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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, November 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 7, 2004 North Medford shortstop Kyle Williamson applies a tag to Ashland's Andrew Delcarlo at second base during the Tornado's 5-2 win at Miles Field. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Tornado traps Grizzlies Hovland, Folsom help carry North Medford past Ashland in a battle of SOC heavyweights By DON HUNT Mail Tribune The North Medford High baseball team won’t often overwhelm opponents with its hitting or overpower them with its pitching this season. But the Black Tornado is plenty competent in both categories and, with an airtight defense anchored by all-state catcher Rob Folsom, it has its sights set on a third straight Southern Oregon Conference title. Tuesday at Miles Field, North Medford eased to a 5-2 SOC victory over Ashland in a game that saw Beau Hovland pitch effectively but not brilliantly; a defense that committed three errors but also got splendid stops from Folsom and shortstop Kyle Williamson; and an offense that produced seven hits from seven different players. The win left the Black Tornado (7-2, 3-1 SOC) tied atop the SOC standings with cross-town rival South Medford and Roseburg. Ashland (6-2, 2-2 SOC) dropped a game back of the leaders. Advertisement "Last year we had nine guys who could hit the ball really solid — we were a great offensive team," said Folsom. "We don’t have that this year, and we’re finding ourselves in close games. "But that’s OK because we’ve got the pitching and the defense to get the job done." Chad Hegdahl’s RBI double gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but North Medford scored two in the top of the second and never trailed again. Abe Eubank worked Ashland starting pitcher Aaron San Nicholas for a walk to start the inning and Brandon White followed with a single to left. Josh Suarez’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third before Matt Schmeltzer hit a sacrifice fly that scored Eubank. Ashland’s Arron Nelson then threw the ball wildly from the outfield, allowing White to also cross home plate on the play. Run-scoring singles by Hovland and Eubank in the third inning made it 4-1, and that was plenty of cushion for Hovland, who scattered six hits through 62/3 innings to run his record to 4-0. Hovland struck out five and walked four — including the final two batters he faced — before yielding to Suarez with two outs in the seventh. "I got the first batter out six out of seven innings and that’s always a big key to winning," said Hovland, who threw 104 pitches. "It wasn’t my best performance — I’ve definitely thrown harder — but Ashland’s a good team, and I’ll take a win like this any time." The Grizzlies had an opportunity for a big outburst in the sixth, but defensive gems by Folsom and Williamson kept them to one run. Ashland designated hitter John Goldberg blasted a double to left that looked deep enough to score Hegdahl, who had drawn a one-out walk. But Suarez, who was playing left field at the time, got the ball in quickly to Williamson, who relayed it to Folsom. The Tornado catcher blocked the plate beautifully and tagged out Hegdahl. "One of the things I learned in the eighth grade from coach (Ron) Fawcett was that home plate is the catcher’s house and no one enters it," Folsom said. "We work on relays quite bit in practice, and I know enough to get in front of the plate. Even if the runner gets there before the ball does, you can still get them out if you’re blocking the plate." Goldberg wound up scoring on a passed ball, but Williamson deprived the Grizzlies of more runs when he went deep in the hole at short and threw out Rocky Reeser for the third out. "Those were big plays," said Ashland coach Jason Robustelli. "We had a chance for a big inning, but they came through defensively. "Folsom did what good catchers do. He straddled the base line, blocked the plate and made our guy (Hegdahl) go around him." North Medford scored its final run in the sixth when pinch-hitter Russ Vandell singled, stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored on a nicely executed suicide squeeze by Jeff Adams. Ashland....................................100 001 0 — 2 6 2 North Medford........................ 022 001 x — 5 7 3 Hovland, Suarez (7) and Folsom; San Nicholas, Weston (6) and Ross. W — Hovland (4-0). L — Nicholas (0-1). 2B — A: Hegdahl, Goldberg. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities