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T'jacks rally to topple Rockies PORTLAND -- Jeremy Schied couldn't have picked a better time to go on a tear for the Southern Oregon Timberjacks. The 6-foot lefty came up big for the second night in a row, drilling a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Timberjacks over the Portland Rockies, 6-5. Jorge Soto provided some early offense for Southern Oregon, smacking his seventh home run of the season in the second inning to provide a 1-0 lead. Franklyn German held up his end, holding the Rockies hitless through the first 5 innings of the game. Portland catcher Eric McQueen drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a double by third baseman Billy Gasparino's double. After striking out the next hitter, German surrendered a double to Dan Phillips, giving the Rockies their first lead at 2-1. Kevin Buford, the Northwest League's leading hitter, was then intentionally walked to spell the end for German. Justin Lehr entered and gave up a two-run double to Greg Catalanotte who then moved to third on a wild pitch. Justin Hemme knocked home Portland's final run of the inning with an RBI single, extending the lead to 5-1. The Timberjacks offense lay dormant until the seventh when they punched home two runs. Matt Howe led off the inning with his fourth homer of the season and was followed by a Jamie Porter basehit. After moving to second on a Carlos Rosario sacrifice bunt, Porter came around to score on an error by the shortstop, cutting the lead to 5-3. A walk to Gerald Laird and single by Soto set up Schied's ninth-inning heroics. Southern Oregon didn't make things easy in the bottom half of the ninth as Lehr started by giving up a basehit to Greg Catanotte. Two outs later, with Catanotte still at first, Chris Moore singled to center to move the runners to first and second. Portland's Eric McQueen worked the count full before Lehr just missed off the outside corner of the plate to load the bases. Gasparino then sharply hit a grounder to Rosario at short who scooped it up and fired a bullet to first for the game's final out. Soto and Schied each had two hits to lead the way for the Timberjacks. Catalanotte paced the Rockies with two hits in three at-bats. Lehr picked up his first win of the season in relief for Southern Oregon, giving up one run on four hits in 3 innings of work. The Timberjacks now hold a 3 lead over Eugene in the Southern Division of the Northwest League. Southern Oregon looks for the three game sweep today at 12:35 p.m. at Civic Stadium. The Timberjacks then come back home Thursday to start another three game set with the Rockies. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.