Document text
Advantage, Black Tornado Mail Tribune photos / Andrew Mariman Rob Folsom (2), Dustin Butler (18) and several Black Tornado players celebrate following a first-inning homer by Evan McArthur (1) in Game 2 at Anhorn Field. North Medford secures a share of the SOC title with a sweep of Crater By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT - Crater center fielder Dan Casey shattered the rear window of a sport utility vehicle owned by the parents of North Medford catcher Rob Folsom with a foul ball in the second inning of Game 1. Folsom came back and shattered the Comets' hopes with a game-tying leadoff homer in the fifth inning - setting off a Black Tornado onslaught that had to be seen to be believed Saturday afternoon. Over the remaining two innings of Game 1 and the opening two innings of Game 2, North outscored Crater 18-1 and held a 19-2 advantage in hits as the Tornado roared to a doubleheader sweep of the Comets at Anhorn Field, 7-6 and 16-0 in five innings. "Sometimes, if you can get something started, then usually our team will follow you," said Folsom, who was 3-for-5 in the twin bill with five RBIs and four runs. The sweep helped ensure a co-championship in the Southern Oregon Conference for fourth-ranked North Medford (21-3, 11-3 SOC) with 10th-ranked Ashland. Since North and Ashland split during the regular season, they are expected to play Tuesday at North Mountain Park in Ashland to determine the No. 1 and 2 state playoff seedings. North Medford will go into that seeding game on the heels of a particularly flashy performance. The Black Tornado put up 20 hits in the five-inning nightcap, highlighted by a first-inning three-run home run by Evan McArthur. North plated its first seven batters in the first inning and didn't let up in the second as Folsom laced a three-run double and was backed up by consecutive RBI doubles from Tyler Engle and McArthur. "For our team offensively, that was pretty awesome," said Folsom. "To play one of the better teams in the state and come out and tear 'em up like that, that's just awesome." Although North practiced all week on being patient for Crater's curveballs, it was a couple of anticipated fastballs that seemingly did in the Comets. Folsom drove a fastball by Crater ace Derek Petersen over the fence in Game 1, and McArthur did likewise in Game 2 against sophomore starter Sean Teaters. "My two at-bats before I'd watched two perfect fastballs go right down the middle of the plate," Folsom said of his third homer of the season. "I told myself I was going to get a fastball and drive it, but he kind of fooled me by throwing a curveball on the first pitch. Then right after that came the fastball, and I hit it pretty well." All Petersen could do was tip his hat to the sophomore catcher. "He got ahold of it and he hit it out," said Petersen, who dropped to 9-3. "I've got to give him credit on that. I threw it where I wanted to, and he hit it out." In McArthur's case, Teaters threw it exactly where the senior shortstop had hoped after back-to-back singles by Folsom and Engle opened Game 2. After the three-run blast, Crater coach Chuck Dominiak lifted Teaters for Kevin Mulder, and then put in Trent Kingsbury in the second, but the results didn't vary. "That was like a little dagger in the heart right there, but then we just kept pounding and pounding," McArthur said of his fourth HR. "Sixteen runs, that was unbelievable. That was a perfect way to go out." Engle added three doubles on a 5-for-5 afternoon with three runs and three RBIs. Butler had four hits with two doubles and three runs, while Russ Vandell had three hits in a nightcap where every North batter notched at least one hit and one run. Crater (17-9) dropped into a tie with Roseburg for the No. 3 state seed at 8-6 in the SOC. By virtue of a regular-season sweep over the Comets, however, Roseburg will take the No. 3 seed into state and Crater will be No. 4 for the first round on May 20. "We're just not tough mentally right now, and we hope to turn it around in a week," said Dominiak. "We're extremely disappointed, but I think these kids will rebound. We've been waiting for the playoffs forever and now it's a chance to shine." After North took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first in Game 1, highlighted by an RBI double from Butler, Crater roared right back with two runs of its own behind a leadoff double by David Sills and a key RBI single by Colin Schoonover. After lining a shot off the Folsom family's SUV in the second, Casey smoked an RBI double to center field off North starter Brent Kircher and then came home on a single by Frank Drake. With two outs, Crater's lead at 4-2 and runners at second and third following a Trevor Ryan double, North coach Brett Wolfe gambled by pulling Kircher and handing the ball over to McArthur to halt the threat. "Coach Wolfe just asked me to get one out and then they were going to bring Brett Timmerman in," said McArthur. The first part happened when McArthur struck out Schoonover. The second part, however, didn't materialize. North tied the score in the third when a turned-around Schoonover dropped his second pop fly of the inning, the last with two outs and two runners moving on contact. At that point, Wolfe opted to stay with McArthur, the projected Game 2 starter, and save Timmerman for the nightcap. "We just decided we needed to have the first one, and so we went with Evan," said the eighth-year North coach. "If we didn't get the first one, we didn't figure the second one was going to be as important." McArthur was more than willing to oblige. "I was ready to go," said the senior, who improved to 8-1. "I was ready to go for that second game, too. If they needed me, I was there." An RBI single by Ryan put North's strategy in question as Crater took a 5-4 lead heading to the fifth, but Folsom picked up his battery mate with his homer, and Engle added a two-run double in the sixth to put North ahead 7-5. Ryan walked and scored in the seventh, and the Comets had the winning run on second base, but McArthur struck out Casey to end the threat. The narrow loss and the quick scoring surge by North in Game 2 proved especially devastating for Crater. "We put 100 percent in that first game because we wanted that one bad," said Petersen. "I can't say we gave up in that second game, but that was tough." Also making things testy was Timmerman's effective pitching in Game 2. The junior left-hander allowed only three hits in facing 20 batters. "For Timmerman, that's a hard way to pitch to sit on the bench for 30 minutes, then go out and throw a few and come back and sit on the bench for 30 minutes again," said Folsom. "He did a really good job of staying focused for us." FIRST GAME North Medford...................................202 012 0 - 7 7 1 Crater...............................................220 100 1 - 6 11 3 Kircher, McArthur (2) and Folsom; Petersen and Sills. W - McArthur (8-1). L - Petersen (9-4). 2B - NM: McArthur, Butler 2, Engle; C: Sills 2, Ryan. HR - NM: Folsom (3). SECOND GAME North Medford....................................880 00 - 16 20 1 Crater......................................................000 00 - 0 3 2 Timmerman and Folsom; Teaters, Mulder (1), Kingsbury (2) and Sills, Piela (2). W - Timmerman (5-0). L - Teaters (4-2). 2B - NM: Folsom, Engle 2, McArthur, Timmerman. HR - NM: McArthur (4). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.