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PREP SOFTBALL Pesky Comets make a game of it, but lose to Churchill, 7-6 EUGENE -- Crater High drew a difficult assignment in the first round of the Class 4A state softball playoffs Tuesday. The Southern Oregon Conference third-place Comets (19-9) were matched against Midwestern League champion Churchill (23-3), winner of nine state titles -- the last coming in 1992. The tradition was evident with a large crowd and banners displayed all over the home ballpark. To compound the situation, the Comets fell behind 4-0 early. Crater battled back but could never overtake the Lancers and lost 7-6. "It's been a hard year for us," Crater coach Mike Meunier said. "We have eight seniors on this team but because of injures we didn't start out quite like we wanted. It was a pretty tough first-round draw against a strong pitcher." Lancer starting pitcher Kristen Obie struck out six in the first three innings and the Comets ended the game with 10 strikeouts. Kayla Lewis' two-run homer staked Churchill to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Lancers added two more in the frame on two more singles and a double. "We knew we were in a little trouble because looking at their scores on the season they had only allowed four runs twice," said Meunier. "The first three innings we didn't look good at the plate. We hit the ball well after that. Once we put the ball in play and made them make plays we started scoring runs." Crater cut the Lancers' lead to 4-1 in the third on a leadoff single by Melissa Boggs, a sacrifice bunt by Rachel Hernandez and an RBI single by Laura Bowers. But Churchill answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning to maintain the four-run margin. In the fifth, Crater scored twice when Hernandez was hit by a pitch, Amy Sparks walked and Bowers' line drive was dropped, allowing Hernandez to score on the error. Kara Ray completed the rally with an RBI double. Again Churchill matched the Comets' two runs for a 7-3 lead. Crater narrowed the deficit to 7-5 in the sixth on two unearned runs. Emily Wiley and Hernandez opened with singles, then after two were out both runners scored on a dropped fly off the bat of Hernandez. The Comets inched even closer in the seventh when Bowers singled, moved to second on a ground out and scored on Wiley's single. Wiley went to second on the play, but was stranded there when Andrea Perdue grounded out to end the game. Robbins went 3-for-3 to lead Crater offensively, while Bowers and Wiley added two hits each. Crater ................001 022 1 -- 6 9 2 Churchill ..........041 020 x -- 7 10 3 Perdue and Lammon; Obie, Kerrigan (5), Obie (6) and Van Gorden. W -- Obie. L -- Perdue. 2B -- Cra: Ray; Chu: Mendinca, Royster. HR -- Chu: Royster, Lewis. GRANTS PASS 1, ALOHA 0 -- At Aloha, junior first baseman Alayna Petersen's dramatic sixth-inning home run broke a scoreless tie against the Metro League champion and catapulted Grants Pass to its second state playoff victory in school history. The Cavers (19-7), who hadn't been to the state playoffs since 1982, won their first-ever playoff game in the sub-tournament round Friday. Petersen also contributed two big defensive plays to the errorless performance by the SOC's No. 4 team. Grants Pass pitcher Becky Heater (16-7) allowed two first-inning hits, then set down 15 straight batters before Sarah Barrow's double to open the sixth. Petersen and Reshaun Lewis both went 2-for-3 against Aloha pitcher Cori Siller, who entered the game with a 0.45 ERA. Grants Pass ........000 001 0 -- 1 7 0 Aloha .................000 000 0 -- 0 3 0 Heater and Rathburn; Siller and Prochaska. W -- Heater (16-7). L -- Siller (14-2). ILLINOIS VALLEY 3, GLIDE 1 -- At Cave Junction, Justine Johnson pitched a two-hitter as Illinois Valley advanced in the Class 3A state playoffs. The Cougars (18-8), the Skyline Conference's No. 2 team, travel to Valco League champion Tillamook Friday. Glide's only run was unearned in the first inning. Johnson struck out four and walked two, both coming in the seventh inning. Julie Shump's leadoff solo home run in the third inning tied the game at 1-all. Illinois Valley scored what proved to be the winning run in the fifth when Johnson opened with a single, was sacrificed to second by Shump and scored on Autumn Bell's double. The Cougars got an insurance run in the sixth on a triple to the left-center gap by Emily Hoskins and a single by Shannon D'Arpino. Hospkins, D'Arpino and Bell collected two hits for IV. Glide .......................100 000 0 -- 1 2 1 Illinois Valley ..........001 011 x -- 3 9 2 Price and Beard; Johnson and McDowell. W -- Johnson (18-8). L -- Price. 2B -- IV: Bell. 3B -- IV: Hoskins. HR -- IV: Shump. NEWPORT 10, LAKEVIEW 3 -- At Newport, senior pitcher Hayley Boston registered her 17th win while going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs. The Cubs collected 13 hits, including two each by Katey Robinson, Dani Stafford and Leanna Forcier. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.