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South Medford, Ashland exchange 4-3 victories Prep softball ASHLAND -- A Southern Oregon Conference softball split was a big lift for South Medford Saturday and didn't exactly help Ashland's postseason hopes. The teams exchanged 4-3 victories with Ashland rallying in the seventh inning to win the opener and South holding on in the second contest. Ashland was picked to make the state playoffs by the SOC coaches, but after falling to 1-3, the Grizzlies will have ground to pick up. "Mentally we haven't molded yet as a team," Ashland coach Kristeen Weiss said. "We showed patience in the first game and we squeaked it out. But when you start giving up runs in the first inning of each game, it makes it difficult to keep focus." The Panthers are also 1-3, but coach Duke Mondale was more than pleased to see his team's progress. "I told the girls after the first game that for 5 innings we really played better ball, made better contact and our pitching was getting the job done," said Mondale. "It just happened to come down to the last inning and two-thirds when they started making things happen and we did some not very smart things defensively." Ashland trailed 3-2 going to the bottom of the seventh in the first game. Then Angela Fleischer drove in Emily Clason to tie it and Amy Williams ended the game with a base hit to right-center field, sending Fleischer home. South scored what proved to be the winning runs in the fourth inning of Game 2, taking a 4-0 lead. Leslie Bucher had a two-run double. FIRST GAME South Medford .......102 000 0 -- 3 8 5 Ashland .................000 002 2 -- 4 5 5 Calvert and Herring; Strait and Clason. W -- Strait. L -- Calvert (1-5). 2B -- SM: Herring. SECOND GAME South Medford .....200 200 0 -- 4 7 1 Ashland ................000 210 0 -- 3 5 2 Calvert and Herring; Williams, Strait (5) and Clason. W -- Calvert (2-5). L -- Williams. 2B -- SM: Bucher. PHOENIX 9-16, HIDDEN VALLEY 3-14 -- At Murphy, Phoenix exploded for 16 runs in the second game of their doubleheader sweep of Hidden Valley but need extra innings to seal the victory in Friday's action. In the nightcap, the Pirates held what looked like an insurmountable 12-4 lead after four innings of play only to have Hidden Valley rally with four runs to tie the game in the seventh. Hidden Valley's Jennifer Bain went a combined 7-for-8 with three doubles and a triple. FIRST GAME Phoenix ..................400 122 0 -- 9 Hidden Valley .........100 100 1 -- 3 Davis and Nikodym; Roth and Hueners. W -- Davis. L -- Roth. 2B -- P: Roberts, Nikodym; HV: Bain, Merrill. 3B -- HV: Bain. SECOND GAME Phoenix ...........0(10)2 010 13 -- 16 Hidden Valley ...... 004 050 41 -- 14 Heath, Davis (7) and Nikodym; Roth, Bain (3) and Hueners. W -- Davis. L -- Roth. 2B -- P: Roberts 2, Villagrana, Cano; HV: Bain 2, Merrill, Hayworth, Hueners. 3B -- HV: Merrill. CASCADE CHRISTIAN 10-9, ST. MARY'S 5-7 -- At Jacksonville, the Challengers took different paths but posted similar results in sweeping the Southern Cascade League doubleheader. Cascade Christian (6-4, 2-0 SCL) spotted St. Mary's five runs before roaring back in the opener, then opened a 7-0 lead in the nightcap before withstanding a rally by St. Mary's (2-2 SCL). Kelly Munro slapped a key two-run single early for St. Mary's in the opener, but the Challengers broke the game open with eight runs in the fifth. Whitney Brookins picked up two singles in the fifth, and was one of four Challengers to notch two RBIs in the inning. Laurel Kelly, Lindsey Bennett and Janelle Conley rounded out the run producers. Cheryl Gordon had 12 strikeouts in earning her second win. In the nightcap, Maria Stutzman and Shelly Nicholson each had two-run singles to lead the early surge for Cascade Christian. Sarah Fetty and Brophy each had three hits to pace the Crusaders. FIRST GAME Cascade Christian ...000 280 0 -- 10 12 3 St. Mary's ....................410 000 0 -- 5 6 4 Gordon and Gettman; Brophy and Jackson. W -- Gordon (2-3). L -- Brophy. 2B -- CC: Gettman. SECOND GAME Cascade Christian .....520 110 0 -- 9 10 3 St. Mary's ..................003 030 1 -- 7 12 3 Kelly and Gettman; Fetty and Jackson. W -- Kelly (4-1). L -- Fetty. 2B -- SM: Maurer, Brophy. 3B -- SM: Jackson; CC: Gordon. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.