JOHN DAY – Runs came in bunches for the Grant Union High School baseball team as the Prospectors opened the 2004 season with a pair of victories at the Grant Union Icebreaker Tournament.

On Friday, March 19, Grant Union blew the game open with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to defeat Madras 14-3.

Saturday’s game against Salem Academy began as Friday’s contest finished, with the Prospectors pushing eight runs across the plate in the opening inning to cruise past the Crusaders 12-2.

Both games were called after five innings of play on the 10-run rule.

Grant Union (2-0) played single games against Yamhill-Carlton and Cascade on Monday, the results of those games were not available at press time. The Prospectors host the prestigious three-day First Bank Hardball Classic beginning Thursday, March 25.

Grant Union plays Sisters on Thursday, Sherwood on Friday and winds up the tournament against Elmira on Saturday.

All games begin at 12:30 p.m. on Malone Field.

Grant Union def. Madras 14-3

Kerry Ashmead connected for a grand slam home run over the left field fence to cap an eight-run fourth inning and gave Grant Union its first victory of the season, with a 14-3 win over Madras in the opening game of the Grant Union Icebreaker Tournament on Friday, March 19.

Ashmead’s blast off on a 1-0 pitch from White Buffalo’s relief pitcher Jason Walters turned what had been a close game into a rout, and gave Prospectors’ winning pitcher Matt Curtis a comfortable cushion for the remainder of the contest.

“We hit the ball and made some things happen today,” Prospectors’ coach Art Thunell said. “For the most part we played pretty well.”

Grant Union went right to work off Madras starter Owen Danzuka plating five runs in the first inning on just two base hits and a pair of costly errors.

Leadoff batter Toby Thomas reached base on a dropped third strike and moved over to third when Madras third baseman Gavin Romanick threw wildly to first on a sacrifice bunt by Eli McClure.

Bo Thunell singled home Thomas with the first run and Curtis plated the second on yet another error by the White Buffalo’s third-sacker.

After Cody Frazier was safe on a fielder’s choice, Adam Kowing lined a two-run double to the right-center field gap and eventually scored the final run of the inning on a passed ball.

McClure upped the margin to 6-0 scoring on a Curtis single in the bottom of the second inning.

Madras came storming back with three runs in the top of the third, the last two coming home on John Cleveland’s two-run homer, but those were the final runs the White Buffaloes would score.

Curtis went the distance on the mound to pick up the victory giving up six hits while walking two and striking out five.

“Matt pitched a good game despite being sick,” coach Thunell said. “He had thrown 61 pitches going into the fifth inning so we were watching him closely. We made a few mistakes today which we’ll work on, but for the most part I thought we played pretty well.”

Curtis was 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and Kowing was also 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Walters was 2-for-2 for Madras.

Grant Union def. Salem Academy 12-2

The first inning of Saturday’s game proved Grant Union is the type of baseball team you can’t afford to make mistakes against.

The Prospectors scored eight runs in the opening inning on five base hits and four costly Salem Academy errors to cruise to a 12-2 victory.

Thomas led off with a single, and back-to-back throwing errors on ground balls off the bats of McClure and Bo Thunell gave the Prospectors a 1-0 lead.

Curtis singled home the second run and with one out, Kevin Percy connected for a three-run homer over the left field fence for a 5-0 lead.

Grant Union batted through the order in the first inning and on his second trip to the plate, Thomas delivered a two-run double over the centerfielder’s head to up the lead to 7-0.

Three batters later, Curtis drew a walk with the bases loaded to plate the final run of the inning.

Ashmead picked up the victory on the mound for the Prospectors pitching the first four innings giving up two hits and striking out four, before giving way to Thomas in the fifth.

The Prospectors added a single run in the second inning, two in the third and one in the fourth to put the game away.

Thomas was 2-for-3 with three RBI for Grant Union and Curtis knocked in a pair of runs.

Cameron Meier scored both runs for Salem Academy.