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Bend foils RiverDogs again By KEVIN GOFF The chances the Southern Oregon RiverDogs amateur baseball team had of finally beating the Bend Elks looked as precarious as the thunderheads that rolled over Miles Field on Friday. Southern Oregon, losers to the Elks six times this season, climbed back from the dead to put themselves in position to win and looked to end the goose egg against Bend. But, like the looming clouds that never produced a game-threatening rain, the RiverDogs were blown away in a 10th-inning hail storm of Bend hits. Mike Newmann delivered a game-tying two-out single in the ninth but the RiverDogs couldn't hold on, dropping a 9-7 decision in 10 innings. "We seemed to play well against everybody else," said Southern Oregon coach John White of his teams' success against anyone not wearing a Bend uniform. "I'll tell you what though, these kids battled really hard today. We've got some guys with a lot of heart." Bend busted out of the gate with three runs in the first inning - only one earned - but the RiverDogs answered with one of their own in the bottom half. Ryan Wilson tripled to plate Brent Foster then came home to tie the game on a passed ball. The Elks upped the ante in the fourth with a run then looked to be in control with two more in the fifth and one in the sixth. The momentum swung in the eighth with a Caleb Robbins broken bat single, scoring Andrew Bartels. Tim Alvarez capped the two-run inning with an RBI ground-out. The drama came to a head in the ninth when Nate Mayben drew a one-out walk. Don Jenkins then took first on a catcher's interference for the second time in the game and Steve DeClerck loaded the bases on an infield single. Following a Bartels' RBI groundout, Newmann poked a 1-2 pitch into right field to even the game at 7-7. "I was just hoping to get a fastball or something I could drive," said Newmann. "I just needed to put the ball in play." In the 10th inning, however, Bend put together three singles, a wild pitch and two stolen bases by Andrew Narver to seal the win. "We never gave up," said White. "but we're just lacking college experience with a lot of guys on the team." Bartels upped his team-high batting average to .511 with a 4-for-5 performance. Robbins and Newmann also added two hits for the RiverDogs (8-11). The two teams meet up for a doubleheader today at 5 p.m. at Miles Field then close out the series with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday. Bend Elks.....................................300 121 000 2 - 9 13 2 Southern Oregon........................120 000 022 0 - 7 12 4 Grimmer, Quick (8) and Kirby; Stevenson, Holmes (5), Pergin (8) and Robbins. W - Quick. L - Pergin. 2B - B: Narver, Pratt; SO: Robbins. 3B - SO: Wilson. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.