and knocked Klamath Union (5-7 SOC) out of playoff contention. "These were two huge wins," Grizz senior third baseman Titus Weston said. "This is probably the toughest doubleheader that we came into. Tied for first with four other teams ... one loss could maybe get you out of the playoffs, mathematically, so it was huge. We lost to these guys last year and it almost ruined our chances last year. "We came into it saying, `We're not going to do it again, there's no way that we're going to go out and drop another one to KU and put our chances into somebody else's hands.' We want to keep them in our own hands, where it's do or die." Death was always in the air. Klamath Union took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener before Grizz ace Mike Allen helped his own cause with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning. Ashland added another run in the second and one more in the fourth on a Weston RBI single, which was all the insurance Allen needed en route to his sixth win of the season (6-3). Allen, who started a Game 1 for the first time this season, allowed five hits in the complete game victory, struck out nine and retired 15 of the last 18 batters he faced. Game 2 was that much tighter. Facing a 3-1 deficit, the Grizzlies scored twice in the fourth on RBI singles by Chase Cook and Ryan Decker to tie it up. They took the lead in the fifth when Rowe crushed a first-pitch fastball 25 feet over the right field wall. "I get cold," Rowe said. "When I get intentionally walked like three times, I come up, I haven't taken a swing at a ball for two hours and I'm not ready for live pitching. And this time I told myself, if he puts it anywhere near the plate on the first pitch I'm swinging for it because I just need to be aggressive, and it worked." The Pelicans didn't go down easy, re-taking a 5-4 lead on Jared Leeper's two-out, two-run homer to left in the top of the sixth. Weston's run-scoring single with one out in the sixth tied it up, and senior Zachary Brewer gave Ashland the lead for good when he scored on Allen's perfectly-placed squeeze bunt. Sophomore Chad Hegdahl started Game 2 for the Grizzlies and improved to 6-1 despite his first subpar outing of the season (Hegdahl entered the game with an ERA just below 0.40, but gave up five earned runs). Senior Kyle Puderbaugh relieved Hegdahl in the seventh, but was quickly yanked after walking the first batter (Mike Mitchell) and throwing two straight balls to the next one (Jeff Mortenson). That's when Rowe took over. He walked Mortenson two pitches later to put runners on first and second with no outs. That brought up Nick Caleb, who grounded right to Rowe. Rowe, bobbled the ball for a moment, then made a risky throw to third, barely getting out the lead runner. He then struck out Paul Landrum, hit Aaron Croxford with a 1-2 pitch and struck out Lukkari. Lukkari, down 1-2 in the count, couldn't resist a high fastball and was punched out on a check swing. "These guys showed their mettle today," Grizz coach Doug Stover said of his team. "They got ahead, we came back, they got ahead, we came back. I've got to give them credit. Nobody folded today, they just kept playing and playing and playing, and they've got a lot of desire, a lot of pride, and I'm really proud of them today." Game 2 began like a typical Ashland-Klamath Union clash - football clash, that is. Decker led off the bottom of the first with a walk, moved two bases on a sacrifice bunt and a botched coverage, then scored after a massive collision at the plate. The play at home began when Weston flew out to right. Decker tagged up and sped home, but was met five feet in front of the plate by KU catcher Sean Anderson. Anderson's attempt to block the plate, however, resulted in a knee to his midsection and a run for the Grizzlies when he couldn't hold on to the ball. The Pelicans wanted the run taken away (arguing that Decker didn't slide), the Grizzlies said Anderson was too far up the base line and fans from both sides engaged in a back-and-forth shouting match that only got worse after the next play. That's when Rowe took Caleb's first pitch on the shoulder, leading to a WWF-like stare-down. Rowe thought it was intentional, the first base umpire told him "that was nothing, get over here" and eventually order was restored. "He meant to, it was so obvious," Rowe said. "He's looking at me the whole time, he just drills me with a fastball. The umpires both knew he did it. The umpire told me if he threw it at my head, he would have kicked him out of the game. And I said, `Is there any doubt in your mind that it was intentional,' and he said `No'." Email your... 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