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Corvallis tops Panthers in Asante Classic Believed to be a troublesome area on the South Medford baseball team this season, pitching has turned into the Panthers� strong point thus far. Unfortunately for South Medford on Tuesday, the offense hasn�t followed suit. Corvallis used a hit batsman to force home the winning run in a 3-2, 10-inning win over South Medford in the Asante Diamond Classic at South Medford High. In other opening day games, North Medford downed South Eugene, 6-3, and Oregon City got past Crescent Valley, 5-4. All other games were postponed due to rain and will be made up today, weather permitting. South�s pitching duo of Jon McCollum and Clint Rodreick combined to hold Corvallis to just four hits and struck out 13 but only picked up two runs of support in the loss. McCollum went the first eight innings, striking out 10 and surrendering only four hits before giving way to Rodreick. "We had chances to win the game but just didn�t put the ball in play enough to win," said South Medford coach Pete Whisler. "It�s too bad because we got a good performance out of McCollum and Rodreick." One of the Panthers� many chances for some breathing room came right out of the gates. In the first inning, South loaded the bases with one out but lost the opportunity on strikeouts. "That was just a great chance to get some runs across," said Whisler. "Guys have got to make contact in those situations." With a chance to win the game in the eighth, the Panthers moved a runner to second with one out. Following a single, the ball got loose behind home plate but the runner was caught in a rundown between third base and home and was eventually tagged out. Despite the loss, Whisler has been pleasantly surprised by the stability of the pitching staff. "No doubt about it, our pitching has been good for us," said Whisler. "Our last three or four pitching performances have been really good. It is one area where we are better than anywhere else right now." Rodreick led the Panthers (3-4) with three hits, while Matt Skundrick added two. South plays a tournament makeup game today at 10 a.m. against Oregon City at South Medford High. The Panthers close out the day with a 1:30 p.m. game against Crescent Valley at Miles Field. Corvallis.........................................110 000 000 1 � 3 4 1 South Medford...............................000 020 000 0 � 2 7 2 Hopson, Gulledge (10) and Austin; McCollum, Rodreick (9) and Smith. W � Gulledge. L � Rodreick (1-1). 2B � C: Stowbridge; SM: Skundrick. NORTH MEDFORD 6, SOUTH EUGENE 3 � At North High, the Black Tornado overcame an early 3-0 deficit to topple South Eugene in the Diamond Baseball Classic opener for both teams. Junior pitcher Brent Kircher didn�t allow a hit after the second inning and only two South Eugene baserunners reached safely in the last five innings as Kircher improved to 2-0. North Medford put three runs on the board in the fourth and fifth innings to supply the difference, with Joe Morris putting North on the board first with an RBI single. Morris later scored on a double steal with Tyler Engle, who then scored on a passed ball to tie the game at 3-all. Phil Ouellette started things off in the fifth with a leadoff single and stolen base. After a groundout, Evan McArthur was hit by a pitch and Shawn Backstrom was intentionally walked to load the bases. Devon Zupan followed with a two-run single and Backstrom scored on a sacrifice by Dusty Butler. In his first varsity game of the season, Gabe Burchfiel was the lone multiple hitter for North (4-1), going 2-for-3 in the win. North�s scheduled second game with Crescent Valley was rained out and is slated as a makeup game today at 10 at Miles Field. Weather permitting, the Tornado are also scheduled to face Corvallis today at 4 p.m. at Miles Field. South Eugene.......................................210 000 0 � 3 5 3 North Medford......................................000 330 x � 6 6 3 Bradetich, Overstake (6) and Wolf; Kircher and Folsom. W � Kircher (2-0). L � Bradetich. 2B � SE: Nagler, Wolf. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.