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CLOUDY Temp: 57 °F Wind: SE at 13 mph Tuesday, April 29, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate 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 Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 13, 2003 Cook’s heroic effort helps Ashland sweep Crater By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Playing the role of hero can be a funny thing: It just takes one moment of greatness to earn that title. And while hero status flopped back-and-forth between Ashland and Crater baseball players during an epic Southern Oregon Conference affair Saturday, Ashland senior Chase Cook held firm to the notion that his time would come. And when it did — in his eighth at-bat — the right fielder answered with a booming two-run homer to break a 14-all tie and lift Ashland to a thrilling 17-15, 12-inning triumph in Game 1 of the SOC doubleheader. "To be honest, when I hit it, I didn’t think it had a chance," Cook said of his first homer of the season, "but it just kept going." The excitement didn’t let up in Game 2, with Ashland (6-3, 2-2 SOC) using a sixth-inning solo homer by Zack Miedecke to tie the game and Wes Tygerson supplying an RBI single in the ninth to lift the Grizzlies to a 5-4 victory. "That was two tough ballgames," said Crater coach Jim Powell. "Obviously we would have liked to get at least one of them, but that’s the way the game is. There’s nothing you can do put pick yourself up and get ready for the next game." Anhorn Field had already been the site of a game for the ages by the time Cook came up to bat for the eighth time in Game 1. Ashland opened a 10-1 lead after three innings of play, and that difference could have been even more had Crater left fielder Andrew Norum not made a spectacular diving play in foul territory to halt a bases-loaded threat in the bottom of the third. Trailing 11-1 in the fourth, the Comets took advantage of four Ashland errors to score four runs and keep the 10-run rule out of effect in the next inning. Given a second life, Crater (3-4, 1-3) tacked on eight runs in the fifth to take an improbable 13-12 lead. The two teams then exchanged standout relief pitching efforts to slow the scoring spree, but not before Ashland could tie the game and send it into extra innings at 13-all. Both teams added a run in the 11th inning, and all-the-while Cook patiently waited for a breakthrough. The right fielder had only one hit — an RBI single in the fourth — to his credit as he stepped to the plate for the eighth time with one on and two out in the top of the 12th. "I had choked two times in a row when I came up in the 12th, so I was just glad to get another chance," Cook said of his thoughts entering the batter’s box. "I was just looking for a hit." But when served up a chest-high fastball by Crater’s Evan Seegmiller — the Comets’ fourth pitcher of the game — Cook re-directed the offering over the 340-foot sign on the left-center field fence. "I had hit the ball pretty hard all day, just at people," Cook said of his previous at-bats. "I guess it just came up for me when we needed it most." While Cook’s game-turning blast stole the show, it was merely the last in a series of great plays as each team had its share of MVP moments in the opener. Ashland’s Chris Presicci went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs, with Chad Hegdahl going 5-for-8 with two RBIs and three runs and Tygerson going 5- for-6 with two RBIs and four runs. Arron Nelson added his first varsity home run and finished with four hits, while Bryan Clevenger added another homer to help him post two RBIs and three runs for the Grizz. Maybe the most notable performance for Ashland, however, came from junior reliever Micah Weston, who came on in relief of James Page during the fifth inning. While Weston couldn’t quiet Crater’s bats in that eight-run frame, he quickly regrouped over the next seven innings to keep hope alive for the Grizzlies. Weston faced five or fewer batters in all but one of his final seven innings. On the home side of the field, Crater’s Colin Schoonover, Adam Reed and Sean Teaters each had three hits to pace the Comets, with Teaters driving in three runs. Crater got two RBIs from Schoonover, Joe Kahut and Tom Hammond, while Norum and Gary Gomes each scored three times. Kahut drove in both his runs during the Comets’ fifth-inning surge, with his double to deep center field tying the game at 12-all. Hammond then smacked an RBI single up the middle to give Crater its first — and only — lead of the game. Crater scored seven of its eight runs with two outs in the fifth. "You hate to fight that hard and come back just to have it slip away from you," said Powell, "especially when there were so many opportunities for the kids to come through and get themselves a win." FIRST GAME Ashland......................055 110 100 013 — 17 26 6 Crater.........................010 480 000 011 — 15 17 1 Page, Weston (5) and Ross; Mulder, Teaters (3), Miller (9), Seegmiller (12) and Kahut. W — Weston (1-0). L — Seegmiller (0-2). 2B — A: Presicci, Tygerson, Hegdahl; C: Hammond, Norum, Kahut, Seegmiller. HR — A: Clevenger (1), Nelson (1), Cook (1). SECOND GAME Ashland................................100 201 001 — 5 6 4 Crater...................................201 100 000 — 4 3 5 Hegdahl and Cook; Knutson and Kahut. W — Hegdahl (2-1). L — Knutson (1-1). HR — A: Miedecke (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 M 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 Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S