By Joe Zavala
Ashland Daily Tidings
In a double-elimination tournament, it’s not how you start but how you finish that counts.
And on Monday, Ashland showed once again that when it comes to finishing, few teams in the state of Oregon have an answer for the boys in red and white.
Max Anderson pitched his second complete game in four days and Ethan Schlecht ripped a lethal bases-clearing double in the fourth inning as the Ashland Pilots clinched their third American Legion A state title in four years Monday with a 7-1 win over Roseburg at Swede Johnson Stadium in Eugene.
The runaway victory wraps up a momentous march through the loser’s bracket for Ashland, which fell to La Grande in the first round only to win its next five games, including an extra-inning thriller over Roseburg Pepsi earlier Monday. In that one, Ashland overcame a 5-3 deficit in the fifth inning to win 9-6 in eight, thanks in part to more heroics by Schlecht, who was voted the tournament’s most valuable player.
After the final out against La Grande the Pilots (31-12) rushed the mound for a dog pile around Anderson, who needed just 61 pitches to avenge Thursday’s 2-1 setback.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Ashland head coach Jeff Turner said. “I wasn’t around for the last two (state titles), but it was a lot of fun, especially with this group of kids, which I thought jelled together tremendously as the trip progressed.
“I know this was a goal that they had set all along. I think it took us a while to find out who we were and how we were going to get there, but once we started winning the boys started coming together and we truly felt like this was something we could accomplish.”
Ashland plays Wyoming in the first round of the eight-team Northwest Regional tournament Friday at Heroes Park in Bozeman, Mont.
Schlecht had a whopping 11 RBIs at state, but the three biggest came with two outs in the fourth and Ashland up 4-1 against La Grande. The clutch hit gave Ashland a six-run lead, which proved to be insurmountable with Anderson on the mound. The senior-to-be did the rest, wrapping up another stellar performance that included four strikeouts and two walks.
“(Anderson) was hitting pretty much every spot you asked of him,” Turner said. “He was truly amazing the entire tournament.”
Anderson and Billy Hansen both went 2-for-3 at the plate, with Anderson scoring twice and Hansen once. Ashland catcher Evan Westhelle-Grant went 2-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt.
La Grande, the designated road team, led briefly after scoring a run in the top of the first, but Ashland quickly responded by scoring on an error in the bottom of the inning. Ashland took the lead for good on AJ Adams’ sacrifice fly in the second.
In the fourth, singles by Anderson and Jamie Flynn got the Pilots going, and another single by Adams followed by a sacrifice fly by Taylor Humphrey gave Ashland a 4-1 lead with two outs. La Grande starting pitcher Carson Miller, who went the distance, issued back-to-back walks to Hansen and Brent Hegdahl to load the bases for Schlecht, whose double capped a spectacular all-around tournament that also included a one-hit pitching performance Saturday.
“At that point, it was over,” Turner said of Schlecht’s big hit. “They were deflated, and (Anderson) was throwing well.”
Turner said Schlecht earned the MVP award.
“He’s a really good hitter for us and we expect him to come out and play well, but he played exceptionally well for us and made some great plays in the field,” Turner said.
The Pilots had a much tougher time earlier in the day against Roseburg (25-10).
Trailing 5-3 with one out in the fifth, Hansen, Hegdahl and Schlecht came through with back-to-back-to-back hits to even the score, with Schlecht’s RBI double plating Hegdahl and tying the game.
Nobody scored again until the eighth, when Schlecht again clutched up by delivering a leadoff home run.
Two Roseburg errors kept the inning alive and Ashland cashed in with two outs when Adams went deep to give the Pilots a 9-5 lead.
Thomas picked up the win for Ashland after pitching the last three innings, allowing one run on three hits. Schlecht started and pitched the first five innings, surrendering five runs on six hits.
Schlecht went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs against Roseburg, while Hansen went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Hegdahl went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two on a first-inning home run, his fourth of the season.
Turner said Ashland’s confidence may have taken a hit after its first-round loss to La Grande, but quickly returned the following day, when the Anderson-led Pilots whipped tourney host North Eugene 6-0.
“I felt that we had a good chance to put some wins on the board, and if we got our confidence going we’d be a tough team to beat,” he said. “And when we blanked North Eugene, you could see we were a different team. They were hungry, and they were ready for it.”
Ashland 201 020 04 – 9 11 0
Roseburg 302 000 01 – 6 9 4
Schlecht, Thomas (6) and Adams; Smith, Morin (6) and Leach. W – Thomas (8-1). L – Morin. 2B – A: Hansen, Schlecht, Flynn; R: Nelson, Leach. HR – A: Hegdahl (4), Schlecht, Adams (1); R: Dahl, Awdiss.
La Grande 100 000 0 – 1 6 3
Ashland 110 500 x – 7 8 1
Miller and Arnolds; Anderson and Westhelle-Grant. W – Anderson. L – Miller. 2B – L: Miller, Humphrey; A: Schlecht.
And it begins
The first official game/match/meet/whatever of the 2010-11 Ashland High school year is now in the books – Ashland’s freshman football team fell short in a comeback bid and lost its season opener to Klamath Union, 31-28, tonight at Walter A. Phillips Field. The fans had to watch from the portable bleachers near the school-side end zone since the stadium is still being repaired following the mid-summer fire. Too bad, because there was a lot to see Thursday. Ashland’s Danial White threw a touchdown pass with about a minute to go to get the Grizzlies within striking distance, but the Pelicans recovered the onside kick to put the game away.
Ashland’s volleyball and soccer teams (boys and girls) also were in action Thursday – jamboree action, that is. The first varsity event of the school year is Friday night’s prep football clash between Ashland and Klamath Union, at Klamath Falls.
I talked to Ashland coach Charlie Hall after practice Thursday and he seems pretty excited about this year’s team, especially when it comes to the speed the Grizzlies are expected to field. And if anyone can figure out how to best utilize that speed, it’s Hall.
Ashland returns a host of starters on both offense (5) and defense (9), but that still leaves plenty of first-year starters who will be asked to make major leaps in terms of production this season.
“I think we’ve got some good experience, but there’s still a lot of question marks and that’s really going to be the key thing,” Hall said. “Do those newcomers step up and fill in the gaps of the kids that left the program?”
Friday night’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Modoc Field. It will be broadcast live locally on 580-AM.