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Smith's homer helps South upset Crater Be it bad hops or unexpected breakdowns, the Panthers haven't been able to put together that one shining moment that could catapult the program into something bigger and better. At least until Saturday afternoon at Miles Field. With one swing of the bat, Matt Smith shoved South back into the spotlight when his two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning upset sixth-ranked Crater, 5-4, and ruined the Comets' bid for a Southern Oregon Conference sweep. The Comets won the opener 15-3 in six innings. "Matt came through for us like you'd hope a senior would do," said first-year South coach Steve Antich. "When he first hit it, it got out of the yard in a hurry, but I still didn't let myself believe it had a chance until it cleared the fence and he crossed the plate." Saturday's split helped South improve to 8-13-1 overall and 3-9 in SOC play. On the flip side, Crater's chances for claiming the conference title may have flown away with Smith's blast as the Comets dropped to 17-7 overall and 8-4 in the SOC. "That was real tough," Crater coach Chuck Dominiak said of losing a 4-1 lead with two innings to play in Game 2. "That was probably the toughest loss we've had in a while." Ashland and North Medford now enter the final weekend of SOC play tied for first at 9-3, with Crater and Roseburg one game behind at 8-4. The Comets finish up with a twin bill at home against North, while Ashland plays host to Eagle Point (1-11 SOC) and Roseburg travels to face a dangerous South squad. "The way our year's gone, we haven't been able to put our games together," said Antich. "We've pitched well when we didn't hit or hit when we didn't pitch. But if we put it all together, we can play with anybody." Once South loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth against Crater starter Sean Teaters, the Comets turned to ace pitcher Derek Petersen to help halt the threat. Petersen, who pitched a five-hitter to win Game 1, was touched for two sacrifice flies that trimmed Crater's lead to 4-3. After South starter Clint Rodreick stymied Crater in the top of the seventh, Corey O'Neill started a Panther rally with a one-out walk. Petersen, who is 9-3 on the season, then induced Ryan Heil into a fly-ball out before Smith ran the count full with the game on the line. "Petersen just got the ball a little up and Matt drove it," said Antich. "I was just hoping for a ball in the gap, but that was a clutch hit after Corey had done a really good job of getting on base. "Petersen is heckuva pitcher and it would have been easy for our kids to let down once he came in. He really pitched well, and it seemed like we couldn't get him out when he came up to bat." For the Comets, Smith's second homer of the year was just the latest in a season of ups-and-downs that most recently featured a runner thrown out at home to close a 7-6 loss at Roseburg. "That's just the way the season's been going for us," said Dominiak. "It's been tough." Smith also added two singles and a walk in going 3-for-3 in the nightcap, while Dan Casey had a three-run homer to lead Crater in Game 1. Heil had two doubles and Jeremy Frantz added a two-run homer in the opener for the Panthers, who were outdone by the Comets behind three hits from Jared Maddocks and two hits apiece by Petersen and Frank Drake. FIRST GAME Crater...............................................303 108 - 15
11 1 Petersen and Maddocks; McCollum, Norris (4) and M. Smith. W - Petersen (9-2). L - McCollum (1-6). 2B - C: Maddocks; SM: Heil 2. HR - C: Casey (1); SM: Frantz (3). SECOND GAME Crater.................................................002 020 0 -
4 9 1 Teaters, Petersen (6) and Maddocks; Rodreick and M. Smith. W - Rodreick (4-6). L - Petersen (9-3). 2B - C: Drake. HR - SM: M. Smith (2). |
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