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Dawson continues to wield hot bat Photo by Jim Craven Phoenix's Tyler McPhee dives under the tag of Mustang Troy Beard at first base. Belts two homers in Phoenix victory TALENT -- Bobby Dawson is getting accustomed to the role of a hero. On Saturday, it was his dramatic seventh-inning, pinch-hit home run allowed Phoenix to achieve a doubleheader split with Mazama. On Tuesday, the junior designated hitter smacked a pair of two-run homers as the Pirates outslugged Hidden Valley 9-7 in Skyline Conference baseball at Hagler-James Memorial Park. Dawson connected for his first homer in the second inning to right-center field to knot the score at 3-3. Then he capped a five-run rally with a homer to left-center one inning later as the Pirates (14-5, 11-4 Sky) grabbed an 8-4 lead. "It was nice to see him use the entire ballpark," said Phoenix assistant coach Brent Watts, who was filling in for head coach Joe Hagler, who was sick. "He's getting some good pitches to hit, and he's not missing them. He's not intimidated by people." Watts says Dawson, the Pirates' No. 8 hitter, benefitted from the Mustangs trying to work around the middle of the Phoenix order featuring Andy Bartels, Travis Dunlap and Dave Westfall. "They seemed to pitch a little more fine to those hitters," said Watts, "and wanted the bottom of our lineup to beat them." Bartels (1-0) picked up his first victory of the season with a four-inning pitching stint. Bartels got off to a shaky start when he issued two walks in the first inning, then Seth Pietsch connected for a one-out, three-run homer. "After that, he (Bartels) settled down," said Watts. "He was hitting his spots and getting a lot of ground balls." Pietsch's home run was one of three by the Mustangs. Ryan Wilson and Rob Adler also connected. Watts wasn't too worried when Hidden Valley (11-8-1, 8-7 Sky) jumped out to the 3-0 first-inning lead. "We were confident we could get more than three," said Watts. "It was a matter of holding a good hitting team that Hidden Valley is to fewer runs." Hidden Valley .......................301 011 1 -- 7 10 0 Phoenix .................................125 100 x -- 9 12 0 Kennedy, Adler (4) and Richard; Bartels, Williams (5), Tester (7) and Loper. W -- Bartels (1-0). L -- Kennedy. 2B -- HV: Pietsch; P: Dunlap, Tester. HR -- HV: Wilson, Pietsch, Adler; Dawson 2. LAKEVIEW 8, ROGUE RIVER 6 -- At Rogue River, Nolan Yocum's three-run homer in the seventh lifted Lakeview to the win. Rogue River scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to grab a 6-5 advantage when Michael Welch and Nick Gilbert came around to score on a Lakeview error. The Chiefs (4-14, 3-12 Skyline) erased a 2-0 deficit on Ricky Shamblin's bases-loaded triple in the third inning. Shamblin scored on a wild throw on the hit to give Rogue River a 4-2 lead. Lakeview ............................110 300 3 -- 8 9 7 Rogue River ........................004 002 0 -- 6 3 1 Benson and Dolbear; Welch, Woodall (7) and Bowers. W -- Benson. L -- Welch (1-4). 2B -- L: Benson, Fitzgerald. 3B -- RR: Shamblin. HR -- L: Yocum. HENLEY 13, NORTH VALLEY 9 --At Merlin, North Valley's Sam Jarrett clubbed a pair of home runs, a double and two singles, but the Knights squandered a 15-9 lead after six innings and lost to Henley. Brian Kinsman, Jeremy Axel and Nick Thede each hit doubles during Henley's four-run seventh that tied the game at 13, and Jason Pryor's two-run double fueled a four-run eighth for the Hornets. Jarrett slugged a two-run homer in the third, a three-run shot in the sixth and added an RBI double in the fifth to finish with six RBIs. Brad Bailey connected for a three-run homer for the Hornets in the third inning. The loss dropped the Knights to 8-7 in the Skyline Conference and 11-8 overall. Henley improved to 9-6 in league play. Henley .............................400 010 44 -- 13 9 3 North Valley ....................002 034 00 -- 9 15 3 Bailey, Montgomery (6), Boushouizen (7) and Bair, Pryor (7); Butterbaugh, Godfrey (4), Studebaker (8), Jarrett (8) and Petersen. W -- Boushouizen. L -- Studebaker (2-1). 2B -- H: Kinsman 2, Axel, Thede, Pryor. NV: Jarrett, Butterbaugh, Nead, Sullivan 2. HR -- H: Bailey. NV: Jarrett 2. MAZAMA 13, ILLINOIS VALLEY 1 -- At Cave Junction, Trevor Mauch doubled and tripled as first-place Mazama hammered 18 hits in a six-inning contest. Mazama ...............................130 216 -- 13 18 1 Illinois Valley ........................000 100 -- 1 5 5 L. Wagner, Stone (4), C. Wagner (6) and Nelson; Larsen, Conway (6) and Henry. W -- L. Wagner. L -- Larsen (3-6). 2B -- M: McDaniel, Blank, Mauch 2. 3B -- Mauch. District 6 ST. MARY'S 7-10, PROSPECT 0-0 -- St. Mary's senior right-hander A.J. Schultz limited Prospect to two hits, struck out 10 and walked three in the first game as the Crusaders swept a District 6 doubleheader from visiting Prospect. The Crusaders (6-10, 3-5 District 6) backed Schultz with 14 hits. Brian Stout slapped three hits, drove in two runs and scored another, while Brandon Frankel, Luke Tesdal and Derek Philips had two hits each. In the second game, Ryan Fety laced a run-scoring double in he first inning and added a two-run single in the Crusaders' five-run fourth inning. Stout struck out six and walked one, while allowing two hits in four innings to pick up the win. St. Mary's stole 17 bases in the twin bill. FIRST GAME Prospect ............................000 000 0 -- 0 2 7 St. Mary's ...........................110 203 x -- 7 14 1 Lenderman, Howard (4) and Howard, Lenderman (4); Schultz and Governor. W -- Schultz (1-3). L -- Lenderman. 2B -- P: Jamison. SM: Seus, Philips. SECOND GAME Prospect ......................000 00 -- 0 2 2 St. Mary's .......................122 5x -- 10 7 0 Gordon, Lenderman (3), Maloy (4) and Howard; Stout, Governor (5) and Schultz. W -- Stout (3-4). L -- Gordon. 2B -- SM: Fetty. SOC DEL NORTE 10, GRANTS PASS 6 -- At Grants Pass, Del Norte of Crescent City, Calif., jumped out to a 10-0 lead before holding off a fifth-inning rally that saw the Cavemen climb within four runs. The non-conference loss dropped Grants Pass to 8-12 overall. Del Norte ........................022 600 0 -- 10 10 1 Grants Pass ....................000 015 0 -- 6 10 7 Still, Goodman (5), Lewis (6) and Brixey; Barbee, Draper (3), Mecum (4), Howe (7) and Richard. W -- Still. L -- Barbee (0-2). 2B -- DN: Brixey, West. GP: Mecum, Howe. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA