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Almost Perfect Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli North Medford's Evan McArthur is 5-0 with a 0.97 ERA this season. North Medford pitcher Evan McArthur was nearly flawless in last week's win over South Medford By KRIS HENRY To find the inside story on North Medford senior pitcher Evan McArthur, one need only refer to his last game. Not so much for the fact that McArthur had a perfect game going through 6� innings against South Medford, although that's certainly impressive. The real story of McArthur is how he handled the situation after an error broke up his masterful effort. Not one to pout and lose focus over what might have been, McArthur instead toed the rubber and struck out the next batter to secure a 2-0 win and a sweep of the Panthers. "The win's the most important thing," says McArthur, who is 5-0 with a 0.97 ERA this season. "That's all I was looking for the whole game. In my last game against South, I wanted to win. The no-hitter was just a bonus." Not a bad bonus for a game the top-ranked Black Tornado wasn't even sure would be completed due to last Saturday's rainy backdrop that left the field slick and the conditions less than desirable. Still McArthur and crew trudged through the first few innings, mostly oblivious to a potential perfect game. South went down 1-2-3 in the first two innings, and North put together a few hits to score twice in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 lead. The Panthers bowed out in order two more times and it finally occurred to McArthur that he had yet to pitch out of the stretch. After setting down South runners in order for the fifth straight inning, McArthur's handiwork came to light when a teammate (he can't remember who) mentioned he was throwing a no-hitter. "I didn't want to hear that because then I started thinking about it," recalls the strong-armed right-hander. "I knocked on wood and tried to just concentrate on getting the win and the shutout." Three more down in order in the sixth gave rise to a different mind-set. "By the seventh inning it was just about getting the job done," says McArthur. "I just thought that I'd done it for six innings, why can't I do it for one more?" Even then, however, a perfect game wasn't at the top of his list. "I didn't care if they got any hits," he says, "I just wanted to get the shutout and get the game over." After two more outs, the fateful grounder skidded its way to second baseman Jeff Adams and, the conditions being what they were, forced a re-gathering of the ball and a relay that made it to first base a split second after the batter. In that moment, the part-time shortstop knew his perfect game was gone. And it really didn't matter. "It was a disappointment, obviously, for that split second, but that was it," says McArthur. "After that I was just thinking about the next guy coming up (South's Jeremy Frantz) and how he had hit a homer in the first game. If he does that again, it's a tie game and that's the worst-case scenario." A scenario easily played out if your ego is bigger than your heart. But three strikes later, McArthur had his seventh strikeout of the game, a 2-0 victory and a no-hitter to boot. "That was probably the biggest out of the game," he says. "I put all I had into those last pitches." Nothing less was expected by North Medford coach Brett Wolfe. "Evan's a competitor," says the coach. "He's the kind of guy who is more focused in what the team goal is than anything else. He knows what his job is and he just goes about work like all our kids do. "The thing about our team is we never get too upset and we never get too excited." And they don't point fingers. "Earlier in the game, someone hit a line drive between short and second and Jeff made a nice play to save it," says McArthur. "He made a lot of plays that game. I couldn't ask for more. He kept the perfect game going as long as it did." It's having players like Adams behind him that McArthur says makes him a better pitcher. "Having all these guys behind me helps me know that I don't have to try to strike out every guy," says McArthur. "That's way too much pressure and more than I need to think about. If I have to go out there and try to do it all by myself, that's impossible. You have to depend on your defense, and we've got one of the best." McArthur included. The three-year varsity starter had five fielding opportunities to help his cause last Saturday and has only two errors in 74 chances at shortstop and three overall in 16 games. At the plate, he's batting a robust .370 with a team-leading 22 RBIs and eight doubles heading into today's doubleheader at Roseburg. And as one of two seniors in the starting lineup - Game 1-pitcher Brent Kircher is the other - McArthur has helped provide a steadying influence for North, which is 15-1 overall and 5-1 in the Southern Oregon Conference. "There's a lot of kids in this league and a lot of talent out there," says Wolfe, "but if I had to pick my No. 1 kid, I'd stay right with Evan. I'd put all my eggs in his basket. I think he's a tremendous kid." Some would say near perfect. 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.