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North Medford downs Westview for softball state title Members of the North Medford softball team celebrate their win against Westview in the Class 6A softball championship at Oregon State University on Saturday. [ANIBAL ORTIZ/FOR THE MAIL TRIBUNE] Sunday Jun 4, 2017 at 2:00 AM Jun 4, 2017 at 8:22 AM Tim Trower Mail Tribune @MTsports CORVALLIS — North Medford whipped through its pregame warmup with the crispness of a drill team. Fielding, throwing, catching, softballs flying everywhere. Then, as the start of the Class 6A championship game neared, Black Tornado players went through intricate handshakes and gesticulations, encouraging one another, hugging one another, feeding off a camaraderie years in the making. In the opposing dugout, Westview coach Ronda McKenzie watched. “I’ll be honest,” she said later, “the thing that scared me most about North Medford was, it seemed like they were a really good, bonded team with great chemistry. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but that’s the impression I got.” It was an attribute she saw in her team, often giving it an edge, she thought. Not on this day. In a one-for-all display, and particularly in a second inning for the ages, North Medford unleashed a rollicking offensive barrage and dismantled the Wildcats, 11-3, Saturday at the Oregon State University Softball Complex. The third-seeded Black Tornado rebounded from an error-plagued first inning and a 1-0 deficit to score 10 runs in the second on nine hits. Although such records aren’t kept, it may well have been the biggest inning in title game history. Only two other teams have scored as many as 11 runs in the game, and that was the first championship in 1979, when Aloha beat North Eugene, 12-11. Three other times, teams have scored 10. “There was just an explosion of confidence,” said North Medford senior left fielder Mahal Miles, who was named her team’s player of the game after getting both her hits, including a triple, and her three RBIs in the second. “We have so much faith and we believe in each other so much, we just know in our hearts and souls and minds that we can take on anyone and anything together.” The state championship was the Black Tornado’s first since 2013. The program has been in the title game four of the past six years and now has eight total crowns in 10 appearances. Its 18th straight victory left it 30-1 for the season. Right fielder Jordan Neathammer, who sent her teammates into a frenzy with a spirit-lifting, two-run home run, is one of nine Black Tornado seniors. “This was our last game,” she said. “It was something we had to cherish together and work hard for. To leave everything out there was great.” For as prepared as the veteran North Medford squad appeared at the outset, things took a decidedly different turn in the first half-inning. The fifth-seeded Wildcats (27-5) took advantage of two errors, added a hit and scored for the 1-0 lead. The errors were among four for the Black Tornado. Coach Mike Mayben attributed them to nerves. “That was the most errors I think we’ve had in quite some time,” he said. “This is usually a very, very solid defensive team.” North Medford went quietly in its half, then Westview was at it again in the second. Maddie Curaming doubled over Mahal’s head and Emma Williams hit a sharp single to left. “We were plugging away,” said McKenzie, “and I thought, ‘Oh, we’re going to score a bunch of runs.” But Mahal put a crimp in those plans when she fielded Williams’ hit and threw a strike to catcher Jovanna Salvador to get Curaming for the third out. Perhaps it was a signal the tide had turned. “What this team has done all year is stay poised in adversity,” said Mayben. “You have to fight through it and come out the other side. And what we did in the second inning is really a testament to these kids staying strong, staying focused.” North Medford was hardly without hope. It carried a team batting average of .421 into the title game and had scored in double figures 19 times. Rylan Austin opened the second with a single off Westview freshman pitcher Mia Patino. Then Ashley Ripplinger doubled off the right-field fence. Miles flared a single to right to score Grace Johnson, who ran for Austin. Ripplinger came in on an errant throw on the play, putting the Black Tornado on top, 2-1. It was just getting started. After a groundout, Neathammer, the No. 8 hitter, stepped in. She flailed at the first pitch, she said, “not even looking at it.” She told herself, essentially, to buck up. Turn her hips, keep her head on the ball. The right-handed hitter did so on the next pitch, getting a waist-high offering on the outside of the plate and driving it over the right-field fence. It was her second of the season. The first came on Senior Night. “So,” she laughed, “I hit them on special occasions.” Indeed. To go from her indifferent first swing “to hitting a home run,” said Neathammer, “is probably the best feeling in the world. I’m going to remember that for probably the rest of my life.” Recognizing a pitch on the outside of the plate and taking it that way, Mayben said, is the kind of adjustment his players have made all season. Their headiness served them well against Patino, who survives less on velocity, more on guile. “She got everything on that one,” Mayben said of Neathammer. “She’s just a great kid deep in our lineup who over time has had to grow in confidence. That was just a great swing.” North Medford led 4-1. There was one out, no one on. Lauren Barry’s single to left chased Patino. Olivia Lethlean’s bunt off reliever Kendall Gantz was thrown errantly, and Barry scored. Taelor Mayben’s RBI single made it 6-1. Alex Barry singled in Mayben, who had stolen second. A walk to Austin and a Ripplinger single to right plated another run. Miles then tripled to the right-center gap, making it 10-1. She was stranded there when a second reliever, Catriona McKay, induced a flyout and groundout. The big lead wasn’t going to cause the Black Tornado to let its guard down, said Miles. “Our coaches are great at making sure we’re focused on the end goal,” she said, “and that we don’t have any ebb and flow, that we play consistent and play at our best.” North Medford was in position to end it after five innings on the 10-run mercy rule following an RBI single by Danyelle Milam in the fourth that scored Miles. Westview, however, prolonged it to regulation with two fifth-inning runs. Taelor Mayben was 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, and Ripplinger was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. In the circle, Austin went the route, allowing 10 hits but no earned runs. She struck out one and walked one. The latest state title “means a lot to our program,” said Miles. “There are younger kids who look up to us and we’ve looked up to older kids,” she said. “The tradition just keeps going.” Westview;100;020;0;—;3;10;5 North Medford;0(10)0;100;x;—;11;12;4 Patino, Glantz (2), McKay (2) and Munson; Austin and Salvador. W — Austin (25-1). L — Patino. 2B — W: Curaming; NM: Ripplinger. 3B — NM: Miles. HR — NM: Neathamer. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 541-776-4479 or [email protected]