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Gonzales leads North past pesky Grizzlies The Ashland Grizzlies put up a good fight, but had no answer for Colby Gonzales Saturday afternoon as North Medford took over first place in the Southern Oregon Conference baseball race. Gonzales extended his hitting streak to 16 games, went 7-for-7, scored twice, drove in four runs, doubled twice, tripled and homered as the Black Tornado swept the Grizzlies, 8-6 and 6-2 at Miles Field. The victory boosted North's SOC record to 8-0 and 13-2-1 overall, while Ashland remained winless in conference play. Coupled with top-ranked Crater's split with South Medford, North took a one-game advantage over the Comets. In the opener, Ashland took a 6-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning, parlaying three hits, a hit batter and a walk into three runs. Nate Monosoff drove in two runs with a pop fly down the right-field line. North responded with five runs in the home half of the inning. Ken Halpin knocked in Evan McArthur with the first run with a sacrifice fly. Gonzales then doubled in the left-center field gap to send Nate Mayben home. Gonzales advanced and scored on two wild pitches by Ashland reliever Jason Schroeder. Shawn Backstrom, who now has an 11-game hitting streak, plated Charlie Jensen and Danny Bruce with the go-ahead runs with a base hit to right-center. Gonzales, who improved his batting average to .593 (35-of-59) and boosted his slugging percentage to nearly .900, tripled home North's first run in the nightcap. But the Grizzlies came back to take a 2-1 advantage in the fourth when Phil Rowe smacked a home run to right center and Ryan Decker scored on Tyson George's Texas leaguer behind second base. The Tornado responded with a five-run rally in their next turn at-bat, putting together four hits, a walk and a pair of home runs. Halpin walloped a 2-2 offering over the left-field fence for his third home run of the spring. Then Gonzales launched his second homer over the right-field barrier. FIRST GAME Ashland ..........................000 303 0 -- 6 5 1 North Medford ................003 005 x -- 8 13 0 Ehlers, Schroeder (6) and Tor. George; Kircher and Halpin. W -- Kircher (6-1). L -- Schroeder. 2B -- A: Monosoff; NM: Gonzales 2, Backstrom. 3B -- Halpin. HR -- A: Ty. George. SECOND GAME Ashland .........................000 200 0 -- 2 8 0 North Medford ...............001 500 x -- 6 9 1 M. Allen, J. Allen (4) and Tor. George; Mayben and Halpin. W -- Mayben (7-1). L -- M. Allen. 2B -- A: Monosoff; NM: Ouellette. 3B -- NM: Gonzales, Ouellette. HR -- A: Rowe; NM: Halpin (3), Gonzales (2). GRANTS PASS 7-10, KLAMATH UNION 5-3 -- At Klamath Falls, Brady Howe picked up the win on the mound and smacked a three-run home run in the first game as Grants Pass went on to sweep the Southern Oregon Conference doubleheader. Howe spotted the Cavemen a 3-0 lead with his blast and, despite giving up 16 hits, went the rest of the way for the win. Adam Kellstrom and Patrick Kesling each had three hits for Klamath Union while Jason Mortenson, Phil Card and Patrick Bennett added two apiece. FIRST GAME Grants Pass .......................300 103 0 -- 7 7 4 Klamath Union ....................301 010 0 -- 5 16 2 Howe and Richard; Crismon, Woodrum (1), Kellstrom (6) and Mortenson. W -- Howe. L -- Woodrum. 2B -- KU: Mortenson, Kellstrom; GP: Thomason. HR -- GP: Howe. SECOND GAME Grants Pass ..........................301 020 4 -- 10 12 0 Klamath Union ......................120 000 0 -- 3 5 4 York and Ortiz; Caleb, Baker (5) and Mortenson. W -- York. L -- Caleb. 2B -- GP: Barbee, Richard, Howe, York. 3B -- KU: Mortenson. HR: GP: York. Softball CRATER 8-10, SOUTH MEDFORD 7-0 -- The Panthers rallied from a 7-6 deficit in the bottom of the seventh to send the first game into extra innings, only to have the Comets break through for a win in the 13th inning. Crater then breezed to a 10-0 romp in a second game that ended after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. Megan Bettencourt was the hero for the Comets in Game 1 when she singled home Addie Wiersma in the top of the 13th. Crater leadoff hitter Kara Ray went 5-for-7 in the opening game and 8-for-11 on the day. Lindsey McHenry had a double and triple for South (2-15, 0-8 SOC) in Game 1. FIRST GAME Crater ...................................210 004 000 000 1 -- 8 18 1 South Medford ......................013 200 100 000 0 -- 7 12 4 Ray, Perdue (4) and Ridge, Steinmetz (4); Byrne and Hoffmeier. W -- Perdue. L -- Byrne (1-7). 2B -- SM: McHenry, Jordahl. 3B -- SM: McHenry. SECOND GAME Crater ..............................022 15 -- 10 11 1 South Medford ..............000 00 -- 0 2 3 Ray and Steinmetz; Calvert and Hoffmeier. W -- Ray. L -- Calvert (1-8). GRANTS PASS 5-10, KLAMATH UNION 0-0 -- At Grants Pass, sophomore Samantha Marrs pitched complete-game shutouts in both games of a twin bill sweep for Grants Pass. Reshaun Lewis and Gabby Rathburn each had two hits for the Cavers in the opener while Trisha Cook went 2-for-3 for Klamath Union. Grants Pass (13-5, 5-3 SOC) pounded out 14 hits in the nightcap, three each coming from Lewis and Alayna Petersen, to run away with the five-inning win. Marrs struck out nine over both games and didn't yield a walk. FIRST GAME Klamath Union ........................000 000 0 -- 0 3 1 Grants Pass ............................202 010 x -- 5 6 0 Skeen and Ball; Marrs and Rathburn. W -- Marrs (8-4). L -- Skeen. 2B -- GP: Rathburn, Barbian; KU: Cook. SECOND GAME Klamath Union .........................000 00 -- 0 3 2 Grants Pass .............................040 24 -- 10 14 2 Skeen and Ball; Marrs and Rathburn. W -- Marrs (9-4). L -- Skeen. ROSEBURG 3-11, EAGLE POINT 1-1 -- At Roseburg, Keri Nelson allowed only two hits while striking out seven in the opening game and went 4-for-4 at the plate in the nightcap as Roseburg took a pair from Eagle Point. Erin Goodell drove in all three of Roseburg's runs in the first game and had three of the Indians' 17 singles in Game 2. Michelle Hegele paced Roseburg (13-6, 6-2 SOC) by going 4-for-4 with four RBIs in the nightcap, with Lindsey O'Byrne adding three hits. FIRST GAME Eagle Point ..........................000 100 0 -- 1 2 2 Roseburg ............................102 000 x -- 3 5 1 Williams and Mapes; Nelson and Black. W -- Nelson (5-4). L -- Williams. 2B -- EP: Dodenhoff. SECOND GAME Eagle Point ..........................000 01 -- 1 5 8 Roseburg ............................231 5x -- 11 17 1 Brewington, Williams (5) and Mapes; Liston, Jones (5) and Schruth. W -- Liston (8-2). L -- Brewington. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA