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SUNNY Temp: 92 °F Wind: W at 9 mph Friday, August 29, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 27, 2003 RiverDogs overcome ‘losses’ with sweep By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Saturday night had little to do with winning for Southern Oregon, although the RiverDogs took care of that in fitting fashion. Taking on top priority were losses sustained by the RiverDogs, ones in which a scoreboard couldn’t do justice. With only one more year of college eligibility remaining for Zach Allen, Casey Campbell, Steve DeClerck, Dan Bruce, Brent Foster and Ken Halpin, Saturday night signified the swan song for a handful of the RiverDogs "Founding Fathers" if you will. Although the RiverDogs (22-11) officially close out their third summer of amateur baseball next Saturday at Eugene, the mood at Miles Field Saturday night had all the feelings of a season-ender. Advertisement For Allen, Saturday’s farewell to the home crowd and his RiverDog mates was old hat. All he really had to do was dust off his speech from two years ago, when he was heading off for his senior year at college. He pitched the RiverDogs final home game of the season that year, as he did this year in completing a sweep of the Butte Sabres with a 6-1 triumph on the heels of a 6-2, opening-game win. An injury cost him a senior season at college, and then his fortunes went awry once again when, after taking a year off, his bid this summer at a pro camp fell through. "I’m just glad I had this opportunity after everything fell through," said Allen, who faced only 20 batters in six innings of Saturday’s nightcap. "Luckily I was able to come home and have these old buddies to play ball with again. This was a pretty sweet way for me to go out. It’s heartbreaking to end it, but it’s got to end sometime. At least I have a sweet memory to look back on as my last summer in 2003." Foster was another RiverDog making the most of his last turn at Miles Field, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in Game 1 before finishing with one hit, one run and one RBI in the nightcap. "We’re going to miss this," said Foster, who joins DeClerck, Halpin and Bruce as the ‘Dogs first and only three-year players. "It’s too bad it’s got to come to an end, but everything does. That’s life. Now it’s time to move on. Hopefully we’ve set a tone for the younger guys on how it’s supposed to be done and they can take it from there." It was Foster’s RBI double that got Southern Oregon on the scoreboard first in Game 1, and Halpin’s clutch two-run double in the sixth that put the ‘Dogs ahead for good at 4-2 after falling behind 2-1. Halpin’s blow followed a leadoff triple by Phil Ouellette and a pinch-hit, ground rule double by John Jefferson that tied the game at 2-all. After Eric Beasley walked and Ryan Garrett popped up to the catcher, Halpin rose to the challenge as he’s done so many times before. Southern Oregon closed out the scoring in Game 1 with two outs as Bill Rowe belted an RBI double to make it 5-2 and Foster followed with an RBI single. Those efforts made it possible for Campbell to exit as a winner, with the former Crater High star allowing seven hits in six innings before giving way to Brandon Willer to close out the contest. The RiverDogs didn’t wait for any dramatic moments in the nightcap, scoring three runs off RBI efforts by Rowe, Foster and Garrett. Jefferson and Matt Skundrick each added run-scoring efforts in the third to push the lead up to 5-0, with Rowe smacking a solo homer to right field in the fourth to cap the RiverDogs’ scoring. In that same span, Allen faced the minimum 12 batters before the Sabres broke his string in the fifth with a leadoff single by Ryan Allen and a run- scoring triple by Clint Honeycutt. Jefferson came on in the seventh for yet another 1-2-3 inning to give the RiverDog faithful a proper sendoff as Southern Oregon posted its eighth win in the last nine games. FIRST GAME Butte Sabres............................000 110 0 — 2 8 1 Southern Oregon...................100 005 x — 6 10 1 David Cain and Rick Strom; Campbell, Willer (7) and Beasley. W — Campbell. L — Cain. 2B — B: Soinila, Allen; SO: Foster, Jefferson, Halpin, Rowe. 3B — SO: Ouellette. HR — B: Johnson. SECOND GAME Butte Sabres............................000 010 0 — 1 4 2 Southern Oregon.....................302 100 x — 6 5 0 Ferrell, Scarpelli (4) and Barrett; Allen, Jefferson (7) and Garrett. W — Allen. L — Ferrell. 2B — SO: Jefferson. 3B — B: Honeycutt. HR — SO: Rowe (2). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times