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59 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 20, 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 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 April 20, 2005 Eagle Point knocks off Tornado, 3-1 EAGLE POINT — Undermanned and seemingly overmatched, Eagle Point pulled off a stunning upset of North Medford Tuesday in Southern Oregon Conference baseball. Shasta Bateman’s sixth-inning two-out drive to right field scored two runs as the Eagles, severely thinned by suspensions and injuries, triumphed, 3-1. After Eagle Point scored all its runs in the sixth, pitcher Derek Grieve needed only four pitches to set down the Black Tornado in the seventh. North (12-3, 7-3 SOC) dropped into a tie for third place with Grants Pass, trailing Roseburg (8-1) and South Medford (8-2). "We knew we had to really play well or we’d get beat pretty badly," said Eagle Point coach Tom Britton, whose team is 5-10, 2-8 in the SOC. "That’s what we did." The Eagles have suited up only nine players in recent outings but this time added a couple junior varsity players to the mix. Advertisement Eagle Point was without five starters who played in an earlier doubleheader against North. Three players were suspended for two weeks and two players are injured. Despite the circumstances, Britton said, the Eagles have shown several times that when they don’t make mistakes, they can play with the SOC’s best teams. "This didn’t surprise me, it didn’t," said Britton. "I’m sure it does everybody else, but I know of nine players and two coaches it didn’t come as a surprise to. "No discredit to North. They played well. I just thought we played better." Grieve, in particular, was effective, and with shortstop Ryan Augino backing him up, the Tornado had trouble finding holes. Grieve scattered five hits and, after surrendering North’s lone run, faced only one batter over the minimum the last four innings. He gave the big-hitting Tornado a healthy dose of well-located off-speed pitches and came out largely unscathed. "The kid mixed his pitches up and spotted his pitches," said Britton, "against a team that, one through nine in the lineup, can go out of the yard in a heartbeat. I don’t have any kids in my lineup who can do that. He just did a tremendous job." Behind Grieve, Augino made play after play — in all, nine without an error, said Britton. "And they were all great plays, plays that could have gone either way," said the coach. North opened the scoring in the third inning, when Tony Salamone singled, stole second, then got to third after back-to-back walks to Abe Eubank and Josh Suarez. Zack James brought Salamone in with a sacrifice fly that moved runners to second and third with two outs. Grieve worked out of the inning with a strikeout. North’s Logan Odom, meanwhile, was busy setting down the Eagles, who also had five hits. He shut them out until the sixth inning when, with two outs and no one on, the hosts came to life. Grieve started it with a sinking line drive that was mishandled for an error in right field. Jeremy Carvajal singled, then Nick Staller doubled in Grieve, tying the game at 1-1 and leaving runners at second and third. Then Bateman, a .278 hitter batting in the sixth hole, delivered a single on a 1-2 count to score both runners. "That’s why we’re 2-8 in league," said Britton. "We haven’t been getting that clutch hit. We’ve had those situations, it just played out for us today. It’s really neat. The kids were really excited, especially Shasta." Grieve, who struck out three and walked three, then sandwiched two fly outs to center field around a ground out to Augino to end matters. North Medford.........................001 000 0 — 1 5 1 Eagle Point...............................000 003 x — 3 5 0 Odom and Bruhns; Grieve and Harvey. W — Grieve (1-2). L — Odom. 2B — NM: Eubank; EP: Staller. 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. 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