Grizzlies sneak past EP

A "funk?" In Ashland?

Apparently 24 runs in five games qualifies, but the fourth-ranked Ashland High baseball team swept Eagle Point anyway to quietly clinch the Southern Sky Conference championship outright Tuesday at North Mountain Park.

The Grizzlies entered the day needing at least one win to eliminate the possibility of a first-place tie — a long, long, long shot anyway — and did that via Sam Gaviglio's complete-game shutout in the 8-0 Game 1 win.

Ashland (21-2 overall, 14-0 SSC) had a harder time in Game 2, but got a sacrifice fly by Charlie Sebrell in the sixth inning to pull out a 6-5 comeback win.

Afterward, Grizz head coach Don Senestraro praised his pitching staff and the defense as a whole, but acknowledged the team's missing knockout punch — an explosive offense that tagged 40 runs in two games on Eagle Point (7-14, 4-10) just three weeks ago.

"I don't know what's going on right now," he said. "I'm not really happy. I don't think we're hitting the ball real well. It seems like we're in a funk right now. We're all dedicated to come out here (today) and try to get better, but right now we're not really hitting the ball too well. There wasn't a lot of solid shots that we're used to hitting and this is a good hitting club."

As usual, there were enough hits.

Max Gordon provided perhaps the biggest in the nightcap, hammering a triple into the left-center field gap with one out in the sixth and the game tied at 5-5. That brought up Sebrell, who cranked Brian Smith's 0-2 pitch to center, plenty deep enough to score Gordon and give Ashland its first lead since the third inning.

Ian Kendall did the rest, striking out two of the Eagles' last three batters to pick up the win. Ashland's sophomore struck out seven of the 10 batters he faced in three innings of relief. Along the way he showed off his potential, alternately fooling Eagle Point batters with a nasty curve and blowing them away with a fastball that topped out at a smoking 89 mph.

"The kid's got phenomenal tools and I don't want to rush him along because we've got some great kids in front of him," Senestraro said of Kendall. "I think he's going to be a great asset to Ashland baseball for a couple more years."

Ashland starter Charlie Sebrell allowed three earned runs on five hits before being pulled in favor of Tyler Killeen in the fourth. Killeen gave up an unearned run before striking out Darin Adams looking to escape a bases-loaded jam.

Ashland scored four runs on four hits in the third to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 5-4 lead. Luke Jannusch and Hayden Miller each came through with two-run singles.

Gordon was the only Grizzly with mutliple hits — he went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Smith went the distance for Eagle Point, allowing six earned runs on seven hits while striking out eight and walking six. He threw 139 pitches.

In Game 1, Gaviglio held the Eagles to three hits in seven innings and struck out seven to improve to 9-1. Only one Eagle advanced beyond first base — Ben Charlton, on a double in the fifth.

Still, Eagle Point hung around. Charlton's double brought the tying run to the plate, but Ryan Smith struck out on four pitches.

"We were bases-loaded constantly and just couldn't seem to get a key hit," Senestraro said.

That changed in the sixth. Consecutive bases-loaded walks to Gordon and Lewis Sebrell made it 4-0, and Owen Baldrica followed with a bases-clearing double to left.

Baldrica was 2-for-3 with four RBIs in Game 1. As a whole, Ashland's two-through-five hitters went 5-for-10 while the rest of the team was 0-for-11.

Ashland received some bad news after the sweep. Lewis Sebrell, who injured a finger while attempting to block a ball in the first game, suffered a chipped bone and could miss three weeks.

If that prognosis holds true, the junior who bats No. 2 in Ashland's batting lineup will miss the Grizzlies' first two playoff games — May 20 and May 23.

FIRST GAME

Eagle Point 000 000 0 "" 0 3 2

Ashland 101 006 x "" 8 7 0

R. Smith, Davis (6) and Adams; Gaviglio and L. Sebrell. W — Gaviglio (9-0). L — R. Smith. 2B — EP: R. Smith; A: Baldrica.

SECOND GAME

Eagle Point 202 100 0 "" 5 7 0

Ashland 014 001 x "" 6 7 3

B. Smith and Erickson; C. Sebrell, Killeen (4), Kendall (5) and Miller. W — Kendall (1-0). L — B. Smith. 2B — EP: Erickson, F. Charlton. 3B — A: Gordon.

Sports editor Joe Zavala can be reached at 482-3456 x 224 or joe.zavala@dailytidings.com