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Familiar foes North, Crater play for state championship Crater�s Casey Campbell takes the hill in Saturday�s title game. By Greg Stiles KEIZER � More than once this spring, the North Medford baseball bus has rumbled past Volcanoes Stadium, built just off Interstate 5 outside this Salem suburb. Each time, visions of June 3 flashed through the collective Black Tornado psyche. Sure, it�s 250 miles from home and a loyal following, but there�s no other place the No. 4 Tornado or the No. 6 Crater Comets would rather be at 5 p.m. Saturday. That�s when they will square off for the Class 4A state baseball championship. The Lineups CRATER HITTERS Kenny Strate, cf, jr., 360 P.J. Pardee, rf, sr., 338 Brent Foster, 3b, sr., 470 K.J. Chub, 1b, sr., 375 Casey Campbell, p, sr., .371 Jeremiah Toews, 2b, sr., 406 Josh Hinojoso, c., sr., 393 Bob Williams, lf, sr., 323 Ryan Gipson, ss, jr., 344 CRATER PITCHER Casey Campbell 10-2,1.08 NORTH MEDFORD HITTERS Nate Mayben, ss, sr.,.366 Ken Halpin, c, sr.,.388 Colby Gonzales, 1b, sr..525 Charlie Jensen, lf, sr..343 Danny Bruce, 3b, sr..316 Phil Ouellette, cf, jr,.354 Shawn Backstrom, rf, jr,.422 Josh Bottjer, DH, jr.,.384 Evan McArthur, 2b, so.,.301 NORTH MEDFORD PITCHER Brent Kircher.10-2, 3.29 The game will be broadcast on radio station KMED-AM (1440), with Randy Adams doing the play-by-play. "The kids saw the field and had a goal of playing on this day and at this time," says North Medford coach Brett Wolfe, making his first trip to the final since succeeding Jim McAbee in 1995. The Oregon School Activities Association scheduled the final before the season began. And although the schools could have lobbied to play the game closer to home, both teams wanted to play in the sparkling Northwest League park. "The kids requested the chance to play there � even if Crater got in," said Wolfe. "It�s a big-game park, and we wanted to be part of that.�� It�s a big game for the Rogue Valley and marks the first time since Klamath Union and Roseburg squared off for the 1990 title at Miles Field that two Southern Oregon Conference teams have met in the championship game. North Medford (25-3-1) lost twice in conference, while Crater (26-3) lost three SOC contests, splitting a doubleheader with North at Miles Field on the final day of the regular season. North won the opener, 6-5, and the Comets won the second, 9-8. Both lasted eight innings. Did Crater coach Chuck Dominiak readily expect a rematch, given the loaded lower half of the state tournament bracket the Comets were in? "No. We just felt when everything was done, the lower bracket was definitely the tougher one," says Dominiak. After all, it included No. 1 Forest Grove, No. 2 South Salem, No. 3 Bend and No. 7 Lakeridge, the defending state champion. But the Comets answered every challenge to make their first trip to the state finals since 1974. "We survived," says Dominiak, Crater�s coach since 1983. "I have to take my hat off to them, they weren�t too intimidated by anyone we played. We played some good teams and played them pretty well. Evidently, North is playing pretty well right now, too. We�ll see what happens.�� North Medford defeated Thurston, 14-1; West Linn, 2-1; North Salem, 5-2; and Mountain View, 8-7. Crater ousted Centennial, 10-2; Pendleton, 11-0; Forest Grove, 7-1; and Lakeridge, 5-4. Both are SOC teams are veteran clubs. Crater has seven seniors in its lineup, North has five. The Comets have a team batting average of .372, and the Tornado has hit .376. Both are sending left-handers to the mound with identical 10-2 records. Although Crater senior Casey Cambpell has been pitching varsity ball since Brent Kircher was in junior high, Kircher, a Tornado sophomore, came out on top when they dueled May 13. They�ll go at it again Saturday. "They might have the edge in experience,�� concedes Wolfe. "But our kid is crafty and has a lot of poise." Kircher has struck out 47 and walked 33 in 78� innings to go with a 3.29 ERA. Cambpell sports a 1.08 ERA and has struck out 77 in 77 innings , while walking 20. "Pitching is the key, and Casey is pitching really well right now," Dominiak says. "He went through a spell the last couple weeks of the regular season and wasn�t quite on. He wasn�t feeling good about himself. But now he�s had some great outings in the state tournament and he�s stepped it up a notch." The squads share a lot of common ground � they play each other at least twice a year, read the same newspaper accounts of their games and view the same TV highlights. Some of them have even shared the same uniform during American Legion baseball. "I think it takes some pressure off the kids, knowing they�re playing a similar opponent," Dominiak says. The one thing they can�t share � barring a rainout � is the 2000 state championship. "Obviously, a lot of coaches go a lot of years and never get this opportunity," Wolfe says. "I�m in a win-win situation. Basically, I�m excited for the kids. I�ve seen them work so hard. Now I get to sit back and watch them receive the rewards for the time they�ve put in." CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: The Class 4A final is the nightcap of a tripleheader. Glendale and Pilot Rock meet for the Class 1A/2A title at 10 a.m. Philomath and Mazama play for the Class 3A crown at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. One ticket is good for all three games. There is a $2 parking fee split between the city of Keizer and Northwest League Volcanoes ... North Medford senior first baseman Colby Gonzales tops the Tornado with a .525 batting average. Junior right fielder Shawn Backstrom hit .422. Ken Halpin had five of his team�s 15 home runs and 14 of North�s 47 stolen bases. The Tornado had a fielding percentage of .950 ... Crater senior third baseman Brent Foster hit .470 and senior second baseman Jeremiah Toews owns a .406 average. Foster clubbed seven home runs and Casey Campbell had five. Junior Kenny Strate stole 22 bases. Crater�s fielding percentage is .934 ... This is Crater�s second appearance in the championship game. Lakeridge defeated the Comets, 4-0, for the 1974 title at Civic Stadium in Portland. In seven trips to the playoffs, Crater is 10-6 ... The Tornado is 40-23 in 26 playoff journeys, previously winning titles in 1960 and 1984. That 1984 team holds the record for most playoff runs (50). Bend erased one of the 1984 team�s records when it belted Glencoe, 28-0, in the first round. The Tornado defeated David Douglas, 25-8, in the semifinals that year ... Local umpire Butch McCamey will work the North-Crater game. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA