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Pirates keep pace in Skyline with win over Knights MERLIN - Phoenix didn't waste any time in meeting its goal of qualifying for the Class 3A state baseball playoffs. The Pirates entered their Saturday doubleheader against North Valley needing to win one of three remaining Skyline Conference games to qualify. They did so in the opener, pounding four extra-base hits, including two home runs by Jason Wolford, and swamped the Knights 12-4. North Valley, which was repeatedly in position to give Phoenix a battle in last half of the first game, rebounded in the second for an 8-5 win. The Pirates (13-11, 13-7 Skyline) sewed up the No. 3 berth to state and will visit the Far West League's No. 2 team May 20 in the first round of the state playoffs. They end the regular season Tuesday at Rogue River. Phoenix didn't need the long ball in the first inning of Game 1, when it got singles from Kiffer Stovall, Eric Kessler and Nathan Emerson to go with two walks and a fielder's choice for four runs. Wolford got in the act in the third inning with a two-run blast to left-center field, then added another two-run shot to left an inning later. "The first one he hit was a good pitch," said North Valley coach Mike Reese. "It was a good breaking ball, he just went down and got it and drove it out." Brady Rhodes added a solo shot in the fifth inning to increase Phoenix's lead to 9-1. Each team scored three runs in the sixth inning. North Valley left the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth innings and had runners at second and third when the sixth inning ended. "We had our chances right there," said Reese. For Phoenix, Wolford drove in five runs and scored four. Eric Kessler was 3-for-3, reached base five times and scored four runs. Nathan Emerson was 4-for-5. Allen Beck and Josh Shippy each had two hits for North Valley. In Game 2, the Knights rapped four straight hits to start the proceedings. Included was a three-run homer by Ariah Nead after singles by Luke Hall and Paul Mitchell. The Pirates tied it in the fourth, 4-4, on Emerson's two-run double, but North Valley responded with one in the fourth and three in the fifth. Drew Dechenne, the winning pitcher, rapped a two-run single in the fifth. Nead, who had five RBIs, and Mitchell each had three hits for the Knights (12-13, 10-10 Skyline). Daryll Loper had two hits for Phoenix. FIRST GAME Phoenix..........................................402 213 0 - 12 14 1 North Valley.......................................000 103 0 - 4 9 3 Goble, Wolford (7) and Ellis; Nead, Ash (4), Shippy (6) and Beck. W - Goble. L - Nead (3-5). 2B - P: Rhodes; NV: Hall, Mitchell, Nead. HR - P: Wolford 2, Rhodes. SECOND GAME Phoenix..............................................020 201 0 - 5 6 2 North Valley.....................................301 130 x - 8 12 2 Rhodes and Ellis; Dechenne and Beck. W - Dechenne (6-2). L - Rhodes. 2B - P: Emerson; NV: Mitchell, Nead. 3B - P: Kessler. HR - NV: Nead (6). HENLEY 17-19, ILLINOIS VALLEY 5-2 - At Cave Junction, No. 3-ranked Henley collected 29 hits and didn't commit an error in the doubleheader. In the first game, Skyline leader Henley (21-3, 18-2 Skyline) completed its scoring with a six-run fifth inning featuring a pair of two-run homers by Matt Judkins and Kirk Cunningham. Judkins went 4-for-4 with four RBIs in the opener, while Daniel Houston was 3-for-3 for Illinois Valley. In Game 2, Scott Wilson's only hit was a fifth-inning grand slam that highlighted a Hornets seven-run outburst. Henley was paced by B.J. Holloway and Brian Kinsman, with three hits each, and Morgan Grohs, who went 2-for-2 with four RBIs. For Illinois Valley (3-22, 2-18 Skyline), junior catcher Chris Loock had two hits in each game. FIRST GAME Henley.................................................333 26 - 17 13 0 Illinois Valley......................................031 10 - 5 11 2 Thomas, Card (5) and Judkins; Carter and Loock. W - Thomas. W - Carter. 2B - H: North; IV: Houston, Loock. HR - H: Cunningham, Judkins SECOND GAME Henley.................................................215 47 - 19 16 0 Illinois Valley......................................010 10 - 2 8 3 Telle, Wright (4), Clark (5) and Wilson; Chaghatzbanian, Hedrick (5), Hoskins (5) and Loock, Jones (5) and Loock (5). W - Telle. L - Chaghatzbanian. 2B - H: Holloway. 3B - H: Kinsman, Grohs. HR - H: Wilson. Mazama's Chris Bocchi had six hits and three RBIs in the twin bill, with Tyler Conner going 4-for-4 in Game 1 and three hits coming from Kyle Blank, Dallas Hubble and Ryan McGraw in the nightcap. Nick Bashans hit a leadoff homer in the opener for Rogue River (9-16, 5-15 Skyline), which left the bases loaded in three different innings. Ryan Girodat had six hits overall and drove in three runs in Game 2 for the Chieftains, while Matt Frederick and Danny Hunter each added five hits. FIRST GAME Mazama..........................................105 101 1 - 9 16 2 Rogue River....................................101 000 1 - 3 15 6 Clark and Manfull; Frederick and Bashans. W - Clark. L - Frederick. 2B - M: Conner, Hubble, Brosterhous, Manfull, Snell; RR: Frederick, Girodat, Reagles. HR - M: Bocchi; RR: Bashans (1). SECOND GAME Mazama........................................250 000 5 - 12 17 0 Rogue River....................................310 200 0 - 6 12 5 Masteroranni, Massey (6), Bair (7) and Manfull; Hunter, Hanley (7) and Bashans. W - Masteroranni. L - Hunter. 2B - M: Conner, Hubble, Bocchi; Frederick, Girodat, Carbone, Parrillo. 3B - M: Brosterhous. Non-League CASCADE CHRISTIAN 12-4, BUTTE FALLS 3-11 - At White City, Cascade Christian pitcher Kevin Roberts tossed a complete game in the opener and limited Butte Falls to four hits, while the Loggers answered in the nightcap behind the hitting of Ken Biando and Isaac Stephenson during the non-league doubleheader at the V.A. Domiciliary. Adam Rutledge banged out four hits in four trips to the plate in Game 1 for Cascade Christian (3-14, 2-8 District 6). Roberts and Dustin Stutzman each added three hits for the Challengers. Butte Falls (7-16, 2-6 District 6) scored all three of its runs in the second inning. Kale Freeman and Barry Parker each had singles to spark the rally. In Game 2, Biando and Stephenson rapped three hits apiece and combined for five runs. Nick Rodgers contributed two hits, two runs and two stolen bases. Jon Gettman accounted for two of the Challengers seven hits in the second game. FIRST GAME Butte Falls......................................030 000 0 - 3 4 5 Cascade Christian.........................231 123 x - 12 13 2 Biando, I. Stephenson (2), Copeland (6) and Sizemore; Roberts and Rutledge. W - Roberts (3-3). L - Biando (1-3). 2B - CC: Yuki 2. SECOND GAME Butte Falls......................................101 045 0 - 11 12 2 Cascade Christian.........................201 000 1 - 4 7 5 Hoel, Copeland (5) and Sizemore; Gettman, Rutledge (7) and Rutledge, Roberts (7). W - Hoel (1-2). L - Gettman (0-6). 2B - BF: I. Stephenson, Rodgers 2; CC: Roberts. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.