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--> --> May 23: Grizzlies lose heartbreaker By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings OREGON CITY - This isn't how it was supposed to happen. · Not after a comeback that included back-to-back home runs by Charles Dotterer and Mike Allen. · Not after the most successful Ashland High baseball team ever took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. · And certainly not after Allen, the Grizzlies' Mr. Clutch, took the mound in the fifth and promptly retired the first seven batters he faced, bringing Ashland within two outs of hosting a quarterfinal game. Still, the best season in AHS baseball history ended in the worst possible way Wednesday, when the Oregon City Pioneers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Grizzlies 7-6 in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs. "Lightening strikes once for everybody," Grizz senior third baseman Titus Weston said. "We thought we had it." The win earned the sixth-ranked Pioneers (23-5) a quarterfinal date with Century on Friday, while the eighth-ranked Grizzlies ended the season 18-8. After Allen got Tony Rodriguez to fly out to start the seventh, Oregon City designated hitter James Gardner doubled off the wall in right-center to give the Pioneers the spark they needed. Outfielder Nic Chapin followed with a triple to nearly the same spot, driving in the tying run and shifting the pressure back to the Grizzlies. Oregon City catcher Cody Johnson completed the rally by blasting Allen's next pitch to deep right, easily scoring Chapin. As the Pioneers piled on Chapin at home plate, Allen (8-4) flung his glove toward the Grizzlies' dugout -- a not-so-fitting end to his otherwise brilliant senior season. "They're good hitters, all the credit to them," Allen said. "I felt like we should have got that win but it didn't happen that way in the last inning so all the credit to them once again. They're good hitters, good players. "We battled, we played our hearts out and that's all that anybody can ask for. That's all we can ask of ourselves. The ball isn't always going to roll your way." Johnson said he was looking for the heater, and guessed right. "I struggled all day today, I was 0-for-3 before that," Johnson said of the game-winning hit. "I expected him to come with the fastball. It was on the inner half. I kind of inside-outed it the other way. He throws pretty hard and I was late on it. As soon as I saw it, I was like, 'Yeah, that's game.'" Oregon City got within striking distance by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth on one hit, three walks, a hit batsman and a Tim Alton sacrifice bunt, cutting Ashland's lead to 6-5. That came after the Grizzlies turned the game around by scoring five runs in the top of the fourth - three on the homers and two more on a wild pitch and a Torrance George sacrifice fly. Oregon City roughed up Grizz starting pitcher Chad Hegdahl, a sophomore, to the tune of three runs on three hits in the first, and led 3-1 after two. "I didn't pitch my best, obviously," Hegdahl said. Senior Kyle Puderbaugh also saw action for the Grizzlies. He entered the game in the fourth with the bases loaded and one out and left having given up only one run, which scored when he hit Gardner with two outs and the bases still juiced. The Grizzlies had plenty of chances to increase their lead, but failed to cash in. Ashland out-hit Oregon City 9-6 and committed just one error, but left eight runners stranded, including two in each of the last two innings. Weston grounded out to shortstop with runners on first and second and two out in the sixth, and Ashland center fielder Bryan Clevenger hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the Grizzlies' seventh. Ashland also had trouble executing a few key bunts - something they excelled at most of the year. Three would-be sacrifice bunts all ended up as Grizzly outs, including a pop-out by George in the sixth with one out and two on. "We played a good game, but the small things hurt us," Ashland coach Doug Stover said. "We left a few base runners. This pitcher they threw (Travis Stein), he'd be a No. 3 or 4 guy in the SOC. We hit a couple home runs. I think it kind of got into our head and that was it. We didn't do the small things and that's what you win a baseball game on." "So we get to have a five hour bus ride home and talk about it. There probably won't be much talk." ... Game Notes: Ten of Ashland's 15 varsity players will graduate in June. The only all-conference player returning for the Grizzlies is Hegdahl, a first-team all-conference selection. Allen and Dotterer each went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead seven Grizzlies with hits. That list does not include Ashland slugger Bill Rowe, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Allen's home run, which cleared a 30-foot wall in center, came with one on and one out and the count at 0-2 against Stein, Oregon City's starter. Dotterer's dinger, which was just his fourth extra-base hit of the season, came on a 1-2 pitch. Stein was yanked with one out in the fourth in favor of lefty Hunter Munson, who stayed in the rest of the game and picked up the win. . 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