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47 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, November 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 21, 2004 Ashland intent on breaking out of scoring lull Grizzlies play host to Dallas today in state subtournament tilt By JOE ZAVALA for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Ashland High baseball coach Jason Robustelli isn’t trying to paint a bleak picture. Nor is he attempting to send a message. For Ashland’s second-year head coach, it’s all about the numbers. And in Robustelli’s experience, those numbers point to one inalienable fact which his team must overcome in order to advance deep into the 2004 Class 4A state playoffs. "If you’ve got dead bats, you’re not going very far," he said before Wednesday’s practice at North Mountain Park. "You’ve got to score a lot of runs in the playoffs. That’s the key." The Grizzlies will put that theory to the test starting at 4 p.m. today, when they play host to the Dallas Dragons in a state subtournament game. Both teams enter the game with identical 14-11 records and both finished fourth in their conference. Runs have been hard to come by for the Grizzlies. Ashland scored 46 in its first five games of the regular season, but has scored just 22 in its last 10 games. The Grizzlies haven’t surpassed the five-run barrier since April 24 and are batting just .295 as a team. Advertisement Ashland was able to overcome those numbers and still sneak into the playoffs thanks to some clutch pitching performances down the stretch by seniors Chad Hegdahl, Micah Weston and Brian Ross. Those performances marked the high points in a season of ups and downs. All told, the Grizzlies’ regular season included two winning streaks of four games or more and two losing streaks of three games or more. Through it all, the Grizzlies have maintained their confidence, despite a hitting slump that has infected the entire team. "We’ve hit some rough times," said Grizzly designated hitter John Goldberg, who’s second on the team in both RBIs (16) and batting average (.377). "We keep hitting the ball to the wrong spots and people are there to catch it. It’s bad luck right now, but I think with the little adjustments that our coaches made, we might turn it around. Things might be looking up for us now." Grizz senior shortstop Steve Jorgensen agreed. "We’ve just gotta get back in that mentality of scoring runs and hitting the ball a whole lot, and I think we’re ready to do it," he said. "It’s time for us to open up and start swinging the bats again." Clearly, Ashland’s offensive production, or lack thereof, has become a point of emphasis for the Grizzly coaching staff. While Ashland’s pitching and defense have shown improvement over time, the Grizzlies have only gotten worse at the plate. That trend spawned a shake-up in the batting order last week, along with some extra doses of batting practice. The new batting order, which features Arron Nelson (.321 batting average) in the leadoff spot, Hegdahl (.795 slugging percentage) third and Ross (.311 batting average) hitting cleanup, has produced some early-inning success. Still, the bottom line has been the same, as Ashland has scored only five runs in three games since the switch. Robustelli says it’s a problem that must be fixed, or the Grizzlies will be getting ready for American Legion ball sooner than expected. "We’ve been averaging like two runs a game for the last eight games," he said. "Obviously that’ll do if we can hold someone off, but in the long run scoring two runs isn’t going to do it in the playoffs. We’re trying to get the swings back for these guys. They’ve been thinking a lot at the plate and it’s tough to hit that way." If Ashland can’t turn its batting around, the Grizzlies will continue to rely heavily on a pitching staff that has emerged as their saving grace. Besides Hegdahl (6-3, 2.07 ERA), who stands to be named a first-team all-SOC pitcher for the third straight year, the Grizzlies have gotten outstanding performances out of Weston, sophomore Aaron San Nicholas and Ross. Hegdahl will get the start today, while Weston (3-5, 3.41 ERA) will go against fourth-ranked Redmond should Ashland advance. The Grizzlies team ERA of 3.64 is solid considering that Ashland’s error-prone defense has opened the door for opponents all season long. "I think we can go somewhere if our bats come to life like they should, like they did earlier this year," Robustelli says of a potential run in the playoffs. "As long as our offense is there, I think we can go as far as that goes. "We’ll see what we got." Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities