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59 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 20, 2005 Phoenix shortstop Dustin Smith sets up a throw to first base as Mazama�s Jared Caulfield runs toward third base during Tuesday�s contest. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Quick strike Phoenix goes up 6-0 and fends off Mazama to pin first league loss on Vikes By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune TALENT — To beat the best, Phoenix had to be at its best Tuesday in Skyline Conference baseball. Sans a rough fourth inning and a few hiccups in the field, the Pirates played near flawless baseball to hand Mazama its first league defeat, 6-3, at Hagler-James Field. Phoenix (9-3, 5-2 Skyline) jumped out to six runs over the first and third innings and senior pitcher Chad Walker limited the Viking offense to four hits in the complete-game effort. "This was certainly a big win," said Pirate coach Joe Hagler. "You don’t want to fall to three losses (in league) at this point. You’ve gotta win at home." With the win, the Pirates maintained their fourth-place standing in the conference. Mazama and Rogue River are tied for the top spot at 7-1, while defending Class 3A state champion Henley is third at 6-1. Advertisement Phoenix visits Henley in a league doubleheader on Saturday, and the Vikings play a twin bill at Rogue River. Walker (4-1) was steady from the opening pitch to the final out. He struck out just three but mixed in his off-speed pitches with a deceptive fastball to keep Mazama off balance. The importance of the game wasn’t lost on the right-hander. "I was just nervous as heck," Walker said of the opening inning. "I knew if I threw strikes and made them hit it on the ground, our defense would make the plays. "I’m not really a strikeout pitcher. I’m just trying to get (the other team) to put the ball in play, and we’ve got a great defense to do that." Sophomore Dustin Smith, who moved from second base to shortstop to fill in for the injured Brenton Ferguson, went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to lead Phoenix’s nine-hit attack. Smith’s infield single in the first started a two-run burst. "We always want to jump on them early," said Smith. "We had a team meeting (before the game) and talked about what we wanted to accomplish," he said. "I think the whole team was ready, and everybody played well." That was apparent from the start. Walker worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top half of the first, then staked Phoenix to a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the frame. D.J. Ferrin followed with another run-scoring single to cap the two-run inning. Ferrin started another outburst in the third with a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a Robert Woodward hit, then advanced to third when Josh Lorton walked to load the bases. Mazama relief pitcher Drew Reed’s first offering went to the backstop to score Ferrin, and Ryan Harvey followed with an RBI groundout. Smith and Goldberg finished off the inning with RBI singles to give Phoenix and Walker a 6-0 advantage to work with. "Well, we got ourselves in a 6-0 hole," said Vikings’ coach Jeff Sturgeon, "and getting in a hole like that is hard to get out of. "We gave up (six walks and two hit batsmen), and that’s something we haven’t done all year. That put a lot of pressure on us." Despite using four different pitchers and laboring at the plate against Walker, Mazama still had opportunities. The Vikings (10-5, 7-1 Skyline) put runners in scoring position in four of their seven at-bats but only managed runs in the fourth on a two-run single by Quinn Hummel and a run-scoring error. The Pirates also had chances to tack on more. They loaded the bases in the sixth with no outs, but Mazama pitcher Larry Wagner induced two force plays at the plate and an inning-ending line out by Walker. "That sixth kind of crushed us there," said Hagler. "I thought we had a chance to really pull away, but (not scoring) kept them in the game. We’ve got to do a better job on our pitch selection in a case like that." Woodward added two hits in four at-bats, and John Goldberg had a hit and was hit by a pitch twice. Smith added two stolen bases to his big day. Ronnie Crewse suffered the loss, walking two and giving up five hits in 21/3 innings. Mazama....................................000 300 0 — 3 4 1 Phoenix...................................204 000 x — 6 9 3 Crewse, Drew (3), McGovern (3), Wagner (5) and Dean; Walker and Harvey. W — Walker (4-1). L — Crewse. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Tatoos Advertisement s