Tornado fall short in opener

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Tornado fall short in opener BROKEN ARROW, Okla. - The North Medford Black Tornado opened the 14-and-under ASA National fastpitch tournament Tuesday with a 4-1 pool-play loss to the Chicago Outburst. The 88-team tournament is divided into 22 four-team pools. Each team plays two pool games, then are seeded into double-elimination bracket play. "I'm hoping it was just first-game jitters back at the big show," Black Tornado coach Russ Gould said. "We looked flat." North scored its lone run in the fourth inning on back-to-back doubles by Ashley Likens and Lisa Dudley to cut Chicago's lead to 3-1. North Medford collected five hits and committed three errors, while the Outburst had six hits and two errors. Mallorie Hoover went 2-for-3 for North Medford. Black Tornado starting pitcher Kendra Strahm struck out four in four innings. Strahm gave up five hits and allowed three runs. Likens gave up one hit over the final three innings. "Likens was the sharper of the two today," said Gould. "You've got to get on top of the hitters and pitch ahead." North Medford faces Corona, Calif., in the second of two pool games at 10 a.m. today.   Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.