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Unbeaten Comets ascend to top ranking By KRIS HENRY Crater's status among elite prep baseball programs climbed two notches in the Class 4A poll released Tuesday. It's the Comets' first No. 1 ranking since 1992. Crater received all nine first-place votes and 90 points overall to take a 12-point edge over Madison and a 17-point edge over Lakeridge in the rankings. North Medford is seventh with 29 points. Crater's ascension means the Southern Oregon Conference has the top-ranked baseball and softball teams. Two-time defending state champion North Medford has led the softball poll all season. For Crater coach Chuck Dominiak, however, his team's perch atop the 4A poll won't mean much as far as the state championship race is concerned. "I think if you call the 10 other teams (two teams are tied for 10th) in the state from the poll, I don't think they're going to concede anything to us," Dominiak says. "We have to get through the doggone conference first. That's going to be tough enough." Crater (15-0 overall) sits atop the Southern Oregon Conference at 6-0, with North Medford and Eagle Point each one game back at 5-1. The Comets hit a key SOC stretch in the coming month, facing South Medford, Eagle Point, Roseburg and North Medford on successive Saturdays. "We realize tougher games are ahead of us, and we're looking forward to it. That's when it gets fun," Dominiak says. "But as far as I'm concerned, they're all important. The game of baseball is really peculiar that way. You don't necessarily have to be the fastest or strongest to win, you just need to catch a break." Dominiak says he hopes the Comets benefit from their No. 1 ranking. "On a positive note, the kids know they're going to have to play really well each time out because now teams are really going to be gunning for us," he says. "In a way it's going to make us play better. We'll have to focus a little more and execute a little better." Crater is executing pretty well right now. Four players are hitting above .430, and pitchers Brent Foster, Casey Campbell and K.J. Chubb are a combined 14-0. Jason Korthals is leading the offensive attack at .586, followed by Foster (.488), Campbell (.454) and Chubb (.439). Chubb and Foster lead the team with 18 RBIs apiece, while Korthals has 17. Dominiak says he doesn't expect the Comets to feel too much pressure from the top ranking. "Baseball is baseball," he says. "You don't play opponents, you play the game. We tell our kids it's all in how you play the game. That little ball makes the difference. You've got to catch it, hit it and throw it." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.