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Vikings' full Nelson subdues Pirates By DAVID DAUGHERTY PHOENIX -- The Mazama High School baseball team administered a double dose of Nelsons to Phoenix on Tuesday that left the fifth-ranked Pirates with quite a bitter aftertaste. Jake Nelson's pitching and the hitting of his brother, catcher Jayson, propelled the Vikings to a big 5-2 Skyline Conference victory at Hagler-James Park. Both teams came out of the game with 2-1 league records, but it was the seventh-ranked Vikings who gained a big dose of confidence. "This was a big game for us," said second-year Mazama coach Jeff Sturgeon. "If we get beat, we're 1-2. This puts us right back in the middle of things." In the middle of everything Tuesday afternoon was the Vikings' Nelson battery. Jake turned in a dominating performance on the mound, striking out eight and allowing seven hits. "I heard they had a good lineup, so I had some butterflies," he said. "After the first inning, I relaxed. Things turned out pretty good." "That was one of the best games he's ever thrown," said Jayson Nelson. "He had great control, and when he has his control, he's not going to be beat very much." Jake Nelson had the Phoenix hitters under control when his own hitter struck in the top of the second inning. The Vikings started the inning with three straight hits off Travis Dunlap, including a Tyler Starkey RBI triple and a Brendan Quirke RBI single. "Those runs gave me a lot of breathing room," said Jake Nelson. "I knew we would score more runs, so it helped me relax." While his brother continued to subdue Phoenix through four innings, Jayson Nelson provided a towering two-run homer to right-center field in the top of the fifth, spotting his brother to a 4-0 lead. "We had a hit-and-run on, and I just went with the pitch," said Jayson, who also doubled in the first inning. "It is my main objective to put runs behind my brother, or any of our pitchers, for that matter." "A two-run lead is nothing against Phoenix, but 4-0 was huge," said Sturgeon. "It was what we had to get to in this game." Phoenix came to life in the bottom of the fifth when the heavy-hitting Dunlap dropped in an opposite-field, two-run single off Nelson. But Nelson quelled the rally, getting David Westfall to fly out to right field to end the inning. Phoenix had trouble putting the ball in play the whole game -- the Mazama infield had only three fielding chances. "Our kids can really hit the ball; we just didn't do it today," said Phoenix coach Joe Hagler. "This is the most we've struck out, and they didn't have to play much defense. That really killed us." Jake Nelson finished the game by retiring the final six batters he faced. "He's a little bulldog," said Hagler. "We knew he was tough, but we just couldn't string hits together today." Quirke scored the Vikings' final run on an error in the sixth. "I hate to say it, but even as early in the season as this game was, this was a crucial game," said Hagler. "We now have to sweep over there, and we'll have to beat him (Jake Nelson). We have better pitching depth than they do, so I like our chances." Mazama ..................020 021 0 -- 5 7 0 Phoenix ...................000 020 0 -- 2 7 1 Jake Nelson and Jayson Nelson; Dunlap, Tester (6) and Loper. W -- Jake Nelson. L -- Dunlap. 2B -- M: Jayson Nelson; P: Hull. 3B -- M: Starkey. HR -- M: Jayson Nelson. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA