Extra duty doesn't slow Black Tornado

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CENTRAL POINT — It had already been a long day for the North Medford softball team by the time the Black Tornado squared off with Glencoe on Monday night.

And while the Crimson Tide did its best to extend the day for North Medford, the local girls found enough from within to pull out a 5-4 triumph in 10 innings during the North Medford Invitational at Crater High.

"They battled a lot of elements today and really worked hard and had a lot of energy all game long," said North Medford coach Mike Mayben, whose team was prepping the Fagone and Jackson fields early Monday to no avail. "I was very impressed with the energy they brought after getting out at 7 a.m. to work on the fields and then not getting to play until 5 o'clock."

Poor field conditions due to the muddy conditions necessitated a switch to Crater for the tournament, with Grants Pass High also picking up a handful of today's final-round games.

Regardless of venue, Glencoe and North Medford put on quite a battle Monday.

The Black Tornado (2-3) built a 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI triple by Taylor Schmidt in the first inning, then answered a Glencoe run in the fourth with one of its own after a two-out double by Amanda Wolfe and RBI single by Kayla Strahm.

North's lead ballooned to 3-1 in the fifth when McKenna Storey smacked one of her three singles and came around to score for the second time on a Schmidt hit, this one a double.

Undaunted, Glencoe battled back with two runs of its own to tie the game in the sixth, and the score remained that way until the Tide pushed across a run in the top of the 10th inning to take its first lead of the contest.

Amy Shendan, who started the 10th on second base due to international rules, stole third base and scored on a passed ball. Schmidt struck out three batters in the rest of the 10th to quiet Glencoe, and finished with 15 strikeouts in the complete-game effort. She allowed only six hits and four walks.

Storey started on second in the 10th for North and moved to third with one out after a wild pitch. Schmidt was then intentionally walked to put runners at the corners, and pinch-runner Jordan Jones stole second to put the pressure on Glencoe.

After a wild pitch advanced both runners and tied the game at 4-all, Justine Sandoval walked and eventually made her way to third base after Jones got caught in a rundown between third and home and was tagged out on a delayed steal. With two outs, Kassie Choi ended the game with a double to the fence.

"They showed a lot of character coming back in a back-and-forth game that was close the whole way," said Mayben.

Jordan Bruin led Glencoe with a home run and allowed only seven hits in her 10 innings of work.

In Monday's other North Medford Invitational action, Crater beat Sunset, 5-2; Putnam beat Southridge, 6-3; Forest Grove beat Sprague, 6-3; West Salem and Churchill tied 4-4 due to a time limit; Roseburg beat South Salem, 1-0; Phoenix beat Rainier, 8-6; and Tigard beat South Medford, 12-0.

Glencoe 000 102 000 1 — 4 6 1

North Medford 100 110 000 2 — 5 7 2

Bruin and Dendingel; Schmidt and Wolfe. W — Schmidt (2-0). L — Bruin. 2B — G: Hale, Kreger; NM: Schmidt, Choi, Wolfe. 3B — NM: Schmidt. HR — G: Bruin.

CRATER 5, SUNSET 2 — At Central Point, Brittany Reeves and Breyanna Reed combined for a two-hitter in the opening day of the North Medford Invitational at Crater High.

Reeves, the starting pitcher, had seven strikeouts and Reed struck out the side in the top of the fifth. Reeves returned for the sixth inning to nail down the victory.

A time limit ended the game in the bottom of the sixth.

In the third, Emily Morrow launched a solo home run to center field to give the Comets (4-2) a 2-0 lead. Morrow was 2-for-3 and drove in two runs, as did teammate Ashley Larson.

Sunset 000 002 — 2 2 1

Crater 101 03x — 5 5 1

Ott and Downey; Reeves, Reed (4), Reeves (6) and Haga. W — Reeves (3-0). L — Ott. 2B — S: Delbazo; C: Larson. HR — C: Morrow.

TIGARD 12, SOUTH MEDFORD 0, 5 innings — At Central Point, Tigard's offensive attack featured a seven-run fourth inning and the Tigers' pitching limited South Medford to three hits at Crater High School in the first day of the North Medford Invitational.

Samantha Matarese, Shy Anne Jones and Whitney James each had singles for the Panthers (3-2), who face Churchill at 5 tonight.

South Medford 000 00 — 0 3 0

Tigard 203 7x — 12 13 0

Mondale, Newman (4) and James; Suter and Kaelin. W — Suter. L — Mondale (1-1). 2B — T: Aden 2, McCord, Suter, Nyberg. HR — T: Biglois, Pizer.

PHOENIX 8, RAINIER 6 — At Central Point, Phoenix (3-5) managed only two hits — by Carlee Storey and Danielle Smith — but took advantage of 14 walks to edge Rainier in the North Medford Invitational at Crater High School.

The game lasted only three innings because of a time limit.

Rainier 213 — 6 5 2

Phoenix 44x — 8 2 3

Hanks and Walker; Stroud-Vega, Lockett (3) and Heath. W — Stroud-Vega (1-4). L — Hanks. 2B — R: Bodenroedor.

THE DALLES-WAHTONKA TOURNAMENT — At The Dalles, Eagle Point ran into a pair of good pitching clubs as the Eagles were handed their first two losses of the season — a 10-0 loss to Barlow and a 5-2 defeat to tournament host The Dalles-Wahtonka.

Eagle Point (4-2) had three hits in each game. Barlow pitcher Kayla Anderson helped her own cause with a three-run home run in the fifth inning of the opener, which ended in the sixth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Eagle Point squandered a brief lead in Game 2 against The Dalles-Wahtonka. Samantha DeVaughn had a two-out, two-run single in the top of the fourth to give EP a 2-0 advantage.

The Dalles-Wahtonka answered with five runs over the next two innings to put the contest out of reach.

Eagle Point continues the tournament today against Corvallis at 11 a.m. and Sherwood at 1:30 p.m.

FIRST GAME

Barlow 033 031 — 10 9 0

Eagle Point 000 000 — 0 3 3

Anderson and Weldon; Stephens and Dale. W — Anderson. L — Stephens (3-1). HR — B: Anderson.

SECOND GAME

Eagle Point 000 200 0 — 2 3 2

The Dalles-Wahtonka 000 023 x — 5 9 1

Hanson and Dale; Darke and McCleary. W — Darke. L — Hanson (1-1). 2B — TDW: McCleary, Wilson. 3B — TDW: Mardason.

CENTRAL OREGON TOURNAMENT — At Prineville, Bella Pribyl capped a near-perfect afternoon with a one-hitter as Ashland improved to 8-0 with two victories in the 17-team Central Oregon Softball Tournament.

Pribyl had 13 strikeouts in a 5-2 win over Crook County and 12 more punchouts in the Grizzlies' 1-0 triumph over Silverton.

Caitlin Williams and Samantha Gilbert each went 2-for-3 to lift Ashland against Silverton, which managed only one hit against Pribyl. The Grizzlies scored in the third inning when Hayley Ross plated Gilbert on a fielder's choice.

In the opener, Gilbert's solo home run gave the Grizzlies a 2-0 advantage in the third but Crook County scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score at 2-all.

After Ashland had back-to-back singles in the top of the seventh, Sarah Silbowitz broke the tie with a two-run single. Silbowitz stole third base and scored on a hit by Gilbert to extend Ashland's lead to 5-2.

The tournament continues today in Bend, with the Grizzlies facing Crescent Valley and Mountain View.

FIRST GAME

Ashland 101 000 3 — 5 7 0

Crook County 000 002 0 — 2 5 2

Pribyl and Cantrell; Casey and Santana. W — Pribyl (7-0). L — Casey. 2B — CC: Waite, Verity. HR — Gilbert.

SECOND GAME

Ashland 001 000 0 — 1 7 0

Silverton 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Pribyl and Cantrell; Hotley, Kinsey (5) and Simmons. W — Pribyl (8-0). L — Hotley.

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