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Tornado defends SOC softball title CENTRAL POINT - Despite going through a coaching change this season, the North Medford softball team didn't miss a beat. The fourth-ranked Black Tornado locked up its seventh consecutive Southern Oregon Conference championship with a 4-0 and 2-1 sweep over Crater in the final regular-season league doubleheader Saturday. Sara Barry became the third Black Tornado coach in 22 years, taking over for Larry Binney, who retired with three state championships and 16 SOC titles in 19 years. North Medford (18-4, 13-1 SOC) will host a state playoff game May 23. Crater (16-7, 8-6 SOC), which dropped to fourth in the SOC on the final day, will open on the road May 19. Crater coach Mike Meunier, who is stepping down after this season, has guided the Comets to 11 state playoff appearances in as many years. North Medford pitching ace Stephanie Coe tossed a two-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in the opener and registered a save in the nightcap. "She's one of the better pitchers in the state," said Meunier. "She just overpowered us. There was no mystery. She challenged us and she won the battle." North broke open a scoreless pitching duel between Coe and Crater's Jenny Bittle by scoring all four of its runs in the sixth inning. Coe drew a one-out walk to get the rally started. Haley Varley singled and Britney Hillyer reached on an error to load the bases. Amy Allen delivered a base-clearing double, followed by Corey Whitaker's RBI double. "Coe's at-bat was the key to the game," Meunier said. "She fouled off two pitches with two strikes and ended up drawing the walk." Coe and Varley had two hits each in the opener for North. Varley's RBI single in the first inning - scoring Jill Carrigan, who opened the game with a single - provided North with its first run. The Black Tornado upped its lead to 2-0 in the third when Carrigan singled, moved to second on a groundout and scored on Hillyer's single. Crater cut the margin to 2-1 in the fifth. Kelsi Anhorn singled, Brandy Wolter reached on an error and Angie Wright walked to load the bases with one out. Anhorn scored on an error, but North got out of the jam when Crystal Huntley grounded into a home-to-first double play. Coe relieved sophomore starter Keri Sevano in the seventh, striking out two and retiring the side in order to preserve the win. FIRST GAME North Medford..................................000 004 0 - 4 8 1 Crater...............................................000 000 0 - 0 2 1 Coe and Hillyer; Bittle and Thomas. W - Coe. L - Bittle. 2B - NM: Allen, Whitaker. SECOND GAME North Medford..................................101 000 0 - 2 6 2 Crater...............................................000 010 0 - 1 2 0 Sevano, Coe (7) and Hillyer; Anhorn and Thomas. W - Sevano. L - Anhorn. ASHLAND 3-1, EAGLE POINT 2-0 - At Ashland, sophomore pitcher Megan Beugli's first varisty no-hitter in the second game completed a doubleheader sweep for Ashland (12-10, 9-5 SOC). The twin victories give Ashland third place in the SOC and only its second state playoff berth in the past 21 years. The other state postseason appearance for the Grizzlies came two years ago. Beugli (11-10) struck out seven and walked three in the second game. The Grizzlies scored the game's only run on an error in the fifth inning. Singles by Jenna Graven and Cat Clason put runners on first and third. When Clason got caught in a rundown, Graven scored on a throwing error. In Game 1, Ashland rallied from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh and won the game in the eighth on Stephanie Hargas's game-winning single. FIRST GAME Eagle Point......................................000 100 10 - 2 5 3 Ashland............................................000 000 21 - 3 7 3 Williams, Brown (8) and A. Mapes; Beugli and Heine. W - Beugli. L - Williams. SECOND GAME Eagle Point........................................000 000 0 - 0 0 3 Ashland.............................................000 010 x - 1 4 1 Brown and A. Mapes; Beugli and Heine. W - Beugli (11-10). L - Brown. GRANTS PASS 9-3, KLAMATH UNION 7-0 - At Klamath Falls, Jessica Morton struck out eight in a shutout performance in the second game of an SOC doubleheader to lead Grants Pass to the sweep. In the first game, Ashley Bellum and Amy Durbin each had two RBIs for the Cavers, 7-7 in SOC. Tashina Skeen had two RBIs and a double in the first game as the Pelicans finished the SOC season at 3-10 and 6-19 overall. FIRST GAME Grants Pass..........................................030 004 2 - 9 7 2 Klamath Union.....................................000 120 4 - 7 9 5 Morton, Marrs (5), Morton (7) and Richard; Skeen and Fisher. W - Morton, L - Skeen. 2B - KU: Skeen. SECOND GAME Grants Pass..........................................100 020 0 - 3 6 1 Klamath Union.....................................000 000 0 - 0 7 4 Morton and Richard; B. Fagan and Fisher. W - Morton, L - Fagan. 2B - KU: Fagan, Fisher. ROSEBURG 24-9, SOUTH MEDFORD 0-4 - Visiting Roseburg scored 24 runs in the first game alone to fuel a sweep of the Panthers and finish the SOC season at 12-2. Molly Liston and Erin Goodell led the Indians in the twinbill. Liston was 6-for-9, while Goodell went 5-for-8. The Panthers finished the season 1-13 in conference play and 6-18 overall. FIRST GAME Roseburg......................................2170 23 - 24 24 2 South Medford...................................000 00 - 0 2 5 Jones and Schruth; Burn, Calvert (2) and Conley. W - Jones (8-3), L - Burn. 2B - SM: Conley; R: Goodell, Burmeister. 3B - R: Liston 2, Goodell. SECOND GAME Roseburg...........................................132 000 3 - 9 121 South Medford...................................200 020 0 - 4 8 3 Liston, Charles (5) and Black, Schruth (7); Byrn and Conley. W - Liston (9-1), L - Byrn. 2B - R: Liston 2, Tatone, Otif, Burmeister. 3B - R: Goodell. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.