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80 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, June 2, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds 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 Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 16, 2004 Comets cap undefeated SOC season in style By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — It was nearly five years ago to the day that North Medford became the last Southern Oregon Conference softball team to prance off the field with a perfect league mark. Its victim on that regular-season ending day? Crater. Fast forward to Saturday and it’s the fourth-ranked Comets flashing that unbeaten grin. Crater needed nine innings to dispatch a game South Medford team, 1-0, in the opener. The Comets once again waited until the final at-bat in the nightcap when Justine Bettencourt produced another 1-0 victory with a game-ending double to conclude Crater’s SOC slate at 14-0. "It’s awesome," said Crater senior Sam Womelsdorf, who belted a one-out RBI double that plated the game-winning run in Game 1. "This team has really come a long ways. It’s just a really good feeling (to go undefeated)." Advertisement The Comets (24-0 overall) play two more nonconference games — one with South and one with North Medford — this week before beginning the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs at home on May 24 against the winner of a subtournament game. "South Medford is a very good team," said Crater coach Chris Arnold. "They’re definitely a postseason team. "This was a good test for us against a team that could do very well in the playoffs." The Panthers (19-6, 9-5 SOC) thought coming in they’d need to win one game to clinch the SOC’s No. 2 seed all to themselves. But third-place Roseburg split a doubleheader with Eagle Point on Saturday and assured South of the second seed. "I’m happy with our effort today," said South Medford coach Dan Marshall, whose team hosts the third-place team from the Intermountain Conference on May 24. "We didn’t hit the ball like we wanted to but Crater obviously has great pitching." South pitcher Jen Mendenhall matched Crater hurler Jenni Bittle nearly pitch for pitch in Game 1. But the Panthers could muster only two hits against Bittle, while Crater tallied seven. Even with the disparity in offensive production, the Panthers nearly put an end to Crater’s unbeaten reign in the eighth inning. Katie Kaufman singled and went to third when Erica Corns’ sacrifice bunt was misplayed. The error put runners on the corners, but Mendenhall’s bunt attempt was caught in the air by the catcher Bettencourt, who then whirled and fired a strike to first to double off Corns. Bittle fanned Bethany Stousland, one of 17 strikeouts for the senior pitcher, to end the threat. Womelsdorf stamped out South’s upset bid in the ninth when her left-field blast glanced off a lunging Marissa Towry’s glove to score Tyler Sutherland from second. "We had some opportunities to do a few things," said Marshall. "We just couldn’t muster any offense." Bittle was sharp during her final SOC performance. She yielded just the two hits — a fourth-inning single to Kaufman and an eighth-inning hit to Jonni Byrne — while improving her record to 15-0. "South Medford is definitely the best team we’ve faced this season," said Bittle, one of four Crater seniors. "Our hitting wasn’t on because they have two great pitchers, but we battled. "Our intensity and endurance really helped us." Janelle Cristofaro (9-0) picked up where Bittle left off in Game 2. The junior pitcher struck out 14 and gave up one hit — a sixth-inning single to Desiree Millette — and ran her streak of no earned runs allowed in SOC play this season to seven games. Crater put a runner on base in every inning but couldn’t push a run across until the seventh. Allesha Spradling reached on a two-out single, stole second and came home on Bettencourt’s liner into the left-center field gap. The offense didn’t come easy against the South Medford pitching duo of Mendenhall and Jill Jeter. Arnold even likened Saturday’s twin bill to a postseason-caliber standoff. "Today we had to fight through adversity," said the coach. "In the playoffs everything may not go our way ... kind of like today. "This was a very good warm-up against a great team for the playoffs." Spradling had three hits and Bettencourt two to pace the Crater offense in the second game. Womelsdorf had a pair of hits in the opener. FIRST GAME South Medford.....................000 000 000 — 0 2 2 Crater...................................000 000 001 — 1 7 2 Mendenhall and Hubbard; Bittle and Bettencourt. W — Bittle. L — Mendenhall. 2B — C: Womelsdorf. SECOND GAME South Medford.........................000 000 0 — 0 1 1 Crater.......................................000 000 1 — 1 8 1 Jeter and Hubbard; Cristofaro and Bettencourt. W — Cristofaro. L — Jeter. 2B — C: Spradling, Bittle, Bettencourt. Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 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 © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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