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Pitcher Kircher nearly perfect Prep roundup COOS BAY -- North Medford's Brent Kircher missed a perfect game by one pitch Friday, forcing the sophomore to settle for a no-hitter in his first varsity game. The Black Tornado southpaw hurled four innings of perfect ball before giving up his first baserunner on a strikeout that got past North catcher Ken Halpin during a 23-0 romp in the nightcap of a doubleheader sweep of Marshfield. North won the opener 19-3 in five innings. Kircher had faced the minimum number of batters, striking out seven and walking none, until the leadoff hitter in the fifth reached base. Kircher's third-strike split-finger pitch skipped off the plate to the backstop. Any threat of a 23-run comeback by the Pirates was put to rest, however, as Kircher fanned the next two batters and got the final out on a lazy popup to second. "This wasn't that surprising to us," North Medford coach Brett Wolfe said of Kircher's first varsity outing. "He played summer ball for me two years ago and has been progressing nicely ever since. "He pitched with great poise and had good control over his pitches today." Kircher received plenty of offensive support as the Black Tornado put the game away early with a 16-run first inning. In the opening game, North Medford trailed 3-2 entering their half of the third. Colby Gonzales, Evan Mcarthur, Dan Bruce and Nate Mayben each delivered RBI hits during an eight-run inning to blow things open. Mayben and Josh Bottjer combined to give up just three runs and two hits in the five-inning contest. Mcarthur picked up four hits over both games with three runs and three RBIs. Mayben also added four hits in six plate appearances while Bruce scored seven runs. Shawn Backstrom made the most of his four at-bats with hits in each appearance and six RBIs. Halpin also had four hits with five runs, five RBIs and a two-run first-inning homer. Gonzales added the final touch to his five-hit afternoon with another Black Tornado homer in the second-inning of the nightcap. FIRST GAME North Medford .....118 27 -- 19 15 0 Marshfield ..............300 00 -- 3 2 4 Mayben, Bottjer (5) and Halpin; Richards, Szymik (4), Ochoa (5) and Kuehn. W -- Mayben. L -- Richards. 2B -- NM: Halpin 2. 3B -- NM: Backstrom, Mcarthur. HR -- M: Kuehn. SECOND GAME North Medford ...(16)60 10 -- 23 18 0 Marshfield ................000 00 -- 0 0 6 Kircher and Halpin; Curley, Ochoa (1), Hasty (2), Enright (3) and Richards. W -- Kircher. L -- Curley. 2B -- NM: Halpin, Backstrom, Anderson, Mcarthur. 3B -- NM: Gonzales 2, Bruce. HR -- NM: Halpin, Gonzales. SOUTH MEDFORD 5, MAZAMA 0 -- Josh Tompkins and Clint Roderick combined on a one-hitter to lead South Medford past Mazama. Tompkins threw four innings of no-hit ball before giving way to Roderick in the fifth. Chuck Shine and Ryan Heil each had two hits to lead the Panthers while Jason Nelson picked up the lone hit for the Vikings with a double in the sixth inning. Mazama ................000 000 0 -- 0 1 0 South Medford ......102 200 x -- 5 9 1 Jake Nelson, Stone (4), Wagner (6) and Jason Nelson; Tompkins, Roderick (5) and Shine. W -- Tompkins. L -- Jake Nelson. 2B -- M: Jason Nelson; SM: Thrapp, Skunderick, Shine, Tompkins. DAYS CREEK 11-20, BUTTE FALLS 8-5 -- At Butte Falls, the Loggers had 13 errors over 12 innings to aid Days Creek in their season-opener. Nick Rodgers went 4-for-6 over the two games for Butte Falls (0-2), while Travis Smeltz and Kevin Newby each went 2-for-3 in the first game. Newby's effort included four RBIs. Kale Freeman and David Hoel each had two hits for the Loggers in the shortened second game. FIRST GAME Days Creek ......033 210 2 -- 11 11 3 Butte Falls ...........034 100 0 -- 8 9 7 J. Dunn, T. Lockwood (4) and C. Ramos; T. Smeltz, I. Stephenson (5) and I. Stephenson, N. Rodgers (5). W -- Lockwood. L -- Stephenson. 2B -- DC: J. Sands; BF: Rodgers, Smeltz. SECOND GAME Days Creek ......7(11)1 01 -- 20 15 2 Butte Falls ..............130 01 -- 5 6 6 C. Ramos, S. Brown (5) and Lockwood; I. Stephenson, D. Hoel (3) and D. Hoel, I. Stephenson (3). W -- Ramos. L -- Stephenson. 2B -- DC: J. Dunn, T. Lockwood, S. Brown, C. Ramos, Whetzel; BF: Smeltz. Softball ETNA, Calif. -- St. Mary's took an early edge in the Etna Tournament with two wins Friday, while Cascade Christian set itself up for a shot at the championship final with a split. Lani Brophy went 4-for-4 in St. Mary's 7-4 win over Etna and Shawna Jackson sparked the Crusaders with two hits in a 6-4 victory over Cascade Christian in the second game for St. Mary's. The Challengers (2-1) eased past Trinity, 7-5, in their first game of the round-robin tourney. Laurel Kelly drilled a two-run double in the first to boost the Challengers, who scored four runs in the sixth off walks and wild pitches to steal the victory. Brophy went the distance on the mound against Etna, surrendering five hits and allowing only one run until a late three-run rally in the seventh. Jackson also contributed with a 2-for-3 performance. In the nightcap against rival Cascade Christian, St. Mary's (3-0) rallied for two runs in the fifth inning to come away with the win. Junior Kim Hansen sparked the two-run rally with a leadoff double and made some key defensive plays at second. Sarah Fetty contributed two hits for the Crusaders while Cheryl Gordon led the Challengers' offensive attack with a 2-for-4 performance. Etna ...........................100 000 3 -- 4 5 2 St. Mary's ..................300 112 x -- 7 7 2 Pearlman and Eastlick; Brophy and Jackson. W -- Brophy (2-0). L -- Pearlman. 2B -- SM: Jackson, Brophy 2, DeArmond, S. DeArmond. Cascade Christian .....100 210 0 -- 4 4 1 St. Mary's ..................102 120 x -- 6 9 1 Gordon and Gettman; Fetty and Jackson. W -- Fetty. L -- Gordon. 2B -- SM: Jackson, Fetty. Trinity ........................100 400 0 -- 5 1 1 Cascade Christian ......300 004 x -- 7 5 1 Howe and Larry; Kelly, Gordon (1), Kelly (4) and Gettman. W -- Kelly. L -- Howe. 2B -- CC: Kelly. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA