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PREP BASEBALL Two big innings lift North Eugene over North Medford EUGENE -- Shaun Nugent belted a three-run triple and then scored on an error as North Eugene stormed from behind to beat North Medford 10-3 in an opening-round game of the Class 4A state baseball playoffs here Tuesday. The Black Tornado held a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth inning when North Eugene erupted for four runs to turn the game around. The Highlanders caught a big break when -- with runners on first and third and two outs -- No. 9 hitter Kevin Wienecke appeared to strike out on a check swing. But the umpire ruled otherwise and Wienecke went on to draw a walk and load the bases. Nugent then delivered his bases-clearing triple. "We thought we got the third out but it didn't happen," North Medford coach Brett Wolfe said. "We let down mentally after that and the momentum swung around." North Medford scored a run in the top of the sixth to trim its deficit to 5-3, but North Eugene came right back to score five runs in the bottom of the inning, three of them coming on Jeremy Barnes' three-run homer. Jason Brownell's two-run double in the third inning had given North Medford the early lead. Winning pitcher Jake Quiring allowed five hits and three runs through sixth innings, and Brandon Nance came on to pitch a hitless seventh for North Eugene, the Midwestern League champion. The Black Tornado finished its season with a 22-5 record. "I believe we hit the ball harder than they did but we had little to show for it," Wolfe said. "We hit some balls right at people and they seemed to get the key hits. "We had a great group of seniors who played their hearts out all season long. It's too bad it had to end today." North Medford ...............002 001 0 -- 3 5 4 North Eugene ..............100 405 x -- 10 9 3 Pagnini, Mayben (6) and Brownell; Quiring, Brandon Nance (7) and Mulvihill. 2B -- NM: Brownell, Mayben; NE: Wienecke, Quiring. 3B -- NE: Shaun Nugent. HR -- NE: Barnes. SUNSET 7, SOUTH MEDFORD 1 -- At Beaverton, first-team All-Metro League pitcher Ty Kline limited the SOC's No. 4 team to three hits and connected for a two-run homer in the first inning of the Class 4A first-round state playoff contest. "He definitely was the difference in the game offensively and defensively," South Medford coach Pete Whisler said. "We made too many mistakes. You can't play like that now." The Panthers (15-13) committed four errors and had two runners thrown out on the bases. South's lone run came in the sixth inning. Graham Foster opened with a single and eventually scored on an error on a grounder by Brett Hague. South Medford .........000 001 0 -- 1 3 4 Sunset ......................200 230 x -- 7 7 1 Foster, Empio (6) and Shine; Kline, Wismer (7) and Hernandez. W -- Kline. L -- Foster. 2B -- SM: Conklin; S: Giles, Wismer, Levy. HR -- S: Kline. ROSEBURG 3, LINCOLN 2, 9 innings -- At Roseburg, pitcher Thys Kuitert went the distance for the victory and provided the winning hit for the SOC champion Indians. Roseburg (20-6) hosts Redmond, a 1-0 winner over North Salem, in the second round Friday. Kuitert (8-1) had a no-hitter entering the sixth before allowing a pair of hits in the inning. Kuitert, who threw 109 pitches, allowed four hits, struck out four, walked three and hit two batters. Lincoln got to the Roseburg senior pitcher for a pair of unearned runs in the seventh and the Cardinals had the go-ahead run thrown out at home by center fielder Ryan Morrison to complete a double play to end the inning. Roseburg scored the game-winning run when Mitch Black opened the ninth with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on Kuitert's hard grounder up the middle. Lincoln .......................000 000 200 -- 2 4 1 Roseburg ..................020 000 001 -- 3 11 4 MacEwan, Walters (5), Stride and Leek; Kuitert and Charles. W -- Kuitert (8-1). L -- Stride. PHOENIX 14, NEWPORT 0 -- At Newport, Phoenix opened up the first round of the 3A state playoffs with a convincing victory over Newport. The Pirates used a complete game, no-hit performance by Drew Pierson and 19 hits of their own to cruise to the five-inning victory. Pierson threw only 64 pitches, striking out six while not allowing a runner to reach second base. Travis Dunlap started the fireworks in the first with a three-run homer, his first of two on the day, to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Pierson continued the long ball assault with a two-run shot followed immediately by a Dave Westfall solo blast. Andy Bartels led the Pirates at the plate, going 4-for-4, while Pierson chipped in with three hits and five RBI. Teammates Abe Lupkin, Chase Tester, Dunlap and Westfall each had two hits. Phoenix travels to Junction City on Friday for a second-round game with the Sky-Em champion Tigers. Phoenix ..................401 45 -- 14 19 1 Newport .....................000 00 -- 0 0 2 Pierson and Hull; Robinson, Lengwenus (4), Glode (5) and Boorhies. W -- Pierson. L -- Robinson. 2B -- P: Pierson, Westfall, Denney. HR -- P: Pierson (12), Dunlap 2 (13, 14), Westfall (3). HENLEY 2, REEDSPORT 1 -- At Klamath Falls, Sam Tacchini tripled in the bottom of the seventh inning to drive home the winning run for Henley in the first round of the state playoffs. The Hornets led 1-0 into the sixth before Reedsport tied things up on a T.J. Caughell single. Kent Cunningham went the distance for Henley, striking out five while yielding the lone run on five hits. Nick Thede, Tim Frost and Tacchini finished with two hits for the Hornets. Henley travels to John Day to take on the Greater Oregon Conference champion Grant Union on Friday. Reedsport .................000 001 0 -- 1 5 0 Henley ......................000 100 1 -- 2 8 0 Lacy and Hogg; Cunningham and Metcalf. W -- Cunningham. L -- Lacy. 2B -- H: Tacchini; R: Hogg. 3B -- H: Tacchini. CASCADE CHRISTIAN 5, GLENDALE 1 -- At Jacksonville, Nolan Roberts had three hits to lead Cascade Christian to a regular season ending non-conference win. Cascade Christian's pitching staff combined to strike out nine Glendale batters while giving up only four hits. The Challengers (22-3) finish the regular season as the No. 1 seed out of the Southern Cascade League. They will host a first round state playoff game Friday at the V. A. Domiciliary in White City. Glendale ......................001 000 0 -- 1 4 7 Cascade Christian ........310 010 x -- 5 9 2 Dady, Jeffson (4), Foster (6) and Cline; Beamish, Alvarez (4),Gettman (5), Edwards (6) and Roberts. W -- Beamish. L -- Dady. 2B -- CC: Jenkins; G: Kruger. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.