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SUNNY Temp: 102 °F Wind: NNW at 8 mph Saturday, June 28, 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 June 21, 2003 Southern Oregon�s Phil Ouellette, right, slides safely into second base in Friday�s game against the Redding Spirits at Miles Field. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman RiverDogs split with Spirits Southern Oregon wins nightcap 2-1 as Ouellette scores on a wild pitch By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune It’s never a good sign when a sacrifice bunt is your best offensive weapon. That was the case for the Southern Oregon RiverDogs in the first game of a doubleheader Friday night, and the end result followed suit as the Redding Spirits eked out a 7-6 victory in a sloppy opener at Miles Field. The RiverDogs won the nightcap, 2-1 in 11 innings, when a bases-loaded wild pitch brought home Phil Ouellette. Advertisement Neither team scored in the scheduled seven innings of play in Game 2, but each broke through in the 10th off RBI doubles. Chuck Shine and Bill Rowe extended the game in the 10th after Shine led off the frame with a bunt single and scored from first on Rowe’s double to the left-center gap. Shine blasted through Redding catcher Nick Duarte to dislodge the ball at home plate. In the 11th, Ouellette led off with a bloop single to left field to raise his hitting streak to 12 straight games, then stole second and advanced to third on a blooper to no man’s land by Ryan Garrett in right field. After an intentional walk to Derrick Draper, pinch-hitter Brian Stock watched the second pitch to him curve away from the catcher for the game-winner. The opening game of Friday’s twin bill "featured" nine errors, no extra-base hits and only 12 hits overall. Southern Oregon (8-6) had its leadoff batter reach base in eight of the nine innings, but managed only six scattered hits against a Redding team ripe for the picking. The RiverDogs appeared destined for a walk in the park early Friday as starting pitcher Matt Skundrick was in a groove and the Spirits struggled to keep the RiverDogs off base. Skundrick sat down Redding in order in the first two innings and faced only four batters following a walk in the third. On the flip side, the RiverDogs took advantage of a breakdown by the Spirits in the second inning, scoring two runs off only one hit and two errors. After Shine led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Redding’s Trevor Kuhn, Steve DeClerck followed with an RBI single. DeClerck stole second and advanced to third on a groundout, then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. But as good as it looked for Southern Oregon then, it slipped away in the fourth after a leadoff single by Danny Ranney and two straight walks to load the bases. Nick Duarte followed with an RBI single, and the Spirits quickly tied it on a passed ball. Skundrick struck out the next two batters, but couldn’t get out of the jam as Warren Larson’s two-run single gave the Spirits their first lead. A leadoff single by DeClerck and an RBI single by Draper in the bottom of the fourth brought the RiverDogs within one. And once Kuhn offered up another errant pickoff attempt that left Draper on third, Bruce placed a perfect sacrifice bunt up the first-base line to even the score. Redding manufactured another run in the fifth to regain the lead at 5-4 off a leadoff walk to Sunny Siguenza. The left fielder stole second, advanced to third on a fly ball to center field and scored on an RBI groundout by Rich Janeway. Bruce tied the game again in the sixth with a suicide squeeze bunt that scored Ken Halpin, who had walked to open the inning. Once again, however, Redding answered with two runs in the seventh off two hits, one walk and two hit batters for a 7-5 advantage. Despite having three innings to go, the RiverDogs could only muster one hit and one run — off an RBI groundout by Halpin in the eighth — to close out the opener. FIRST GAME Redding Spirits....................000 410 200 — 7 6 5 Southern Oregon.................020 201 010 — 6 6 4 Kuhn and Duarte; Skundrick, Edwards (6), Stevenson (9) and Shine. W — Kuhn. L — Edwards (0-2). SECOND GAME Redding Spirits................000 000 000 10 — 1 5 1 Southern Oregon............000 000 000 11 — 2 9 0 Carter, Larson (9) and Duarte, Brougan (11); Bailey, Willer (7), Campbell (10) and Garrett. W — Campbell (1-0). L — Larson. 2B — R: Siguenza; SO: Jefferson, Rowe. 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 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. 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