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Raiders make history By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Angie Chaplin's being tackled in the mud, James Gravelle's taking a surprise Gatorade shower and the unofficial team mascot, a border collie named Misty, won't stop barking her disapproval of the whole scene. If their archrivals couldn't derail the Raiders' championship hopes, rain certainly wasn't going to spoil their parade. Southern Oregon University senior third baseman Angie Chaplin is playfully attacked in the mud by teammates following the Raiders' Cascade Conference-clinching 9-0 win over Oregon Tech Saturday. Ashland Daily Tidings/JIM FREEBERG In a senior going away party that could not have been scripted any better, the 19th-ranked Southern Oregon University softball team Saturday unleashed its full arsenal en route to a 9-0 thrashing of Oregon Tech, clinching the first Cascade Collegiate Conference title in team history. Seniors Brandi Brown, Angie Chaplin and Latisha Inget each made key plays upon a rain-soaked University Field, leading the Raiders (27-9 overall, 11-4 CCC) to a confidence-building rout of the two-time defending champions five days before the all-important Region I tournament. "Words can't explain it," said Gravelle, the Raiders' head coach. "It's something that these ladies have really worked their tails off over this last year and with the leadership of my three seniors, things worked out the way they were supposed to. Did I want it to come down to this? No. I wanted an outright championship way before this, but these ladies have played hard all year long and they never gave up. "They always believed, and that's the one thing that happened today. We came out fast and played hard and that's what's going to happen. We're capable of exploding at any time in any game." Playing beneath a steady rainfall, the Raiders clinched the title outright by scoring in every inning, eventually winning the regular season finale in five innings by the eight-run mercy rule. Game 2 of the scheduled doubleheader was delayed by rain four batters in and was called 30 minutes later. Lacking playoff implications, the game will not be made up. Oregon Tech (22-21, 9-6) needed a sweep to leapfrog the Raiders in the standings, but all was decided after the Game 1 blowout. The Raiders open the four-team, double-elimination regional tournament Thursday as the No. 2 seed, against either Eastern Oregon or OIT. Also playing in the tourney, to be held at Delta Park in Portland, is NAIA No. 1 Simon Fraser, which pummeled SOU 8-0 and 6-0 back on March 30. The Raiders must upset Simon Fraser and win the Region I tournament to advance to nationals, unless the voters award SOU an at-large berth Tuesday. The historic victory comes just three years after Gravelle led the program into its first season of intercollegiate play since 1982. Under Gravelle, the Raiders are 79-41, including 55-18 the past two seasons. The strikingly convincing way in which the Raiders manhandled the Owls did not suck out all the drama. The Raiders, in fact, were playful in victory, frolicking in the mud and drenching their coach with the traditional bucket of Gatorade. "And you know what, I'll take one more next weekend if that's what it takes," Gravelle said. "It's a nice ending," added Chaplin, who like the other two seniors played her final game in Ashland. "We were really hitting the ball, everybody was really hitting, Brandi was really on - everybody was doing their job. It was great." The stoic Brown also flashed a rare smile, but, staying in character, quickly re-focused. "Well, we accomplished one of our goals and now the next step is regionals," she said. "I think we have the momentum and I hope we'll keep it going." With her on the mound, that's a good bet. Two days after being named Cascade Conference pitcher of the year, Brown (24-7) showed why she'll go down as the best pitcher in team history. The 5-foot-6 right-handed wonder out of Colton toyed with the Owls all day, at one point retiring 13 of 14 batters en route to the three-hit shutout. She also helped her own cause by going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and two RBIs. If Brown spearheaded the Raider defense, it was Chaplin who set the tone on offense. The third baseman from South Medford High began the eight-run, seven-hit onslaught off Owl senior ace Jen Harris (10-9) with a two-run, 240-foot line drive home run over the left field fence in the first inning. After the game, Chaplin was rewarded for her effort with a mud bath, courtesy of Raider first baseman and ambush ringleader Lisa Aitchison. "Lisa," Chaplin hissed later, "she'll get it." Chaplin's hit set in motion an offensive explosion that surprised everyone who saw the first SOU-OIT clash back on April 12. In that midseason doubleheader, Harris had everything going and the Owls beat the Raiders 2-1 in the opener and 14-3 in the nightcap. It was a different story Saturday, as SOU's battery had no trouble catching up to Harris' fastball. "The difference was our bats were there today," Brown said. Harris was replaced with two out in the third after a bases-loaded triple by sophomore designated hitter Brandi Winters and an RBI single by freshman outfielder Shauna Wade. Southern scored two in the first, one in the second, five in the third and one in the fourth, and finished with eight hits in 22 at-bats. "We are performing at a higher level than I ever thought we'd perform at right now," Gravelle said. "The main thing I've stressed to these ladies and to everybody else around me is my three seniors got us here, period. And they're the ones that stuck through since Day 1, through my hard times, their hard times, the ups and downs, the roller coaster ride, and they're the ones that had the dedication and the leadership to pull us through something like this." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -