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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 18, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 17, 2005 North Medford�s Darren Bruhns, back, heads for home as a line drive gets past South Medford�s Zach Wilson during Game 1 of Saturday�s doubleheader. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli North, South play give-and-take in split Panthers and Black Tornado remain tied for second place in the SOC standings By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune Improbable took the place of routine Saturday afternoon at North Medford High as cross-town baseball rivals South Medford and North Medford split an unorthodox Southern Oregon Conference twin bill. Up 6-1 with six outs to get, the Black Tornado couldn’t seal the deal in the opener, while the No. 8-ranked Panthers returned the favor in the nightcap as South squandered a two-run lead with only three outs to go. Sparked by a three-run home run from Rick Imhausen in Game 1, South outscored North 11-0 over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to claim a 12-6 victory. In the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2, the Black Tornado managed only a bunt single but still found a way to plate three runs for a much-needed 5-4 triumph. Advertisement "Anything can happen in high school baseball," said South coach Steve Antich. "It’s a crazy game." Miscues by each leading team helped pave the way for rallying efforts, with North committing four of its five errors in the eighth inning of the opener and South posting an error, three walks and two wild pitches in the nightcap’s final inning. "You can’t be afraid to lose," said Antich. "You saw it on both sides today: If you’re afraid to lose, you’re going to. We’ve both got young teams, and that’s part of the growing pains you go through." The split kept the Panthers (11-3 overall) and Black Tornado (12-2 overall) tied for second with 7-2 league records, a half-game behind 10th-ranked Roseburg (7-1 SOC). "We feel real fortunate," said North coach Brett Wolfe. "Anytime you lose the first one, obviously, coming out with a split is the best thing you can do." "The games kind of mirrored themselves," he added. "The score was different, but we were in control and they took it all away in the first game, and then we came and took it back in the second." North broke through with a five-run third inning against South starter Rick Imhausen in the opener. Kyle Williamson and Josh Suarez each drove in a run, with another scoring when Tony Salamone and Suarez perfectly executed a double steal. Logan Odom capped the outburst with a two-run double. After a walk to Matt Schmelzer, Tommy George came on in relief for South to halt any further damage. South scratched for a run in the fourth after Justin Meyer belted a leadoff double and later scored on a wild pitch. North answered in the fifth on another RBI double by Odom and appeared to have matters well in hand, but the Panthers had other plans. Facing a tiring Suarez, South used a leadoff single by Meyer and double by Jared Adamson to put the pressure on in the sixth. Meyer was thrown out trying to score on a wild pitch moments later, but a walk to Ryan Odell kept things moving, and Mark Austad followed with an RBI single to make it 6-2. Imhausen then took the next pitch over the wall in left field for a key three-run homer. "All I wanted to do was put the ball in play," said Imhausen, whose sore right triceps led to his early pitching demise. "That (homer) put us back in the game, and after that we just pounced on them." Meyer’s RBI single off Cole Rohrbough — North’s scheduled starter for Game 2 — tied the game at 6-all in the seventh, and the floodgates opened in the eighth as leadoff walks to Imhausen and Ben Koziol were followed by infield errors to plate both runners. Logan Boyd added an RBI single, two more runs scored after two more North errors and Imhausen sealed the deal with an RBI single as the Panthers batted around. "I think we just got too comfortable with the lead that we had," said North’s Abe Eubank. "We kinda laid back a little bit and they took advantage of it." The junior first baseman made sure that didn’t happen again in the nightcap, drilling a first-pitch curveball to deep center field for a two-run homer. "I just wanted to do something in my first at-bat because of that first loss we had," said Eubank, who was also walked five times in the twin bill. "I had to get something going. I couldn’t handle that we just gave up that game after having such a big lead." South tied the game at 2-all in the fifth when Eric Mobbs scored on a wild pitch by Rohrbough and Marcus James added an RBI single. The Panthers scratched back for two more runs in the sixth to make it 4-2 as Jared Adamson led off with a walk and Odell reached safely on a bunt to close out Rohrbough’s long day. A sacrifice bunt by Imhausen against Odom moved both runners up, and Mobbs took care of the rest with a two-run single. Looking to close out what was an outstanding game on the mound, Kenny Licea struck out Darren Bruhns to open the seventh, but he advanced to first after Meyer couldn’t come up with the ball in the dirt and his relay short-hopped Marcus James at first and was a hair late. Nick Donato came on in relief of Licea after a walk to Dustin Shipley, but Williamson greeted him with a bunt single to load the bases. A wild pitch made it 4-3 and, after a fielder’s choice at third, Suarez was intentionally walked to load the bases again. Eubank then earned a walk to bring in the tying run, and Salamone scored the game-winner on a wild pitch. "It’s disappointing, as I’m sure they’re disappointed with the first game," Antich said of the tables being turned in Game 2. "We had a chance to put a good team two games behind us, and instead we’re stuck even again." FIRST GAME South Medford...................000 104 16 — 12 11 0 North Medford.......................005 010 00 — 6 7 5 Imhausen, George (3), Odell (7) and Koziol; Suarez, Rohrbough (7), McCleery (8) and Bruhns. W — Odell (2-0). L — Rohrbough (4-2). 2B — SM: Chancler, Meyer, Austad, Adamson, Koziol; NM: Odom 2. HR — SM: Imhausen (2). SECOND GAME South Medford.........................000 022 0 — 4 8 2 North Medford.........................200 000 3 — 5 4 2 Licea, Donato (7) and Meyer; Rohrbough, Odom (6) and Bruhns. W — Odom (1-0). L — Donato (3-1). 2B — SM: Meyer. HR — NM: Eubank (4). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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