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North slips past Grizz for sweep Photo by Bob Pennell Ashland's Amanda Helm, right, dives back to second under North Medford second baseman Tina Quintero. Black Tornado catches break, stretches lead in SOC softball By DAVID DAUGHERTY ASHLAND -- There are good breaks, bad breaks and lucky breaks during the course of most any sporting event. On Tuesday, the North Medford High softball team received a lucky Game 2 break on an Ashland bad break and turned it into a good break in earning a Southern Oregon conference doubleheader sweep of the Grizzlies at Hunter Park. The Black Tornado ran its SOC mark to 8-0 with 4-2 and 2-1 wins, while the Grizzlies, one game back in the league standings heading in, fell to 5-3. The second game's deciding break occurred in the fourth inning as Ashland clung to a 1-0 lead. That came courtesy of a third-inning homer by Amy Williams. With one out and North runners Jill Carrigan and Brittney Hillyer on third and second bases, respectively, Black Tornado coach Larry Binney called for a squeeze bunt. But Tina Quintero missed the bunt, leaving Carrigan hung out on third. But Ashland catcher Angela Heine's throw trickled away from shortstop Jackie Page, who was covering third on the play. All looked safe for Ashland as the ball slowly rolled toward the fence. Then came North's lucky break. The ball rolled through a dugout gate and out of play, allowing both Carrigan and Hillyer to score. "We made the plays when we had to make them and got some breaks," said Binney. "It was a bad break," Ashland coach Kristeen Weiss said, "but there's no use making any excuses for it. Our girls did a great job all day. North just comes after you with a lot of ammo." Pitcher Steph Coe made the two-run break stand up. Though she struggled finding a rhythm much of the afternoon, Coe settled down after the third inning in Game 2. "I had to start talking to myself on the mound," she said. "Once I do that, I usually get my groove going, but I didn't really have it today." Coe retired seven straight hitters heading into the seventh inning before walking leadoff hitter Megan Beugli. Beugli advanced to second on Page's groundout, but just when things looked good for Ashland, Coe induced Catrina Clason to ground out to Carrigan at shortstop, and Tornado first baseman Haley Varley gunned down Beugli at third for the final out of the game. "I felt like we would get the job done the whole game," said Coe. "But there was a lot of pressure in the seventh inning." "I thought Steph got some key strikeouts when she needed them, and our defense played well for 14 innings," said Binney. "I give a lot of credit to their pitcher who did an outstanding job all day." That pitcher was Beugli, a freshman who was thrust into the starting role to solidify the Grizzlies' defense. Beugli stymied the North bats all afternoon and kept her team within striking distance. "This was the first time all season we've had a pitcher throw both games," said Weiss. "She did a great job. We never fell apart after the ball rolled through the fence. We stayed together and played hard." "They (Grizzlies) gave us all we wanted," said Binney. "We haven't been very focused at practice and today we weren't ready to compete." During the first contest, North took a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning thanks to an RBI single from Varley in the third and a two-run single from Amy Allen in the fourth. Coe relinquished two runs to the Grizzlies in the fourth on a two-run single by Kristen Strait to put her team within a run. "I thought I was good in warm-ups, but I didn't show it in the game," said Coe, who had trouble adjusting to the Hunter Park mound. "It was more of a mental thing than anything, but they (Grizzlies) did a good job of keeping the pressure on us." Ashland's last opportunity came in the sixth inning off Coe, but the junior got Jenna Graven to pop out to Allen at third to end the inning with runners on first and second. FIRST GAME North Medford ............001 200 1 -- 4 6 2 Ashland .......................000 020 0 -- 2 8 2 Coe and Hillyer; Beugli and Heine. W -- Coe (9-4). L -- Beugli (1-3). 2B -- NM: Coe, Quintero. SECOND GAME North Medford .............000 200 0 -- 2 7 0 Ashland ........................001 000 0 -- 1 4 2 Coe and Hillyer; Beugli and Heine. W -- Coe (10-4). L -- Beugli (1-4). 2B -- NM: Carrigan. HR -- A: Williams. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA