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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 21, 2006 McCleery, Tornado weather Pioneers’ challenge By KEVIN GOFF Mail Tribune Trevor McCleery was welcomed after his first state playoff pitching win with a big, grateful kiss on the cheek from his coach. The tall right-hander deserved as much after guiding North Medford through some tense early moments before settling in for a 4-1 victory over Oregon City in a first-round Class 4A state playoff game Saturday at North Medford High. "He’s always doing that," laughed McCleery of North coach Brett Wolfe’s postgame affection. "That’s probably the third or fourth time he’s done it. He loves me." McCleery escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the second inning unscathed and, after his teammates gave him a lead with a three-run fourth, gave up just two hits the rest of the way for his seventh victory in eight decisions. "Trevor’s been in this program for a long time," said Wolfe. "He had the ball up in the first couple innings — maybe he had a little too much adrenaline. But he got it down and made (Oregon City) put it in play." Advertisement North Medford (14-12), the fourth seed from the Southern Oregon Conference, moves on to play third-ranked Metro League champion Jesuit on Monday in Beaverton at 4:30 p.m. in a second-round contest. Oregon City (16-11), the No. 4 team from the Three River’s League, threatened in each of the first three innings only to come up empty against North’s senior pitcher. And, in its half of the fourth, North’s bats finally came to life. Aaron Marlia broke a 1-all tie with a two-out RBI single to score pinch-runner Andrew Bennett. Marlia and Dustin Shipley, who reached earlier on an infield single to keep the threat alive, came around to score on sophomore pinch-hitter Jordon Bostwick’s two-run single. Bostwick, a smooth-swinging left-hander making his varsity debut with the key at-bat, roped the second pitch he saw to left field to pad the lead. "Everyone in the lineup has the ability to put the ball in play," said Wolfe. "Jordon Bostwick, his first varsity at-bat, comes up with a big hit. "I have confidence in all of them." Junior second baseman Zack James had two hits and Marlia, the Black Tornado’s No. 8 hitter, reached base in all three of his plate appearances on two singles and by getting hit by a pitch. "I just knew I had to get it done," said Marlia of his go-ahead RBI single in the fourth. "We had to give Trevor some cushion to work with. "We were so pumped up and ready for this game." The playoff game was originally slated for Friday, but rain and wet field conditions moved the contest to Saturday. The extra day of wait had North antsy and maybe a little too eager at the start of the contest. "I was pretty tense the first couple innings," said McCleery. "(First baseman) Abe (Eubank) came to the mound and calmed me down a little. I think that helped a lot." Eubank also offered up a long solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to answer the Pioneers’ initial run in the top of the frame. The mammoth two-out blast on a change-of-pace offering from starter Tyler Fransen sailed well over the right-center field fence. Oregon City, however, threatened for more in the second. McCleery issued a leadoff walk to Bryan Borgmeier and, after a hit-and-run single by Brad Tinsley put runners on first and second, walked Erick Larson to load the bases. McCleery rebounded by striking out Jake Doran, then got lead-off hitter Jake Nelson to hit into a fielder’s choice that forced a runner at the plate. With the bags still full, McCleery fanned Ben Milner on a big sweeping curveball to escape the threat. The Pioneers also put a runner on third with two outs in the third inning but couldn’t break through against McCleery and the North Medford defense. "We didn’t get the run," said ninth-year Oregon City coach J.J. Winkle, "and (McCleery) just kept getting stronger on the mound. "North Medford’s a pretty darn good club with a lot of history — I think they’ve been to the playoffs the last 400 years or something. That second inning was probably the momentum changer right there." Fransen gave up seven hits overall and struck out eight. "Other than that one inning, I thought our pitcher did a good job," Winkle said. "Basically, they had two guys that stepped up and got a couple of big hits. We didn’t have that today." Oregon City..............................100 000 0 — 1 6 0 North Medford.........................100 300 x — 4 7 0 Fransen and Taliaterro; McCleery and Bruhns. W — McCleery (7-1). L — Fransen. 2B — OC: Fransen. HR — NM: Eubank (6). Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail McCleery, Tornado weather Pioneers� challenge ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s