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--> --> Ashland's Titus Weston puts tag on Zack Falk at second. Ashland Daily Tidings/AMY ALONZO Pilots take two in home debut By Bobby Heiken Ashland Daily Tidings The Ashland American Legion team was almost too good in the opener of its doubleheader with Horizon of Roseburg Thursday at North Mountain Park. The Pilots - named after Pilot Rock - rolled to a five-inning 12-2 rout of Horizon in the opener, but had to battle from behind to take the nightcap 6-4. "I think they sat down and ate their burgers between games and got a little too comfortable," Ashland head coach Josh Hamik said. "After the first game they expected that they could just come out and that would be good enough for the win." Everything went the Pilots (4-1-1) way during the opener, starting with the pitching of Nick Ehlers. Used mostly as long relief during the high school season, Ehlers showed off his skills as a starter against Horizon. The righthander struck out seven of the first 10 batters he faced and finished with eight during his four innings of work. He allowed one run and three hits. "Nick threw a great game," Hamik said. "He has great control and was hitting all the spots." With the Horizon bats not a threat, the Pilots jumped on starter Chris Hamilton in the second, scoring seven runs in the inning off five hits and a pair of costly errors. Ashland ended the madness with five more in the fourth on an RBI double by Mike Allen and RBI singles by Tim Hegdahl, Ryan Decker and Tyson George. Horizon wasted little time attacking the Pilots in the second game. Nine hits and four runs chased Decker after four innings, but slowly Ashland fought its way back. A base hit by Titus Weston and a walk to Bill Rowe set the table. Weston scored on a base hit by Allen and Rowe scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead in half. In the fifth, with Weston shutting down Horizon from the mound, Ashland tied the game on RBI singles by Allen and George. But George was then picked off to end the inning. "We are still making too many mental errors," Hamik said. "We missed signs and did some things that ended up hurting us." In the sixth, Ashland completed its comeback. Cameron Meeks got on by an error and was joined on the base paths by Charles Dotterer after a single. Weston then helped his own cause with a two-run single to give Ashland a 6-4 lead. In the top of the seventh, Weston allowed a double and then walked one before working himself out of the jam. "Titus had a great mentality on the mound," Hamik said. "He wants the ball and goes right at people. The only thing he's missing is experience." Ashland hosts Pepsi of Roseburg at 1 p.m. Saturday for a doubleheader at North Mountain Park. 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