Two AHS singles players advance

Ashland High singles players Sean Cleveland and Nick Cross both advanced to the semifinals to clinch state berths at the District 4 boys tennis tournament Thursday at Thurston High School in Eugene.

Cleveland beat Earvin Narvasa in the first round and Thomas Joyce, 7-5, 6-0, in the second round to earn a quarterfinal date with Jon Massie. Cleveland outlasted Massie in three sets to set up a semifinal match against top-seeded Chris Wiechert of Churchill.

Cross beat Joe Valdez in the first round and Josh Bott in the second round before earning his berth to the state tournament with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Peter Huang. Cross will face No. 3-seeded Chase Thomet of Churchill in the semis.

Thomet defeated another Ashland player, Nathan Harris, in the quarterfinals after Harris won his first two matches.

In doubles play, no Ashland team advanced past the quarterfinals, but Jeff Laskos and Quincy Briscoe won two matches before falling to the No. 2-seeded team of Brandon Benson and Brogan Trull.

The tournament concludes with semifinal and championship matches on May 9.

College Softball

Oregon Tech jumped on Southern Oregon early in both games en route to a Cascade Conference doubleheader sweep Friday at University Field.

The Owls scored three runs in the first two innings on their way to a 6-3 win in the first game, then scored two runs in the first inning and eight in the sixth to clinch the sweep with a 12-1 win in the nightcap.

The Raiders, who were eliminated from playoff contention last week, finish the season 12-23 overall and 10-13 in the Cascade Conference. Oregon Tech improved to 33-12 and 19-4.