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May 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 19, 2004 Grizzlies set for opener By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings The question marks are out there, and Ashland High baseball coach Jason Robustelli hopes the answers will soon follow. But for now, the Grizzlies' second-year coach is more concerned with his team's overall drive than he is the individual parts. Satsuki Doi | Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland high slugger jeff skinner practices bunting during Thursday at North Mountain Park. Skinner and the rest of the Grizzlies make their season debut Saturday at Yreka. The fine tuning will begin Saturday, weather permitting, when Ashland is scheduled to play its season opener at Yreka, and shifts into high gear next week, when the Grizzlies are scheduled to host Hillsboro (Tuesday), Sunset (Wednesday) and Summit (Thursday) in the three-day Ashland High Invitational. For Robustelli, who guided Ashland to the Class 4A state playoffs in his first year, the Grizzlies' goal for their five-game preseason schedule is simple: "Get some momentum," he said. "Hopefully, get a couple wins and get the offense going in the right direction. Getting kids to understand that they're only going to get about four at-bats a game and they're doing well if they get one hit, instead of going into that emotional roller coaster that they always go through. "I'm just hoping to get these guys to jell a little bit defensively and offensively, get a feel for themselves." The pieces necessary to make that happen seem to be at Robustelli's disposal, but how they'll fit together has yet to be determined. He has until April 3 to figure that out. That's when Ashland opens its Southern Oregon Conference schedule with a twin bill at North Mountain Park against Klamath Union. At the plate, the Grizzlies have loads of potential, thanks to their two big-hitting senior lefties - Chad Hegdahl and Jackson Rowe. Hegdahl, who led the team in both batting average (.511) and runs batted in (18) last season, will bat cleanup, while Rowe, who was second in both categories (.373, 13), will also be in the top-four of the batting order. Beyond that, every position is still up for grabs, including the always crucial leadoff spot. Heading into the season opener, Arron Nelson, Rocky Reeser and John Goldberg have made the strongest case for being added to the top of the Grizzlies' order. Nelson batted .283 last season, Reeser batted .200 and Goldberg didn't play varsity ball. "(Goldberg) hasn't been game proven yet, but he looks good in practice, and the rest aren't bringing in the rear by any means," Robustelli said. "They're good hitters. We have a lot of potential for a well-rounded batting order." Determining the order in which they will bat, however, is a process that won't truly begin until the team faces live pitching for the first time. "That's something we're going to start working on right now, playing games," Robustelli said. "Those first four positions are probably the toughest for any coach to get because it plays a mind game with the kids. I mean, they might be a good hitter, but then they think, 'I'm the No. 1 leadoff hitter, I need to take more pitches,' and they might change. So I don't know how it's going to affect them." Defensively, the Grizzlies will likely go with Brian Ross and Steve Jorgensen behind the plate, Rowe and Hegdahl at first, and a platoon of infielders - Jorgensen, Reeser, Aaron Decker, Micah Weston and Ben Dodds - to alternate at second base, third base and shortstop. The outfield will be anchored by Nelson, who returns to the center field spot he started at all of last season. He'll be surrounded by Aaron SanNicholas, John Goldberg, Josh McDermott, Andrew Delcarlo, Jeff Skinner, and, when he returns from an infection, Jason Coburn. "They've got the potential to be as good as any of the defenses that we've had in the last five years," Robustelli said. If that analysis proves anywhere near accurate the Grizzlies will be tough to score on this season because in Hegdahl they have one of the top pitchers in southern Oregon. Hegdahl, a two-time first-team all-SOC selection, finished the 2003 regular season with a 2.66 earned run average. He struck out 36 batters and walked 21, relying on accuracy rather than speed to frustrate opposing hitters. Ashland will spend its non-league schedule holding auditions for a No. 2 starter who will also take the mound during SOC doubleheaders, which are played each Saturday. So far, the leading contenders for that coveted spot in the rotation are Weston and SanNicholas. Weston carried a 3.68 ERA last season, striking out 15 and walking 26, while San Nicholas allowed seven earned runs in just six innings of work. "We're looking at Micah Weston, who pitched a lot last year for us," said Robustelli, pointing out that only Hegdahl worked more innings than Weston's 37 2/3. "We're trying to get him more consistent with his location and more control and command over his ball. But, he's got a live arm and he could stay out there all day long and throw." Other Grizzly pitchers expect to see at least some mound time this season are Ross, McDermott, Delcarlo and Decker. "Yeah, we have quite a few pitchers on the team right now," Robustelli said. Ashland's home opener against Hillsboro will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday at North Mountain Park. 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