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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 14, 2004 Grizz rally, then lose By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland keeps finding new, more painful ways to lose and South keeps finding fresh, more inventive ways to win. With a little more drama than usual, both trends continued Tuesday. Ashland high pitcher micah weston gets hit by a line drive off the bat of a South Medford Panther Tuesday at Miles Field. The Grizzlies came back from a 6-1 deficit, only to lose in the bottom of the seventh, 7-6. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Matt Bryant singled with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh to give sixth-ranked South Medford a clutch 7-6 victory over Ashland at Miles Field. The Grizzlies fought back from a 6-1 deficit to tie the game, but the bottom of the Panthers' order came through with three hits in the final inning. The win keeps South atop the Southern Oregon Conference standings heading into Saturday's doubleheader clash with North Medford. "I was happy to have another chance to win the game because I struggled on the mound a little bit," said Bryant, who started for the Panthers (10-2 overall, 6-1 SOC) and gave up eight hits and two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. "So, I figured I'd come through." He figured right. After Logan Boyd led off the seventh with a single, Tyler Heil reached on an error and Justin Meyer laid down a perfect bunt, Bryant came up with the bases juiced and the game on the line. He lifted Micah Weston's pitch to deep left-center, thwarting Ashland's emotionally-charged rally and saving the Panthers from what would have been a devastating loss. "When I was rounding first, I was like, 'Yes,'" Bryant said. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies (7-4, 3-4) suffered their fourth loss in five games and continued to struggle defensively. Their three errors, all by the infield, led to two Panther runs. "It's a crying shame," Ashland head coach Jason Robustelli said. The Grizzlies scored three runs in the fifth inning, one in the sixth and another in the seventh to come all the way back from five runs down. Chad Hegdahl's three-run homer to right-center with two outs in the fifth made it 6-4. Ben Dodds added a run-scoring single with two outs in the sixth and Rocky Reeser made it 6-6 with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. South's Tim Holtz, who was credited with the win to improve to 4-1, got Weston to ground out with two on in the seventh to end what proved to be Ashland's last scoring threat. After the win, the Panthers were relieved, not satisfied. "Well, we kind of breathed some life back into them because we were up (five) runs and we didn't ever put our foot down and stomp on them," said South's Allen Smith, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. "We were just kind of dead out there and that's kind of been our M.O. all year. We're not jumping on teams when we can. In the end we did a good job of coming back, but hopefully, that won't happen in the future." The Panthers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Smith's two-run single up the middle in the first. After the Grizzlies cut it to 2-1 on Brian Ross' second-inning dinger, South used two hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly to add three more scores in the third. The Panthers added one more in the fourth on Holtz's RBI single to right, which followed a Grizzly throwing error. Mistakes both in the field and on the base paths only added to Ashland's frustration. "Very disappointing," said AHS center fielder Arron Nelson (1-for-3). "We played great baseball, OK baseball and horrible baseball in one game, if that makes sense. So, we're not consistent at all." Added Ross: "When it comes to clutch situations, we seem to shoot ourselves in the foot." Ashland's next chance to change that is Saturday, when the Grizzlies travel to Roseburg (5-7, 3-4) for a doubleheader. 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