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Ashland girls belt South, brace for North ASHLAND -- It didn't count in the standings, but the Ashland Grizzlies still had to be happy with Tuesday's 7-0 non-conference victory over South Medford. The Grizzlies squared their spring record at 7-7 and certainly put a better paw forward than when they divided a Southern Oregon Conference doubleheader against the Panthers on April 10. "This is the game that was going to take us into North Medford and playing well was a very critical step," Ashland coach Kristeen Weiss said. The Grizzlies were picked to finish fourth in the SOC, but got off to a slow start. They swept Eagle Point last Saturday to pull even with Grants Pass at 3-3. Saturday's 10 a.m. doubleheader against No. 1-ranked and two-time defending state champion North Medford will be another matter. "We need to travel over to Fagone Field and play the best softball we've played so far," Weiss said. "If we play the best we've played so far, whatever happens, happens." Ashland scored six runs in the first inning on four hits, two hit batters, two walks and an error. Gracie Rowland-Dunn sparked the explosion with a leadoff triple to left-center field. Simone Champagne and Angela Fleicher had RBI singles in the inning. Junior pitchers Kristen Strait and Amy Williams combined for Ashland's third shutout of the season. They struck out 11 and walked none, while limiting South to three hits. South Medford ..000 000 0 -- 0 3 1 Ashland ............610 000 x -- 7 7 2 Foster, Calvert (1) and Herring; Strait, Williams (5) and Clason. W -- Strait (6-4). L -- Foster. 3B -- A: Rowland-Dunn. Skyline Conference HENLEY 12, PHOENIX 8 -- At Klamath Falls, Lois Schumaker and Ollie Herbert both had three hits to carry Henley to its 11th win against no losses. Schumaker and Krystal Young both hit three-run home runs for Henley (8-0 Skyline) in the sixth inning. Phoenix .............000 224 0 -- 8 14 3 Henley ..............110 406 x -- 12 14 1 Heath and Nikodym; Hargrave, Young (6) and Mills. W -- Young. L -- Heath. HR -- H: Schumaker, Young. 3B -- H: Heath. 2B -- H: Miller, Herbert; P: Tara Kirk. MAZAMA 21, NORTH VALLEY 11 -- At Klamath Falls, the Vikings collected 19 hits in rolling to victory in six innings. Shena Powell and Emily Guetzlow both had three hits in four at-bats for Mazama. North Valley ........002 360 -- 11 13 4 Mazama ..........2(11)0 323 -- 21 19 4 Wardlaw and Long; Valiton and Mishler. W -- Valiton. L -- Wardlaw. HR -- M: Huck. 3B -- M: Powell. 2B -- Scholer. HIDDEN VALLEY 6, ROGUE RIVER 5 -- At Murphy, the Mustangs had only three hits on the day but earned the Skyline Conference win by using five walks to score all of their runs in the second inning. Rogue River's Kelli Simmons drove in three runs with a triple in the fourth and Jamie Artoff added an RBI single in the fifth as the Chieftains (4-7, 3-6 Skyline) attempted to rally. Rogue River ............010 310 0 -- 5 8 1 Hidden Valley .........060 000 x -- 6 3 3 Artoff, Goodwin (2) and Bailey; Roth and Nugent. W -- Roth. L -- Artoff (2-3). 2B -- HV: Elliott; RR: Sittingdown. 3B -- Simmons. LAKEVIEW 5, ILLINOIS VALLEY 1 -- At Lakeview, Andrea Gillogley had two hits and drove in two runs to lead Lakeview to its fifth Skyline Conference win against three losses. Illinois Valley fell to 7-2. Katie Ruda had a key double and allowed six hits in improving to 5-1 for Lakeview. Illinois Valley ....000 010 0 -- 1 6 3 Lakeview ..........200 003 x -- 5 5 2 Johnson and McDowell; Ruda and Gillogley. W -- Ruda (5-1) L -- Johnson. 2B -- L: Ruda. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.