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RiverDogs ready to roll Mail Tribune/Jim Craven Former North Medford High standout Steve DeClerck works out a few kinks during Tuesday's Southern Oregon RiverDogs practice at Anhorn Field. First-year baseball team offers summer experience to area stars By GREG STILES CENTRAL POINT - The Southern Oregon RiverDogs are certainly a recognizable lot. All but two played high school baseball in Jackson County. Most drew all-conference recognition, some all-state. This, after all, is an opportunity to show family and friends - not to mention college coaches - how good they've become since their high school days. For outfielder Mike Newmann, an Eagle Point graduate who attended Riverside (Calif.) Community College but sat out the spring season with a herniated disk, it means that much more. "Hopefully, I'll get some exposure," said Newmann during the team's Tuesday workout at Anhorn Field. "But the main thing is the competition, because I just missed a season. I'll see where I am personally and how much I've improved." The RiverDogs test the water for the first time Friday when they entertain Weed-n-Sons in a 5 p.m. doubleheader at Miles Field. RiverDogs founders Jim McAbee and John White desired to be part of the Pacific International League, a college-age wooden bat circuit, but were thwarted by franchise fees of roughly $50,000. The RiverDogs hope to eventually be in a league, but will play an independent 50-game schedule this season. The schedule is a mix of junior college teams from Northern California and Oregon, teams comprised of top-flight NCAA Division I talent as well as teams from the PIL and Portland Wooden Bat League. RiverDogs home games will be played at Miles Field. With no professional team in town, the RiverDogs will also provide another outlet for upper-echelon baseball fans. "This concept has been going on all around us for a long time," White says. "We want to provide an opportunity for kids to stay home and show the younger kids and the community what they've accomplished." Many of the players haven't been on the field for a month, and it shows. "Some of the guys look a little rusty pitching and hitting-wise," White says. Speed and defense will be the team's prime assets. "We definitely have some guys that can run," White says. Because they won't be playing in a league this summer, the aim is a little different. "We've kind of taken the viewpoint this season that we're developing kids for their college programs," says White, who will be the team's head coach. "We'll be getting everybody innings and at-bats." For someone such as Dan Bruce, that's a plus. Bruce hit .404 in league play this spring at Eastern Arizona College and is scheduled to play in an all-star game featuring the state's top JC sophomores. Without the RiverDogs, Bruce would've likely spent the summer in Arizona. "My coach wanted me to get some playing time," he says. "I'll pretty much get out of this what I put into it." Because the players have played with or against each other much of their lives, camaraderie quickly developed. "It makes it twice as much fun because we've been around four, six, eight years and played together in elementary school, Little League and Babe Ruth," Bruce says. "We've been able to catch up on a few memories." Fifteen pitchers will shoulder the load with seven suited for starting roles on the hill. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.