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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 3, 2004 Grizz just miss sweep By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Chad Hegdahl didn't offer any excuses. In fact, Ashland High's all-star left-handed pitcher sounded downright apologetic. Ashland High Senior Second Baseman Ben Dodds gets beat by a throw to first base after a bunt against South Medford, Saturday at North Mountain Park. The Grizzlies and Panthers split the Southern Oregon Conference doubleheader. Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings "I felt I didn't do my job," he said Saturday, following his first loss since April 10. "I didn't hit my spots and I was trying to do too much. I guess it was just one of those days. Everyone has them." Even Hegdahl. South Medford scored four runs on four hits, a walk and a wild pitch in the seventh to beat Hegdahl and the Grizzlies 6-2 and preserve a split in a Southern Oregon Conference doubleheader at a sunny North Mountain Park. Hegdahl's rare loss capped off a day of surprises, during which two of the best pitchers in the SOC went down in flames while a pair of lesser-known hurlers toughed out valuable league wins. It was Ashland's Micah Weston first. The senior out-dueled South Medford ace Tim Holtz in the Grizzlies' clutch 5-4 victory, which wasn't secured until Grizz catcher Brian Ross singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. In Game 2, it was Rick Imhausen's turn. The bulky 5-foot-11 sophomore led South past Hegdahl thanks to the Panthers' furious seventh-inning rally. Imhausen's sterling performance - he allowed just four hits and got Arron Nelson to fly out with two on in the seventh - keeps the fifth-ranked Panthers (16-4, 12-3 SOC) in prime position to capture their first SOC title, while Weston's win keeps Ashland (12-7, 8-7) one step ahead in a fierce race for the conference's last two playoff spots. "It's young kids, and it's high school baseball in the SOC - any given day," South Medford coach Steve Antich said. "All that stuff is clich�, but it's true. That's a perfect example. We got out there with what I would like to think the two best pitchers in the SOC with (Holtz) and Hegdahl, and they both come up short in two pretty well-played games." Ashland ended the day one game ahead of a three-team log jam in the conference standings. The Grizzlies are sitting in third place behind both South and North Medford (11-4 SOC), but ahead of Crater, Grants Pass and Klamath Union, which each own a 7-8 league record. Ashland's postseason fate - only the SOC's top four teams qualify for the state playoffs - will be decided in its final six games, starting Tuesday at home against Roseburg (5-10 SOC). The league-leading Panthers lead second-place North Medford by one game heading into the home stretch. The two teams will square off Tuesday in a mega-clash at Miles Field that at most will determine the league champion and at least will decide which team will secure the all-important tie-breaker. With the first SOC title in team history within their grasp, the Panthers are starting to feel the heat. "I think everyone knows it's a little nerve-racking going into Tuesday," said South Medford junior Logan Boyd, who went 5-for-7 on the day with a key hit in Game 2 and a home run in Game 1. "Cross-town rival, team we don't really like the most. We've got some buddies on (North Medford) that we just want to beat - man, we've been playing against them forever. It's going to be that special if we get that victory." In Saturday's opener, South blasted Weston early to take a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the third, but the Grizzlies scored three in the third to reclaim the momentum. Ross and John Goldberg each crunched RBI singles and Rocky Reeser drove home the other run with a sacrifice bunt. Weston settled down after that, and only one more Panther advanced past first base the rest of the way. He scattered 10 hits through seven innings to improve to 3-2. Ashland, which backed up Weston with an error-free defense, used a two-out rally in the seventh to end South's five-game winning streak. Jackson Rowe, who went 3-for-4 on the day, got it started with a bloop single that dropped into left and Hegdahl followed with a walk, battling back from a 1-2 count against the hard-throwing Holtz. Ross made it matter two pitchers later by barely finding the hole between shortstop and third, scoring courtesy runner Sam Littleton. Game 2 turned out to be pitchers duel - at least until the seventh, when Hegdahl (5-2), who entered the game with a 1.14 ERA, finally blinked. Boyd led off with a ground rule double to left. After a walk and a ground out, Justin Meyer sliced a sacrifice fly to right that scored the go-ahead run. The Panthers added three insurance runs, including two on RBI hits by Corey O'Neill and Andy Narus. The Grizzlies' attempt at another two-out rally was quashed when Nelson popped out to shallow center with runners at first and second. Ashland stranded three runners in scoring position in Game 2 - one in the first, one in the sixth and one in the seventh. Ross said that was the key. "The pitching was good today - (Hegdahl) was hitting his spots, we just left runners on base," he said, after catching both games. "We just didn't clutch up, we just didn't hit the ball when we had runners on base in scoring position. We left guys on, right there was the No. 1 problem." Dan Chancler and Allen Smith each drove in a run to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead in the first. Nelson scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead in half, and Rowe's run-scoring single to center in the third tied it up. Both pitchers cruised through the next three innings leading up to South's rally. As his team approaches its most important stretch of the season, Hegdahl says the Grizzlies are in good position to pickup their fourth straight playoff berth. "We've got North Medford next week and Grants Pass the weekend after that, so if we do the job, we'll be fine for the playoffs." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams