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Pilots blow past Pepsi Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Ashland's Nick Danis (17) is met at the plate by his teammates after blasting a solo home run in the eighth inning of Saturday's deciding game against Roseburg Pepsi. The Pilots won 8-6 and improve their season record to 27-3-1. By DON HUNT ASHLAND - Roseburg Pepsi threw a bit of a scare into the Ashland Pilots in the third and decisive game of the American Legion, Area 4 baseball championship series. But when the dust settled at North Mountain Park Saturday, the Pilots had secured an 8-4 victory and a berth in the American Legion A State Tournament next week in Portland. Nick Ehlers pitched five strong innings and helped fuel an Ashland comeback with a two-run double as the Pilots brushed aside the pesky visitors from Douglas County. Roseburg Pepsi led 3-0 after 21/2 innings before Ashland tied the game in the fourth and took the lead for good in the fifth. The Pilots ran their season record to 27-3-1 with the win, while Roseburg Pepsi finished its season at 33-11. Ashland opens state tournament play at 3 p.m. Thursday at David Douglas High School in Portland. "I was a little worried when they jumped on us early but we're a good-hitting team and I've got a lot of confidence in my guys," said Ehlers, who upped his record to 7-0 this summer. "We've overcome bigger deficits than that." After a somewhat shaky start, Ehlers got tough. The slender right-hander retired eight of the last nine batters he faced following an RBI single in the third inning by Cory Baird that made it 3-0. But Ehlers felt a twinge of pain in his pitching elbow after walking off the mound to complete the fifth inning, and Ryan Decker was summoned to complete the game. "That's the first time my elbow has ached all summer and it was probably smart for our coach (Josh Hamik) to take me out," Ehlers said. "We've got other guys who can get the job done." Trailing 3-0 entering the bottom of the third inning, Ashland got one run back when Titus Weston singled and Mike Allen doubled him home. In the fourth, Nick Danis made it 3-2 when he smashed a solo home run over the left-field fence, and the Pilots tied the game at 3 when Torrance George singled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Decker. The homer was Danis' first of the summer. "Their pitcher (Nick Waechter) threw the ball right down the middle and I jumped on it," Danis said. "I was pretty sure it was going over the fence." Ashland took the lead for good in the fifth on Charles Dotterrer's RBI ground out and Ehler's two-run double down the third-base line that made it 6-3. "Nick (Ehlers) got a change-up and he ripped it," Hamik said. "He wasn't fooled." The Pilots have routed the majority of their opponents this summer and appeared destined for an easy path to the state tournament when they crushed Roseburg Pepsi 14-2 in the opening game of the series Thursday in Ashland. But Roseburg Pepsi posted a 6-3 victory in Game 2 Friday in Roseburg to force a third game. "We needed a couple of games like we've gotten the past two days," Hamik said. "We needed to be tested. We needed someone to put pressure on us before we got to state. "It's like I told our guys, from now on every game will probably be decided by one or two runs." Allen and Bill Rowe each had two hits to pace the Pilots' 10-hit attack. Roseburg Pepsi 201 000 102 - 6 7 2 Ashland Pilots 001 230 02x - 8 10 0 Waechter and Baird; Ehlers, Decker (6) and George. W - Ehlers (7-0). L - Waechter. 2B - R: Waechter, Myhre; A: Allen, Ehlers. HR - A: Danis. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.