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Ems suffer another defeat in Portland
Despite a
strong pitching
performance
from Ben
Christensen,
Eugene loses its
sixth straight
By Jeff Smith
for the Emerald
PORTLAND — Amid the dark clouds that cur
rently hang over the Eugene Emeralds, Ben Chris
tensen became a rare bright spot for a team in des
perate need of a quick turn-around.
The Ems (19-29) controlled the game for the first
four innings before falling face-first and losing 9-2
to the Portland Rockies in front of 2,974 at Civic
Stadium.
Emeralds reliever Ben Shaffer (2-5) took the loss
and Rockies hurler Julio De Paula (4-4) had the
Ems bats confused all night, going eight innings
for the win.
Christensen, heading into the game with an
unimpressive 0-2 record and 7,16 earned-run aver
age, showed the club why he is so highly touted by
retiring the first 12 batters and leaving the game af
ter five innings of one-hit ball. He left with six
strikeouts and only two walks.
“This was the Ben Christensen that we were all
waiting to see,” Ems manager Danny Sheaffer said.
“I could tell from his previous outings that he was
getting his groove back.
“It was very unfortunate that the relievers could
n’t keep it going for him.”
With Christensen in the game, the Emeralds got
some optimism as well as some hits.
The game was scoreless
until the fifth inning when
unlikely run-producer Morey
Aldrup, hitting .103 before
the game, knocked in the first
run by ripping a fastball to
right field.
▼ “It was a fastball away, and
I put it right where I wanted it to,” Aldrup said.
“At the time it was a really big run for our team so
it felt great to be able to contribute like that.”
The game fell apart for the Ems as soon Chris
tensen exited.
Shaffar started the sixth inning off by giving up
two hits, and both baserunners scored on a RBI
groundout by Justin Hemme and an RBI double by
Dan Phillips.
Following the three-run sixth, Shaffar surren
dered three more runs in the seventh to give the
Rockies a 7-1 cushion.
“We are playing bad baseball,” Sheaffer said. “It
looks as if we are just showing up every day at the
park and waiting for bad things to happen.
“We are just scuffling along, and if things don’t
change in a hurry, it’s going to be pretty easy to
weed out the players who don’t deserve to go up to
the next level.”
Players are not throwing in the towel just yet.
“Lately, we haven’t been playing the ball that we
know we are capable, and the frustration is getting
to a lot of people,” Gsell said. “As players, we can
not make any excuses for ourselves. The effort that
we choose to give as individuals will have a direct
result on whether we come around as a team.”
“Coach is trying to keep us motivated, but that’s
not his job,” Aldrup said. “We are professional ath
letes and it is our job to get ourselves ready and
have him simply help lead us into battle.”
Despite their losing streak and last-place stand
ing, the Ems have not given up.
‘ Tomorrow is a whole new day, and with that
hope we still think we can make the playoffs,”
Gsell said.
Offseason Report
Kent, Ducks confident in capabilities
Head coach Ernie Kent vows
to add one more player to his
roster by the Nov. 12 opener
By Troy Foster
lor the Emerald
With the year the Oregon men’s bas
ketball team had last season — an up
and-down affair that concluded with
losses in the National Invitation Tourna
ment semifinals and third-place game —
it would have been fitting for the team
and coaching staff to take some time off.
Not so.
‘It’s been a very, very busy summer,”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent said last
week. “Extremely busy.”
First, Kent and company hosted a slew
of summer camps in June. Then, came
the NCAA-regulated evaluation period
in July, when the coaching staff hit the
road, traveling throughout the country in
search of recruits perfect for Oregon’s
system.
“And now we’re taking the month of
August to really work the telephones,”
Kent said.
With only six players returning from
the 1998-99 squad that finished the year
19-13 overall (8-10 Pacific-10 Confer
ence) and four incoming transfers, Ore
gon has six scholarships to play with —
three available this year and three for the
next.
Kent would like to sign three players
in the November signing period, but in
the meantime he assured there will be at
least one new face yet to sign suiting up
for the Nov. 12 exhibition opener at
McArthur Court.
“We’re going to be adding one for sure
and maybe two more players to our team
this year,” he said. “We’ll know more
about that in the next 30 days.”
Not only has the Oregon coaching staff
been hard at work during the summer
but the commitment the players are mak
ing in preparation for the next season is
also noteworthy.
All six of the returning players have re
mained in Eugene during the summer,
engnging in strenuous weight-lifting pro
grams and pick-up games, all the while
getting ahead in school by taking sum
Turn to HOOPS, Page 8
A.D. Smith, Oregon’s leading rebounder last season
Emerald
, hopes to help the Ducks reverse prior inconsistencies.
Losses,
frustration
mounting
After six straight losses, the Ems
are left searching for answers —
and an elusive victory
By Scott Pesznecker
lor the Emerald
PORTLAND — Unlike the first game of
the Eugene Emeralds’ three-game road trip
against the Portland Rockies, this one was
a blowout.
Seeing the lopsided score of 9-2 on the
final scoreboard made it hard to believe
that until the eighth inning, the Ems led
the Rockies in hitting. It made it difficult to
understand that all of Portland’s nine runs
came in the final fivte innings.
It made it even tougher for the Ems to
stomach the fact that they lost by such a
wide margin, despite not having commit
ted any errors.
But it all happened, and the Ems have
now suffered six consecutive losses.
“We’ve been struggling,” manager Dan
ny Sheaffer said. “We’ve just got to find out
what guys are made of. This is the level
where you find out how many guys want
to play this game, and that’s what we’re
trying to find out right now.”
Sitting in a small desk in the visitors’
locker room, Sheaffer stared into his laptop
computer as he tried to search for an an
swer as to why his team can’t pull out a
win.
“Lately, it’s been a combination of all
things,” he said. “We haven’t played very
well in the field, we haven’t hit the ball
well and we haven’t pitched very good at
all. I probably haven’t even coached very
well.
“We’re out here to develop players, and
sometimes winning and losing is overrated
here at this level. But everyone likes to
win.”
One of those who wants to win is first
baseman Pete Zoccolillo. In the top of
the fourth, Zoccolillo recorded back-to
back unassisted plays at first, highlight
ing what was a solid defensive effort all
night long.
“People are still getting up for the game,”
Zoccolillo said. “We’re not quitting. Every
one’s trying. Nobody’s hanging our heads.
Turn to EMERALDS, Page 8