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52 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, April 28, 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 27, 2005 North Medford junior Tony Salamone slides into second base safely ahead of the tag by Grants Pass shortstop Mike Mills during Tuesday�s tilt. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Clutch performance Timely hitting, gutsy pitching boost Black Tornado to win over GP By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune Grants Pass had plenty of reason to wonder what coulda-shoulda-woulda been. North Medford simply had a win. The Black Tornado pounced for six runs over the first two innings and kept the Cavemen bats quiet in crucial situations to claim a 7-3 Southern Oregon Conference baseball victory at North Medford High. Grants Pass stranded 10 runners against Tornado pitchers Josh Suarez and Cole Rohrbough, including a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fifth inning. North Medford, on the other hand, scored its final three runs with clutch two-out hits. Advertisement "The key for our game was hitting with runners in scoring position," said North coach Brett Wolfe. "Today we scored pretty much every time we had guys on with two outs." North (15-3 overall) remains tied with South Medford for second place in the SOC at 10-3, while Grants Pass is fourth at 8-5. All three teams trail third-ranked and league-leading Roseburg (12-1 SOC). Suarez started and went four innings to up his record to 6-0. The senior left-hander has had sharper performances — he was pitching on just three days rest — but got plenty of early run support. "I wasn’t 100 percent," said Suarez, who gave up five hits and struck out five. "I struggled a little. "It was nice working with a lead. Today, we finally hit the ball like we can." The defense also came to the aid of Suarez in the opening inning. Grants Pass’ Pat Allen singled to lead off and moved to second on Steve Draper’s sacrifice bunt. Mike Mills appeared to give the Cavemen a 1-0 lead when he followed with a single. But North center fielder Matt Schmelzer fielded the hit and threw a perfect one-hop strike to catcher Darren Bruhns, who applied the tag on Allen in a close play at the plate. "We work hard on cuts and relays," said Wolfe. "Matt’s a senior, so he knows where to go with the ball in that situation. That was about as perfect as you can execute a play like that." Adam Donnelly added another hit, but Suarez struck out Ben Murray to end the threat without any damage. Grants Pass (8-8 overall) starter Anthony Schaff didn’t fare as well in the bottom of the first. He gave up base hits to Kyle Williamson and Tony Salamone, then walked Abe Eubank to load the bases. Schaff rebounded to fan Suarez on three pitches, but Zack James was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Logan Odom delivered a key blow with a two-run double that plunked down on the right- field foul line. Schmelzer came up with a sacrifice fly to bring in North’s fourth and final run of the inning. Eubank had an RBI single in the second inning, and Suarez followed with a double off the left-center field wall to give the Tornado a 6-0 advantage. The Cavemen got to Suarez in the third inning with an RBI double by Draper and made it 6-2 on a run-scoring error. "Josh is a competitor," said Wolfe. "He didn’t have his best stuff. We had a few miscues there, too, that opened the door." The fifth inning spelled the end for a fatigued Suarez but not the end of Grants Pass’ futility at the plate. The Cavemen scored on one of four North Medford errors to trim the lead in half. Suarez then walked Donnelly to load the bases. Wolfe handed the ball to Rohrbough with no outs and the game starting to tilt toward Grants Pass. But Rohrbough struck out the first two batters he faced and got Craig Dolmage to fly out to shallow right to end the inning. "Not getting the clutch hit was huge," said Grants Pass coach Stacy Morgan. "We’ve got to figure out how to score in that situation. "Give credit to Rohrbough, though. He was tough." Williamson provided an insurance run in the sixth. The senior shortstop had a two-out single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Grants Pass error. Rohrbough gave up one hit — a sixth-inning double to Andrew Gallego — and struck out four while notching his first save of the season. Caveman pitcher Ben Zamora gave up no earned runs in 41/3 innings of relief. "He does a great job," said Morgan. "He’s been doing that for us all year. He threw strikes and kept us close enough. "But, doggone it, we couldn’t get that big hit against Rohrbough." Salamone was 2-for-4 with two runs to pace North’s nine-hit offensive. Draper was 2-for-3 to lead the Cavemen. Grants Pass..............................002 010 0 — 3 6 1 North Medford.........................420 001 x — 7 9 4 Schaff, Zamora (2) and Donnelly; Suarez, Rohrbough (5) and Bruhns. W — Suarez (6-0). L — Schaff (1-1). 2B — GP: Draper, Gallego; NM: Odom, Suarez. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] . 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