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M/SUNNY Temp: 53 °F Wind: NW at 12 mph Saturday, April 26, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend April 6, 2003 South Medford�s Corey O�Neill (4) slides home safely for the Panthers� first run in the second game of Saturday�s doubleheader against Eagle Point. In the first game, O�Neill paved the way for an eight-run outburst in the seventh inning that catapulted S Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Game 1 rally keys South sweep The Panthers’ huge comeback in the final inning baffles Eagle Point and sets the stage in the SOC opener By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune A 12-4 score. Three outs to play. No problem. While that should have been Eagle Point’s mantra as the Eagles scrambled out to defend their eight-run lead, instead it was South Medford’s battle cry in the home dugout Saturday afternoon at Miles Field. The Panthers had twice trailed by five runs already this season, working their way back to within one run before coming up shy against Mazama (11-10) and Crescent Valley (6-5). Even still, eight runs behind with only three outs to go, a comeback of that proportion is improbable, right? Right. But not impossible. South heated up an otherwise chilly afternoon at the ballpark with eight runs on eight hits and one error to tie the opener, then capped the comeback with a run in the eighth to steal a 13-12 extra-inning victory over the baffled Eagles. Eagle Point never really recovered after that as the Panthers earned the Southern Oregon Conference sweep with a 10-1 triumph in the nightcap. South improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in conference, while the Eagles dropped to 4-2 overall and 0-2 in SOC play. "You don’t see that very often," second-year South coach Steve Antich said of the first-game rally. "You can’t coach that stuff, the kids just have to have it, and they had it today. "I can’t say enough about what they did after digging themselves such a big hole. It’s not very often when you can learn a lesson like that and still win." Eagle Point can testify to that. "That’s why baseball’s a funny game," said 25th-year Eagle Point coach Tom Britton, still struggling to come to grips with Saturday’s outcome. "Things like that happen." With EP starter Ron Depuy making few mistakes on the mound in Game 1, the Eagles appeared destined to equal last year’s entire SOC win-total (1) in their conference-opener. Eagle Point went ahead 3-0 two innings before South stormed back with four runs in the third, highlighted by a three-run double from senior Jeremy Frantz. Undaunted, the Eagles took advantage of a two-out error when South shortstop Andy Narus’ throw pulled first baseman Allen Smith off the bag on a hit by Ricky O’Callahan. After a walk to Tyson Nelson, Mark Farrell made the Panthers pay with a three-run homer well over the center field wall. Eagle Point added another run in the sixth to go ahead 7-4, then broke out the bats again for five runs in the top of the seventh, highlighted by RBI doubles from Ryan Augino and Chris Boyd and RBI singles from Richie Cruz and O’Callahan. But instead of getting a curtain call in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles had the lights go out on them as South put together an incredibly patient hitting display. "We just really talked about making them work in the seventh inning," Frantz said of the Panthers’ last-gasp intentions. "And then we did a good job of being patient and hitting the right pitch." Corey O’Neill’s leadoff double signaled big things to come, but Depuy forced a routine groundout by Chancler to slow things. After Narus beat out an infield single to score O’Neill, Frantz followed with a single and Smith beat out another infield single to load the bases. Depuy once again stymied the Panthers by inducing a pop-up to shortstop for the second out, but it was all downhill from there for the Eagles. South sophomore Justin Meyer belted a two-run double, Matt Bryant’s grounder gobbled up Cruz at third base to keep the inning alive and Tyler Heil and O’Neill each added RBI singles to make South’s rally more realistic. Given a second chance in the inning, Chancler came through with a two-run double to the left-center gap to tie the game at 12-all. "Dan had a huge hit for us, especially for this early in the season," said Frantz. Britton put an end to Depuy’s day following the double, bringing in another left-hander, Casey Hedrick, to get the final out on dribbler to first by Narus. In hindsight, Britton said pulling Depuy a few batters earlier might have halted South’s rally but, at the time, the junior was doing a good job of forcing the Panthers to make something happen. "We thought about changing the pitcher (earlier) but Ronnie was throwing strikes, we just weren’t making plays behind him," said the veteran coach. "Up to this point, we don’t really know who on our staff can come in and throw strikes, so in that situation you’re inclined to leave your No. 1 guy in there." Antich agreed that South’s rally had more to do with his team’s ability to put the ball in play more than a failure somewhere else. "Their pitcher was making us work," he said. "He didn’t give us anything." Heil faced only four EP batters in the eighth before giving way to the offense. After Frantz drew one of his five walks on the day — two intentional — a roller by Smith went under Augino’s glove to put runners on the corners. Nelson then came on in relief of Hedrick, intentionally walking Tim Holtz to set up a force at any base before Meyer closed the game with a sacrifice fly. The second game proved to be more of a carryover from the opener, with the Eagles unable to build up enough steam to stave off the sweep. "There’s no question that first one deflated us," Britton said. "How can you not be deflated after losing a game like that?" Holtz picked up the Game 2 win for South with four strikeouts. He and Heil also drove in two runs apiece. FIRST GAME Eagle Point.........................030 301 50 — 12 16 3 South Medford...................004 000 81 — 13 12 3 Depuy, Hedrick (7), Nelson (8) and O’Callahan; Bryant, Alvis (7), Heil (8) and Meyer. W — Heil. L — Hedrick. 2B — EP: Boyd, Farrell, Christian, Augino; SM: O’Neill, Chancler, Frantz, Holtz, Meyer, Heil. HR — EP: Farrell. SECOND GAME Eagle Point...............................010 000 0 — 1 7 2 South Medford.......................102 061 x — 10 9 2 Nelson, Christian (5) and O’Callahan; Holtz and Meyer. W — Holtz. L — Nelson. 2B — EP: Farrell 2, Gray, Augino; SM: Narus. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S