Document text
Hidden Valley claims Skyline's top seed MURPHY - With the Skyline Conference baseball title on the line, Calvin Schmidt produced. The Hidden Valley senior catcher provided a hugh offensive spark as the Mustangs had to come from behind for a 8-6 win over Mazama Wednesday. The victory tied Hidden Valley (19-5, 16-5 Skyline) with Henley for the conference championship, the Mustangs first Skyline title. But the Mustangs will receive the league's No. 1 seed in the Class 3A state playoffs by virtue of three one-run regular-season victories over the Hornets. Hidden Valley, which set a school record with the most wins in one season, will host its first-ever playoff game May 25 at the school. The Mustangs couldn't have gotten off to a much worse start when Mazama scored four runs in the top of the first inning. The Vikings took advantage of one hit batter and three errors to put Hidden Valley in a big hole. But Schmidt was the equalizer with a 4-for-4, four RBI performance. "Calvin Schmidt had the golden bat today," Hidden Valley first-year coach Mark Vidlak said. "He was clutch. He had two hits off the wall. That's how you win by having kids come through at the right time." Schmidt's two-run double in the second inning cut the Vikings advantage to 4-3, then another two-run double an inning later gave Hidden Valley the lead for good, 5-4. While Hidden Valley chipping away at the Vikings' lead, ace pitcher Scott Hyde didn't allow Mazama to score any more runs from the second through the fifth inning. Hyde only allowed one earned run, four hits and struck out six in going the distance for his 11th win in 12 decisions. "He kept the ball down and his curveball was working well today," said Vidlak. "After the kids got their first-inning jitters out, we settled down and played good baseball." Schmidt's third double of the game led to a three-run outburst in the fifth that padded the Mustangs' lead to 8-4. Troy Beard's two-out, two-run single accounted for what proved to be the margin of victory. "The kids showed a lot of courage battling back," said Viklak. "The sticks were alive today." Mazama...........................................400 001 1 - 6 4 1 Hidden Valley...............................122 030 x - 8 8 5 L. Wagner, Farley (5) and Manfull; Hyde and C. Schmidt. W - Hyde (10-1). L - L. Wagner. 2B - HV: C. Schmidt 3, N. Mason, Beard. 3B - M: Quirke. ILLINOIS VALLEY 14, NORTH VALLEY 6 - At Merlin, North Valley pitcher Scott Butterbaugh was cruising with a 4-0 lead and had a perfect game until Illinois Valley capitalized on eight errors to score 14 runs in the fourth inning. The Cougars sent 19 batters to the plate in the big inning and collected eight hits. Jon Pope, Brandon Henry and Daniel Houston each had two hits and scored twice in the frame. North Valley senior third baseman Justin Sullivan smacked his seventh and eight home run of the season. Sullivan staked the Knights (6-18, 4-17 Skyline) to an early lead with a two-run homer in first. North Valley also got two hits apiece from Drew Peterson, Cory Pedersen and Luke Hall. Illinois Valley..............................000 (14)00 0 - 14 11 1 North Valley.................................202 0 11 0 - 6 10 9 Stone, Larson (5) and Henry, McDowell (5); Butterbaugh, Phelps (4) and Saeman. W - Stone. L - Butterbaugh. 2B - IV: Stone; NV: Peterson. HR - NV: Sullivan 2 (7). PHOENIX 12, ROGUE RIVER 0, 5 innings - At Phoenix, Travis Dunlap and Eric Kessler provided the offense and Jake Mahon provided the pitching as the Pirates finished the season as the No. 3 team in the Skyline conference. Dunlap and Kessler each went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Kessler also had two doubles. Mahon notched six strikeouts in a shutout performance, while only giving up two hits and one walk over five innings. The Pirates (16-10, 14-7 Skyline) will travel to play the No. 3 team from the Valco conference on Tuesday. The Chieftains finished the Skyline season at 4-17. Rogue River...............................................000 00 - 0 2 4 Phoenix..................................................432 3x - 12 14 0 Hunter and Bowers; Mahon and Pearce. W - Mahon (3-1), L - Hunter. 2B - P: Kessler 2, Dunlap, Dawson 1. 3B - P: Kaufman. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.