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Knights put halt to Cougars' playoff plans MERLIN - If you can't make the playoffs, knock somebody else out of them. That's the approach the North Valley softball team took into Tuesday's season finale, and the Knights delivered a knockout blow to Illinois Valley's postseason hopes with a 2-0 victory. Tara Ironside concluded her prep career in fine fashion, tossing a three-hit shutout to send the Cougars packing. Illinois Valley (14-7 Skyline) needed a victory to keep pace with Henley for third place in the conference. But while the Hornets were clobbering Lakeview, 15-2, the Cougars were being stymied by Ironside. "It was an awesome day for her," said North Valley head coach Jeff Conard, whose squad finishes 10-11 in the Skyline and 11-14 overall. "It was probably her last competitive game because I don't think she plans on playing in college." Ironside (9-10) allowed singles in the first, second and third innings, then nothing more while striking out two and walking three. The Knights used three singles, an Illinois Valley error and a sacrifice fly to generate two runs in the bottom of the first. Karyn Allen and Ironside both singled and eventually scored on Danielle Locke's one-run single and Shea Miller's sac-fly, respectively. Kim Hamilton pitched 5� innings of hitless relief to keep the Cougars' hopes alive, but Ironside and the North Valley defense - which committed no errors for the first time all season - proved too stingy. "The last three weeks of the season we've been playing really well and showed what kind of team we could've been all along if we played to our potential," said Conard, noting a doubleheader split with Rogue River and narrow loss to Phoenix in addition to Tuesday's victory. Illinois Valley ................................... 000 000 0 - 0 3 2 North Valley ..................................... 200 000 x - 2 3 0 Shinerock, Hamilton (1) and Colteus; Ironside and Beck. W - Ironside (9-10). L - Shinerock. HENLEY 15, LAKEVIEW 2 - At Lakeview, Ericka Clements had four hits to lead Henley to a Skyline Conference rout of Lakeview. Katie Eck added three hits for the Hornets, who pounded out 13 hits and took advantage of six Lakeview errors. Corey Saltmarsh led the Honkers (9-12 Skyline) with two hits. Henley........................................... 340 003 5 - 15 13 1 Lakeview........................................... 010 001 0 - 2 5 6 Birt, Kessler (4) and Kinsman; Jess Childress, Megan Albertson (2), Saltmarsh (3), Childress (6) and Daniels. W - Birt. L - Childress. 2B - H: Eck, Clements. MAZAMA 5, HIDDEN VALLEY 2 - At Murphy, eight Hidden Valley errors led to the Mustangs' 20th loss in 21 league games. Mazama's attack was powered by doubles by Angie Young and Krystal Lawrence. For Hidden Valley (2-23), Kinsey Tipton and Jamie Seybold both went 2-for-4. Mazama ........................................... 300 100 1 - 5 9 3 Hidden Valley ................................... 000 0002 - 2 6 8 Hart and Walker; Spurling and Tipton. W - Hart. L - Spurling (1-13). 2B - M: Lawrence and Young. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.