James' big hit lifts South over North

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With six years at the helm as South Medford softball coach, Dan Marshall has witnessed plenty of classic games between his girls and North Medford's.

But few have been more dramatic than Tuesday's matchup at Fagone Field.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, South catcher Whitney James drove the second pitch she saw into deep right-center field to lift the Panthers to a 4-3 victory, keeping the Black Tornado winless in the Southwest Conference.

"The North-South rivalry, it's always a good game regardless of talent level and everything," said Marshall. "We were lucky to be on the right side of it today."

Until the fourth inning, the Panthers (7-5, 2-2 SWC) were stymied by North pitcher Taylor Schmidt. She had a no-hitter going through three innings before Rochelle Hiatt's single broke it up in the bottom of the fourth.

After runners reached second and third later in the frame, James singled in Hiatt to tie it at 1-1. A triple by Samantha Matarese then gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead.

The Tornado rallied to tie it in the top of the seventh. Justine Sandoval rapped a two-run single to right to tie it at 3-3.

In the bottom of the eighth, South freshman Ashley Hawkins led off with a bloop fly into right. Two North players collided in an attempt for the ball, allowing Hawkins to reach second. After an intentional walk, James stroked her hit.

"Obviously, we thought we had the game," said Marshall. "But to win it that way, it's kinda special. It's a big victory and a good day to be a Panther."

Matarese and James each had two hits and a pair of RBIs for South Medford.

For North, Sandoval was 2-for-4 and drove in all three runs, and McKenna Storey was 3-for-4 and scored twice.

North Medford 100 000 20 — 3 10 1

South Medford 000 300 01 — 4 6 1

Schmidt and Wolfe; Mondale and James. W — Mondale (3-3). L — Schmidt. 2B — SM: Hawkins. 3B — NM: Schmidt; SM: Matarese,

GRANTS PASS 6, SHELDON 1 — At Eugene, Sheldon took a 1-0 lead off a home run by Teea Rogers in the fourth inning but fourth-ranked Grants Pass came alive with two runs in each of the final three innings.

D. Jantzer was 3-for-4 with a double, Tara Glover was 2-for-3 with a home run in the fifth inning and Morgan Barnes was 2-for-2 and pitched a complete game for Grants Pass (13-2, 3-1 SWC).

Barnes struck out six, walked two and allowed three hits.

Grants Pass 000 022 2— 6 9 2

Sheldon 000 100 0 — 1 3 3

Barnes and Misfeldt; Stanley and Brown. W — Barnes (7-2). L — Stanley. 2B — GP: Jantzer, Barnes. HR — GP: Glover; S: Rogers.

ROSEBURG 7, SOUTH EUGENE 0 — At Roseburg, Alyssa Desbiens hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the third inning to cap a five-run frame that included two errors and a hit batter to lead Roseburg to the SWC win.

Mikayla Endicott tossed a three-hitter with 19 strikeouts for Roseburg. Ali White led off the sixth with a single to break up Endicott's no-hit bid.

South Eugene 000 000 0 — 0 3 3

Roseburg 005 200 x — 7 5 0

Waddell and Shortreed; Endicott and Walker. W — Endicott. L — Waddell. 2B—SE: Sloan. HR — R: Desbiens.

Baseball

GRANTS PASS 5, SHELDON 4 — At Grants Pass, Zach Morgan allowed four hits and struck out nine and Grants Pass used a five-run third inning to earn the SWC victory.

Ryan Miller and Buddy Saxon each hit two-run home runs in the third for the Cavemen (7-5, 1-3 SWC), while Brandon Drury was 3-for-3 overall.

Zach Manley homered for Sheldon (8-7, 2-2).

Sheldon 000 310 0 — 4 4 1

Grants Pass 005 000 0 — 5 9 0

Carter, Kayser (4) and Davis; Morgan and Saxon. W — Morgan (3-2). L — Carter. 2B — GP: Sells. HR — S: Manley; GP: Saxon (2), Miller (2).

ROSEBURG 2, SOUTH EUGENE 1 — At Eugene, Boone Farrington's RBI single in the fourth proved to be the decisive play for Roseburg.

Mitch Huff was 2-for-3 with a double and a triple for Roseburg (8-2, 4-0 SWC).

Roseburg 001 100 0 — 2 6 1

South Eugene 010 000 0 — 1 3 2

Jackson, Poitner (7) and Ampi; Trachtenberg and Turk. W — Jackson (2-0). L — Trachtenberg. 2B — R: Huff, Priestley, Bullock. SE: Klingman, Storrs. 3B — R: Huff.

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