Varsity 541

South earns clutch SWC sweep of Sheldon

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Picked to finish last in the Southwest Conference, the South Medford baseball team threw a monkey wrench in that notion Saturday afternoon at Harry & David Field.

The Panthers came through in the clutch in both ends of their doubleheader with Sheldon, earning a sweep with 5-2 and 5-4 victories over the Irish, who were tabbed for third in the SWC.

South Medford, predicted to tie South Eugene for fifth, improved to 10-5 overall and joins North Medford as the only SWC teams with 3-0 records. The cross-town rivals will square off at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at H&D. Sheldon dropped to 7-7 and 1-2 in league.

The teams battled to a 2-all tie in the opener until South Medford broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Max Britton hit a leadoff single and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Casey Kline and then Ben Higgins walked Steven Lines and Brandon Dollarhide to load the bases. Bo Walker followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Panthers the lead, and Josh Havird followed with a two-run single to make it 5-2.

Jordan Lundgren shut the door from there, notching his third straight 1-2-3 inning to improve his pitching record to 2-1.

The Panthers trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh in Game 2, but Dollarhide provided a spark by reaching on an error and then stealing second. He advanced to third on a ground out by Walker and scored on another error off a Havird grounder to send the game into extra innings.

In the eighth, Lundgren singled and was sacrificed to second by Brett Reordan. Britton was intentionally walked and then Kline walked to load the bases against Zach Manley. With Lines turning to bunt, Manley's pitch skipped by catcher Wyatt Davis to allow Lundgren to score the game-winner.

FIRST GAME

Sheldon 000 110 0 — 2 7 1

South Medford 100 013 x — 5 6 0

Higgins and Davis; Rolie, Lundgren (5) and Reordan. W — Lundgren (2-1). L — Higgins. 2B — S: Frost.

SECOND GAME

Sheldon 100 003 00 — 4 8 3

South Medford 000 111 11 — 5 6 0

Manley and Davis; Pearson, Lundgren (4), Dollarhide (5), Britton (6), Dollarhide (7) and Reordan. W — Dollarhide (2-1). L — Manley. 2B — S: Horning 2; SM: Havird. 3B — SM: Britton.

NORTH MEDFORD 9-6, GRANTS PASS 5-1 — At Grants Pass, Matt Maurer struck out 14 and only allowed one seventh-inning run on three days rest to help North Medford secure the sweep.

Maurer struggled a bit in the seventh, but with two outs and the bases loaded, the left-hander struck out Brandon Drury on a 2-2 pitch to end the game. It was the third time Maurer fanned Drury in the game.

Chris Bradshaw continued his stellar day in the nightcap for the Black Tornado (14-1, 3-0 SWC), going 3-for-4 and with two runs scored.

In Game 1, Bradshaw was 2-for-4 — both doubles — with two runs scored and two RBIs. Colin Sowers, Cody James and Mark Cokenour each added two hits for North.

FIRST GAME

North Medford 420 201 0 — 9 11 1

Grants Pass 300 001 1 — 5 6 3

Shipley and Sowers; Stewart, Madrigal (1), Drury (4) and Brown. W — Shipley (5-1). L — Stewart. 2B — NM: Bradshaw 2, James 2, Sowers, Ellis; GP: R. Miller. HR — GP: Dean.

SECOND GAME

North Medford 100 021 2 — 6 6 3

Grants Pass 000 000 1 — 1 6 4

Maurer and Sowers; Dean, Spencer (6) and Brown. W — Maurer (5-0). L — Dean. 2B — NM: Sowers; GP: Brown. 3B — GP: Dean.

ROSEBURG 17-12, SOUTH EUGENE 3-0 — At Roseburg, pitcher Dakota Cavens tossed a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts to complete the sweep for Roseburg in a pair of five-inning games.

Mitch Huff went 4-for-5 with eight RBIs and five runs in the twin bill for Indians (8-3, 2-1 SWC).In the opener, Tyler Bullock went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs, while Cameron Newell added two hits, three RBIs and three runs.

FIRST GAME

South Eugene 001 11 — 3 5 4

Roseburg 10(10) 6x — 17 14 0

Larson, Ward (3), Becker (4) and Wolf; Thomson and Guthrie. W — Thomson (4-0). L — Larson. 2B — R: Priestley 2, Davis, Bullock, Jackson, Huff. 3B — R: Newell. HR — R: Huff.

SECOND GAME

South Eugene 000 00 — 0 3 2

Roseburg 327 0x — 12 9 0

Chappell, Becker (3) and Larson; Cavens and Ampi. W — Cavens (1-2). L — Chappell. 2B — R: Farrington, Ampi. 3B — R: Huff.

Southern Sky Conference

CRATER 12-4, KLAMATH UNION 2-1 — At Klamath Falls, Andrew Tracy and Haden Bighouse each went 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead Crater in the six-inning opener of the SSC twin bill at Anhorn Field.

Christian Massey added two hits and three runs scored in Game 1, with Craig Kathol tossing a three-hitter.

Bruce Sanford had a first-inning RBI double in Game 2 and also earned the pitching victory for the Comets (9-5, 4-0 SSC).

Jake Whisler was 2-for-4 for KU (5-7, 0-5) in the nightcap.

FIRST GAME

Klamath Union 000 200 — 2 3 4

Crater 401 322 — 12 13 1

Brown, Kuhlman (5) and White; Kathol and Fahndrich. W — Kathol (3-2). L — Brown. 2B — KU: Brown, Gibson; C: Sanford, Massey.

SECOND GAME

Klamath Union 000 010 0 — 1 6 1

Crater 110 011 x — 4 6 0

White and Stork; Sanford and Kathol. W — Sanford (2-2). L — White. 2B — KU: Bell; C: Sanford, Ray.

ASHLAND 15-19, MAZAMA 0-2 — At Klamath Falls, Charlie Sebrell and Garrett Tygerson pitched back-to-back gems, and Ashland's offense flourished and ended both games in five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Sebrell pitched four innings and threw a one-hitter in the opener. Nick Hall went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run and a triple for five RBIs and three runs scored.

Keali Cecil was 3-for-4 and added a two-run homer for the Grizzlies (10-3, 5-1). Also in the opener, Tygerson went 3-for-3 and Hayden Miller was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.

In the nightcap, Tygerson racked up eight strikeouts in just four innings and allowed two runs. He also went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs.

Luke Baldrica had six RBIs while going 4-for-5 for the Grizzlies. Hayden Miller was 3-for-3 and Ian Kendall 2-for-2 with three RBIs.

FIRST GAME

Ashland 261 51 — 15 15 0

Mazama 000 00 — 0 1 2

C. Sebrell, Stone (5) and L. Sebrell; Reinhard, Robinson (3) and McDaniel. W — C. Sebrell (3-1). L — Reinhard. 2B — A: Miller. 3B — A: Hall. HR — A: Hall, Cecil.

SECOND GAME

Ashland 313 48 — 19 17 0

Mazama 200 00 — 2 3 1

Tygerson, Stone (5) and L. Sebrell; DeBeaur, Robinson (3) Bocchi (5). W — Tygerson (2-2). L — DeBeaur. 2B — A: Kendall 2, Miller 2, Tygerson, Stone.