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CLEAR Temp: 67 °F Wind: NW at 7 mph Sunday, June 2, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend June 2, 2002 The North Medford softball team celebrates after defeating Springfield, 1-0, in the Class 4A title game on Saturday. Darcy Cordell scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Photo by Greg Wahl-Stephens A storybook ending North claims the Class 4A title and sends longtime coach Larry Binney out as a champion By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune PORTLAND — Err once, you may get lucky. But err twice, and the North Medford High softball team will bury you. An unforgiving, opportunistic bunch all spring, the Black Tornado capped Larry Binney’s 20th and final season as head coach with a 1-0, 10-inning victory over Springfield on Saturday to claim the Class 4A state championship. Catcher Kelsea Schoenberg’s two-out throwing error in the bottom of the 10th was the crack North needed, as Darcy Cordell popped up from her stolen-base slide into third and dashed home to make the Tornado champion. The run also ended an epic pitching duel between North junior Keri Sevano and Millers senior Brieanne Thurn, each of whom went all the way and rendered offense almost as rare as Halley’s comet in front of 2,186 fans at sunny Erv Lind Stadium. Dazzling too were the defenses behind the pitchers, for until Schoenberg’s error, only one other miscue — by Springfield shortstop Stephanie Bour in the sixth — had marred a slickly played game. For Binney, the crown caps a magnificent Tornado coaching career that also featured state championships in 1984 (as Medford High), ‘97 (a co-title with Beaverton) and ‘98. "It was our goal to put him out on top, and that’s what we did," said Sevano, who struck out three, walked three and allowed just three hits to finish 20-1 overall and 5-0 in the 2002 state playoffs. Binney cemented his status as a coaching legend by molding together a young, inexperienced group that started the season 8-5 and leading them to 18 straight victories, the last of which secured the Southern Oregon Conference’s lone team state championship this school year. "This is kind of storybook stuff," said Binney, who sat out last season before returning for one more year this spring. "I’m so happy for our players and coaches and kids and the whole school. It was definitely a real group effort." The decisive 10th inning — Saturday’s first inning played under international tiebreaking rules in which a team begins its turn at-bat with a runner at second base and no outs — was a roller-coaster ride in itself for North. Fourth-ranked Springfield, which finishes 28-3 overall, had Anna McLennan on second to start the top-half of the inning. Undeterred, Sevano retired Cierra Mann and Alecia Ditlefsen without letting McLennan advance. But Thurn singled to shallow center field, forcing Tornado center fielder Brandi Paxton to make a strong throw to the plate as McLennan rounded third. North catcher Britney Hillyer fielded and ran toward McLennan to start a rundown, but after a couple tosses between Hillyer and third baseman Corey Whitaker, McLennan dove back safely to third. That brought up Lindsey Kirshenmann, who Sevano, cool as can be, disposed of with two strikes and a fly out to left field. The Tornado placed pinch-runner Kendra Strahm at second to begin its half of the 10th. Hillyer, the senior co-captain headed to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas for college softball next year, led off and drove an 0-1 pitch up the middle to make it first and third. Chrystal Brown entered to run for Hillyer, and she went to second on a delayed steal after the first pitch to Cordell. On Thurn’s third pitch, Cordell bounced to shortstop Bour, who gunned to Schoenberg to get Strahm at the plate for the first out. Cordell raced to second on the play. Up stepped Sevano with Brown at third and Cordell at second, and Binney reached into his bag of tricks. On Thurn’s first pitch, Brown broke for home and Sevano reached to try to lay down a squeeze bunt. But Sevano was unsuccessful, and Brown was tagged out by Bour after a throw from Schoenberg. Known for his base-running aggression, Binney gambled again on the next pitch as the championship trophy still hung in the balance. And this time, the pressure paid off. Cordell sprinted for third on a fake bunt/steal, and when Schoenberg’s throw was wild to the foul side of Bour covering third, Cordell motored home to bring North’s title dream to life. "We got pretty lucky," said Cordell, a sophomore who played flawlessly at shortstop and was 2-for-4 at the plate in addition to her game-winning run. "They’re a great team. They made some great plays to kind of put our momentum to a stop a little bit there. "But it was our inning, and we did it. ... It felt so good when I stepped on home plate." In defeat, Thurn (17-2 and the Midwestern League’s co-MVP) struck out eight, walked none and was touched for five hits and no earned runs. The Tornado didn’t hit the ball out of the infield against Thurn — who, like Sevano, entered the game 4-0 in the postseason, having given up just one run in 33 innings pitched — until the fifth, when Hillyer lined out to right field. Cordell followed with a single to right to become North’s first base runner. Sevano, meanwhile, struggled somewhat early, walking one in the first and allowing a Bour single and another walk in the third. Following a leadoff walk to Schoenberg in the fourth, however, Sevano zoned in to retire 14 straight Millers before Bour’s two-out double in the eighth. The Tornado’s best opportunities prior to the 10th came in the sixth and seventh. Laura Tarkon reached on Bour’s error to start the sixth, and she advanced to third on consecutive sacrifice bunts. But Thurn retired Beth Morrill on a comebacker to end the threat. In the seventh, Paxton led off with a single up the middle. After she was mowed down on an attempted steal and Corey Whitaker struck out, Hillyer singled to left and Cordell chopped a base hit over third base. Thurn again bore down, this time getting Sevano to pop out to first. But three innings later, North was able to push across that elusive run to become the school’s first state champion since last spring’s girls tennis title. "It’s a great feeling," Binney said. "These kids never stopped believing in themselves." And in turn, the Tornado players never gave up hopes of winning one more championship for Binney. "That’s what our whole talk was in the dugout — ‘Let’s do it for Larry,’" said Hillyer, who did her part with two hits in four at-bats and perfect defense behind home plate in her final prep game. "It’s the way to go out — on top." Springfield..................................000 000 000 0 — 0 3 2 North Medford............................000 000 000 1 — 1 5 0 Thurn and Schoenberg; Sevano and Hillyer. W — Sevano (20-1). L — Thurn (17-2). 2B — S: S. Bour. Reach reporter Tim Pyle at 776-4483 or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search M Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S