Document text
Henley ekes past Pirates in eight innings KLAMATH FALLS - Tiffany Ross of Phoenix pitched well enough to win. But in the end, fourth-ranked Henley executed when it counted and Phoenix did not. Henley moved a step closer to the Skyline Conference softball championship Tuesday with the 2-1 victory in eight innings. The Hornets (19-2, 16-2 Skyline) hold a three-game first-place lead over Illinois Valley and Rogue River with three conference games remaining. Henley plays a doubleheader at Illinois Valley Saturday. "We're in a good position," Henley coach Steve Rooklidge said, "but we're not taking anything for granted." Henley scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when Emily Mills began at second according to international rules. Mills was sacrificed to third, then scored on Katie Eck's sacrifice fly. Phoenix couldn't capitalize in the top of the eighth. Melinda Moore started at second and moved to third on April Darby's ground out. But Moore was thrown out at home on Chelsi Clark's grounder to second baseman Ericka Clements. Henley opened the scoring in the third on Clements' two-out single, followed by singles by Eck and Ollie Herbert. The Pirates answered in the fifth. With two outs, Moore drew a walk and April Darby tripled to right. Ross and Henley pitcher Jessica Birt were locked in a tight pitcher's duel throughout. Ross, who allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked one, while Birt surrendered three hits and had four strikeouts. "We had seven hits off Ross, but they were the two-out type," said Rooklidge. "We weren't threatening. She was in command." It was the Pirates (13-7, 11-7 Skyline) sixth one-run conference loss. Phoenix................................................000 010 00 - 1 3 0 Henley..................................................001 000 01 - 2 7 0 Ross and Darby; Je. Birt and Mills. W - Birt (7-1). L - Ross (13-5). 2B - H: Ja. Birt. 3B - P: Darby. NORTH VALLEY 8, MAZAMA 5 - At Klamath Falls, North Valley's Whitney Makepeace went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. The Knights (11-12, 8-10 Skyline) erased a 4-2 deficit with a five-run fourth inning. North Valley collected five hits in the frame, including RBI singles by Hannah Plant and Rachell Wardlaw and a two-run single by Makepeace. Rita Long added a solo home run in the fifth for the Knights. Senior pitcher Wardlaw went the distance to even her record at 8-8. North Valley......................................020 510 0 - 8 9 6 Mazama...............................................301 010 0 - 5 8 4 Wardlaw and Beck; Valiton, Chastain (5) and Mishler. W - Wardlaw (8-8). L - Valiton. HR: NV: Long; M: Brasser, Chastain. ROGUE RIVER 6, HIDDEN VALLEY 1 - At Murphy, winless Hidden Valley took an early 1-0 lead, but the Chieftains scored the winning runs in the fifth inning without a hit. The victory moves Rogue River into a second-place tie with Illinois Valley at 13-5. The Mustangs (0-23, 0-18 Skyline) scored their lone run in the first inning when Cara Mattern got hit by a pitch, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on an error. Allison Bailey smacked a solo home run in the third inning to tie the game at 1-all. The Chieftains capitalized on two walks to score twice in the fifth to take the lead for good 3-1. For Hidden Valley, freshman Stephanie Dean and Krista Hudson each collected two hits. Rogue River..........................................001 021 1 - 6 6 1 Hidden Valley.......................................100 000 0 - 1 4 4 Glasscock, Jones (6) and Bailey, Artoff (6); Hudson and Hayworth. W - Glasscock. L - Hudson (0-3). 2B - HV: Hudson, Dean. HR - RR: Bailey. LAKEVIEW 5, ILLINOIS VALLEY 2 - At Lakeview, Stacia Kamp broke open a 1-1 tie with a three-run double in the fourth inning, sending Lakeview to a Skyline Conference win. Illinois Valley threatened to even things up in the seventh but Lakeview's Cory Saltmarsh snagged a line drive and doubled a runner off of first base to end the game. The Cougars stranded 12 runners on base in the contest. The Honkers improved to 10-11 overall and 8-10 in conference play. Illinois Valley......................................001 001 0 - 2 7 2 Lakeview...............................................001 310 x - 5 7 4 Pierce, Hamilton (5) and Naden; Jackie Johnson and Moulton. W - Johnson. L - Pierce. 2B - L: Stewart, Winters, Kamp. 3B - L: Hartman. Non-conference CASCADE CHRISTIAN 8, GLENDALE 1 - At Jacksonville, Laural Kelley fanned 13 batters to pick up her ninth win of the season to lead the Challengers to victory. Erin Eselin went 2-for-3 for the Challengers (10-6, 8-2 District 5) with two RBIs. Randi Winkleman scored the lone run for Glendale. Glendale...............................................000 000 1 - 1 2 5 Cascade Christian..............................301 031 x - 8 7 3 Christian, Winkleman (6) and Hill; Kelley and R. Gettman. W - Kelley (9-3), L - Christian. 2B - G: Hill; CC: Brookins, Ennis. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.