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CLEAR Temp: 65 °F Wind: NW at 4 mph Tuesday, August 12, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend July 26, 2003 Southern Oregon�s Dan Bruce (3) slides safely into second base as Redding�s Casey Dill covers. RiverDogs show no mercy Southern Oregon’s bats come alive in its sweep of the undermanned Redding Spirits By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Typically reserved for an early-afternoon warm-up, batting practice for the Southern Oregon RiverDogs extended well into the night Friday at Miles Field. Courtesy of the undermanned Redding Spirits, the RiverDogs feasted on fat pitch after fat pitch to make quick work of an amateur baseball doubleheader, 21-1 in six innings and 12-0 in five due to the mercy rule. Half of the Spirits’ regular squad was playing in Arcata, Calif., against the Humboldt Crabs in another Friday twin bill. Advertisement "This is the first time we’ve been beaten like this in three years," said Redding player/coach Mike Lindley, whose team split its last twin bill in Medford. "We were a little short-handed but that’s no excuse. I put a team together and we came up here and got our butts kicked. That’s the bottom line." Southern Oregon (20-11) will look to maintain momentum at 5:30 p.m. today when it plays host to the Butte Sabres in another double dip at Miles. Each RiverDog starter picked up at least one hit in Friday’s opener, with eight of the nine equaling the feat in the nightcap as Southern Oregon breezed by the Spirits (9-10) with a combined 33 runs on 29 hits. "Even when we didn’t hit the ball hard, it was falling for hits," RiverDog center fielder Ken Halpin said between games. "A lot of guys were getting hits today." None more than Halpin, who equaled teammate Bill Rowe for top honors as each player went 5-for-8 with four runs and four RBIs in the twin bill. The rest of the RiverDog cast, however, didn’t exactly suffer in comparison. Those taking a blind stab at the lineup card would have been hard-pressed to find someone who didn’t thrive on Spirit pitching. You want RBIs? John Jefferson had four in the twin bill while Ryan Garrett and Brian Stock totaled three in the first game alone. How about runs scored? Dan Bruce and Phil Ouellette each crossed the plate five times in the doubleheader, with Bruce notching four hits and Ouellette three. Any home runs? One came in each variety. Brent Foster blasted a two-run bomb over the right-field fence in Game 1 to compliment a 3-for-5 day with four runs and three RBIs. Derrick Draper went the other route in a lethargic nightcap with a two-run, inside-the-park homer that hugged the first-base line all the way down right field. Impressing first-year Southern Oregon coach Mike Mayben the most was how well his team stayed focused despite sizable early leads in both games. "Sometimes you get in games where you get ahead and it’s almost harder to get a hit, and that wasn’t the case tonight," said Mayben. "We really did a good job of keeping after it all night." Not that they really had to. First-inning surges in both games proved to be more than enough for starting RiverDog pitchers Matt Skundrick and Jesse Stevenson. Skundrick was granted a 5-0 lead after one frame but still pitched with a purpose in allowing only five singles over his five innings of work. Three of those hits came in the fifth as Redding scored its lone run of the night against the RiverDogs. Brandon Willer came on to pitch a perfect sixth inning to close out the expected nine-inning game early. "The last time I threw against these guys I didn’t have that great of an outing so I wanted to come out and change it up tonight," said Skundrick, who displayed poise in his own right after waiting on the bench through his team’s lengthy scoring episodes. "I didn’t try to look at the score too much. I knew we were scoring runs and that made me feel better, but I just tried to stick with the same game plan each inning out there." Stevenson was even more impressive in the nightcap, tossing a one-hitter in four innings of work with five strikeouts. Brett Goble closed out the game in the fifth. FIRST GAME Redding Spirits...........................000 010 — 1 5 7 Southern Oregon....................501 69x — 21 17 0 Carter, McBain (5), Kluck (5) and Martz; Skundrick, Willer (6) and Garrett. W — Skundrick. L — Carter. 2B — SO: Bruce, Rowe. 3B — SO: Ouellette. HR — SO: Foster (3). SECOND GAME Redding Spirits.............................000 00 — 0 1 3 Southern Oregon......................342 3x — 12 12 0 Larson, Kluck (3) and Martz; Stevenson, Goble (5) and Garrett. W — Stevenson. L — Larson. 2B — SO: Skundrick, Bruce. 3B — SO: Bruce. HR — SO: Draper (1). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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