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46 °F 5 Day Forecast Sunday, November 30, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 20, 2003 North Medford�s Brett Timmerman allows just two hits in the first game against South Medford. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Flawless Black Tornado Top-ranked North Medford is nearly perfect in the SOC sweep of rival South Medford By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune It wasn’t a particularly satisfying fall or winter for most male athletes at North Medford High. The Black Tornado boys had to suffer through football and basketball seasons in which they came up short against the crosstown rival Panthers, who won the Southern Oregon Conference crown in both endeavors. Ninth-year North Medford baseball coach Brett Wolfe didn’t let that fact go unnoticed as his top-ranked Tornado prepared for Saturday’s doubleheader with South Medford at Miles Field. Advertisement As it turns out, Wolfe could have saved his breath. His team knew the background, and it was determined to do whatever it could to settle the score. "It’s our senior year," said North first baseman/pitcher Dustin Butler, one of eight Tornado seniors. "We weren’t going to go down like that." At least for one season, North made sure South was the one getting the short end of the stick. The Tornado scored 26 runs on 27 hits, played flawless defense and limited the Panthers to only three hits in sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader, 16-0 in five innings and 10-0 in six. The sweep marked the fourth straight game in which the Tornado (12-1, 6-0 SOC) won by virtue of the 10-run mercy rule, and sixth time in its last seven games. "They absolutely took it to us," second-year South coach Steve Antich said. "They played the game the way it’s meant to be played. They’re No. 1 for a reason, there’s no question. They’re going to be a handful for everyone else the rest of the year." South (5-6, 3-2) managed to advance only one runner to second base in the twin bill, and that was when Corey O’Neill led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk and stolen base in Game 1. For the rest of the doubleheader, North left-handers Brett Timmerman and Butler shut down the Panthers. Timmerman allowed two hits and faced only 19 batters to win Game 1, while Butler gave up one hit and faced 20 batters to complete the sweep. Each hurler only picked up one strikeout in letting their error-free defense do most of the work. "That’s fine with us," said Butler. "We don’t care." All the Tornado really cares about is getting to its ultimate goal of a state championship, and the quicker the better. "We don’t want anyone to stick around," Timmerman said of North’s desire for 10-run games. "We just want to pitch five and go home. And the way we’re tearing the cover off the ball, we know we’re going to get some runs." North struck for three in the first inning of Game 1 and built that to a 10-0 lead after two innings and 16-0 after three. The Tornado then scored six first-inning runs off four hits and three South errors to take charge in the nightcap. "We try to get on the board first and take it from there," said Butler. It’s a game plan that can make it awfully frustrating if you’re on the other side of the diamond. "It was hard to watch because I know our team is capable of doing a lot better," O’Neill said. "Every time we made a little mistake, North did a good job of capitalizing and putting big numbers on the scoreboard." And given a big lead, Timmerman and Butler were at their best in locating their pitches to get ahead of South’s batters. "Both those guys are throwing very well," said Wolfe. "They’re getting ahead of hitters and changing speeds, and both have the tenacity of a bulldog." Rob Folsom smacked two triples and went 4-for-7 on the day with four runs scored and two RBIs to lead North, which got contributions from its entire lineup. Russ Vandell went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs in the opener, while Reese Lamson also went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in Game 1. Beau Hovland helped break open Game 2 when his bases-loaded blooper over first base cleared the bases, thanks in part to one of three South errors in the inning as second baseman Matt Bryant threw a relay toward third base into the dugout. "When you put good athletes on the field with a good work ethic, you’re going to get good results," Wolfe said. "We’re only part-way through what we want to do, but we’re definitely off to a good start." While the Panthers certainly didn’t want to be tagged with two blowout losses, Antich said his team should be able to bounce back Tuesday when South completes a doubleheader at Roseburg. The Panthers won the opener last Tuesday, but had Game 2 postponed by rain. "As bad as we lost today, that still only counts as two losses in the record book," said Antich. "We’re still on track for where we want to go, and that’s to the playoffs." FIRST GAME North Medford..........................376 00 — 16 18 0 South Medford..............................000 00 — 0 2 1 Timmerman and Folsom; Holtz, Alvis (2), Smith (4) and Koziol. W — Timmerman (4-0). L — Holtz (1-1). 2B — NM: Butler. 3B — NM: Folsom. SECOND GAME North Medford..........................610 111 — 10 9 0 South Medford............................000 000 — 0 1 5 Butler and Folsom; Heil, Bryant (4), Narus (6) and Meyer. W — Butler (5-0). L — Heil (2-2). 2B — NM: Vandell. 3B — NM: Folsom. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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