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Photo by Andy Atkinson Phoenix catcher Abe Lupkin, right, tries in vain to tag out Eric Wietlishbach at home plate in the second inning. Henley pitcher gets revenge By DON HUNT TALENT -- Kent Cunningham came to Hagler-James Park last season with hopes of knocking off the top Class 3A baseball team in the state. He left with his head in his hands, having lost both ends of a Skyline Conference doubleheader. The Henley pitcher was out for some revenge Tuesday, and he collected quite a chunk. Cunningham scattered nine hits and teammate Jeremy Axel went 4-for-5 to spark the visiting Hornets to an 8-4 victory. The win elevates Henley (8-6, 7-2 Skyline) to a first-place tie with Mazama, which lost to North Valley on Tuesday. Phoenix's Jason Foster tags out Henley's Jeremy Axel between first and second. "Losing two games in one day is a pitcher's nightmare, but it happened to me at this ballpark last year," Cunningham said. "I've been thinking about this game for a long time. I was really motivated to come back here and beat them. Phoenix has always had my number." The Pirates staged one of their greatest comebacks in school history last season when they rallied from a 16-12 deficit in the seventh inning -- there were two outs and nobody on base when the rally started -- to tie the game and then humble the Hornets 17-16 in extra innings. Cunningham, who had suffered a 5-2 loss in the opening game that day, came on in relief in the second game and gave up the winning hit. "It's one of those things you don't forget," Cunningham said. "It was pretty humiliating." The defending state champion Pirates were hit hard by graduation, but went into Tuesday's game tied with Henley for second place in the Skyline Conference. They also carried a 10-2 record and the No. 8 ranking in the state poll. But it was another statistic -- the Pirates' scoring average of 11 runs per game -- that caught Cunningham's attention. "I just tried to keep them off-balance by throwing a lot of different pitches," said Cunningham, who mixed fastballs, sliders and change-ups into his repertoire. "And I didn't get rattled when I gave up a hit. I just focused on the next batter and tried to get the out. Phoenix will get some hits -- they're too good not to -- but if you can keep them from having a big inning then you've got a good chance at beating them." Mission accomplished. Phoenix never scored more than one run in any one inning, and during the middle of the game Cunningham retired eight straight batters before Dave Westfall singled to center. Westfall later scored when Cunningham surrendered his only extra-base hit of the game -- a double to Abe Lupkin in the bottom of the sixth. But by then the Hornets had built an 8-3 lead on the strength of 13 hits, five of which were doubles. The death blow for the Pirates came in the top of the fifth when, trailing 5-2, they gave up three unearned runs. Sloppy defense spawned three errors, including two on one play, and a dropped fly ball in the outfield. Doubles by Sam Tacchini and Tim Frost and a two-run single by Axel made the miscues costly. "We made a lot of mistakes and I attribute that to not being mentally ready to play when the game started," Phoenix coach Joe Hagler said. "We came out flat." The Pirates tried to orchestrate one of their patented seventh-inning rallies. Brandon Lillis walked and Theron Hull singled to start the inning. But Cunningham got Andy Bartels to fly out and Drew Pierson and Travis Dunlap to ground out, ending the game. Pierson, who saw his 10-game hitting streak end Saturday at Lakeview, managed one hit Tuesday but is just 2-for-11 in his last three games. "There's still a lot of season left," said Pierson, the only returning starter from last season's state title team. "This was only one game." For Cunningham, it was much more than that. Phoenix .........030 230 0 -- 8 13 1 Phoenix ..........011 001 0 -- 4 8 4 Hull, Tester (3), Dunlap (5) and Lupkin, Hull (5); Cunningham and Metcalf. W -- Cunningham (2-1). L -- Hull. 2B -- H: Wietlishbach, Axel, Thede, Tacchini, Frost; P: Lupkin. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.