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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Don't take the bait ... Artist leads 'Hike & Learn' ... Rogue Valley's air quality worsens as wildfires burn north and south ... Our View: Don't take the bait ... Artist leads 'Hike & Learn' ... Rogue Valley's air quality worsens as wildfires burn north and south ... AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL Shorthanded Pilots brace for state Ashland to face Pendleton in first round of eight-team tournament Comment By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jul. 28, 2015 at 12:53 PM By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jul. 28, 2015 at 12:53 PM » Social News They may be shorthanded and a little light on playoff experience, but the Ashland Pilots like their chances in the American Legion A Oregon state tournament. The eight-team, double-elimination fracas will be held today through Sunday at Reinhart Volunteer Park in Grants Pass. Ashland, the second-place team from Zone 4, will face Pendleton, the Zone 1 champion, today at 12:30 p.m. in one of four first-round games. The victor will play in the second round of the winner’s bracket at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while the loser will play an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. Thursday. “It’s a good matchup for us,” Ashland coach Dave May said of Pendleton. “I’m happy with the matchup the more I think about it.” Ashland (23-11) will be missing some key players, but the Pilots could improve their chances of playing close to full strength considerably by staying in the winner’s bracket. That’s because Nick Sanderson and TarQuin Daley, two of the Pilots’ best players, will be preoccupied with Pacific Rim Bowl activities and unavailable Thursday morning. Sanderson, who was batting .417 with a team-high 37 RBIs heading into last weekend’s doubleheader against North Medford, and Daley (.354, 17 RBIs) are planning on driving to today’s game immediately after their PRB commitments and should make it to the field right around the time the first pitch is thrown. May says neither will be in Ashland’s starting lineup, but both will probably be subbed in. How Ashland fares against Pendleton may be crucial to the Pilots’ state title hopes. If they lose, Sanderson and Daley won’t be available for the early loser-out game Thursday. If they win, Sanderson and Daley will mostly likely be in the starting lineup in the second-round game that night, with Sanderson (4-1, 2.82 ERA) on the hill. Sanderson and Daley will be unavailable Friday — the Pacific Rim Bowl kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Raider Stadium — but both will rejoin the team for good Saturday. “(Today’s) a big game for a lot of those reasons,” May said. “Hopefully it works out for us. I’m a little concerned about (Sanderson and Daley) being tired. They have host brothers and all that stuff going on, but I’m hoping that they can give us a little boost.” Pilots Justin Robinson, Gabe Bancroft and Christopher Buckley will miss the entire state tournament. Robinson has decided to focus on football all week, Bancroft is visiting family in Portland and Buckley, who tossed a no-hitter last week, has a prior Youth Corps commitment. “I think that the kids are excited, but at the same time I can kind of tell they’re a little bummed because we’re not at 100 percent full-strength,” May said. “There’s still that sense that I wish we had our full team out there, but we’ve talked about it a ton and they know that they’re just as capable of getting the job done so we’re not too concerned about it. We’ll play the hand we’ve been dealt and try to compete.” May said recent AHS graduate Kyle Milgram, a crafty righty, will start on the mound today and bat third, usually Sanderson’s spot. “I chose Milgram because he’s a guy who’s not going to get rattled,” May said. The rest of Ashland’s batting lineup will be fairly similar to the one that posted huge numbers during the regular season — as a team, the Pilots (not counting their last four games) batted .325 with a .415 slugging percentage and 105 stolen bases. Jose Perez (.366 batting average, 19 stolen bases) will leadoff and play second base, left fielder Kellar Edwards (.317) will bat second and center fielder Jesse Carroll (.494, 33 RBIs, .753 slg., 18 stolen bases) will continue to bat in the cleanup spot. Also expected to start for Ashland today are first baseman Peyton Fuller (.329), third baseman Caleb Bell, right fielder Frankie Mora and shortstop Shea Scott (.333, 11 walks). It’s a defensive lineup that’s been forced upon May, but he says versatility has been one of the Pilots’ strengths. “We have a lot of guys that are pretty interchangeable,” he said. “The guys that are in those spots now I feel comfortable with. The only guy who’s really out of position is Kellar Edwards. He’s an infielder. But he made two diving catches (in the outfield) last week.” As far as the competition goes, outside of the host Grants Pass Diggers and North Medford Mavericks, May isn’t sure what to expect. He’s scoured the internet looking for any information he could find on the other state qualifiers with little luck. He says he’ll learn what he can by watching the other first-round games, but early on the Pilots will just have to adapt to whatever they see. That’ll especially be the case at the plate. “We’ve been scoring in bunches and that makes me more nervous than anything at state,” May said, “because if we fall behind 3-0 and we have to score against somebody who’s really good, I don’t know how we’ll do against a top-notch arm. We haven’t exactly broken out against a really good (pitcher) yet. I think we have the ability, but I’m just curious to see if we can do it while missing our No. 2 and No. 3 hitters.” Joe Zavala can be reached at 541-821-0829 or [email protected]. By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Jul. 28, 2015 at 12:53 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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