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Henley blanks Phoenix, moves into three-way tie for first TALENT - Giving Henley a little more help than the Hornets truly needed, Phoenix dropped into a three-way tie for first place in the Skyline Conference softball standings. The Pirates (15-8, 14-4 Skyline) committed four errors and managed only four hits in a 4-0 loss to Henley Tuesday afternoon, Phoenix's first loss this season at Hagler-James Field. Henley starter Jessica Birt struck out nine and walked five in an effective stint inside the circle. "We didn't swing the bats as well as we have been through the season," said Shearin. "That little bit of borderline control I think is sometimes much harder to hit. She gave us five walks but she kept us off-balance all day and did a nice job. "It's tough when you think you're ahead of the pitcher by quite a bit and they come back and get you swinging because they've got you guessing as to whether they're going to come back with a strike or not." Henley (14-4 Skyline) managed a 2-0 lead in the third following RBI efforts by Tara Houglum and Ericka Clements. That lead ballooned to 4-0 in the sixth after Phoenix opened the inning with two straight errors to set the table for a two-run single by Stephanie Lashley. Tiffany Ross, Kelsey Russell, Kendra Kohler and Amanda Moore picked up the lone hits for Phoenix, which had runners in scoring position for five of the seven innings but couldn't pick up a timely hit. Henley................................................011 002 0 - 4 6 1 Phoenix..............................................000 000 0 - 0 4 4 Birt and Kinsman; Ross and Reed. W - Birt. L - Ross (15-7). 2B - H: Clements. ROGUE RIVER 12, HIDDEN VALLEY 6 - At Rogue River, Kristi Frederick drove in four runs on two triples and her second home run of the season as Rogue River pulled into a first-place tie with Phoenix and Henley. Hidden Valley...................................201 012 0 - 6 9 3 Rogue River..................................411 042 x - 12 12 3 Spurling, Hudson (5) and Turley; Glasscock, Winfrey (7) and Artoff. W - Glasscock (9-2). L - Spurling. 3B - RR: Frederick 2. HR - RR: Frederick (2). NORTH VALLEY 14, MAZAMA 4 - At Merlin, North Valley took advantage of nine walks and six errors by Mazama to post a five-inning victory. Mazama's Angie Young and Tia Chastain each went 2-for-3. Mazama.................................................002 02 - 4 7 6 North Valley.........................................072 05 - 14 6 2 Hart, Chastain (3) and Walker; Ironside and Beck. W - Ironside (7-9). L - Hart. 2B - M: Lawrence. ILLINOIS VALLEY 5, LAKEVIEW 3 - At Cave Junction, Sydney Dearda had three hits - including a solo home run - to lead Illinois Valley to the win. Kim Hamilton picked up the pitching win, giving up five hits and striking out seven. Jesse Childress hit a solo home run for Lakeview in the sixth. Lakeview............................................110 001 0 - 3 5 0 Illinois Valley.....................................111 110 x - 5 6 1 Childress and Daniel; Hamilton and Coultas. W - Hamilton. L - Childress. 2B - L: Stewart; IV: Hamilton. HR - L: Childress; IV: Dearda. Non-Conference NORTH MEDFORD 3, GRANTS PASS 1 - Beth Morrill knocked home two runs with a triple in the sixth inning to lead North Medford to a non-conference win. North Medford improved to 17-5 overall. Grants Pass.......................................000 100 0 - 1 7 0 North Medford...................................000 003 x - 3 4 1 Morton, Gallego (6) and Richard; Sevano, Young (5) and Hillyer. W - Young (6-3). L - Gallego. 2B - GP: Bellum. 3B - NM: Merrill. GOLD BEACH 8, CASCADE CHRISTIAN 2 - At Jacksonville, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 2A, Gold Beach proved to be too much for Cascade Christian in a non-conference game. Whitney Brookins went 3-for-3 for half of Cascade Christian's hit total, and Rusti Mosser drove in both runs with a third-inning single. Pitcher Laural Kelley (9-4) struck out 10 in defeat. Gold Beach ....................................... 202 002 2 - 8 6 2 Cascade Christian ........................... 002 000 0 - 2 6 4 Engdahl and Ringer; Kelley and Mosser. W - Engdahl. L - Kelley (9-4). 3B - GB: Miller. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.