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Playoffs turn up the heat Mail Tribune/Drew Fleming Ashland shortstop Ryan Decker relays a throw to first base following a ground ball on Tuesday. Grizzlies falter in first-ever playoff game By KEVIN GOFF ASHLAND - Pitching, defense and timely hitting were the mainstays to the turnaround of the Ashland baseball team this season. The ninth-ranked Grizzlies had all three ingredients working during their Southern Oregon Conference championship season, but only the arm of Mike Allen turned up on Tuesday. Allen worked seven effective innings but succumbed to the hot weather and a shaky defense behind him in a 4-0, first-round Class 4A state tournament loss to Gresham at North Mountain Park. The junior right-handed pitcher gave up only six hits and walked one, with all four runs for the Gophers unearned. Gresham, the No. 4 team from the Mount Hood League, moves on to play Sheldon in the second round on Friday. Sheldon edged Wilson 5-4 in eight innings on Tuesday. "If you had told me that Mike was going to give up only six hits and walk one, I'd have thought we'd be in pretty good position," said Ashland coach Doug Stover. "We made a couple of crucial errors and just couldn't come up with some hits." Allen struggled out of the gate against Gresham. He recorded the first out but Chad Boom reached on an error and Jason McCarthy followed with a hit, putting runners on first and third. Gresham pitcher Matt York drove home Boom from third with a hit and John Banks capped the scoring with an RBI groundout. Allen then settled down, retiring the side in two of the next three innings. "It took me and my teammates a couple of innings to settle down," said Allen, who went 6-0 in the SOC with a 1.36 ERA. "I was having trouble keeping the ball down at the start and there were a couple of errors, but we just couldn't hit the ball." York, a senior, kept Ashland off-balance throughout the contest, yielding six hits and fanning nine. The Grizzlies had runners reach second only twice, and only one Ashland player made it to third base. "In the playoffs, you don't know what the other guy has as far as pitches," said York. "I think my offspeed was effective today and really kept them off-balance. "We are just playing good ball right now." Ashland missed a golden opportunity to get something going in the third. Titus Weston smacked a two-out single to right, bringing up No. 3 hitter Bill Rowe. The lefty first-baseman belted a deep shot to right field but Gresham's Boom made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch in the outfield just short of the fence to end the threat. "You have to give their defense and pitcher a lot of credit," said Stover. "They played a good ballgame and made the plays. We didn't." The Grizzlies had one final chance in the bottom of the seventh. Nick Danis legged out a one-out, infield hit and then swiped second. J.D. Christensen lifted a lazy pop up to Boom in right, who caught the ball but dropped it after attempting to pull it out of his glove. Danis tried to advance to third, thinking Boom never had possession, but was doubled up at second to end the game. Ashland closed out its season 18-8 overall, and plans to carry the success of this season - along with the majority of its lineup - into next year. "Next year we are looking for nothing less than a conference championship," said Allen. "We have a lot of young guys that are coming back and we want to go further in the (state) playoffs." Stover, who helped turn the Grizzlies from a 2-12 SOC team that finished last a year ago into a 10-4 conference champion, likes the nucleus he has coming back. "You know, this was newfound land for us," said Stover of his team's playoff inexperience. "They were a little hyped up, but I like what we have coming back. It's been a great season." Gresham................................................210 000 1 - 4 6 2 Ashland.................................................000 000 0 - 0 6 3 York and Yoshiwara; Allen and George. W - York (5-3). L - Allen (7-2). 2B - G: Fogerty. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.