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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels April 19, 2004 Grizz nab first SOC win By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland High senior Aimee Jeska had quite the afternoon on Saturday. In a doubleheader versus Roseburg High, the pitcher/first baseman for the Grizz softball team scored three runs and recorded an RBI in addition to pitching a four-hit, two-walk nail-biter that gave Ashland its first Southern Oregon Conference win of the season. Ashland High Senior Aimee Jeska slides safely into second base during Game 2 of Ashland's doubleheader split with Roseburg, Saturday at North Mountain Park. Roseburg won the opener 3-2, while Ashland took the nightcap by the same score. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings And then she laid in the grass of center field and stared up at the cloudy sky. "I've been waiting for it," Jeska said, relieved the team finally held onto that elusive SOC win. The Grizzlies (8-7, 1-5 SOC) pulled together to repel a final Indian push in the seventh inning of Game 2 to win 3-2, after Roseburg came from behind to claim Game 1, 3-2 in eight innings. "I think we knew we needed to get that intensity and focus back that we had in the first game," said junior shortstop Alysse Carlson. "Knowing that they (the Indians) swept North and split South, they're a really tough team." Ashland captured Roseburg's attention early in Game 1. In the first inning, Jeska sent a one-out triple deep into centerfield. The next batter, senior Jenna Randall, set a perfect hit-and-run play into motion when she slapped a ground ball to shortstop that scored Jeska. "By the time the shortstop had the ball, Amy was sliding in," said fourth-year Grizz head coach Rich Beugli. "It was well-executed, just a very clean score." Roseburg responds With one inning in the books, the Grizzlies looked like the team to beat. That's exactly what Roseburg did. Jeska recorded her second score of the day in the sixth inning. She walked to first, then advanced to second on another Randall grounder. Jeska moved to third on a ground-out from senior Jackie Renteria, then got the chance to boost Ashland to a 2-0 lead. "Aimee scored when Bailey Hasty hit a nice single to right-center field," Beugli said. "That's a nice job and it should have been enough to win the game." But the seventh - and eighth - innings weren't kind to the Grizzlies. Indian sophomore Ali Paz scored the game-tying run in the seventh and Ashland lost its cool. Roseburg appeared to tie the game in the seventh, but the run was taken off the board when the umpire ruled runner interference. The Indians coaches charged the umpires, with one ended up being ejected. The Grizz failed to take advantage of the odd play, when with two outs, a short pop up was dropped on the infield. Allowing the tying run to score. In the bottom of the seventh, with two runners in scoring position and only one out, the Grizz had two runners trapped at 3rd base. During the confusion, both runners were tagged out by the Indians, to end the rally and push the game into extra innings. "I think we played extremely well," Carlson said. "We came out really focused, but they jumped on us and battled back. We came up short." Senior pitcher Amanda Bolsinger delivered a four-hit, seven-strikeout, three-walk effort in the loss. "Amanda pitched a good game," Beugli said. "She did a good job." If Ashland regrets falling short in Game 1, Roseburg is kicking itself for botching the final out of the second game. The Indians had runners on, two outs and the count was climbing as Jeska tired on the mound. Ashland led 3-2. "I knew I just had to get the last batter out somehow," Jeska said. "But I didn't have as much control as I would have liked to." At that point, Jeska wasn't looking for a strikeout. "I knew my defense would back me up," Jeska added. It could have been a grounder at first base or a lucky shot out toward centerfield, but instead the Indians cracked a lofty pop fly to short. All eyes were on Carlson as she followed the ball, knowing Ashland had already dropped one game on a muffed fly. "I'm always trying to tell myself 'I'm ready for the ball. I'm ready for the ball,'" Carlson said. "But when that one came at me, I didn't expect it." Expect it or not, she caught it. Roseburg ran out of chances and Ashland emerged with its first SOC win of the season. "We came out and we played some good defense," Beugli said, noting that both Indian runs in Game 2 were unearned as were the first two runs that tied the score in Game 1. "That's what we must continue to work on - not giving stuff away. We're just way too nice." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams