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Royals suffer first-round defeat HILLSBORO � The North Jackson Royals were cruising to an American Legion A state tournament opening-round win Friday at Hare Field. Royals pitching ace Nick Newmann had limited Wilsonville to one hit and recorded nine strikeouts through 7� innings as North Jackson held a 3-0 lead. But Wilsonville took advantage of two errors, four hits and a walk to score four runs in the eighth and added four more in the ninth in handing North Jackson an 8-4 loss. "We�re kind of shell-shocked,�� said North Jackson coach Tom Britton, who has guided the Royals to three state titles over the past nine years. "With Nick Newmann on the mound with a 3-0 lead, we thought this one was in the books. We let up a little bit and the next thing you know, we got bit hard." The Royals scored an opening-inning run when Scott Stockton reached base on an error and Newmann doubled him home. In the third, North Jackson upped its lead to 3-0 on a leadoff homer by Ryan Garrett and Jesse Stevenson�s RBI double. Then Wilsonville pitcher Steve Leselle found his groove. Laselle retired the next 15 batters, with Garrett�s two-out, seventh-inning double ending the streak. In the ninth, Wilsonville pounded Newmann for five straight hits before Bryan Strodthoff was summoned from the bullpen. But the damage had been done. North Jackson loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Garrett�s line drive to third was turned into a double play, and Charlie Jackson drove the ball to the warning track with the bases loaded to end the game. North Jackson (30-11) will attempt to stay alive in the double-elimination tournament at 9:30 a.m. today against the loser of Friday night�s Sherwood-Lebanon game. Wilsonville....................... 000 000 044 � 8 11 3 North Jackson Royals ........102 000 000 � 3 6 3 Laselle, West (8), Farr (9) and Baggett; Newmann, Strodthoff (9) and Garrett. W � Laselle. L � Newmann (11-2). 2B � W: Laselle 3, Miken, Baggett; NJ: Garrett, Newmann, Stevenson. 3B � NJ: McFall. HR � NJ: Garrett. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA