Comets trounce McKay in tourney opener

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CENTRAL POINT — Crater's Bryce Peila backed Craig Sanford's solid pitching performance with a fourth-inning grand slam as the Comets mauled McKay, 13-3, in the opening day of the Crater Spring Break Invitational at Anhorn Field.

Peila's third home run of the season, which cleared the left field fence, highlighted a six-run frame. Craig Kathol and Steven Ruvalcaba each had two-run singles in the bottom of the fifth inning for the Comets, ending the contest by virtue of the 10-run mercy rule.

Before the Scots struck for three runs in the fifth inning, Sanford threw four shutout innings. He had six strikeouts, giving up the majority of McKay's nine hits in the top of the fifth.

Johnny Wood went 2-for-3, scored three times and drove in a pair for the Comets (4-1), who host Cleveland at 7 tonight.

Crater's Zach Boskovich was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Ruvalcaba added two hits and two RBIs.

In other invitational games, Newberg beat Cleveland, 8-0; Phoenix beat Beaverton, 5-2; and Mountain View beat Liberty, 10-3.

McKay 000 03 — 3 9 0

Crater 002 65 — 13 12 0

Brewton, Barton (4), Bjoralt (5) and Horton; Sanford and Kathol. W — Sanford (2-0). L — Brewton. 2B — M: Salcido; C: Boskovich. HR — C: Peila (3).

PHOENIX 5, BEAVERTON 2 — At Central Point, Jordan Lewis was sensational on the mound and Andrew George provided a pair of RBI doubles to lead Crater to the nonleague win in the Crater Spring Break Invitational at Anhorn Field.

Lewis struck out 10 and allowed only four hits and one walk to lead the Pirates (1-0) in their season opener. Both Beaverton runs were unearned, and the senior left-hander also was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

George doubled home Kory Locken in the third inning to tie the game at 1-all, then added another RBI double in the fifth to plate Nick Workman and put Phoenix on top for good.

Jordan Decker followed in the fifth inning with a two-run single to give the Pirates a 4-1 cushion.

Ryan Larson and Marcus Himelhoch each had a double to lead Beaverton.

Phoenix 001 030 1 — 5 9 1

Beaverton 100 010 0 — 2 4 1

Lewis and Shepherd; Larson, Beckert (6) and Noyer. W — Lewis (1-0). L — Larson. 2B — P: George 2; B: Larson, Himelhoch.

COACH BOB NATIONAL INVITATIONAL — At Phoenix, Ariz., Isaac Rolie and Sam McLaughlin helped lead South Medford past Gresham, 12-5, in its tournament opener, but the Panthers came up short against Tolleson High of Arizona in a 6-5, 10-inning nightcap.

Against Gresham, McLaughlin was 2-for-2 with three RBIs and Rolie 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Will Smith also added a solo homer in the fifth to help South Medford (3-1) pull away.

In the late game, Tolleson High opened a 4-0 lead after cleanup hitter Austin Trujillo followed three straight walks to open the contest with a grand slam.

South closed the gap with two runs in the fifth to make it 4-3 on RBI efforts by John Adamson and Griff Boyd, then tied the contest in the sixth after Josh Camp's second double and an RBI single by Steve Lines.

After Tolleson (15-3) regained the lead, Bo Walker doubled in the top of the seventh and Mark Smith slipped in a two-out single to tie the game at 5-all.

South will take today off before returning Wednesday for an 8 a.m. game against Piedra Vista of New Mexico and a 4 p.m. game against host Boulder Creek of Arizona.

FIRST GAME

Gresham 101 012 0 — 5 8 0

South Medford 020 244 x — 12 10 1

Smith, Potter (4), Simms (6) and Norman; Ma. Britton, Rolie (4) and Reordan. W — Rolie (1-0). L — Potter. 2B — G: Meng. HR — G: Smith; SM: Rolie (1), Will Smith (1).

SECOND GAME

South Medford 001 021 100 0 — 5 11 1

Tolleson (Ariz.) 400 001 000 1 — 6 5 0

Boyd, Mi. Britton (3), M. Smith (10) and Williamson; Heider, Trujillo (7) and Loya. W — Trujillo. L — M. Smith (1-1). 2B — SM: Walker, Josh Camp 2; HR — T: Trujillo.

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