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CLEAR Temp: 58 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Thursday, June 5, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 27, 2003 Whitaker the hero as Black Tornado survives against Thurston to advance By TIM PYLE Mail Tribune Pushed to the brink, the North Medford softball team never considered falling. And when Monday’s Class 4A first-round state-playoff game at Fagone Field was finally finished after eight intense innings, the Black Tornado was still standing, another close victory in hand. "We never gave up," senior second baseman Beth Morrill said following North’s 5-4 win over Thurston. "There was never a loss of hope. ... We’ve been through it before." Senior third baseman Corey Whitaker was the hero this time, ripping a first-pitch drive to the right-center-field gap to score Morrill from second base for the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Advertisement The fourth-ranked Tornado (26-2) advances to a second-round tilt with Hood River Valley — a 3-2 winner over Aloha on Monday — on Wednesday at Fagone. Game time is tentatively set for 4 p.m. "My last at-bat, before the last one, (Colts senior Janys Lunstrum) pitched two outside pitches, and I watched both of them go by," said Whitaker, who was credited with a double on the play as her shot screamed over second baseman Danielle Price and split right fielder Darrah King and center fielder McKenzie Morgan. "This is by far the most exciting, the most important hit I’ve ever had. I wanted to be up there, and I wanted her to pitch me that outside pitch. And she did, so it was perfect." With one out, Morrill singled up the middle, her team-best second hit of the game, to start the winning surge. She then stole second base and stayed there through junior shortstop Darcy Cordell’s pop out before racing home on Whitaker’s shot. First-year North head coach Brent Barry knew his team was in business with Morrill on the base paths. "(Assistant coach Rod) Rumrey’s been here forever, and she’s the best base stealer that we’ve probably ever had here," Barry said. "We don’t have to bunt or hit her over." The sequence concluded an action-packed game in front of a holiday crowd of a couple hundred fans that turned out for both of Monday’s playoff clashes at Fagone. South Medford lost to Forest Grove, 5-0, in the opener. The Tornado, defending state champions, appeared headed for the same fate during some dicey moments against Thurston (16-10). The Colts, a Springfield team that finished third in the Midwestern League, held a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning and stranded eight runners total, including five in the final three frames. They touched Keri Sevano, North’s senior pitching ace, for eight hits and scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to erase a 4-2 deficit and force extra innings. "I didn’t have my best stuff," said Sevano, who nonetheless improved to 13-1 this spring while striking out 10, walking three and running her postseason unbeaten streak to six. "But the offense came through for us." Lunstrum also went the distance, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out four. She was hurt by four Thurston errors, one of which generated the Tornado’s first run, in the second, and two more that sparked North’s three-run fifth. "We’d like to have that fifth inning back," said Jim Patrick, the Colts’ head coach for five of the last six years. "We just had to play solid defense, and we didn’t." In that frame, sophomore catcher Stephanie Haskett, senior left fielder Chrystal Brown and sophomore right fielder Deni Rowley all beat out infield singles and eventually scored for the Tornado. Down 4-2, Thurston came back by milking one run from a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the sixth and turning freshman Treasure Shockey’s leadoff single in the seventh into the equalizer. Shockey stole third and scored when Whitaker didn’t handle Haskett’s throw at the bag, and the ball bounced into the Colts’ dugout. "If we don’t play Black Tornado softball like we know we can, we run into some problems," Morrill said. "We didn’t play our game through all the innings." Junior shortstop Lauren Rascon singled twice and walked twice and senior third baseman Amy Kisor was 2-for-4, including a two-run single in the third, to power Thurston’s attack. But like a year ago, when North scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 2-1 win over Sunset, the Tornado found a way to prevail in a tough first-round affair. And North will take it, especially if these playoffs turn out like last year’s, which ended with the program’s fourth state championship. "We played well enough to win," Barry said. "Yeah, we opened the door a little bit, but we played a team that was pretty scrappy and did some good things. ... Hopefully, people around the state say, ‘Hey, North Medford’s not playing very well.’ And that’s exactly what we want them to think." Thurston ............................... 002 001 10 — 4 8 4 North Medford ..................... 010 030 01 — 5 6 2 Lunstrum and Howard; Sevano and Haskett. W — Sevano (13-1). L — Lunstrum. 2B — NM: Whitaker. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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