No. 3 White Buffaloes satisfied with split

Published 5:00 am Saturday, April 29, 2006

SHERWOOD – Grand-slam homers were the big blows for both teams Friday as No. 3 Madras and No. 5 Sherwood split a twin bill between Tri-Valley League baseball title contenders.

The first-place White Buffaloes won the opener 8-2 in 11 innings, as Jacob Prow’s home run with the bases loaded broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 11th.

Madras then dropped the second game 6-1 despite collecting 11 hits to the Bowmen’s two.

The split put the White Buffaloes at 10-2 in the TVL (16-4 overall) and kept them half a game ahead of Sherwood (10-3, 17-4) in the league standings.

”I guess we have to be happy with the split,” said Madras coach Kevin Cave. ”But we won against their ace pitcher (Taylor Hill) in the first game, so we were in position to go for a sweep.”

But by winning one Friday, the Buffs clinched the three-game season series with the Bowmen and now have secured tiebreaker edges over both second-place Sherwood and third-place Wilsonville.

In Friday’s opener, Pat Dominguez pitched all the way for Madras, completing 11 innings on just 95 pitches, according to Cave.

Dominguez allowed six hits – all singles – and struck out three batters while walking one.

”He induced a lot of contact – a lot of ground balls and fly balls – and we played pretty solid defense,” said Cave.

After allowing two runs in the first inning, Hill blanked Madras over the next nine innings before giving way to a reliever in the 11th. Jansen Harrington opened the inning with a single, Tyler Ellsbury followed with a bunt single, and Vaughan Prow drew a walk to fill the bases, setting the stage for Jacob Prow’s game-turning blast over the center-field fence.

”He hit it right on the nose,” said Cave. ”It went to the deepest part of the park, but there was pretty much no doubt when he hit it that it was out.”

Darrell Ceciliani was three for five for Madras in the opener, and the Prow brothers and Dominguez had two hits apiece.

In the second game, Sherwood’s Hill cracked a grand slam to cap a six-run first inning. The home run was the second and final hit of the game for the Bowmen, who survived the Buffs’ 11 hits as Madras left 13 runners on base.

Ceciliani, on in relief of White Buffs starter Vaughan Prow, worked four no-hit, shutout innings to finish.

”He did a nice job of keeping us in it,” said Cave of Ceciliani. ”We just couldn’t get any runs.”

Harrington was four for four to lead Madras in the second game, and he scored his team’s only run on Vaughan Prow’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

The White Buffaloes host Estacada on Tuesday.