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North's Coe pitching through pain By GREG STILES All those strikes, those hours throwing in the gym in the dead of winter, have caught up with Steph Coe. The North Medford senior softball pitcher has carpal tunnel syndrome in her right wrist. That's not necessarily good news for the Black Tornado as it gears up for today's 4:30 p.m. first-round Class 4A playoff game against South Salem at Fagone Field. Carpal tunnel is caused by repetitive motion, and in Coe's case, she's thrown a lot of pitches over the past seven years. Still, teenager and carpal tunnel sounds as plausible as snow on the Fourth of July. "Usually, you think about older ladies typing on the computer too much," admits North Medford coach Sara Barry. "She's just used that part of her body more than the average person." It will be something that Coe will have to deal with in days and years to come. But in the short term, Coe and the Black Tornado don't plan to let her pain get in the way of the business at hand. "I think she's thrown her best games when it hurts the worst," Barry says. Coe, who made second team all-state last year, disclosed the condition to her coach in early May. "But I think it's been bothering her a lot longer than I've known about it," Barry says. "I don't know if it's something she's done technically wrong or if it's overuse." Keri Sevano, who has compiled a 13-2 record this spring, is standing at the ready. She pitched the Tornado past Roseburg for the second time this season last week in a non-conference tuneup. "The team knows the situation and everyone has confidence in Steph because she is extremely tough," Barry says. "It's a big game and she knows when to turn it on." The plan this afternoon, however, is for Coe to pitch and bat No. 3 as she has the past month. Prior to that, Coe was in the cleanup spot behind Jill Carrigan. In order to beef up North's offense, Barry moved Carrigan to the leadoff spot, while Britney Hillyer and Haley Varley are dividing cleanup duty. "We were starting off games with two outs," Barry says. "Jill is someone that makes contact and gets on base a lot. She's a big, strong girl, and when she gets up more times, we're better off." North Medford (22-4) had a peek at South Salem (19-9) when the Saxons came down for the North Medford Invitational tournament in March. "We played a half-inning before we got rained out," Barry says. The Saxons went on the road last Friday to defeat West Linn, 2-1, in a subtournament playoff Freshman Christine Todd allowed two hits and struck out six in six innings before giving way to Rebecca Hibner. South Salem has had pitching problems of its own. Todd began the season as the junior varsity pitcher but moved up when freshman Loren Custic pulled a hip flexor muscle and was finally sidelined three weeks ago. The Saxon infield is among the best in the state, boasting three first-team all-Valley League all-stars: hard-hitting Lexie Costick, Morgan Bostwick and Amanda Luukinen. Bostwick and Coe play summer ball together for the Oregon Panthers Gold and have signed letters of intent to play at University of Nevada at Las Vegas. "They're a solid team defensively," Barry says. "They don't make mistakes. They were leading their league when their No. 1 pitcher got hurt. South Salem is the toughest fourth-place team we could've drawn. We have our work cut out for us." ASHLAND AT PUTNAM - Ashland (12-11) returns to the state playoffs for the first time since 1998 and is making just its third appearance overall. The Grizzlies, who finished third in the SOC, go to Milwaukie for a 4:30 p.m. game against Three Rivers League runner-up Putnam. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.