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68 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 14, 2005 Simon Fraser fends off SOU for regional title By JOE ZAVALA for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Southern Oregon finally pierced Simon Fraser's armor. Too bad the Clan had another layer underneath. The 25th-ranked Raiders snapped fifth-ranked Simon Fraser's 11-game Region I tournament winning streak, but were throttled 6-0 in the finals of the double-elimination tournament Friday at University Field. The loss cut short SOU's bid for a first-ever NAIA World Series appearance and ended the 22-year coaching career of Larry Binney. "It was kind of an emotional day just now," said Binney, who coached North Medford High for 20 years before taking over SOU in 2004. "This is my third time (retiring), and this one's for real. I just got through telling all the kids how proud I was of them and that I'm going to be their No. 1 fan next year. I'm going to be at a lot of ball games here and on the road." After falling 4-3 to SOU in the first leg of the championship round, the Clan (30-8) didn't waste any time taking control in the finals. It scored one run in the first inning and five in the second off Raider starter Julianne Cree (9-7), who gave up seven hits and four earned runs in two innings. Advertisement Clan pitcher Ashley Lanz (22-6), who lost the earlier game, held SOU to two hits and picked up the complete-game win. SOU freshman Alicia Caudill pitched five innings of shutout ball after Cree was pulled, but by then it was too late. The victory earned the top-seeded Clan its fourth straight Region I title and eighth overall, as SFU pulled the plug on the Raiders' season for the third year in a row. "I don't know what it was," said SOU's Amy Williams. "I think (Lanz) looked the same the second game as she did the first game, and the more at-bats you have against a pitcher, the easier she is to hit. But scoring that first run is important. They got on top and they did some good stuff and we just weren't able to come back and get them." The Raiders (39-19) had all the momentum going into championship game. Williams and Tanisha Burch hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth to stun Simon Fraser only an hour earlier, and all the breaks seemed to be going the Raiders' way. That changed quickly in the second meeting. Kim Rossiter came through with a two-out RBI single in the first inning to give SFU the early lead. That momentum carried into the second, when SFU crushed SOU's spirit with three straight hits, the latter two driving in runs. Brigitte Girouard's two-run laser opened the floodgates. Three of Simon Fraser's five hits in the inning never left the infield, including two perfectly placed bunts. The Clan's 2-3-4 hitters — Rossiter, Erin McLean and Erin Gee — each went 2-for-4. SOU's lineup, meanwhile, was held in check by Lanz, who struck out four and walked nobody while facing just 22 batters. She retired 15 of her last 16 batters. Kara Ray and Burch were the only Raiders to reach base, and Burch was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single. The loss capped a nerve-racking day for the Raiders, highlighted by two spectacular finishes that kept their World Series hopes alive. In the first, SOU let a two-run lead against Oregon Tech slip away in the top of the seventh, only to win the game in the bottom of the inning on Foster's run-scoring double to left. Kara Ray laced a one-out double to kick start the rally, and Miranda Gillaspie allowed five hits and two earned runs to pick up the win for Southern Oregon. The win over their Cascade Conference rivals advanced SOU to the championship round, where they needed consecutive wins over heavily favored Simon Fraser in order to claim the regional title and advance to nationals. Gillaspie was up to the challenge. The senior struck out only three and walked four, but was at her best with runners in scoring position, as Simon Fraser stranded 11 runners on base. "Everybody was fired up and ready to go," Gillaspie said. "We were just out to get every single out and we had a couple things that kind of went wrong and a couple of miscues and we just dealt with it and battled back. We knew we were going to come back and get it." Burch's ninth home run of the season — a team record — gave SOU a 1-0 lead in the second and the Raiders led 2-1 after five. Simon Fraser then scored two on a Ray fielding error, setting up SOU's sixth inning heroics. The Clan had runners on first and second with one out in the seventh, but failed to capitalize when Meaghan Cumpstone grounded into an unconventional double play. Raider third baseman Katie Lee fielded the ball on a short hop, threw to Williams for the force at first, then received William's throw at third in time to tag out Terra Davenport. The loss in the finals represented SOU's best chance to earn a trip to the World Series. Simon Fraser, the national runner-up a year ago, had already wrapped up an at-large berth. Binney said the Raiders will hold a special place in his heart. "You get real close to (the players)," he said. "There's just a great bunch of kids here, and I'm going to miss them dearly." Oregon Tech.............................000 000 2 — 2 5 0 Southern Oregon...................010 001 1 — 3 10 1 Delplanche and Byerley; Gillaspie and Lillis. W — Gillaspie (22-7). L — Delplanche (19-11). 2B — OIT: Doherty, Fagan; SO: Ray, Foster, Lillis. 3B — SO: Kraxberger. HR — OIT: Thompson. Simon Fraser............................001 002 0 — 3 7 0 Southern Oregon.....................011 002 x — 4 5 3 Lanz and Rossiter; Gillaspie and Lillis. W — Gillaspie (23-7). L — Lanz (21-6). 2B — SO: Ray, Williams, Burch. HR — SO: Burch. Simon Fraser..........................150 000 0 — 6 10 1 Southern Oregon.....................000 000 0 — 0 2 1 Lanz and Rossiter; Cree, Caudill (3) and Nielsen. W — Lanz (22-6). L — Cree (9-7). 2B — SF: Girouard. 3B — SF: McLean. Joe Zavala is sports editor of the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 482-3456. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg diamonds Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Auto Insurance Mesothelioma Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Payday Loans Advertisement s