Mail Tribune Sports - Mustangs to play for crown

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2001-06-27

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Mustangs to play for crown SALEM � Travis Dunlap continued his hitting tear Saturday as the Medford Mustangs thumped Lakeridge, 10-3, to advance to today�s Willamette Classic American Legion baseball championship game. The Mustangs (14-8) meet Cooke�s Stationary, stocked with players from South Salem, Sprague (Salem) and Central (Independence) high schools, for the tournament title. Dunlap spanked his fourth home run in three games as the Mustangs jumped ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the first inning. Ken Halpin singled and Phil Ouellette doubled to start the inning before Colby Gonzales tied the count, 1-1, with a ground out that scored Halpin. That set the stage for Dunlap, who launched Lakeridge pitcher Drew Wedeking�s hanging breaking ball 340 feet over the right field fence at Lewis Field. The Mustangs led 3-2 before outscoring Lakeridge 7-1 in the final four innings. "It was just a matter of us being patient," said first-year Mustangs manager Brent Watts. "There�s a big area there in left field. We were finally being more selective and good things started happening." Ouellette stroked two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice. Dunlap finished with two hits, three RBIs and scored twice, while Carlie Jensen and Kevin McArthur collected two hits apiece. Matt Skundrick checked Lakeridge on six hits, giving up two of his three runs on home runs. "He had just as much on his fastball later as he did at the start," Watts said. "And his control was better later in the game." Lakeridge............................................101 001 0 � 3 6 2 Medford Mustangs...........................300 232 x � 10 11 1 Wedeking and Isom; Skundrick and Shine. W � Skundrick (2-2). L � Wedeking. 2B � M: Ouellette, Jensen, McArthur 2. HR � Dunlap (8). L: Listenberger, Fredericks.   NORTH JACKSON 7-10, ASHLAND 0-5 � At Ashland, Matt Holte fired a four-hit shutout in the opening game and North Jackson exploded for five runs in the top of the ninth inning of the nightcap as the Royals swept Ashland in an Area 4 South Division A doubleheader. The Royals trailed 5-3 in the seventh inning of the second game and were down to their last out when Evan Pogue blasted a two-run homer to tie it. North Jackson put the game away in the 10th when it erupted for five of its nine hits. Following a leadoff walk by Jesse Stevenson and a double by B.J. McFall, Pogue knocked in the winning run with a single. Ryan Garrett, Nick Newmann and Jake Kleker followed with singles, extending North Jackson�s lead to 9-5, and Charlie Jackson hit a sacrifice fly to complete the scoring. With the sweep, Eagle Point improved to 8-0 in league play and 10-1 overall, while Ashland fell to 2-2 in league action. FIRST GAME North Jackson ...................................032 100 1 � 7 10 2 Ashland............................................... 000 000 0 � 0 4 3 Holte and Garrett; Ehlers, M. Allen (5) and George. W � Holte (2-1). L � Ehlers (1-1). 2B � NJ: McFall, Newmann. 3B L � NJ: Holte. SECOND GAME North Jackson ...............................010 200 205 � 10 9 3 Ashland ...........................................000 410 000 � 5 8 1 Strodthoff, Stevenson (5) and Garrett; Schroeder, Weston (7) , M. Allen (9) and George. W � Stevenson (2-0). L � Weston. 2B � NJ: Farrell, McFall; A: Rowe. HR � NJ: Pogue.     Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds |  Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive  | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA