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Little guy comes up big for Spokane Indians nab 5-2 victory in clash of NWL leaders By DAVID DAUGHERTY for the Mail Tribune In stature, Spokane Indians' pitcher Jay King is a pretty unassuming guy. At 5-feet, 10-inches, the left-hander out of the University of Mobile could be confused as just another guy in the crowd. But on Friday night at Miles Field, King must have looked 10 feet tall on the mound, as the pitcher completely dominated the Southern Oregon Timberjacks in his team's 5-2 Northwest League victory. The victory, Spokane's 13th in 14 games, improved the Northern Division leaders record to 26-15, five games in front of second-place Boise. Southern Oregon, the Southern Division leader, fell to 23-18, 3 games in front of second-place Portland. "I felt real good out there today," said King, who upped his season record to 4-1. "I had everything working in the bullpen, so I knew I would throw well." "That was one heck of an outing," said Spokane manager Kevin Long. "After an 11-hour bus ride and not much sleep he (King) did a terrific job." Though nobody thought much of it, King allowed a controversial Kirk Asche two-out infield single in the first inning, but little did the Timberjacks and the sleepy crowd of 1,499 know, that would be Southern Oregon's last hit off King in his seven innings of work. King was so tough, that after Asche's single, he retired 19-straight Timberjacks, including seven by strikeout. "I didn't even realize it," said a surprised King of retiring the 19 straight. "I was just trying to do my job." King kept the Timberjack hitters at bay all night with a tough two-seam fastball, a sweeping curve and a biting changeup. "His location was unbelieveable," said Spokane catcher Casey Dunn of his pitcher. "He could spot his fastball and backdoor his breaking ball. Those things made things really easy for him." The victory over Southern Oregon is becoming an automatic for King, as Friday's gem was his second dominating performance of the season over the Timberjacks. Earlier in the summer, the pitcher allowed just one hit in five innings of work, while striking out eight. "They're (Southern Oregon) at the top of their division, so I look at these games as a big-on-big situation," said King. "I just look at them as our rivals, so I had to stuff them." "The thing that makes him is his competitiveness," said Dunn of King. "He's a fierce competitor and tonight he was at his best." With the relative ease King was working through the T-jacks' lineup, it looked like the lefty could have easily gone the whole game, but when it came time to make the decision after the seventh, Long didn't hesitate to pull his starting pitcher. "We have a 90-pitch count and he got under by one," said Long. "I think he could have gone the whole way, but if he would have given up a single with two outs in the seventh, I still would have pulled him." That decision sat just fine with King. "I knew I could go more, but we're on pitch counts," said King. "Believe me, I wanted to go on." "He really had it going," said Dunn. "They (Southern Oregon) have some great hitters. It was just a credit to him." Dunn spotted King a 1-0 lead with a third inning sacrifice fly off Southern Oregon starter Franklyn German (1-4) and extended the lead to 2-0 in the sixth when T-jack reliever Eric Meeks uncorked a wild pitch that allowed third baseman Michael Clay to trot home. The 2-0 lead looked very safe after King handed the game over to the Spokane bullpen in the eighth. Indians' designated hitter G.J. Raymundo put the nail in the coffin in the ninth, tagging T-jacks' reliever Justin Lehr for a three-run double. Raymundo's blow proved to be pivotal, as the Timberjacks tallied two runs in the ninth off a Jay Gehrke wild pitch and an error by center fielder James Shanks, who misjudged a Jeremy Schied fly ball. "That hit's as big as they come," said Long. "It really became huge, because both teams looked really tired." The two division leaders continue their five-game series tonight at 7:05 at Miles Field. Spokane will send Brian Sanches (0-0, 1.80) to the mound, while the the Timberjacks counter with Nate Hilton (1-1, 4.84). Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.