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Sharp Grizz dominate opener By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings In a performance reminiscent of last season - a good sign if there ever was one - the Ashland High baseball team backed up solid pitching with sound defense in a season-opening victory. Three Grizz pitchers combined for a two-hitter and senior first baseman Zach Miedecke hit a three-run homer, as Ashland pounded Class 3A Henley 9-3 on Thursday at North Mountain Park. "They looked pretty decent, actually," said Grizz first-year coach Jason Robustelli. "They played good defense, our pitchers hit their spots at times. They focused. They looked a lot better today in the game than they had looked in practice." Ashland junior first and third baseman Jackson Rowe slides back into second base during the third inning of Ashland's season-opening 9-3 victory over the Henley Hornets, Thursday in Ashland. Ashland Daily Tidings/DENISE BARATTA Ashland junior Brian Ross started and gave up two hits and two runs in three innings before giving way to senior James Page, who retired the next nine batters in order. Junior Chad Hegdahl, a first-team all-Southern Oregon Conference selection last season, entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh and promptly struck out two of the next three batters to clinch the win. In the Grizzlies' first game since losing practically their entire defense to graduation, they were tagged with just one defensive error. "Their focus level went way up," Robustelli said. "They really tuned in and played good baseball." The Grizz offense also came through when it counted, producing 10 hits in 24 at bats highlighted by Miedecke's tomahawk shot to left in the third. Ashland's first home run of the season gave the Grizzlies a 6-2 lead one inning after Henley (0-2) scored two runs to tie the game. Junior third and first baseman Jackson Rowe, junior second baseman Ben Dodds and Hegdahl each had two hits to lead the Grizzlies at the plate, with Rowe and Dodds scoring twice. Sophomore lefty Card Bryn pitched the first five innings for the Hornets before being replaced by senior Kyle Thomas. A bases loaded walk and a throwing error allowed the Grizzlies to score the game's first two runs in the second. Henley tied it in the third on a walk and two hits, including leadoff man B.J. Holloway's RBI triple to center. In the bottom of the inning, Hegdahl reached on a fielding error, one of three on the day for Henley, and Rowe followed with a bunt single. Four batters and two outs later, Miedecke crunched a 1-0 pitch well over the left field wall to give the Grizzlies a four-run cushion. Nobody scored again until the fifth, when Bryn gave Ashland two runs on a bases loaded walk and a wild pitch. Hegdahl walked in the game's final run with the bases loaded and the count full with one out in the seventh. He blew away the next batter in three pitches, including a game-ending fastball. "I told them � they're not proven," Robustelli said. "They may know Ashland baseball, and maybe Ashland is the returning co-conference champion, but you gotta prove it. You gotta go out every game and prove it with a victory somehow, and I think they did. The pitching came up big, actually. All they had to do was just stay in the zone and hit their spots, and they did it." The Grizzlies next will play their first road game of the season, Saturday at Yreka, before hosting the annual Ashland Baseball Tournament, March 25-27. AHS Softball Rogue River pitcher Laura Jones allowed one hit and had eight strikeouts in handcuffing Ashland (1-1) for the 3-1 non-conference victory Thursday at North Mountain park. Jones and Angela Winfrey combined for the shutout, while Jill Artoff and Melissa Day each had two of the Chieftains' 11 hits. Day sparked the first run of the day in the second inning with a double. She later scored on a groundout. In a two-run sixth inning for the Chieftains, Day slapped a one-out single and then moved to third with two outs after back-to-back walks to Winfrey and Artoff. After an RBI single scored Day, Kristi Frederick drove in another run with a single to cap the scoring. Bailey Hasty paced the Grizzlies with a double as one of the team's three hits. Boys Golf At Eagle Point, South Medford sophomores Mike Cox and Brodie Sullivan and senior Lance Fowler came up big to lead the Panther boys golf team to victory in the first Southern Oregon Conference meet of the season Thursday at Eagle Point Golf Course. Cox and Fowler each fired 4-over-par 76s, and Sullivan posted a 77 to lead South Medford, which won with a team score of 309. Roseburg was second with a 316, North Medford third with 318 and Ashland placed sixth with a final team score of 361. Bob Ticker shot an 83 and Jeff Skinner carded an 86 to lead the Grizzlies. Also for Ashland, Rick Ferguson shot a 91 and Jessie Oldfield fired a 101. 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 -